ASAHIKAWA, Japan, 29 November 2003 — Elena Liashenko of the Ukraine overcame a tumble to grab the women’s lead at the NHK Trophy figure skating tournament here yesterday.
Liashenko, already winner in this season’s Grand Prix series events in Beijing and Moscow, fell on a normally safe flip as she skated her short program to the tune of Otonal by Raul di Blasio.
She nevertheless earned the top mark of 58.20 points in the absence of Russian star Irina Slutskaya who had pulled out for health reasons. Home hope Fumie Suguri, who fell launching her first jump combination, placed second on 57.94, with fellow Japanese skater and defending champion Yoshie Onda ranked third. Bulgarian ice dancing duo Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, the world bronze medalists, held their lead despite losing out to rivals in the original dance section. “The original dance is our weakest point. We hope we’ll skate our best tomorrow,” said Denkova after an error in their straight-line step.
