As it happened: Alena Kostornaia breaks short program world record | ISU Grand Prix Final - Day 2

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22:45 Thank you and goodnight

That's it for Day 2 of the 2019 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Turin.

There's a round-up of all the action from this evening's senior competitions including a world record for Alena Kostornaia in the ladies' short program, and victory for Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron in the ice dance rhythm dance here.

Reaction from Kostornaia and Olympic champion Alina Zagitova should be dropping fairly shortly on that report.

What a day it's been including an exclusive interview with jumping coach Ghislain Briand about his travails getting to Turin and how Yuzuru Hanyu could try a quad Axel at the World Championships. That starts at the 18:08 post on this blog.

It's an early start tomorrow with Hanyu trying to close a 13-point gap on Nathan Chen in the free skate starting at 13:00 local time. And the action ends with the ladies' free skate at 20:55. Can Alexandra Trusova bounce back from her short program fall and land her quads to make the top spot of the podium? Make sure you come back here to find out.

22:10 Sui and Han take victory after free skate second

It's a one-two for China with world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong taking second in the free skate but first place overall.

It was far from their best performance with Han's jumping letting him down as he singled a double toe loop before getting the entry to his triple Salchow all wrong.

But their throws were back up to their usual high standard and they scored 134.19 for a winning total of 211.69, seven points clear of Peng Cheng and Jin Yang.

Interviewed in front of the crowd afterwards, Sui said their heavy workload had taken its toll with the pair making their seasonal Grand Prix debut at the Cup of China early in November.

She admitted, "This time we didn't do very well because this is our third competition and three in a very short time for us is really hard. This time, we've had many problems.

"We will try our best and keep working with our team. We just want to keep enjoying our skating and we hope you will like our performance."

Han said they loved Turin and that they were looking forward to going shopping.

World junior champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov took the last spot on the podium for Russia.

21:53 Peng and Jin guaranteed at least silver

That was a bit of a learning experience for young Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii.

Second overnight, they struggled throughout their free skate with Boikova having a hand down on a throw triple flip and then stepping out of a throw triple loop.

Their lifts also became ragged later on in the skate and they scored 125.19, fourth on the day, for third overall on 201.84.

And the drama isn't over with Sui Wenjing and Han Cong the last pair on the ice. Cong appears to have jumping issues but they do have a big lead over their fellow Chinese.

21:40 Pavliuchenko and Khodykin drop down

That didn't go to plan at all for Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin.

Pavliuchenko's skate appeared to get stuck in the ice as she fell before the very first element. She then hit the deck again on a throw triple loop and, while there was plenty to like about their powerful routine, those errors cost them dear.

Their score of 119.59 was fourth in the free skate and they are fourth overall on 194.75 with the top two pairs to come.

21:24 Peng and Jin recover from early error

That was much more like it from Peng Cheng and Jin Yang and the Chinese pair are all smiles as they come off the ice.

They doubled their opening triple Salchows but that was the only low in a wonderful free skate with Peng nailing the throw triple loop which she fell on in the short program.

The crowd loved it and this performance puts them right in the hunt for a medal. A season's best of 134.60 puts them into the lead on 204.27 with the top three duos from overnight now on the ice for the warm-up.

Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin will go first followed by fellow Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii with world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong the last to skate.

21:17 Breath caught, onto the pairs free skate

There's been no shortage of high-quality figure skating and Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov have just gone into the lead.

There was an under-rotation on a triple Salchow jump in what was not quite their best skate. But a score of 131.65 means a total of 203.13 and first place with four duos to come.

Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro were first to skate. The Canadians scored 130.91 for a total of 197.99 and they are unlikely to improve on their sixth place from the short program.

20:38 Zagitova shows she is no back number

The pressure was on the reigning world and Olympic champion but Alina Zagitova has responded in style.

After watching two of her training partners achieve personal best scores, with Alena Kostornaia posting a new world record, Zagitova nailed a triple Lutz-triple loop combination for starters.

She then landed a solid double Axel followed by a triple flip to almost certainly leave her on the podium overnight.

And there was a real look of defiance at the end of her skate with coach Eteri Tutberidze smiling broadly at rink side.

As we wait for her score, here's reaction from leader Kostornaia.

She said, "Coaches set my mind to think the score will be a little smaller, but it was a bit bigger. So it was a pleasant surprise. I know my scores when I skate clean. It’s interesting to see what can happen during the competition."

And it's a season's best for Zagitova with 79.60 leaving her in second place, six points behind Kostornaia.

Three of Tutberidze's pupils fill the podium places, but perhaps not the three we expected with Alexandra Trusova down in fifth place.

20:30 Tennell into podium places

Bradie Tennell might not have the jumps of some of her rivals, but she's made the best of it tonight with a fine short program.

Apart from an under-rotation on a triple toe loop - at the end of a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination - it was an excellent skate for the PyeongChang 2018 team bronze medallist.

She scores 72.20 to go into third place with just Olympic champion Alina Zagitova to skate.

20:23 Kihira down on combination

Rika Kihira's defence of her Grand Prix Final crown has not gone to plan.

The Japanese put a foot down on her opening triple Axel, but worse was to come as she fell at the end of her triple flip-triple toe loop combination with the second half under-rotated.

There was warm applause from the crowd as she quickly got back to her feet before landing a triple loop as if nothing had happened.

As we wait for her score, we've heard from Alexandra Trusova in the mixed zone. She was smiling despite a costly fall and very philosophical about it all saying, "I love to compete and I like to risk. Without risk, I wouldn’t be where I am now."

There could be more risk to come in the free skate and when asked whether she will attempt five quads she said, "You will see tomorrow."

Kihira's score is in and she's down in fourth place on 70.71.

20:13 Solid start from Shcherbakova

Perhaps not quite as spectacular as Alena Kostornaia, but Anna Shcherbakova has made an excellent start to her Grand Prix Final.

All three jumping elements - a double Axel, triple flip and triple Lutz-triple loop combination - were expertly executed and she will definitely move above Alexandra Trusova into second place.

Her score of 78.27 is a season's best, but she's already eight points behind Kostornaia.

20:08 Trusova falls on triple Axel

She tried it with varying degrees of success in training but couldn't get it right on the night. Alexandra Trusova swapped in a triple Axel - which she has never landed in competition - for a double at the start of her short program but a fall leaves her with plenty to do in Turin.

The triple flip was solid but there was another change to her planned program as he performed a triple Lutz-triple toe loop combination instead of a triple Lutz-triple Loop combo.

With Kostornaia near faultless, she could find herself at least 10 points behind her training partner. She does have five quads planned for the free skate, and she could need them if she is to close the gap.

The score is in and it's 71.45. Trusova is smiling in the kiss and cry but she's already 14 points down on Kostornaia. Now what can Anna Shcherbakova do?

20:04 New world record from Kostornaia!

Alena Kostornaia delivers and lays down the gauntlet to her rivals with training partners Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova coming next.

A superb triple Axel for starters, followed by a triple Lutz and then a triple flip-triple toe loop combination.

Throw in her trademark artistry, which has won her fans across the world including Adam Rippon, and that was a fantastic performance which could come close to her world record short program skate at last month's NHK Trophy. Her score in Sapporo was 85.04.

And she's done it! 85.45 to take the lead and break her own world record. It's now over to Trusova.

19:55 Kostornaia to get us underway

Expect fireworks from the start with Alena Kostornaia attempting a triple Axel with the very first jump of the competition.

The 16-year-old claimed last year's Junior Grand Prix Final title with Eteri Tutberidze no doubt pleased after her charge Kamila Valieva won this year's competition earlier today.

19:50 The ladies are on the ice!

The six finalists in the ladies' Grand Prix Final are warming up. All eyes will be on the three Russian youngsters who have won all six of this season's Grand Prix events between them.

Here is the order in which they will skate:

Alena Kostornaia (RUS), Alexandra Trusova (RUS), Anna Shcherbakova (RUS), Rika Kihira (JPN), Bradie Tennell (USA), Alina Zagitova (RUS).

Kostornaia and Kihira both have triple Axels in their short programs.

19:30 Hubbell and Donohue into second

It's pretty congested at the top of the leaderboard with Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue going into second place behind Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

The defending Grand Prix Final champions scored 82.72 leaving them just over a point behind France's reigning world champions.

Their compatriots, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, are third after a season's best 81.67.

19:16 A rare mistake from the world champions

The old costumes are back for Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron but they weren't quite perfect in their 1980s-inspired rhythm dance.

Papadakis tripped herself up in the step sequence and put a knee down but managed to get back into the routine almost instantly.

Olympic ice dance champion Meryl Davis told Olympic Channel, "It looked to me like maybe Gabriella's blade got caught in a rut in the ice. Sometimes if your blade gets stuck in a rut on the ice it's difficult to maintain the flow of what you're doing at the time."

It was pretty much business as usual apart than that and they scored 83.83 to take the lead with just defending Grand Prix Final champions Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue to come.

19:10 Papadakis and Cizeron up next in ice dance rhythm dance

Madison Chock and Evan Bates have saved their best for the Grand Prix Final.

The Americans were last to skate in the first group, and they took the lead with a season's best of 81.67.

The first pair to skate in the second group, world silver medallists Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsapalov, have just gone into second with 81.51.

Fellow Russians Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin are third on 81.14 with Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier fourth but certainly not out of it on 79.53.

Up next are world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron followed by USA's Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.

18:36 Briand says Hanyu to try five quads in Saturday's free skate

More now from our exclusive chat with Yuzuru Hanyu's jumping coach Ghislain Briand.

Hanyu trails Nathan Chen by almost 13 points after yesterday's short program, but Briand insists the battle is not over.

He said, "Yuzu can do a lot of stuff and our best program this year was with four quads, and tomorrow he’s probably planning five quads. So that’s one more quad. Plus the quality of the skating and everything. So everything is possible."

Briand's arrival in Turin was delayed after his passport was stolen en route in Frankfurt which meant he had to return to Toronto to obtain a new one.

On meeting Hanyu today, he said, "I gave him a hug and said ‘I’m here’. And he was happy. He looks really good actually. Nice face. His face was nice and bright and he seemed in a good spirit."

We mentioned earlier (see post at 18:08) that Hanyu will probably try to land the quad Axel at the World Championships. Briand says that they've also been practising quintuple jumps but that Hanyu is all about the Axel.

He said, "I think he wants to do more the quad Axel than the quintuple. I think the quintuple is easier. Because the Axel is very difficult. It’s very hard for the groin muscle, it’s hard to have the right rhythm.

"The toe [loop] is a little bit easier, because when you hit the toe you can feel it. On the Axel it’s an edge, so it’s a little bit harder.

"We say in English ‘to have the balls to do it’. So it’s how much you want to push yourself.

18:30 Liu admits she should only have tried one quad

Alysa Liu was second to Kamila Valieva in the Junior Grand Prix Final ladies' event.

Despite leading overnight, she attempted two triple Axels and two quad Lutzes but failed to land any of them cleanly as she fell on her opening triple Axel and under-rotated the remaining three.

Speaking just now at a press conference, the US National champion said, "I think I should have only done one quad but I really wanted to go for it just for the fun of it."

For more reaction and a full report on the junior ladies' competition, click here.

18:08 Hanyu to "probably try" quad Axel at Worlds!

Yuzuru Hanyu has talked about how his last career goal is to land the quad Axel.

He practised it in training earlier today, and the plan is for him to perform it at the World Championships in Montreal in March.

When asked about the quad Axel, his jumping coach Ghislain Briand told Olympic Channel, "Not here. I think he’s probably going to try it for Worlds. But Yuzu will make the call."

Briand only arrived in Turin today after his passport was stolen en route in Frankfurt.

He said, "After a full day in Frankfurt to try to fight to get something, I had to go back to Toronto and get a new passport. Then Yuzu said, 'I'll wait for you for the long program.' So that's why I'm here now."

More to come...

18:00 Briand exclusive!

We've just caught up with Ghislain Briand who has some incredible news about Yuzuru Hanyu. Stay tuned.

17:12 Usacheva only third as Valieva takes junior ladies' title

Kamila Valieva takes victory after her training partner Daria Usacheva struggled in her free skate.

The last to go, Usacheva made a number of small errors with a hand down on the triple Salchow at the end of a combination the most notable.

And while her artistry and closing spins took the eye, she only scored 130.22 for third in the free skate with her total of 200.37 seeing her finish in third place overall.

That made it first and third for the skaters trained by Eteri Tutberidze with US national champion Alysa Liu splitting them in second place.

17:04 Liu bounces back, but only second

It may not have been her most polished skate but US national champion Alysa Liu showed plenty of fight after falling on her opening triple Axel.

She then landed a fine quad Lutz-triple toe loop combination although her second quad Lutz looked to be under-rotated.

Quite a few elements are under review and that could cost her marks. And the score confirms it - 133.46 was second in the free skate with her total of 204.65 seeing her go second behind Kamila Valieva.

Daria Usacheva is the last to skate.

16:58 Trouble for Liu early on

Valieva will finish on the podium after Kseniia Sinitsyna moved into second place.

Sinitsyna had a good skate but at least one under-rotated jump cost her valuable marks with her score of 126.17, third in the free skate so far, putting her in second overall on 195.57.

Now it's time for overnight leader Alysa Liu who's fallen on her opening triple Axel. Can she pull it back?

16:50 Junior ladies up the ante

Much better from Haein Lee and Kamila Valieva today after disappointing short programs.

Korean Lee was down in sixth overnight but bounced back with a fine free skate, scoring 128.99 for a total of 194.38.

But her lead did not last long as Valieva produced a superb skate to put her in contention for a podium finish.

There were no quads due to a recent leg injury, but the execution of her jumps was something to behold and she's only 13!

Her score of 138.45 was 10 points down on her season's best, but it means she takes the lead with a total of 207.47.

16:42 Ghislain is here!

Yuzuru Hanyu was alone in the 'kiss and cry' yesterday with neither Brian Orser nor jumping coach Ghislain Briand in Turin.

It transpired that only Briand was coming to the Grand Prix Final, but his arrival was delayed by accreditation difficulties.

But now he has been sighted at the Palavela in time for the men's free skate at 13:00 tomorrow.

16:34 Junior Ladies' free skate underway

Fifth overnight, Viktoria Vasilieva is the first on the ice for the junior ladies' free skate.

She stepped out on a triple Lutz early on in her routine but managed to regain her composure and put together a solid skate.

The 15-year-old's score of 116.30 was someway below her season's best of 131.75, and her total of 184.37 sets the target.

Here's the rest of the running order:

Haein Lee (KOR), Kamila Valieva (RUS), Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS), Alysa Liu (USA), Daria Usacheva (RUS).

15:59 Georgian pair take junior rhythm dance

You can't do better than a personal best on the big occasion, and that's what Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya produced in the junior ice dance rhythm dance.

The Georgian youngsters, dancing to music from 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical', were hugely impressive and their score of 68.76 saw them take victory over Americans Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik by a wafer-thin 0.04.

Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy are in contention in third place on 66.21 ahead of fellow Russians Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Andrey Filatov on 65.07.

France's Loicia Demougeot/Theo Le Mercier are fifth after scoring 62.84 with the third Russian pair of Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin in sixth on 59.89.

It's all set up nicely for the free dance tomorrow evening.

Coming up in 20 minutes is the junior ladies' free skate. Can US national champion Alysa Liu hold off the Russians to take victory?

15:50 Nguyen and Kolesnik take the lead

American pair Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik certainly livened up proceedings with their rhythm dance skate to music from Aladdin.

They showed why they were the top qualifiers with a vibrant and polished performance, and their score of 68.72 has put them into the lead from Russia's Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Andrey Filatov.

15:34 Davis: "I remember feeling inspired by the venue and what it means to be here in this Olympic city"

Meryl Davis has been giving us her thoughts on competing in Turin's Palavela.

She and Charlie White took silver behind Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir at the 2010 World Championships here, just weeks after taking Olympic silver in Vancouver where the Canadians also took gold.

Davis told Olympic Channel, "Charlie and I were still very much deep in that Olympic fever mode and being here, where the 2006 Olympics were held, was such a beautiful continuation of really feeling the Olympic spirit.

"And so I remember just enjoying competing here and feeling inspired by the venue and what it means to be here in this Olympic city. Nothing but really wonderful memories.

15:28 Shanaeva and Naryzhnyy lead after first ice dance group

Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Andrey Filatov made a fine start to the junior ice dance, scoring 65.07 which is less than half a point shy of their personal best.

Fellow Russians Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin lacked a bit of fluency in their routine and there were some disappointed faces after they were awarded 59.89, five points down on their season's best.

Davis is the daughter of coach Eteri Tutberidze while her partner is the son of famous actor Boris Smolkin.

Then came Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy with an excellent skate which saw them receive high execution marks.

Their score of 66.21 sees them lead with three pairs to come.

15:04 Junior ice dancers warming up

The first group of skaters for the junior ice dance rhythm dance are on the ice in Turin.

Here's the order in which they will go:

Warm-Up Group 1

Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov (RUS)

Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin (RUS)

Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy (RUS)

Warm-Up Group 2

Loicia Demougeot/Theo Le Mercier (FRA)

Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik (USA)

Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya (GEO)

14:55 And the answer is...

Sochi 2014 gold medallist Meryl Davis is with us and she'll be on our Instagram stories a bit later so check that out.

As well as being an Olympic gold, silver and bronze medallist, Davis won two world titles with Charlie White, plus silver at the 2010 World Championships held here in Turin.

We'll get her thoughts on the action during the evening, not least the ice dance headed by world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron.

14:30 The calm before the storm... and a surprise special guest

Today's practice sessions are over and now we await the first competition on Friday, the junior ice dance rhythm dance at 15:00.

We're delighted to say that we'll have some special expertise on hand to guide us through the action inside Turin's Palavela.

This former skater will also be making contributions to our Instagram stories, and she knows a bit about the place having won a silver medal in this very arena during her illustrious career.

Can you guess who it is? All will be revealed very soon...

13:52 - Liu leading the way

Later, the winner of the junior ladies' competition will be decided in the free skate.

US national champion Alysa Liu currently leads and has two quad Lutzes and two triple Axels planned in her free program. We sat down to get to know the girl behind the quads at Skate America earlier this season.

13:19 - Poohs galore

Tomorrow is Yuzuru Hanyu's 25th birthday and some of the fans here in Turin had a message for their favourite skater. Stay tuned...

12:52 - Gallery: The senior men's top three in practice

Nathan Chen of the USA, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and Kevin Aymoz of France in Friday morning's practice session.

12:25 - Dramatic finish

Well that made for an exciting end to the practice session. Double Olympic champion Hanyu tried the quad Axel several times but fell on each attempt.

For background - the quad Axel is a four-and-a-half-rotation jump that is yet to be seen in competition. Hanyu is known to have been training it for a while but it's the first time he's brought it to competition practice.

12:07 - Hanyu goes for the quad Axel!

Yuzuru Hanyu just tried a jump that's never been landed in competition - the quadruple Axel - in practice but fell!

12:03 - Yuzuru mixes it up

It seems Hanyu is reshuffling his 'Origin' free skate layout to include the newly-reintroduced quad Lutz. The Japanese skater's run-through this morning suggested the program will include five quads rather than the usual four.

The double Olympic champion took a tumble on the Lutz, his second jump, but landed it cleanly outside the run-through.

Meanwhile, no jumps from Chen inside his marked run-through this morning.

11:35 - Chen and Hanyu take the ice

Nathan Chen and Yuzuru Hanyu are on the ice with the men's seniors for their free skate practice.

Chen leads by 13 points after the short program ahead of the final on Saturday.

Hanyu, sitting in second, is without a coach so far at this competition as jumping coach, Ghislain Briand, had difficulties getting here to Turin. Again, it's just Winnie the Pooh at the boards today.

11:29 - Gallery: Senior ladies practice for the short program

10:57 - Tight at the top in the pairs

The top three pairs after the short program, including world champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, are currently on the ice warming up for practice.

With just a couple of points separating the three, tonight's free skate should be an exciting one.

Remind yourself how things unfolded yesterday.

10:20 - Alina goes clean in practice

There were clean short program run-throughs for Olympic champion Alina Zagitova and USA's Bradie Tennell this morning to wrap up the ladies practice session.

Tonight's competition will be tough to call but there's a huge amount of talent on show here in Turin.

10:03 - Trusova triple Axel?

Alexandra Trusova went for the triple Axel in her run through but it was under-rotated and she fell. Will we see her land it in her short program tonight?

Meanwhile, Rika Kihira and Anna Shcherbakova have both posted clean run-throughs this morning, while Alena Kostornaia had trouble with all three of her jumps.

Bradie Tennell and Alina Zagitova to go...

09:50 - Senior ladies are up

It's practice time for the senior ladies, with all six finalists on the ice to run through their short programs this morning, with Alena Kostornaia kicking things off.

09:45 - Welcome back!

Welcome to day two of our live blog from the 2019 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Turin.

After Nathan Chen got the better of Yuzuru Hanyu last night in the men's short program, the women take centre stage at the Palavela with the ladies short program getting underway at 19:50 local time (18:50 UTC).

There are four Russian finalists with three of them making their Grand Prix Final debuts - first-season seniors Alexandra Trusova, Alena Kostornaia and Anna Shcherbakova - nicknamed the 3A.

The other one, also trained by Eteri Tutberidze, is reigning world and Olympic champion Alina Zagitova.

Completing the line-up are last year's winner Rika Kihira and Bradie Tennell of the USA.

The six women are on the ice this morning for practice at 09:45 local time.

We also have the conclusion of the junior ladies' event with Alysa Liu leading a posse of Russians after landing a triple Axel in her short program.

The American bids for glory in the free skate at 16:20.

The ice dance starts at 18:30 with world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron going in the rhythm dance.

The final event of the night is the pairs' free skate beginning at 20:55 as Sui Wenjing and Han Cong aim to stay ahead of their Russian rivals and add the Grand Prix Final title to their world crown.

Recap of day 1 at the 2019 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final

When is the Grand Prix final?

Friday 6 December

15:00 Junior Ice Dance Rhythm Dance

16:20 Junior Ladies Free Skate

18:30 Ice Dance Rhythm Dance

19:50 Ladies Short Program

20:55 Pairs Free Skate

Saturday 7 December

13:00 Men Free Skate

14:20 Junior Pairs Free Skate

15:45 Junior Men Free Skate

18:00 Junior Ice Dance Free Dance

19:25 Ice Dance Free Dance

20:55 Ladies Free Skate