宝井かりん (takarai_karin) wrote in aramatheydidnt,
宝井かりん
takarai_karin
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Japan's Mao Asada, Daisuke Takahashi win Grand Prix Final in Russia



After A Fantastic and Clean Short Program that vaulted him up to the top, Takahashi opened ominously with a fall on his first quad toe. But he recovered with a clutch second quad toe and added five more clean triples. He finished third in the free skate, but not by much, which allowed him to hold on to his lead and win the title.



In addition to it being Takahashi's first gold at the Grand Prix Final, it was also the first time ever that a Japanese man stood on top of the podium at this competition. Japanese men have won 9 of the past 14 silvers and bronzes, including four of which belong to Takahashi.
Daisuke Takahashi - 2012 Grand Prix Final free skate
Daisuke Takahashi - 2012 Grand Prix Final free skate

Moving up from third in the short was teammate Yuzuru Hanyu, who opened with a beautiful quad toe and landed seven clean triples to take the silver medal. A doubled intended quad salchow cost him a chance at the gold.

MEN (final standings)
1. Daisuke Takahashi JPN - 269.40
2. Yuzuru Hanyu JPN - 264.29
3. Patrick Chan CAN - 258.66
4. Javier Fernandez ESP - 258.62
5. Takahiko Kozuka JPN - 253.27
6. Tatsuki Machida JPN - 198.63
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Third Grand Prix Final win for Asada as rivals falter She may have had problems in recent seasons on the Grand Prix circuit, but when Mao Asada gets herself in the Final, she's got a super track record. Asada won her third career Grand Prix Final title today after her two main rivals took rough tumbles in their free skates. She has finished no lower than second in all five career appearances in the Final.

Skating last, Asada landed four clean triples in her free skate, with two others called underrotated. Even with those underrotations, her performance was stellar, as she shook off a subpar free skate two weeks ago at NHK Trophy that led to a somewhat controversial win. And though it was close after the short program, there was no question who the winner was today - Asada breezed to the win with a 196.80, 15 points ahead of the rest of the field.

LADIES (final standings)
1. Mao Asada JPN - 196.80
2. Ashley Wagner USA - 181.93
3. Akiko Suzuki JPN - 180.77
4. Kiira Korpi FIN - 174.94
5. Elizaveta Tuktamisheva RUS - 173.75
6. Christina Gao USA - 154.54
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I know most people here probably don't care, but between Yuzu still holding his world breaking SP scores and Dai's clean 4toe3toe (!!!), nobody can shut me up about this. Now for Worlds, and lets hope they don't underscore Akiko again #teamjapan
Tags: international news, sports
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