SOCHI, Russia — Canadian men's competitor Roman Sadovsky and ice dancers Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Sorensen are both in third place after Friday’s short programs at the Rostelecom Cup figure skating event.
Sadovsky, from Vaughan, Ont., earned a season-best score of 84.59 points in the men's short program to put him behind Kazuki Tomono of Japan (95.8) and Morisi Kvitelashvili of Georgia (95.37).
‘’Overall, I am very pleased with what I was able to put out there today,’’ said the 22-year-old Sadovksy. ‘’I had a little bit of struggle internationally this year so far. I hope that my efforts and adjustments we did in practice will reflect in my free skate.’’
In ice dancing, world champions Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia lead after the rhythm dance with 86.81. Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy are second at 79.56 and Montreal's Fournier Beaudry and Sorensen are third at 76.39.
‘’We felt pretty good today, it wasn’t perfect,’’ said Sorensen, third with his partner at Skate America last month. ‘’We improved a lot on the performance and also on the technical side since Skate America.’’
Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., is fourth after the short in women’s competition with a season’s best 67.49.
Russia held the top two spots with Kamila Valieva first with 87.42 and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva second at 80.10. Mariah Bell of the U.S. is third at 69.37.
In pairs, Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., are seventh after the short.
Russia is on track for a podium sweep in pairs. Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin lead with 73.91 points after the short program. Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov were second with 73.64 points, and Iasmina Kadyrova and Ivan Balchenko third with 69.39.
All four free skates are on Saturday.
The Rostelecom Cup is the sixth stop on the ISU Grand Prix figure skating circuit.
-- With files from The Associated Press.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 26, 2021.
The Associated Press
