Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy denied Canada's Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison a second straight Grand Prix pairs title with a near-flawless free skate Saturday at Skate Canada.
The German duo, bronze medallists at last year's world championships, who led the six-couple field after Friday's short program, continued their momentum with an edgy program set to music from Cirque de Soleil.
Germany's Aliona Savchenko, right, and partner Robin Szolkowy peform their free skate program in the pairs competiton Saturday at Skate Canada.
(Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)
Savchenko and Szolkowy scored 119.19 points for their free skate for a winning total of 188.63.
"Our program was not clean but it was better than our last competition," Szolkowy said, referring to Savchenko touching her hand on the ice after a triple Salchow landing. "We're getting better and better each time."
Dube, of Drummondville, Que., and Davison, of Cambridge, Ont., scored 111.08 with a one-point deduction for a total of 174.20, which set a new personal best.
The 20-year-old Canadian pair upset China's 2006 world champions Pang Qing and Tong Jian to win last week's Skate America with a then personal-best score of 173.26.
Russia's Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov finished third, just ahead of Canadian pair Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay.
Savchenko and Szolkowy also won the Canadian stop on the International Skating Union's Grand Prix circuit two years ago when the event was held in St. John's.
"Canada has good ice for us," Szolkowy said. The German pair took home $18,000 US for their victory.
Dube fell on her triple Salchow, but they were happy with their overall performance, which earned them $13,000 US in prize money.
"We did some stupid mistakes but that happens," Dube said. "We'll work harder to do it right next time."
'Bigger tricks' for Langlois and Hay
Langlois, 26, of Grand-Mere, Que., and Hay, 24, of Grande Prairie, Alta., were fifth after the short program, but moved up a placing thanks to a solid free skate.
The only mistake in their four-minute routine was Langlois's wonky landing on her throw triple Lutz.
"With all the little mistakes we made (Friday) we both came off the ice a little bit down," said Hay, who paired with Langlois in 2005. "Today, there were still a couple of mistakes but a lot of the bigger tricks got done and, overall, I felt like [we] skated better (Saturday)."
Canada's third entry in the event, Meagan Duhamel, 21, of Lively, Ont., and Craig Buntin, 27, of Kelowna, B.C., placed sixth.
Buntin, a three-time Canadian champion with former partner Val Marcoux, only teamed up with Duhamel last June and the pair are slowing coming together.
Buntin tripped up during a footwork sequence leading into a triple Salchow to open their program and the pair downgraded a triple-double jump combo to a double-single.
The next Grand Prix competition is Nov. 8-11 in Harbin, China.
Vancouver-based Jessica Miller and Ian Moram are the only Canadians in the eight-pair event.
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