Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier capture 1st Grand Prix ice dance title at Skate Canada
The Canadian Press | Posted: October 26, 2019 11:43 PM | Last Updated: October 27, 2019
Canadians also claim silver in men's and pairs disciplines
Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier upset two-time World Ice Dance medallists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States at Skate Canada International on Saturday to capture their first Grand Prix ice dance title. The duo were narrowly trailing the heavily favoured Americans heading into the free skate.
Gilles from Toronto, and Poirer from Unionville, Ont., leapt ahead with a fluid performance to Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now to finish with a combined total score of 209.01.
"We've worked really hard for this moment. I think we really trusted our training and knew exactly what we needed to do when we came here. We just went for it and skated today's program and that's all that we can do. We have plenty more to do in the next couple of weeks to keep this streak going, but I think we're really up for the challenge," Gilles said.
"It's definitely an exciting day for us, but I think we're really motivated and excited to go back home and [continue] training," added Poirier.
WATCH | Canada's Gilles and Poirier win 1st career Grand Prix title:
Hubbell and Donohue finished with a combined score of 206.31. Great Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson came third after moving up one spot with 195.35.
Nam Nguyen claims silver
Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan was dominant in the men's program.
Hanyu overwhelmed the field with a strong free skate to tally 322.59 points, less than a point from the world record.
WATCH | Hanyu nearly breaks world record:
Nam Nguyen of Ottawa set a personal best 262.77 to claim the silver medal, while Keiji Tanaka of Japan was third at 250.02.
WATCH | Nguyen skates to silver:
Canadians win pairs silver
In pairs, Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia took the gold with 216.71 points, followed by Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro in second at 208.49. Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov of Russia were third at 202.29.
WATCH | Boikova and Kozlovskii take pairs gold:
"We've been training a lot better than that," said Moore-Towers, from St. Catharines, Ont. "We worked really hard on our jumps so there was some unforeseen mistakes and we're glad we didn't let them snowball. But it was probably our worst run of this program in six weeks."
WATCH | Moore-Towers and Marinaro earn pairs silver:
Trusova jumps to women's title
An inspired Alexandra Trusova of Russia landed three quadruple jumps as the Russian teenager won the women's title.
The 15-year-old, despite falling on her first of four quadruple attempts, scored a world-leading 241.02 points in her senior International Skating Union Grand Prix debut.
WATCH | Trusova's golden debut:
A massive 166.62 points in Saturday's free skate, another best, vaulted the twice world junior champion to the championship. Trusova had been only third after Friday's short program but dominated Saturday's competition. Japan's Rika Kihira, the short program leader, finished second with 230.33 points and South Korean You Young joined them on the podium with 217.49 points.
Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket Ont., was Canada's top finisher. Her 164.34 points were good enough for tenth place.