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Perfect score Plushenko wins NHK Trophy for second straight year
Posted: Saturday December 04, 1999 12:40 PM
NAGOYA, Japan (AP) -- Yevgeny Plushenko pulled off a competition first in figure skating -- hitting a quadruple combined with a triple and a double -- to win his second straight singles title at the NHK Trophy competition Saturday. The 17-year-old Russian star started his 4 1/2 minutes of free program with the big jumps, all in toe loop, silencing the crowd and then bringing gasps and a loud ovation. His flawless skating drew two perfect 6.0 marks from the panel of judges for an overwhelming victory. Tatjana Flade, an official of the International Skating Union, said Plushenko's performance was the first to succeed in doing a quadruple and two more jumps in sequence in competition. "I've been practicing the sequence for a couple of weeks," said Plushenko. "I'm glad I made it, and believe me, it was more than a 100 percent job." American Timothy Goebel, famed for jumping three quads in one program five weeks ago, jumped two quads but fell on his third. He placed second that qualified him for the Grand Prix Final in France in January. Goebel also had words of praise for Plushenko. "It's really good to see him do it in competition. I think it will push other people and make the World Championships very exciting," he said. The annual championships will be held in Nice, France, March 27 through April 2. In a session that turned on a battle of the quads, only a third skater, Russian Ilia Klimkin, landed cleanly on a quadruple toe loop and a triple toe loop sequence. Klimkin, who placed third, said he himself has jumped a quad-triple-double combination a few times while practicing. Also triumphant Saturday were Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia, who won the pairs events, and ice dancing winners Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat of France. The women's singles competition ends with Sunday's free skating. NHK Trophy is the sixth and last event in the ISU's Grand Prix series. Under a points-scoring system, the series lead to the Grand Prix final, this time in Lon, Jan. 14-16. In the pairs event, European champions Petrova and Tikhonov performed an error-free program, moving ahead of overnight leaders Sarah Abitbol and Stephane Bernadis of France, who landed shaky on a couple of jumps. Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek of Poland placed third, followed by the Chinese duo of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. For their third Grand Prix title of the season, the Russian pair received a big applause from the crowd but unimpressive scores ranging from 5.3 to 5.7 points for technical merit and from 5.5 to 5.9 points for presentation. Tikhonov has many local fans in Japan. He made his pairs debut, teaming up with Japan's Yukiko Kawasaki, in the 1993 NHK Trophy. They won the bronze medal. "I was so happy six years ago to win the medal in my debut event," said the 28-year-old Tikhonov. "It wasn't an easy life but I learned a lot during my two years of stay in Japan at the time, and it has helped improve my career." Danielle and Steve Hartsell of the United States, the 1997 world junior champions, finished fifth ahead of Canada's Valerie Saurette and Jean-Sebastien Fecteau. In the ice dancing, Anissina and Peizerat, defending NHK Trophy champions, held on to their overnight lead by receiving scores ranging from 5.6 to 5.8 points for technical merit and from 5.7 to 5.9 points for presentation. "We had two wins in four weeks, and it's great," said Peizerat. He and Anissina won the Trophee Lalique in France last month. "And we've really improved since Laligue and feel that we're in good shape, good health and ready to go for the new season." In an order that did not change from Friday's short program, The Russian duo of Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh placed second with Margarita Drobiako and Povilas Vanagas of Lithuania winning the bronze. Figure skaters are allowed to compete in only three of the six Grand Prix events in a season, designating two of the events they compete in for points scoring. Fewer big-name skaters came to Nagoya, with Russians Alexei Yagudin and Irina Slutskaya, American Michelle Kwan, Canadian Elvis Stojko and other men's and women's leaders on the standings skipping the event after qualifying for Lyon.
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