Sakamoto Kaori overcomes struggles to lead Japanese sweep of women's podium at Skate Canada
The world champion fell twice and looked far from her best, while teammate Matsuike Rino soared from 10th place to silver. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps claimed the pairs win.
Figure Skating
World champion Sakamoto Kaori turned in an uncharacteristic skate Saturday night (26 October) in Halifax.
The Japanese figure skating star fell twice in her Skate Canada International free skate and struggled elsewhere, but held on for her second consecutive win at this event - and seventh Grand Prix gold overall.
She led a Japanese sweep of the women's singles podium, with Matsuike Rino and Yoshida Hana claiming silver and bronze, respectively.
Sakamoto scored a 201.21 total, with Matsuike - the free skate winner - at 192.16 and Yoshida at 191.37.
Kimmy Repond, Madeline Schizas and Alysa Liu rounded out the top six in what was a patchy women's free skate session. Matsuike, who was 10th after the short program, won the segment by some 13 points over her teammate Sakamoto.
It's a third Grand Prix podium for the 20-year-old Matsuike, but her best-ever finish at silver.
In pairs, reigning world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada also struggled in their free skate but held on for the win, scoring 197.33 overall.
Like Sakamoto, they successfully defending their 2023 win at this event.
Free skate winners Ekaterina Geynish and Dmitrii Chigirev jumped from fourth to second (189.65), while Australia's Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore rounded out the top three (186.14).
Sakamoto Kaori: "I am going to take this disappointment to heart"
Matsuike was the standout in an otherwise stop-and-start women's free skate, landing seven triple jumps in her Lux Aeterna free skate.
"I am really full of happiness after making the podium," Matsuike said via an interpreter. "I want to work hard to be able to skate clean in both my short and free programs moving forward."
Sakamoto skated last, and after strong opening jumps - a double Axel and then triple Lutz - she came undone, falling on the back of a double Axel-Salchow combination in which she doubled a planned triple Salchow.
She never fully recovered thereafter.
"I am happy that I was able to win, but I am very disappointed in [how I skated]," Sakamoto, 24, said. "I am going to take this disappointment to heart and hopefully do better at my next event."
Sakamoto said nerves got the best of her, and while she's faced anxieties in the past, she said she felt under-prepared in Halifax.
"I didn't have [the confidence] this time," she added. "Until the end of the program, I couldn't figure it out."
Sakamoto said the result was a cold wake-up that she needs to get back to hard work. She'll next compete at NHK Trophy in front of a home crowd in Tokyo (8-10 November).
While Matsuike won the night, Schizas had a sterling moment in front of her home crowd, much the similar to 2023, when a personal best free skate (132.47) helped her to a fourth-place finish.
While the American Liu dropped from second to sixth, it marked a triumphant return for the 2022 world bronze medallist, who had stepped away from the sport at age 16 two years ago.
After the short program, Sakamoto praised Liu's return, saying she knows how much work it takes to get back to this level.
"I am very, very glad that she's back," Sakamoto said Friday (25 October). "I think that it's very difficult to perform under a lot of pressure and a lot of expectations; I understand that. She must really love figure skating, and that's why she's back... And I'm really so happy that she put into action [that] love" to come back.
Pairs: Stellato-Dudek/ Deschamps hold on for victory
It was not the finish that Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps wanted, having brought the Bell Centre to its feet in Montreal with their free skate at Worlds just a few months ago to capture gold.
"We're not really sure what happened out there today; it's not indicative of how we've been performing," Stellato-Dudek said.
An uncharacteristic fall by Deschamps on the duo's opening triple toe-loop was the first sign of a shaky program. Stellato-Dudek doubled their side-by-side triple Salchows, and the team would later be docked on their throw triple Lutz, an element they've brought back with the Olympics in mind.
The team said they'll take learnings from the performance, with Finlandia Trophy (15-17 November) set to be their next Grand Prix.
Geynish and Chigirev claimed their first Grand Prix medal, a seventh for Uzbekistan ever. Meanwhile, Golubeva and Giotopoulos Moore earned Australia its first-ever Grand Prix podium finish - in any discipline.
"For me it's a big deal," Giotopoulos Moore said. "It shows that Australia can produce top-level figure skaters that can win a Grand Prix medal."