2011 NHK Trophy

The 2011 NHK Trophy was the fourth event of six in the 2011–12 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena in Sapporo from November 10–13. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2011–12 Grand Prix Final.

2011 NHK Trophy
Type:Grand Prix
Date:November 10 – 13
Season:2011–12
Location:Sapporo
Host:Japan Skating Federation
Venue:Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena
Champions
Men's singles:
Daisuke Takahashi
Ladies' singles:
Akiko Suzuki
Pair skating:
Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov
Ice dance:
Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani
Previous:
2010 NHK Trophy
Next:
2012 NHK Trophy
Previous GP:
2011 Cup of China
Next GP:
2011 Trophée Éric Bompard

Eligibility

Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2011 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.

In July 2011, minimum score requirements were added to the Grand Prix series and were set at two-thirds of the top scores at the 2011 World Championships. Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to earn the following:[1]

Discipline Minimum
Men168.60
Ladies117.48
Pairs130.71
Ice dancing111.15

Entries

The entries were as follows.[2]

Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing
 Canada Cynthia Phaneuf Natasha Purich / Raymond Schultz Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam
Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje
 Czech Republic Tomáš Verner
 Finland Kiira Korpi
 France Maé Bérénice Méité
 Georgia Elene Gedevanishvili
 Germany Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi
 Italy Samuel Contesti Stefania Berton / Ondřej Hotárek Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi
 Japan Takahiko Kozuka
Daisuke Takahashi
Tatsuki Machida		 Mao Asada
Akiko Suzuki
Shoko Ishikawa		 Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran Cathy Reed / Chris Reed
 Russia Konstantin Menshov Alena Leonova Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze
Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov		 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov
 United States Armin Mahbanoozadeh
Ross Miner
Brandon Mroz		 Ashley Wagner
Agnes Zawadzki		 Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir
Caydee Denney / John Coughlin		 Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt
Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani

Schedule

(Local time, GMT +09:00):[3]

  • Thursday, November 10
    • 07:00–17:30 – Official practices
  • Friday, November 11
    • 09:00–14:10 – Official practices
    • 14:55–16:00 – Short dance
    • 16:45–17:53 – Pairs' short
    • 19:15–20:33 – Ladies' short
  • Saturday, November 12
    • 06:30–11:10 – Official practices
    • 12:00–13:14 – Free dance
    • 14:05–15:26 – Pairs' free
    • 15:30–16:00 – Medal ceremonies
    • 16:30–17:51 – Men's short
    • 19:00–20:33 – Ladies' free
    • 20:45–21:05 – Medal ceremony
  • Sunday, November 13
    • 08:00–12:00 – Official practices
    • 12:55–14:35 – Men's free
    • 14:45–15:00 – Medal ceremony
    • 15:50–18:00 – Gala/Exhibitions

Results

Men

On November 12, Brandon Mroz of the United States became the first skater to land the quad lutz in an international competition when he landed it in the short program at NHK.[4] Japan's Daisuke Takahashi won the short program by 10.66 points over Takahiko Kozuka.[5] Takahashi fell on an under-rotated quad flip in the free skating.[6] He stated, "For the first time in my life, I could nail a quad flip in the six-minute warm-up. But in the real competition I overstrained myself in landing and crashed. It still feels great now that I know how I could do it."[7] Mroz attempted a quad lutz in the free but under-rotated and fell.[7] A screw in Menshov's boot became damaged just before he skated his free skating.[8]

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Daisuke Takahashi  Japan 259.75 1 90.43 1 169.32
2 Takahiko Kozuka  Japan 235.02 2 79.77 2 155.25
3 Ross Miner  United States 212.36 6 71.12 4 141.24
4 Samuel Contesti  Italy 209.69 7 63.83 3 145.86
5 Tomáš Verner  Czech Republic 196.63 9 62.96 5 133.67
6 Konstantin Menshov  Russia 195.88 4 74.67 8 121.21
7 Tatsuki Machida  Japan 195.45 5 72.26 6 123.19
8 Armin Mahbanoozadeh  United States 185.58 8 63.52 7 122.06
9 Brandon Mroz  United States 184.83 3 74.83 9 110.00

Ladies

Japan's Akiko Suzuki won the short program[9] while Mao Asada was first in the free skating.[10] Suzuki took the gold medal, Asada the silver, and Alena Leonova the bronze.

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Akiko Suzuki  Japan 185.98 1 66.55 2 119.43
2 Mao Asada  Japan 184.19 3 58.42 1 125.77
3 Alena Leonova  Russia 170.68 2 61.76 4 108.92
4 Ashley Wagner  United States 165.65 5 55.88 3 109.77
5 Elene Gedevanishvili  Georgia 160.44 4 57.37 6 103.07
6 Kiira Korpi  Finland 157.53 7 53.70 5 103.83
7 Maé Bérénice Méité  France 143.69 8 52.05 7 91.64
8 Agnes Zawadzki  United States 138.19 6 53.84 9 84.35
9 Cynthia Phaneuf  Canada 131.82 9 45.42 8 86.40
10 Shoko Ishikawa  Japan 122.14 10 45.07 10 77.07

Pairs

Having first attempted a rare throw triple axel at 2011 Skate America, Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy again attempted the element at NHK but again took a hard fall.[11] They recovered to win the short program. Russia's Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov pulled up from fifth in the short to take the gold medal, while Takahashi and Tran won silver and Savchenko and Szolkowy the bronze.[12]

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov  Russia 177.51 5 55.02 1 122.49
2 Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran  Japan 172.09 2 57.89 2 114.20
3 Aliona Savchenko / Robin Szolkowy  Germany 171.68 1 59.23 3 112.45
4 Stefania Berton / Ondřej Hotárek  Italy 163.83 3 56.23 5 107.60
5 Caydee Denney / John Coughlin  United States 163.75 4 55.48 4 108.27
6 Lubov Iliushechkina / Nodari Maisuradze  Russia 159.01 6 53.12 6 105.89
7 Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir  United States 149.02 7 49.93 7 99.09
8 Natasha Purich / Raymond Schultz  Canada 128.17 8 45.56 8 82.61

Ice dancing

Russia's Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov placed first in the short dance, followed by Canada's Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje in second and Maia and Alex Shibutani of the United States in third.[13] There were several accidents before the free dance. Canada's Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam withdrew after Paul suffered a cut to the back of the thigh in a collision with Italy's Lorenza Alessandrini and Simone Vaturi during the morning practice on November 12.[14] There was also a collision in the warm-up just before the free dance involving Lynn Kriengkrairut and Logan Giulietti-Schmitt of the United States and Cathy Reed and Chris Reed of Japan; Chris Reed injured his right leg but both teams were able to compete in the free dance.[15][16] Elena Ilinykh injured her knee when she crashed into the boards in the warm-up before the free dance; she and her partner finished the competition, winning the bronze, but withdrew from the exhibitions.[15] The Shibutanis took the gold, edging out by 0.09 points Weaver and Poje, who had a one point deduction due to a lift held too long.[15]

Rank Name Nation Total points SD FD
1 Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani  United States 151.85 3 59.02 1 92.83
2 Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje  Canada 151.76 2 60.07 2 91.69
3 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov  Russia 149.48 1 61.83 3 87.65
4 Nelli Zhiganshina / Alexander Gazsi  Germany 136.12 4 55.69 4 80.43
5 Lorenza Alessandrini / Simone Vaturi  Italy 133.29 5 54.37 5 78.92
6 Lynn Kriengkrairut / Logan Giulietti-Schmitt  United States 126.39 6 50.81 6 75.58
7 Cathy Reed / Chris Reed  Japan 123.22 8 49.36 7 73.86
WD Alexandra Paul / Mitchell Islam  Canada 7 49.36

References
  1. "ISU Grand Prix 2011 - 12 Announcement". International Skating Union. July 2011. Archived from the original on August 29, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  2. "Entries". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 2013-12-05. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
  3. "Time and Practice Schedule". International Skating Union.
  4. "Brandon Mroz lands historic quad lutz". Associated Press. ESPN. November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  5. Flade, Tatjana (November 12, 2011). "Takahashi outskates rivals in Men's short at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  6. Flade, Tatjana (November 13, 2011). "Takahashi skates to strong victory at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  7. Sato, Shigemi (November 13, 2011). "Takahashi wins figure skating GP despite fall". Agence France-Presse. Google News. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011.
  8. Фигурист Меньшов катался в Японии на поврежденном коньке - Глинка [Menshov skated in Japan on a damaged boot]. RIA Novosti (in Russian). November 13, 2011.
  9. Flade, Tatjana (November 11, 2011). "Suzuki claims Ladies short at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  10. Flade, Tatjana (November 12, 2011). "Akiko Suzuki wins NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  11. Flade, Tatjana (November 11, 2011). "Savchenko and Szolkowy take Pairs Short at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  12. Flade, Tatjana (November 12, 2011). "Kavaguti and Smirnov win second gold of the season at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  13. Flade, Tatjana (November 11, 2011). "Ilinykh and Katsalapov grab lead in short dance at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  14. "Ice dancing duo pull out of free skating in Japan". Agence France-Presse. Google News. November 12, 2011. Archived from the original on November 12, 2011.
  15. Flade, Tatjana (November 12, 2011). "Shibutani and Shibutani capture ice dance gold at NHK Trophy". Golden Skate. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
  16. "Weaver, Poje win ice dancing silver at NHK Trophy". The Canadian Press. TSN. November 12, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.