In Grand Prix debut, Japan's Watanabe Rinka stuns for Skate Canada title

It's a season to expect the unexpected in international figure skating.

Saturday afternoon (29 October) proved as much at Skate Canada International in Mississauga, with 20-year-old Watanabe Rinka of Japan shocking the field to capture the gold in her senior Grand Prix debut, scoring a 197.59.

American Starr Andrews also surprised for silver, with a 191.26, to win her first Grand Prix medal, while the favourite You Young of South Korea settled for bronze at 190.15.

Home hopes Madeline Schizas and Gabrielle Daleman, the leaders after the short program, fell to seventh and 10th, respectively.

Watanabe soared from sixth place in the short. She won the free skate with a 134.32 with a near-flawless performance to the soundtrack of Jin.

"I was pretty nervous," a smiley Watanabe said in English after her win. "But I think I did pretty well. I'm happy with what I did today. I was only told one week ago that I was going to be [here]."

2018 Grand Prix Final champion Kihira Rika continued her comeback from a bad stress fracture in her right foot, which forced her to miss the entire Olympic season. She rallied for a fifth-place finish.

Sixteen-year-old American Ava Marie Ziegler, also in her Grand Prix debut, finished fourth.

Skate Canada is the second Grand Prix of the 2022-23 season. Reigning world champion Sakamoto Kaori won Skate America just last week.

While Schizas and Daleman struggled, veteran Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier soared, the duo winning their third Skate Canada and second in a row - tallying a 215.70 total, a career best score.

Watanabe aims to raise the stakes

It wasn't just Watanabe's first senior Grand Prix but also her first Grand Prix ever - she had not competed on the Junior Grand Prix circuit previously. She was sixth at the Japanese Championships a year ago, then 10th at Junior Worlds to finish last season.

She began this year with a with a surprise win at Lombardia Trophy, a Challenger Series event, where she beat her elder teammate Sakamoto.

She said she's just getting started.

"At NHK Trophy, my next event, I want to incorporate two triple Axels into my free skate," Watanabe said, calling out the difficult jump she executed on Saturday - and looking to double that content at her upcoming Grand Prix (18-19 November).

Not since Elizaveta Tuktamysheva did two triple Axels in her free skate at Skate Canada in 2021 has any female completed said feat.

Watanabe said she would like to add quad jumps to her repertoire, but for now is focusing on the triple Axel.

Andrews, 21, nabbed her first Grand Prix medal in seven appearances over four years. 

"I think this is incredible," said Andrews about her best-ever result on the international stage. "I think it's a huge deal, especially being one of the few [Black athletes] in this sport. I'm so proud I can represent them."

You, 18, settled for bronze in an event she called "an OK start... not bad but not good" for her, having struggled with motivation in the off-season after placing sixth at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

The competition was a triumph for a returning Kihira, who told Canadian broadcaster CBC via an interpreter: “I’m making progress bit by bit. I’m quite satisfied with how my progress is going. … I want to challenge myself to continue to do more difficult elements.”

Kihira can still not train the more difficult Lutz or flip jumps because of lingering pain in her foot.

Both Daleman, who skated second to last, and Schizas, the final skater, struggled in their programs - feeling the pressure of leading after the short - and skating in front of the home crowd.

Ice dance: Gilles/Poirier, Fear/ Gibson shine

Having toyed with using Evita in the past, Gilles and Poirier have finally employed a medley of music from the famed production, the team skating together for a 12th season together.

They carried their lead from the rhythm dance, widening the gap to six points over Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson, the British team scoring a 209.18 total after an electric Lady Gaga medley performance in the free dance.

Canada's Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha hop-scotched into third place overall, registering a 195.49 overall. It marks their first Grand Prix medal.

Gilles/Poirier said they have only committed to skating this 2022-23 season, the two-time Olympians and 2021 world bronze medallists unsure if they'll continue on further into the new Olympic quadrennium.

"We returned this season after the last Olympic cycle really putting ourselves as people first and our joy of skating forward," said Poirier. "That mindset was really critical in creating the moment that we were able to have today."

It's a 13th Grand Prix medal for them overall and a third for Fear/ Gibson.