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Russians lead opening events in Cup of Russia
MOSCOW (AP-CP) -- After winning in the U.S., Canada, Germany and France, Russian figure skaters led all four events on the opening day of the Cup of Russia competition.
The Cup is the fifth event in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix, which features Olympic-eligible skaters and is being held in Moscow for the first time.
Alexei Urmanov, the 1994 Olympic champion, led the men after the short program with fellow Russians Yevgeny Plushenko second and Alexander Abt third.
Jeff Langdon of Smiths Falls, Ont., was sixth. He is coming off a 10th-place finish two weeks ago in Germany.
Russians were also 1-2-3 in the women's event.
Irina Slutskaya, 19, the 1995 world junior champion and runner-up to American Michelle Kwan in the 1998 world championship, committed the same mistake as at Skate Canada in Kamloops, B.C., when she two-footed a jump landing. That put her second Thursday behind Yelena Sokolova.
Canadian champion Angela Derochie, 25, of Ottawa, was eighth in her first appearance on the international circuit this season.
Russian world champions Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov are leading in the ice dance after the compulsory dance, the Ravensburg Waltz. They made their season debut two weeks ago to win the Nations Cup in Gelsenkirchen.
Chantal Lefebvre of LaSalle, Que., and Michel Brunet of Gatineau, Que., were sixth.
In the pairs short program, Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze of Russia were first, followed by Dorota Zagorska and Mariuzh Sludek of Poland.
Nadia Micallef of Pickering, Ont., and Bruno Marcotte of Boloeil, Que., were seventh.
In Skate America and Skate Canada, the Russians had four victories in eight events. They doubled that in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and added two more at the Lalique trophy competition in France.
Winners receive $30,000. Skaters can accumulate points from two of the meets to qualify for the series final in St. Petersburg, Russia, in March.
The next event is NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan.
Results
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Results Thursday of the Cup of Russia, the fifth event of the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series:Men
Short Program
1. Alexei Urmanov, Russia, .5 factored placings
2. Yevgeny Plushenko, Russia, 1.0
3. Alexander Abt, Russia, 1.5
4. Szabolcs Vidrai, Hungary, 2.0
5. Ivan Dinev, Bulgaria, 2.5
6. Jeff Langdon, Canada, 3.0
7. Timothy Goebel, United States, 3.5
8. Yevgeny Pliuta, Ukraine, 4.0
9. Frederic Dombier, France, 4.5
10. Markus Leminen, Finland, 5.0
11. Seiichi Suzuki, Japan, 5.5
12. Michael Tyllesen, Denmark, 6.0
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Women
Short Program
1. Yelena Sokolova, Russia, .5 factored placings
2. Irina Slutskaya, Russia, 1.0
3. Julia Soldatova, Russia, 1.5
4. Laetitia Hubert, France, 2.0
5. Yuka Kanazawa, Japan, 2.5
6. Anna Rechnio, Poland, 3.0
7. Yulia Lavrenchuk, Ukraine, 3.5
8. Angela Derocie, Canada, 4.0
9. Amber Corwin, United States, 4.5
10. Franziska Guenther, Germany, 5.0
11. Veronika Dytrova, Czech Republik, 5.5
12. Sylvia Fontana, Italy, 6.0
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Pairs
Short Program
1. Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze, Russia, .5 factored placings
2. Dorota Zagorska and Mariuzh Sludek, Poland, 1.0
3. Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman, United States, 1.5
4. Marina Yeltsova and Andrei Bushkov, 2.0
5. Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, China, 2.5
6. Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, Russia, 3.0
7. Nadia Micallef and Bruno Marcotte, Canada, 3.5
8. Heather Allebah and Matthew Evers, United States, 4.0
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Ice Dance
Compulsory Dance
1. Angelika Krylova and Oleg Ovsiannikov, Russia, .4 factored placings.
2. Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh, Russia, .8
3. Silwia Nowak and Sebastian Kolasinski, Poland, 1.2
4. Tatiana Navka and Roman Kostamarov, Russia, 1.6
5. Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, United States, 2.0
6. Chantal Lefebvre and Michel Brunet, Canada, 2.4
7. Dominque Deniaud and Martial Jaffredo, France, 3.0
8. Stephanie Rauer and Thomas Rauer, Germany, 3.2
9. Kornelia Barany and Andras Rosnik, Hungary, 3.6
10. Angelika Fuehring and Bruno Ellinger, Austria, 4.0