MOSCOW, November 8 (RIA Novosti) –2013 European Championship bronze medalist Elizaveta Tuktamysheva won the ISU Grand Prix, while another Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya came in second during the Cup of China held in Shanghai.
Lipnitskaya led Tuktamysheva by 1.57 points after the short program on Friday, during which she looked unstoppable, hitting her triple-triple combination, double axel and triple flip, NBC Sports said.
However, Lipnitskaya made a series of mistakes during her free skating program. This allowed Tuktamysheva, who showed composure and excellent skating on both days, to leapfrog Lipnitskaya and finish first with 196.60 points. Lipnitskaya scored 173.57, dropping to second place. Kanako Murakami of Japan received the bronze with 169.39 points.
Tuktamysheva, 17, has already won four tournaments in a row, as well as the silver medal at the Grand Prix Skate America. By winning the Cup of China, the 17-year old Russian guaranteed herself a spot in the Grand Prix series final, which will be held in Barcelona later this year.
Lipnitskaya, the miniature Russian starlet who took the world of figure skating by storm, who became the youngest Olympic champion in figure skating last year at the Sochi Olympics, made her season debut at the Cup of China yesterday.
“I didn’t compete for a long time after the Olympic season,” Lipnitskaya said, as quoted by CBC News. “In training, I also was very nervous. I felt like it was my first competition in my life.”
The Cup of China started this Friday and is held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center. More than 50 of the world’s best figure skaters from 12 countries have gathered in China.
