At the Figure Skating Grand Prix in Helsinki, the biggest Finnish successes were seen in ice dancing.
Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis finished third in the final results with their best score of 196.60. Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen on the other hand skated to a new record with a score of 183.64, which brought them sixth place.
Britain skated to victory Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (203,22). Canada’s Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier finished second (200.79).
Turkkila and Versluis had a good starting point for the free dance, because in Saturday’s rhythm dance the pair skated their record and went to Sunday in third place.
In their free program, they immersed themselves in the eddies of the fiery pole, and this program was also intact for them.
– It was a good feeling. We were really relaxed, maybe a little too relaxed. We didn’t quite get to the best, if you compare to training, Versluis said after Sunday’s free program.
They were particularly upset by one pirouette that was at a lower level, which ate up the total score.
According to Turkkila, the pair still has a lot to show both technically and interpretatively.
– Towards the end, you can still free yourself and give even more fire and atmosphere.
Quality in training
Turkkila and Versluis’s record score of 198.21 is from January 2023. The transition to a new hundred can still happen this season.
– Of course, that is our goal. We believe we can do it as long as there is still technical precision.
In preparation for this season, they have chosen programs and music that they enjoy and like to practice. They have also focused more on accuracy in steps than before.
– The training sessions have been a bit better anyway. We have perhaps sometimes been a bit skimpy with the quantity, but we have focused on the quality in training, Versluis explained.
Next, the couple heads to China, where the GP series continues right next week. Competition for EC medals in the sport takes place in January-February.
A record for Orihara and Pirinen
Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen broke the 180-point mark for the first time in their careers. It is a big step for the couple, which shows that the direction of development is right.
– It was surprisingly easy to skate today. It didn’t seem hard, Pirinen said.
According to him, it is common that in the competition, with the warm hall, the audience and the adrenaline, there may be a crash in the middle of the program. That didn’t happen today.
– I felt that we were able to press at our own good level until the very end. It showed in the points.
– I’m a bit tired today, but the program was really good. The feeling was incredible, Orihara described his mood.
Pair skaters seventh
Finland’s duo in the pairs competition of the GP competition Milania Väänänen–Filippo Clerici ranked seventh.
They got a score of 106.40 for Sunday’s free program. They scored 54.33 for the short program, making their total score 160.73.
The victory of the pair competition was celebrated by Canada Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps with a score of 207.44.
Single skaters were long behind the top ropes
Finland’s women’s single skaters finished in the last three places in the GP games.
17 years old Janna Jyrkinen was 10th as the best Finn with a total score of 157.44. Nella Pelkonen on the other hand, 155.22 points were recorded, with which he finished 11th. Olivia Lisko was 12th with a total score of 153.67.
of Japan Hana Yoshida won the competition with 199.46 points. of Japan Rino Matsuike (199.20) was second and Italy Lara Naki Gutmann (198.49) third.
On the men’s side Makar Suntsev was 10th as the best Finn. He got 120.90 points for his free program. With a combined score of 130.48, he was far from his best of the season. After the short program, Suntsev regretted the technical uncertainty of his jumps.
For a 37-year-old Valtter Virtane a score of 108.97 was recorded for the free program. The total score of 166.25 was enough for 11th place.
Japan, who led the competition by far after the short program Yuma Kagiyama collected 263.09 winning points from his programs. French Kevin Aymoz (259.15) came second, and Italy Daniel Grassl (258.55) was third.