Russian teenager Kostornaia wins NHK Trophy for 2nd GP title

SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Teenager Alena Kostornaia won the women’s free skate on Saturday to claim her second title of the season at the NHK Trophy and complete a sweep of the International Skating Union’s Grand Prix series by Russian women.

Kostornaia opened with a triple axel-double toeloop combination but stumbled on the landing of her next jump, another triple axel. The 16-year-old skater added six more triple jumps to finish with 154.96 points for a total of 240.00.

“I was satisfied with all my performances here,” said Kostornaia, who set a record score of 85.04 in the short program on Friday. “It was an honor to set a record score in the short program and I was pleased with my result today. I’m looking forward to performing well at the Grand Prix Final.”

Local favorite Rika Kihira landed two triple axels and finished second with 231.84 points, while Olympic champion Alina Zagitova was third with 217.99 points.

Zagitova opened with a triple lutz-triple loop combination and scored high points for a triple flip and another triple lutz later in her routine.

Adding to her win in France, Kostornaia also qualified for the Dec. 5-8 Grand Prix Final in Turin, Italy. Russian women have now won all six of the ISU’s GP series titles.

Olympic silver medalists Wenjing Sui and Cong Han of China won the pairs event with a total of 226.96 points and their second victory of the Grand Prix circuit this season. Canadian champions Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro were second with 208.49 points while Russians Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov took bronze with 203.35.

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France won the ice dance title with 226.61 points. Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin earned silver with 208.81, and Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy took the bronze medal with a total of 198.06 points.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports