(Corrects order of Rino Matsuike’s name)
HELSINKI (Reuters) -Newly formed ice dance duo Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron won the Finlandia Trophy on Saturday for their second Grand Prix title, signalling their intent to challenge for Olympic gold with a performance that underlined their swift rise as contenders on the global stage.
Yuma Kagiyama captured the men’s singles title despite a fall on his quadruple toe loop for back-to-back Grand Prix titles, while Japanese compatriot Chiba Mone climbed past American Amber Glenn to win the women’s singles event, despite Glenn’s powerful triple Axel.
Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany won the pairs event.
France’s Fournier Beaudry and Cizeron, who announced their partnership in March, had a narrow lead over Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier after Friday’s rhythm dance and, skating with poise and precision, they pulled away with 124.29 points for their free programme to music from “The Whale,” for 204.18 points overall.
World silver medallists Gilles and Poirier were second with a score of 202.11, while Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik of the United States scored 196.02 for third.
Cizeron won Olympic gold in 2022 with previous partner Gabriella Papadakis, who retired after the Beijing Games, before teaming up with Fournier Beaudry, a Canadian who received her French citizenship this month.
“We felt amazing today on the ice. We wanted to focus on enjoying the moment together and sharing it with the audience, and I think we succeeded. So we’re very pleased,” said Cizeron.
“I think when we’re able to quiet our mind and just open our heart and share it together as a couple and together with the public, it’s really an amazing exchange of love and energy,” Fournier Beaudry added.
American world silver medallists and siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, who launched a comeback this season after a seven-year hiatus, finished fifth.
World bronze medallist Kagiyama was second behind Adam Siao Him Fa of France after the short programme, but scored 182.29 points despite the fall in his free skate to music from “Turandot” for a 270.45 total.
“Honestly, I couldn’t fully reset from the short programme,” Kagiyama told reporters. “But I used that frustration as motivation. The first half was strong; the second half didn’t go as planned, but it’s a good experience.”
Siao Him Fa had multiple errors in his free skate to drop to second with 256.98 points, while Canada’s Stephen Gogolev finished third with 253.61 for the first top-three Grand Prix finish of his career.
Mone, who was second after the short programme, earned 144.33 points for her elegant “Romeo and Juliet” free skate for a total of 217.22. She punched her ticket to the Final, where she will chase the title on home ice in Japan after finishing runner-up to Glenn last season.
Glenn, who has been battling illness this week, opened with her signature triple Axel but faltered on key elements to slip to second with 213.41. Japan’s Rino Matsuike surged from sixth to third with 193.21 to round out the podium.
“It’s still a decent score,” Glenn said. “There were a lot of mistakes and I’m feeling only at about 80% right now so, all that considering, I’m really happy with where I am mentally. Of course it’s disappointing when I’d had four Grand Prix wins in a row but it’s not ‘oh my gosh I should’ve been first.’ Mone was absolutely incredible.”
Hase and Volodin won the pairs with 206.88 total points, while two American teams completed the podium with Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov taking second (205.49) and Ellie Kam and Danny O’Shea finishing third (199.09).
The series culminates with the Grand Prix Final from December 4-7, in Nagoya, Japan.
(Reporting by Lori Ewing in Manchester; editing by Clare Fallon)
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