Russian pair win NHK Trophy

Russian pair Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov won their second Grand Prix title in a row after rallying from fifth position overnight to lift the NHK Trophy Saturday. Fresh from their victory in the Cup of China last week and skating to Claude Debussy's "Clair de Lune" in the free skate, they hit a maximum level-four with a flying change-foot spin, two lifts and a combination spin. They scored 122.49 points in the free skate for a combined total of 177.51, overcoming a 4.21-point gap against Germany's world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who topped the short programme on Friday. The German pair could only manage a third best score of 112.45 in the free skate to finish third overall on 171.68. Japan's Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, who won last season's junior Grand Prix final, maintained second spot on 172.09 after scoring 114.20 in the free skate. "Yesterday, we were too happy about skating in Japan to focus on our elements," Japanese-born Kavaguti, who turns 30 this month, said after the pair's fourth career GP victory since teaming up in 2006. "But today we stayed calm with nothing on our mind. I only thought about skating with my partner. "We tried just to skate our best with no thought given to our short programme result. We watched other pairs skate and did not expect to win." The Russians won the European championships in 2009-2010 but finished runners-up to the German pair last season. In the short programme, Kavaguti fell in her opening triple toeloop and stepped out when she landed after a throw triple toeloop. In the free skate Takahashi stepped out at the end of a triple-double combination and was two-footed in landing a throw triple toeloop. But they hit a level-four in five elements, including spins, lifts and a backward outside death spiral. "I feel very happy because we could show our strong skating to the audience," the 19-year-old Takahashi said. Savchenko and Szolkowy lacked speed and flare, scoring just level-one for their spirals and double lutz twist lift. They also singled a planned side-by-side double axle. "We're not happy because we wanted to skate better than yesterday," said the 32-year-old Szolkowy. "Sometimes our days are like today. It is very hard to describe why. Everything was okay. Sometimes it doesn't work." In the ice dance final, Japanese-American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani grabbed their first world-class title. Dancing spiritedly to Glenn Miller's big-band music, they hit a maximum level-four in twizzles and a variety of lifts to score 92.83 points in the free skate. They were in third position after Friday's short dance and won the title with a combined score of 151.85 points, only 0.09 points better than second-placed Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada. Russia's 2010 world junior champions Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov failed to hang on to their 1.76-point overnight lead, finishing third on 149.48. The 17-year-old Ilinykh hurt her right knee when she bumped into the board during the warm-up before the free skate but managed to perform with the help of her 20-year-old partner.