Canadian Patrick Chan wins Trophee Bompard
Posted November 19, 2011 10:30 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS — Canadian world champion Patrick Chan won the Trophee Bompard for the third time on Saturday, despite an error-strewn free program that saw him land awkwardly on two falls and stumble on a step sequence.
The 20-year-old from Toronto started strongly by nailing a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination, but then lost his balance during the circular step sequence.
It seemed to affect his confidence, and he landed awkwardly on two jumps in quick succession.
“The warmup felt really good, the program didn’t,” said Chan. “I felt shaky on the quads all week. Sometimes you make mistakes but overall I’m very pleased.”
Having dominated the short program on Friday, Chan had enough overall points (240.60) to comfortably beat Song Nan of China (224.10) and Czech ice skater Michal Brezina (218.60).
Chan said he was not focusing properly, however, when he made a basic error during the step sequence.
“I’m not thinking enough about keeping my centre strong,” he said. “I get too carried away.”
Song glided effortlessly across the ice to Franz Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2”, drawing loud applause from the crowd at the Bercy arena.
“It wasn’t as good as my Cup of China, but I’m pleased I was able to do two quad toes,” said Song, who was first in free skate when he finished third at the Cup of China two weeks ago. “It was tough but I enjoyed competing here. There are many things I need to improve to get to (Chan’s) level.”
Brezina qualified along with Chan for next month’s Grand Prix Final.
“That was a goal of mine for three years and I finally made it,” Brezina said. “That’s good, and I’m really happy but I still need to work on the quad.”
Later Saturday, world junior runner-up Elizaveta Tuktamisheva of Russia defended her lead in the women’s free.
