OSAKA, Japan – US teenager Ava Marie Ziegler jumped four places from the short program to pick up her first career win in the Figure Skating Grand Prix series at the NHK Trophy in Japan.
The 17-year-old Ziegler collected 138.46 points in the free skate to win with a total of 200.50. Short programme leader and compatriot Lindsay Thorngren, also 17, finished second with 198.73 after scoring 129.80 in the free skate.
“I feel super excited, relieved – and happy,” said Ziegler who, like her fellow New Jersey-based friend Lindsay Thorngren, is only in her second senior campaign.
“It definitely helps with my confidence and honestly, just looking towards other competitions I will stay humble but use this to better myself next time and just keep building on this.”
Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone rounded out the podium with 194.66 at Towa Pharmaceutical RACTAB Dome in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, in the sixth event of the series before the Dec. 7-9 Grand Prix Final in Beijing.
Japan’s Yuna Aoki, Mai Mihara and Wakaba Higuchi were fifth, eighth and ninth, respectively, on home ice, AP reported.
Two-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, Isabeau Levito of the United States and Loena Hendrickx of Belgium have already qualified for the GP Final.
The NHK Trophy is the sixth and last event of the International Skating Union´s Grand Prix series, which leads in the Grand Prix Final.
The 17-year-old Ziegler landed a triple flip-double axel-double axel sequence as well as six more triple jumps.
“I really used my fifth-place result Saturday to motivate me because I know that I could do better and I really used it to push me to be the best that I could be,” the New Jersey native said.
Thorngren’s programme to music from “Twilight” featured a triple lutz-triple toe combination and three more clean triples.
It was the first Grand Prix medal for the 17-year-old Thorngren, also of New Jersey.
“I know I can do better, but I’m really happy with how I’ve performed here and the experience I gained,” said Thorngren, who revealed that she sprained her ankle before the practice of the short programme.
In ice dance, European silver medalists Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Britain won the gold medal with a personal-best score of 130.26 in the free dance for a total of 215.19.
European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were second with 214.56 points followed by Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania, who were third with 196.86.
With their win in Japan, Fear and Gibson qualified for the GP Final along with Guignard and Fabbri.
Yuma Kagiyama upstaged two-time world champion and fellow Japanese skater Shoma Uno to finish first in the men´s short programme.
“I’m standing here and there’s so many things I can do better,’’ Canadian figure skater Madeline Schizas said. “It was my first clean skate of the year and I’m really happy to pull it off at Skate Canada in front of friends and family.”
