Kostornaya and her husband qualified for the Chechen pairs championship! Finally Alena smiled after skating.

Kostornaya and her husband qualified for the Chechen pairs championship! Finally Alena smiled after skating.

Anastasia Matrosova November 26, 2023, 19:05 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.

And Boykova/Kozlovsky almost reached the Mishina/Gallyamov result.

Successful elements of the ultra-si, the intensity of the fight, a strong overall level – all this is a greenhouse tournament on the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in Moscow. With the undisputed leaders, three more couples fought for the medals, and Alena Kostornaya and Georgy Kunitsa finished next (in their second joint start)!

The Championship tells how the second day of pairs competition went on in Megasport.

After the short program, Kostornaya and Kunitsa took second to last place, seventh. This fact could demoralize the couple: in Omsk, Alena admitted that they had enough spirits for morning training, but they no longer felt like free exercise.

In Moscow, the skaters came out much more composed and did not disconnect after a mistake in the launch. A frank inconvenience can only be given to everyone: in the required position, the partners made only one revolution, because they did not have time to catch up with the music. But in other aspects the improvements are visible. The flip-axel-axel sequence reached a good level, the spin was of the second level, but now with bonuses, and the rotation this time was performed much more confidently than in Omsk.

The most important thing is that Alena Kostornaya finally smiled after the skate. Only 11 hundredths were not enough for Alena and Gosha to overcome the 200 point barrier. They improved their personal record by seven points. It’s not a medal fight yet, but Kostornaya/Kunitsa are moving up. This time they managed to take fifth place in such a powerful company and show the fourth result in the free program. At the same time, the skaters qualified not only for the Russian Championship, but also for the Spartakiad of the Strongest, where the 8 best pairs are selected based on the results of the Grand Prix series.

The broadcast of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix is ​​available on Okko.

As for the fight for medals, it began already in the second warm-up. It was opened by Yulia Artemyeva and Alexey Bryukhanov, and how: a quadruple turn for good advantages! It’s a pity, then there was a mistake in the partner’s solo jump and the waterfall was also canceled: the advantage that the skaters received thanks to the ultra-c was lost.

In the short, Yulia and Lyosha were a little behind the leaders, but could have made the podium if their opponents had made mistakes.

Then, Natalya Khabibullina and Ilya Knyazhuk brought out their main asset: the complex jumping content. Unfortunately, in the triple lutz my partner failed: only a single. There were no flaws in the other elements, nor in Ilya Averbukh’s own production.

Ekaterina Chikmareva and Matvey Yanchenkov, after a short and clean program, made a number of mistakes in the free program. If the pair missed the waterfall due to the partner’s fall, then the solo jump was due to the partner’s fall. The skaters are now into their second season following the 2WEI program and know every detail of it, but problems with jumps deprived a couple of their chances of winning medals. They lost to their teammates by more than six points in total.

The pairs competition was closed by Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky. This time, like yesterday, Sasha was tuned by Eteri Tutberidze, and Dima was tuned by Maxim Trankov and Pavel Slyusarenko. Yes, there are still a lot of people next door, but everyone is busy with their own affairs.

The first half of the performance was absolutely flawless: a perfect sequence with axels, a solo toe loop, a throw-flip and a brilliant fourth-level todes. It is clear that it was not easy for the boys, but they resisted this fourth turn, which failed again and again in the previous outings.

But in the second half, Sasha and Dima seemed less confident: first there was a defect in the ejection exit, and then the skaters slowed down slightly on the choreographic track. This dampened the box office impression a bit, but Boykova/Kozlovsky are done.

The broadcast of the Russian Figure Skating Grand Prix is ​​available on Okko.

235.78 points is an excellent result, but not the best in Russia this season. In Kazan, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov scored one more point. So there is still room to grow and something to strive for. At the Russian Championship in Chelyabinsk it will be very hot.

How was the Moscow stage of the Grand Prix in individual events?