Canadian world champion Patrick Chan won the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships (4CC) on Friday.
Chan shook off a poor morning practice session by nailing his program in the men’s free skate, posting a season-best 185.99 points to claim the titles with 273.94 points.
He easily outpointed Japan’s Daisuke Takahashi, the Vancouver Olympics bronze medalist and defending Four Continents champion. Takahashi earned 161.74 points in the free skate and 244.33 overall.
The US’ Ross Miner, this year’s US bronze medalist, survived a fall in the free skate to post a season-best 146.34-point score and earn the bronze at 223.23 points. He narrowly edged compatriot Adam Rippon for a spot on the medal stand. Rippon had a season-best 146.63-point score to finish at 221.55.
Earlier, two-time world champion Mao Asada of Japan won the women’s short program.
The 2010 Olympic silver medalist’s four-minute routine was clean enough to earn a score of 64.25 points, just ahead of this year’s US champion Ashley Wagner at 64.07. Japan’s Kanako Murakami, the 2010 World Junior champion, was third with 63.45 points.
The only hitch to Asada’s program came on her first jump, a triple axel rare for women, which she was unable to land cleanly.
“My performance was good, except the triple axel in the beginning,” Asada, who won the event in 2008 and 2010, said through an interpreter. “I want to take this as a learning experience and skate well tomorrow. My biggest goal of this competition is including the triple axel and at least I tried it. It wasn’t perfect, but I’m pretty happy to land the triple axel.”
Asada wasn’t the only member of her team who enjoyed the day. Her coach, figure skating Hall of Famer Nobuo Sato, was honored by US Figure Skating at the World Arena before the men’s free skate.
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two