Evgeni Semenenko leads after Russian nationals short program
Mikhail Kolyada was only fifth on day one in St. Petersburg, but just four points separate the top six as skaters push their case ahead of Beijing 2022.
Figure Skating
Evgeni Semenenko took the short program at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg on Thursday (23 December).
The 18-year-old, who was born in St. Petersburg and works with Elizaveta Tuktamysheva's coach Alexei Mishin, delighted his home fans with a fine skate to 'What Is It About Her?' by Nadim Naaman.
He opened up with a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, followed by a quad Salchow and a triple Axel which both impressed the judges.
Semenenko was third on his senior Grand Prix debut at Skate Canada in October, and showed that he is definitely a contender for one of three men's singles berths at Beijing 2022.
His score of 98.03 was almost 10 points higher than his ISU personal best, and good enough for the overnight lead.
"I am satisfied with my short program. I want to thank my family and my coaches. Now I need to tune in to the free skate." - Evgeni Semenenko
Another 18-year-old, Mark Kondratiuk, lies second thanks to a wonderfully expressive routine to the soundtrack of Magnificent Century.
A solid quad toe loop was backed up with a fine triple Axel and a quad Salchow-double toe loop, but it was his interpretation of the music which really took the eye especially in the second half of the program.
A two-time medallist at Challenger Series events this season, Kondratiuk received a mark of 97.77 - 13 points higher than his ISU PB - to take second on the day.
He told Olympics.com, "I am not that satisfied. The combo was supposed to be 4-3 but it didn’t work. But like Evgeni said we just have to tune into the free skate for tomorrow."
Semenenko's fellow St. Petersburg native Makar Ignatov took third place with the fans chanting "Makar to the Olympics" after his short program.
Apart from a one-point deduction for taking a step on his quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, it was an excellent skate from the 21-year-old who scored 95.84.
Alexey Erokhov, world junior champion in 2018, is just out of the podium places after a 95.24 with pre-event favourite Mikhail Kolyada only fifth (94.26) after singling what should have been a triple Axel.
Alexander Samarin was left with blood on his chin after something of a faceplant on his second jumping element, a quad flip.
The 2019 European silver medallist received what looked a generous score of 94.23 and lies sixth overnight.
Like Kolyada, former European champion Dmitri Aliev singled an intended triple Axel and his score of 86.40 leaves him down in 12th place.
Sinitsina/Katsalapov surge into ice dance lead
It was certainly a case of saving the best till last in the rhythm dance of the ice dance competition as Victoria Sinitsina and Nikolai Katsalapov took a commanding lead.
Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin led with 88.76 with just the reigning world champions to come.
And Sinitsina and Katsalapov produced a sensational skate to 'You Can Leave Your Hat On' with coach Aleksander Zhulin telling them, "That's the best skate I've seen from you guys," as they left the ice.
They were rewarded with a score of 93.61, five points in excess of their ISU personal best set at the 2020 European Championships.
Katsalapov said afterwards, "Today is one of our best skates, without a doubt. I was very nervous before but when Vika and I went on ice and the way crowd greeted us... I really enjoyed this moment. I was looking into Vika's eyes and really enjoyed our skate.
"We love skating at home. The crowd is just wild."
Diana Davis, the daughter of renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze, and her partner Gleb Smolkin were third on the day with 83.99, more than four points clear of Tiffani Zagorski and Jonathan Guerreiro (79.36).
The duo, who represented OAR at PyeongChang 2018, were clearly stunned at what they felt was a low score with the crowd booing loudly in agreement.
Mishina/Galliamov ahead in pairs, but only just
Reigning world pairs champions Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov hold a narrow lead after a superb short program.
They received a standing ovation from the St. Petersburg crowd and earned a high score of 83.74, five points in excess of their ISU career best.
World bronze medallists Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii followed them on the ice and almost matched them with an excellent performance of their own.
The 2020 European champions posted 82.84 to leave them just nine-tenths behind going into Saturday's free skate.
Three-time world medallists Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who skated last on the day, lie third thanks to a 78.68.
Galliamov stated afterwards, "We can say that the journey has started, and that we are pleased with our skate. It's not our best skate and there is work to be done, but the way it went is OK for us.
"It was great to perform at our home arena in St. Petersburg. The last time we skated here four years ago didn't go so well. We want to make amends and show our home crowd how well we can skate."
Referring to their win at last month's Rostelecom Cup, Mishina said, "We think that here we skated much better than in Sochi, and this motivates us to strive for more, improve and get better."
Russian Championships - weekend schedule in St. Petersburg (local time)
Friday December 24
12:45 Ice Dance Free Dance
15:15 Men's Free Skate
18:20 Women's Short Program
Saturday December 25
15:30 Pairs Free Skate
18:00 Women's Free Skate