ASAHIKAWA, 30 November 2003 — Japan’s Fumie Suguri skated a cautious free skate yesterday to win the women’s title at the NHK Trophy, while American Tim Goebel took the lead in the men’s event.
Suguri produced a technically sound routine to Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 at Taisetsu Arena for 165.52 points. Her only mistake was a double salchow that should have been a triple. Elena Liashenko of Ukraine was second with 163.14 points, while defending champion Yoshie Onda finished third with 154.42 points. American Jennifer Kirk, bidding for a berth in the Grand Prix final, was fifth after the short program and needed to skate a strong performance in the final.
In ice dancing, Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski of Bulgaria, who were second in the original dance, relied on innovative lifts and intricate step sequences in the free dance to finish first overall with 207.51 points. Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov of Ukraine were second with 205.73 points, while Israel’s Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovski were third with 194.08 points.
