Japan’s Mone Chiba wins Skate Canada, holding off Olympic hopeful Isabeau Levito of the U.S.
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (AP) — Mone Chiba of Japan held off American standout Isabeau Levito with a near-flawless free skate to win Skate Canada on Saturday night, while Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada won the pairs competition.
The men’s title and ice dance events will be decided Sunday.
Chiba held a narrow lead over Levito after their short program, but the 18-year-old from Philadelphia put the pressure on with a brilliant free skate set to music from the Italian comedy-drama “Cinema Paradiso.” Levito landed all seven of her jumping passes with her typical balletic precision, and scored of 209.77 points.
Chiba, the 20-year-old world bronze medalist, followed and never faltered during her own free skate, though. With her sprightly program set to “Csárdás,” a traditional Hungarian folk dance tune, Chiba posted a season-best score of 217.23 points, giving her a Grand Prix gold medal for the first time after runner-up finishes in both of her assignments last year.
Ami Nakai, fresh off her Grand Prix de France title, finished third with 203.09 points.
Levito’s silver medal was a strong result after a fourth-place finish in France. The reigning world silver medalist is trying to earn one of three U.S. spots on the team for the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games. And with two spots almost assured to world champion Alysa Liu and two-time defending U.S. champion Amber Glenn, the competition for the last spot will be tight.
It could come down to Levito and Bradie Tennell, who finished fourth at Skate Canada with 195.07 points on Saturday night.
Earlier in the night, the Canadian pair of Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps had the home nation roaring at SaskTel Centre when they came from behind to win their third consecutive Skate Canada gold medal ahead of German rivals Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin. Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps scored 213.40 points while Hase and Volodin scored 207.18.
Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea were third with 199.11 points in a strong showing for the American the pairs team.
Hase and Volodin, the reigning Grand Prix Final champions and world silver medalists, led after Friday night’s short program. But they endured a pair of falls during their free skate, him on their side-by-side triple toe loop and her on their throw-triple flip.
In the rhythm dance earlier Saturday, Canadian world silver medalists Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier began their pursuit of a sixth consecutive Skate Canada title by winning the rhythm dance with a score of 85.38 points.
Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania were second with 80.89 points, and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko, one of the rising American dance teams, were third with 76.83 points.
The dance medals will be decided Sunday after free dance, and after the men’s medals also have been decided.
Two-time reigning world champion Ilia Malinin, the favorite to win gold at the Milano-Cortina Games, scored 104.84 for his short program to take a commanding lead into the free skate. Kazuki Tomono of Japan was his closest pursuer with a score of 92.07 points, while Aleksandr Selevko of Estonia was third with 91.28 points.
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