Andrey SimonenkoCorrespondent SportAll materialsThe Vremya Pervyi team took the lead after short programs and rhythmic dance at the First Channel Figure Skating Cup in Saransk. The squad of the winner of the team tournament at the Beijing Olympics as part of the Russian national team Mark Kondratyuk scored 72 points, the Red Machine team of the Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova — 71 points. Finally, the stands are full On Saturday, the ice arena in Saransk was filled almost to capacity. The Channel One Cup 2022 has become, in fact, the first figure skating tournament in Russia in two and a half years, which takes place without any coronavirus restrictions. Needless to say, how delighted the athletes were at this circumstance, who during all this time had to perform either in front of empty or extremely selectively filled stands. After the jumping tournament held on Friday, the competition between the two teams — Red Machine and First Time — started again. But first, the skaters showed colorful presentations. «Time of the First» focused on the historical part of figure skating — the video began with information that Peter the Great brought skates to Russia. And «Red Machine» relied on romance. The team's motto was «Love will save the world», and each skater was given a heart in the «Tears and Kisses Corner». >Mikhail Kolyada «Red Machine» started faster The dancers were the first to take to the ice with rhythmic programs. In this discipline, only two duets perform in Saransk, but what kind! Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov are the silver medalists of the Beijing Olympics, winners of the team tournament of these Games as part of the Russian team, world champions in 2021. And their constant pursuers are Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin. There were no changes in the hierarchy — Sinitsina and Katsalapov not only scored the best total points, but also surpassed the result of the world record held by the French Gabrielle Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron. But according to the rules, this result will not be counted as official — it will be shown at the domestic start. The «Red Machine» team, for which Victoria and Nikita play here, took the lead. In the men's short program, the warm-up was already full — six people. Initially, the team «Vremya Pervyy» seemed to be the favorite here, the captain of which is the Olympic champion in the Russian team Mark Kondratyuk. But the «Red Machine» under the control of Anna Shcherbakova turned out to be stronger here too. Mikhail Kolyada helped, who scored the best amount of points for the net rental. The second and third places were taken by the Blues — Evgeny Semenenko and Kondratyuk, but following the results of two disciplines, the Reds increased the lead to two points. » />
Evgeny Semenenko Then four sports couples took to the ice and gave the public two more world records. Of course, exactly the same unofficial ones. The best result was shown by the silver medalists of the Beijing Olympics Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, the bronze medalists of the Games in pair skating Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov were the second. Both of them scored more points than the Chinese Sui Wenjing and Han Cong. Well, “Red Machine” after the third discipline broke away from the competitors by four points already. Valieva and Tuktamysheva strike backHowever, it was too early for Shcherbakova's team to celebrate leadership after the first day. Firstly, the scoring system at the current tournament is different from last year's — everything goes according to the rules of the Olympiad, which adds unpredictability. And secondly, in the fourth form of the program, most anticipated by the audience, — women's single skating — the composition of the «Vremya Pervyi» was clearly stronger. Kamila Valieva, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Maya Khromykh, and against them Shcherbakova and two juniors: Sofya Samodelkina and Adelia Petrosyan. >Adelia Petrosyan True, this advantage will not be so obvious in the free program, where quadruple jumps will be allowed. In the short one, where the organizers decided not to deviate from the official rules of the International Skating Union (although it might have been worth it), the athletes did not perform four-turn jumps, and the juniors were deprived of their main weapon. As a result, Valieva showed the best result. Although she did not go on the triple axel, she scored enough points for the net rental to get ahead of Shcherbakova, who skated just as impeccably. Following the same two places were taken by Tuktamysheva, who demonstrated a new program to the song of Beyoncé with a clean triple axel, and Khromykh, and Petrosyan and Samodelkina closed the table. As a result, «Vremya Pervyi» won back all the backlog and took the lead — 72-71. «It's too early to talk about victory, only the first day has passed, but I'm glad that we have the lead,» Kondratyuk commented on the day. Shcherbakova didn't look upset either. “I felt responsible, I understood that I couldn’t let the team down. I’m glad I did it. Tomorrow we’ll try to perform just as well,” she said. On Sunday, the Channel One Cup will end with free programs in all four disciplines.
