Japanese teenager Mao Asada gave warning of her intention to defend her title at the ISU Grand Prix figure skating final on Friday by dominating the short program, as France's Brian Joubert took pole position in the men's event.
Asada, 16, scored 69.34 points to lead 18-year-old compatriot Miki Ando (67.52) with South Korean teenager Kim Yu-na, 16, in third position (65.06) going into yesterday's free skating final.
The six competitors took to the ice late after spending two hours stuck in traffic between their hotel in downtown St. Petersburg and the rink in the suburbs.
But Asada, who upset world number one Irina Slutskaya of Russia at last year's final, showed no signs of being bothered by the delay to give a faultless presentation to Sheherazade.
"The first thing my coach said after I came off the ice was that I skated brilliantly," Asada said.
"I was nervous this morning in practice but not when I came to the competition. My goal here is to skate better than I did at NHK Trophy," she said.
Skate America winner Ando, who finished second to Asada at the NHK Trophy, said that she was hampered by nerves: "I had to skate last and it made me nervous. I wanted to do everything cleanly, but I stumbled once."
"My foot has been hurting a little bit since the practice this morning, but I have been working with Nikolai Morozov for a year and he can prepare me mentally," she said.
Earlier Joubert dominated the men's event.
Despite touching the ice on his opening quadruple jump, he scored a personal best 80.75 points to open up a narrow advantage on Japan's Daisuke Takahashi (79.99). France's Alban Preaubert is third (71.63).
Two-time world silver medalist Joubert was the only competitor to attempt a quadruple jump in his performance to the James Bond Die Another Day soundtrack.
"I made a small mistake but the rest was very good. I really enjoyed it and after the triple axel I let myself go," Joubert said.
"Tomorrow I want to do two quads, maybe three if I fell good," he said.
Japanese national champion Takahashi gave an error-free performance to Tchaikovsky's Concert for Violin and Orchestra, with three triple jumps and a triple flip-triple toeloop combination.
But the 20-year-old admitted that he would have to lift his performance yesterday if he wants to beat Joubert, who is undefeated this season with two Grands Prix wins.
"I didn't manage to show the power of my skating," said Takahashi, winner of the NHK Trophy in Nagano.
"I had a problem in my footwork. I got tired towards the end of the program. Tomorrow I'll try to show all that I learned in practice," he said.
Preaubert, meanwhile, overcame an injury worry and a technical problem during his routine to stay in the chase for a podium place.
But Japan's Nobunari Oda and US skater Johnny Weir paid heavily for falls in their programs and lie fourth and fifth respectively.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but