Zhou Upstages Chen At Skate America

Vincent Zhou took a surprise lead over US teammate and three-time world champion Nathan Chen on Friday in the men's figure skating at the Skate America meet in Las Vegas

Winnipeg, Canada, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Oct, 2021 ) :Vincent Zhou took a surprise lead over US teammate and three-time world champion Nathan Chen on Friday in the men's figure skating at the Skate America meet in Las Vegas.

Chen, who has been unbeatable over the past three years, had a disastrous outing that left him back in fourth place with a score of 82.89 - some 28 points short of his best.

Skating last in the 11-man field, Chen fell on his opening quadruple lutz and later misfired on the second jump in his quad flip combination. He buried his face in his hands when his performance ended.

"I still have to figure out exactly what it is logistically that went wrong. I don't want to make excuses for myself. I made mistakes. I didn't skate well," Chen said as the day's competition at this first of six stops on the ISU Grand Prix circuit came to a close.

Zhou, on the other hand, earned a standing ovation. The first skater out of the gate, he exuded confidence and soared on his two quads - a lutz and salchow.

The 2019 world bronze medallist, who won the Olympic qualifier last month in Germany, collected 97.43 points for his determined and heartfelt routine set to "Vincent, Starry Starry Night." "It's a great program for me. I love it so much," said Zhou who, like Chen, has five quad jumps planned for his free skate.

"I'm going to take this into tomorrow, use it to build confidence and move forward. I did a good job tonight performing the programme, showing some of the great things we've been doing in training. I can skate even better. I've been skating pretty consistently this season and this is just another building block moving forward." Japan's Shoma Uno, the 2018 Olympic silver medallist, climbed into second place with 89.07. His quad toe-loop jump combo, superior skating skills and showmanship kept him in the mix after he downgraded his opening quad flip to a double.

American Jimmy Ma finished third with 84.52 points.

Earlier Friday, Russian duo Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov charmed the crowd with their own brilliant performance to take the lead in pairs competition.

The twice European champions notched 80.36 points to better their young compatriots Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii (75.43) by almost five points.

Japanese Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, a fast-rising team who trains in Canada, grabbed third spot with 72.63.

The Grand Prix event in Las Vegas marks the official start to the 2022 Olympic season with the Beijing Winter Games less than four months away.

Skate America continues Saturday with the women's and ice dance short programmes followed by the pairs and men's finals.