Japan’s Shun Sato took his first Grand Prix gold in the Men’s event in Chongqing, China, on Saturday. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan claimed the silver, while Adam Siao Him Fa of France settled for bronze.
Sato picked up a new season’s best of 98.75 points for first place with his short program to “Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra” from Ladies in Lavender. The two-time Four Continents medalist was spectacular, nailing a quad Lutz, quad toe-triple toe and triple Axel. All spins were graded a level four while the footwork was a level two.
“I am quite satisfied with the performance today, and I will try my best tomorrow,” said the 20-year-old. “I try to focus on my performance and not think about qualifying to Grand Prix Final too much.”
The 2024 Skate Canada silver medalist landed another solid quad Lutz in his free skate to “Nostos,” along with a quad toe-triple toe and quad toe. The skater doubled the flip, but also landed four clean triple jumps, including two triple Axels. Two spins and the footwork were graded a level four, and he placed second in the free skate (179.73). With a total score of 278.48, he was still able to maintain first overall, securing a spot to the Grand Prix Final next month.
“The performance was fine today,” said Sato. “I am satisfied with it even if I had a mistake today. I am happy I qualified to the Grand Prix Final, and I will try to skate better there.”
The 2023 Cup of China bronze medalist was spectacular in his short program to music from Dune. He nailed the quad Lutz-triple toe, triple Axel and quad toe while picking up a level four on his footwork and change combination spin. He placed second with 93.21 points, putting himself into medal contention.
“I skated well, but not perfectly,” said the 20-year-old. “There were some small mistakes, it wasn’t the most perfect performance, but overall, I am very happy. I tried to express myself emotionally, and I think I succeeded today. I got good levels, the ones I was expecting for the spins and the step sequence. There’s a small mistake in one of the spins, but I hope I can fix it in the free program.”
Skating to “Moonlight Sonata” and “Take on Me,” the five-time national champion landed a very good quad Lutz which earned +3.29 grades of execution (GOE). He went on to land a triple Axel-quad toe, an element he first landed at Grand Prix de France where he placed fourth three weeks ago. However, the quad flip was landed on the quarter, as was a triple Axel, and he later caught a blade on his choreo slide which was deemed a fall. Still, he placed first in the free skate and second overall with two new personal best scores (182.96/276.17).
“It’s mind-blowing,” said Shaidorov. “I did everything cleanly. Yeah, there was a mistake on the choreo sequence, I got a deduction for that. I think it’s not a big deal because the ice was already not so good by that time. I’ll keep improving and gain more speed for that element in the future. I also feel a bit overwhelmed because for the last three days the triple Axel-quad toe combination didn’t work at all. Not once, neither in training nor in warm-ups. But the most important thing is that I landed it in the program. I really love performing here, the arena is very comfortable. I got two season’s bests here last year, and now as well.”
With 22 points total, he missed the sixth spot for the Grand Prix Final and is currently the first substitute.
Siao Him Fa of France opened his short to “S.O.S. d’un terrien en détresse” with a quad Lutz-triple toe but then fell on a quad toe. He recovered to land a triple Axel and racked up high grades of execution (GOE) for his level four spins and footwork. The 2024 World bronze medalist placed third with 91.22 points.
“It wasn’t so easy after Grand Prix of France,” said the 23-year-old. “I felt a lot the stress and pressure, so I was really tired these past two weeks. Today was pretty good except the big mistake on the quad, but at least it’s a good improvement compared to the previous event. I’m looking forward for tomorrow. The competition is not over yet, so the big part is tomorrow.”
The skater added that he made the decision to skate to “SOS d’un terrien en détresse” a week after his outing in France.
“I was feeling more comfortable with this short program for now, so we decided to choose this one,” he explained.
The two-time European champion struggled throughout his free skate to Dune, placing third in this segment and overall (161.31/252.53). He doubled his opening quad Lutz before putting hand and foot down on the quad toe-triple toe. He later popped an Axel before putting a foot down on the second solo triple Axel. In total, he landed three clean triple jumps while earning a level four on all three spins.
“Unfortunately, I injured my right ankle again on the first jump today, so it was not easy,” said the 2024 Grand Prix de France champion. I am not satisfied with my performance, but it happens, I tried to do everything I could. Now I want to focus on recovering before the Grand Prix Final.”
Georgia’s Nika Egadze placed fourth (87.73) in his short program to “L’Enfer” by Stromae. His routine included a quad Salchow-triple toe and quad toe. The only mistake came when he stepped out of a triple Axel. All three spins were graded a level four while the footwork was a level two.
The 22-year-old said he felt very nervous before the skate but wasn’t sure why. He otherwise felt good about the performance and was happy that managed to do quite well despite the nerves.
The skater, who was fourth at Skate America, turned out a triple Lutz and put a foot down on a quad Salchow-triple toe. He also stepped out of a triple Axel before taking a fall on a triple flip-Euler-triple Salchow. However, he landed a solid quad toe and quad Salchow while earning a level four on two spins. He placed fourth in the free skate and overall (159.81/247.54).
Matteo Rizzo of Italy underrotated and two-footed the landing a quad loop in his short program to “Two Men in Love” by The Irrepressibles. However, the triple Lutz-triple toe and triple Axel were solid, and he also showed level-four spins and footwork. The three-time European medalist placed fifth with 84.92 points.
“The performance today was not bad,” said the 26-year-old. “Of course I did the first mistake on the quad, but overall, it’s fine. I stayed in Asia for three weeks and it was great to have an opportunity to train in Japan. I’m really grateful for an opportunity to train there as it is a chance for me to grow as an athlete.”
Skating to “Fix You” by Coldplay, the four-time Grand Prix bronze medalist underrotated his opening quad loop. He went on to land six clean triple jumps, but then stepped out of a triple Lutz and fell on a triple loop. Two spins garnered a level four, and he finished sixth in the free skate and fifth overall (158.90/243.82).
“I’m not happy with the skate today and I don’t know why, but I felt really tired at the end. We are going back home and we will discuss it. I think there will be a change or two in the program. Unfortunately today I had some mistakes that cost me a lot, but overall it’s okay. The recovery is going good, but I’m still struggling with the quad, for sure the goal is to go back to two quads in the short and two quads in the free programs.”
China’s Daiwei Dai placed sixth overall (237.35), followed by Deniss Vasiljevs of Latvia (234.67) and China’s Boyang Jin (231.89).
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