CHONGQING — Canadian figure skaters Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha won ice dance silver at the Cup of China on the Grand Prix circuit Saturday.
Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., captured their second medal of the Grand Prix season after also claiming silver at Skate Canada in Halifax.
The Canadians scored a season-best 205.16 points. World bronze medallists Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy captured gold (209.13) while Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the United States took bronze (198.18).
“It was a fun week but really stressful when we skated,” Lajoie said. “I’m really happy with how we fought through it, and we delivered a really good free dance so I think we’re pretty satisfied with the competition overall.”
In the pairs competition, Canada's Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud skated to bronze.
The duo set a season-best total of 188.74, behind Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy (211.05) and Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany (209.36).
Pereira of Milton, Ont., and Michaud of Brantford, Ont., bounced back from a disappointing fifth-place finish at the Grand Prix de France earlier in November.
“Definitely an improvement in both the short and the long this week," Michaud said. "We practised really well this week so that’s always a confidence-booster for what we’re trying to do. We want to keep pushing our programs to show what we’re doing in practice, so it was a great week for us in that sense."
Two-time Canadian champion Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., placed seventh in the women’s event.
Reigning men's national champion Wesley Chiu, of Vancouver, withdrew due to injury.
The Grand Prix is the top series in figure skating, consisting of six events and a final. The Cup of China was the sixth stop on the circuit and the Grand Prix Final is set for Dec. 5-8 in Grenoble, France.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2024.
The Canadian Press