Anna Shcherbakova extends Russian teen figure skating reign at Cup of China

By OlympicTalkNov 9, 2019, 9:45 AM EST

Anna Shcherbakova extended the new reign of Russian 15- and 16-year-olds, making it four wins in four Grand Prix events this season for her group.

Shcherbakova, 15, comfortably took Cup of China by 14.86 points over Japanese veteran Satoko Miyahara, totaling 226.04. Another Russian, the 2015 World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, was third.

Shcherbakova became the first woman to qualify for December’s six-skater Grand Prix Final by coupling her Cup of China title with her Skate America crown from three weeks ago.

She did so by landing a pair of quadruple Lutzes in Saturday’s free skate — changing her blue costume to a red one mid-performance — just as she did at Skate America (though one quad was deemed under-rotated in Chongqing).

Countrywomen Alexandra Trusova and Alena Kostornaia, 15- and 16-year-olds taught quads (Trusova) and the triple Axel (Kostornaia) by the same coaches as Shcherbakova, won the previous two Grand Prix events. They compete separately in the last two competitions the next two weeks, looking to make it an unprecedented Russian women’s sweep of the series leading into the Final.

China’s Jin Boyang took the men’s title by overtaking countryman and short-program leader Han Yan. Jin, a two-time world bronze medalist, earned his first Grand Prix title by 12.08 points, landing two quads in Saturday’s free skate.

Jin is questionable to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, however, since he was sixth at Skate America. He is ranked third in the world by best scores this season behind Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen, who are expected to headline the Final.

China also went one-two in pairs, led by world champions and Olympic silver medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. Sui and Han, who missed the last Grand Prix season due to her stress fracture in her right foot, tallied 228.37 points in their season debut. It’s the highest score in the world this season, supplanting Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitriy Kozlovskiy by 11.66.

Earlier in ice dance, Russians Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov held on to beat Madison Chock and Evan Bates by 1.35 despite the Americans topping the free dance.

Chock and Bates, who missed the last Grand Prix season due to Chock’s recovery from ankle surgery, earned their seventh straight Grand Prix runner-up finish (not counting Grand Prix Finals).

They will likely clinch a spot in their fifth straight Grand Prix Final spot (not counting last season’s injury absence) and rank fifth in the world this season.

Cup of China
Women
1. Anna Shcherbakova (RUS) — 226.04
2. Satoko Miyahara (JPN) — 211.18
3. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS) — 209.10
4. You Young (KOR) — 191.81
5. Sofia Samodurova (RUS) — 185.29
6. Amber Glenn (USA) — 178.35
7. Marin Honda (JPN) — 168.09
8. Yi Christy Leung (HKG) — 157.47
9. Chen Hongyi (CHN) — 155.12
10. Kailani Craine (AUS) — 149.83
11. Zhu Yi (CHN) — 139.63
12. Choi Yujin (KOR) — 131.48

Men
1. Jin Boyang (CHN) — 261.53
2. Yan Han (CHN) — 249.45
3. Matteo Rizzo (ITA) — 241.88
4. Keegan Messing (CAN) — 237.36
5. Keiji Tanaka (JPN) — 233.62
6. Cha Junhwan (KOR) — 222.26
7. Brendan Kerry (AUS) — 220.31
8. Camden Pulkinen (USA) — 218.67
9. Zhang He (CHN) — 217.42
10. Andrei Lazukin (RUS) — 210.01
11. Conrad Orzel (CAN) — 192.60
12. Chih-I Tsao (TPE) — 186.82

Pairs
1. Sui Wenjing/Han Cong (CHN) — 228.37
2. Peng Cheng/Jin Yang (CHN) — 199.97
3. Lyubov Ilyushechkina/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) — 190.73
4. Nicole Della Monica/Matteo Guarise (ITA) — 182.88
5. Ryom Tae Ok/Kim Ju Sik (PRK) — 179.55
6. Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea (USA) — 178.79
7. Tang Feiyao/Yang Yongchao (CHN) — 172.53
8. Alisa Efimova/Alexander Korovin (RUS) — 170.19

Ice Dance
1. Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) — 209.90
2. Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) — 208.55
3. Laurence Fournier Beaudry/Nikolaj Sorensen (CAN) — 190.74
4. Wang Shiyue/Liu Xinyu (CHN) — 186.45
5. Katilin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker (USA) — 179.96
6. Sofia Evdokimova/Egor Bazin (RUS) — 169.27
7. Anastasia Skoptcova/Kirill Aleshin (RUS) — 169.24
8. Chen Hong/Sun Zhuoming (CHN) — 162.91
9. Guo Yuzhu/Zhao Pengkun (CHN) — 150.91
10. Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto (JPN) — 145.35

As a reminder, you can watch the events from the 2019-20 figure skating season live and on-demand with the ‘Figure Skating Pass’ on NBC Sports Gold. Go to NBCsports.com/gold/figure-skating to sign up for access to every ISU Grand Prix and championship event, as well as domestic U.S. Figure Skating events throughout the season. NBC Sports Gold gives subscribers an unprecedented level of access on more platforms and devices than ever before.

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At the French Open, a Ukrainian mom makes her comeback

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 1:30 PM EDT

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Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, once the world’s third-ranked tennis player, is into the French Open third round in her first major tournament since childbirth.

Svitolina, 28, swept 2022 French Open semifinalist Martina Trevisan of Italy, then beat Australian qualifier Storm Hunter 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the last 32 at Roland Garros. She next plays 56th-ranked Russian Anna Blinkova, who took out the top French player, fifth seed Caroline Garcia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on her ninth match point.

Svitolina’s husband, French player Gael Monfils, finished his first-round five-set win after midnight on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. She watched that match on a computer before going to sleep ahead of her 11 a.m. start Wednesday.

“This morning, he told me, ‘I’m coming to your match, so make it worth it,'” she joked on Tennis Channel. “I was like, OK, no pressure.

“I don’t know what he’s doing here now. He should be resting.”

FRENCH OPEN DRAWS: Women | Men | Broadcast Schedule

Svitolina made at least one major quarterfinal every year from 2017 through 2021, including the semifinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2019. She married Monfils one week before the Tokyo Olympics, then won a singles bronze medal.

Svitolina played her last match before maternity leave on March 24, 2022, one month after Russia invaded her country. She gave birth to daughter Skai on Oct. 15.

Svitolina returned to competition in April. Last week, she won the tournament preceding the French Open, sweeping Blinkova to improve to 17-3 in her career in finals. She’s playing on a protected ranking of 27th after her year absence and, now, on a seven-match win streak.

“It was always in my head the plan to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” she said. “I’m as strong as I was before, maybe even stronger, because I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court, and match by match I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental can influence your physicality, as well.”

Svitolina said she’s motivated by goals to attain before she retires from the sport and to help Ukraine, such as donating her prize money from last week’s title in Strasbourg.

“These moments bring joy to people of Ukraine, to the kids as well, the kids who loved to play tennis before the war, and now maybe they don’t have the opportunity,” she said. “But these moments that can motivate them to look on the bright side and see these good moments and enjoy themselves as much as they can in this horrible situation.”

Svitolina was born in Odesa and has lived in Kharkiv, two cities that have been attacked by Russia.

“I talk a lot with my friends, with my family back in Ukraine, and it’s a horrible thing, but they are used to it now,” she said. “They are used to the alarms that are on. As soon as they hear something, they go to the bomb shelters. Sleepless nights. You know, it’s a terrible thing, but they tell me that now it’s a part of their life, which is very, very sad.”

Svitolina noted that she plays with a flag next to her name — unlike the Russians and Belarusians, who are allowed to play as neutral athletes.

“When I step on the court, I just try to think about the fighting spirit that all of us Ukrainians have and how Ukrainians are fighting for their values, for their freedom in Ukraine,” she said, “and me, I’m fighting here on my own front line.”

Svitolina said that she’s noticed “a lot of rubbish” concerning how tennis is reacting to the war.

“We have to focus on what the main point of what is going on,” she said. “Ukrainian people need help and need support. We are focusing on so many things like empty words, empty things that are not helping the situation, not helping anything.

“I want to invite everyone to focus on helping Ukrainians. That’s the main point of this, to help kids, to help women who lost their husbands because they are at the war, and they are fighting for Ukraine.

“You can donate. Couple of dollars might help and save lives. Or donate your time to something to help people.”

Also Wednesday, 108th-ranked Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis ousted three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 in four and a half hours. Wawrinka’s exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the lone man in the draw who has won the French Open and Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz as the lone men left who have won any major.

The top seed Alcaraz beat 112th-ranked Taro Daniel of Japan 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. The Spaniard gets 26th seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the third round.

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Marcell Jacobs still sidelined, misses another race with Fred Kerley

By OlympicTalkMay 31, 2023, 7:07 AM EDT

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Olympic 100m champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy will miss another scheduled clash with world 100m champion Fred Kerley, withdrawing from Friday’s Diamond League meet in Florence.

Jacobs, 28, has not recovered from the nerve pain that forced him out of last Sunday’s Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, according to Italy’s track and field federation.

In his absence, Kerley’s top competition will be fellow American Trayvon Bromell, the world bronze medalist, and Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, the world’s fastest man this year at 9.84 seconds. Kerley beat both of them in Rabat.

The Florence Diamond League airs live on Peacock on Friday from 2-4 p.m. ET.

Jacobs has withdrawn from six scheduled head-to-heads with Kerley dating to May 2022 due to a series of health issues since that surprise gold in Tokyo.

Kerley, primarily a 400m sprinter until the Tokyo Olympic year, became the world’s fastest man in Jacobs’ absence. He ran a personal best 9.76 seconds, the world’s best time of 2022, at last June’s USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships. Then he led a U.S. sweep of the medals at July’s worlds.

Jacobs’ next scheduled race is a 100m at the Paris Diamond League on June 9. Kerley is not in that field, but world 200m champion Noah Lyles is.

The last time the reigning Olympic and world men’s 100m champions met in a 100m was the 2012 London Olympic final between Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake. From 2013 to 2017, Bolt held both titles, then retired in 2017 while remaining reigning Olympic champion until Jacobs’ win in Tokyo, where Kerley took silver.

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