Russia's Evgeni Plushenko won his second World Figure Skating Championships title on Thursday, sweeping the judges to edge American Tim Goebel.
Japan's Takeshi Honda was third, repeating his standing of a year ago, as did Goebel.
PHOTO: AFP
Plushenko has chased countryman Alexei Yagudin since the 1998 Olympics, almost always losing out in the major events. Only in 2001, when Yagudin was skating injured, did Plushenko beat him at the world championships.
But Olympic champion Yagudin, who was in the stands at the MCI Center, is not competing this season because of a hip problem. Plushenko seized the opportunity, hitting two quadruple jumps and six triples -- he did a quad-triple-double combination as an opener.
``I'm not missing Yagudin,'' Plushenko said. ``He's a great guy also. He is a good skater and if he comes back, I'll skate with him. Why not?''
Not that Plushenko thinks he isn't being pushed by American Tim Goebel and Japan's Takeshi Honda. For the second straight year, they finished two-three.
``C'mon guys, look at this,'' he said, pointing to Goebel and Honda. ``There's two guys, Tim Goebel and Takeshi Honda, they skate today awesome. They did two quads. They were great.''
Plushenko's achievement was made all the greater by the fact he performed with a sore left knee, although he didn't take a pain-killing injection as he predicted he might.
``It's nicer to win the second time,'' he said. ``There was a lot of pressure. Tim skated very well, he made two quads.
``It was hard. I am very tired right now.''
But he also under-rotated a triple flip and had some shaky landings. His surpassing artistry, however, made a huge difference, and he received nothing but 5.9s for presentation.
Goebel stuck with his An American in Paris routine that won him bronze at the Olympics and silver at worlds last year. The program fits him so snugly now that if he never abandoned it, that would be understandable.
He hit two quads, one in combination, two triple axels and seven triples in all. Goebel lingered longer than usual before leaving the ice, waving a pair of beanie babies to the crowd as he departed.
``It's been such a hard year for me,'' he said. ``Last year, I had so much success, and this year started off injured and then I had a disastrous nationals.''
His marks ranged from 5.7 to 5.8, and Goebel was thrilled with another silver to conclude a distressing year marked by injury and a flop in the free skate at nationals that dropped him behind Michael Weiss.
Honda, skating first in the final group, had a sensational flash of footwork to finish off his routine to Riverdance.'' But he also stepped out of a quad toe loop that would have led off a combination jump, and several spins were short.
The Japanese star stood shaking his head when his music was over, and his marks of 5.4 through 5.8 reflected those errors.
Still, he was third again.
Earlier, Russia's Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, the defending champions, edged Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz, in the original dance.
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on