Soucisse and Firus Climb Standings at ISU Grand Prix
TORINO, Italy- Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver cracked the 100-point mark for the third time this season for their free dance to finish seventh in ice dancing Saturday at the Gran Premio d’Italia, the third stop on the ISU Grand Prix circuit.
The top-three remained unchanged after Friday’s rhythm dance. Four-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the gold medal with 220.06 points, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the U.S. were second at 207.90 and Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin of Russia were third at 202.12.
Soucisse and Firus, competing for the fourth time this fall, were eighth after Friday’s short program. They earned 100.46 points for their free skate to finish at 163.86 which was almost two points better than their score two weeks ago when they were also seventh at Skate America.
They were the only Canadian entry at this week’s stop which was originally scheduled for China but relocated due to pandemic-related travel issues.
The big story of the day was a fantastic comeback by Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama to win the gold medal in men’s competition. He was seventh after the short program but topped the field by more than 18 points in his free skate to take the gold with 278.02. Mikhail Kolyada of Russia was second at 273.55.
Earlier in the women’s free skate, reigning world champion Anna Shcherbakova of Russia climbed from third after the short to win the gold with 236.78. Her compatriot Maiia Khromyk was second at 226.35 and Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx, the surprise leader after the short, took the bronze with 219.05.
There were no surprises in pairs as Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China won the gold with 224.55 and their compatriots Cheng Peng and Yang Jin were second at 211.86.
The fourth stop on the circuit is the NHK Trophy this upcoming Friday and Saturday in Tokyo.
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