The third day of the International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2019 saw the conclusion of the pairs and men’s competitions in Anaheim, California.
In his Four Continents debut, Vincent Zhou took the bronze medal for the men’s competition after posting a free skate score of 172.04 points to boost his overall score to 272.22.
“I’m very proud of myself for continuing the upward trend I’ve put myself on,” Zhou said. “The audience was absolutely incredible and they helped me feel good about how I skated.”
Jason Brown finished fourth in the free skate (172.32) to earn 258.89 total points and place fifth overall. The 2018 Four Continents bronze medalist rallied to notch the second-highest components score of the event.
“I’m so proud of my fight out there and scoring my season’s best today,” Brown said. “I’ll keep building onto that momentum into Worlds.”
Tomoki Hiwatashi finished eighth overall (236.79) in his Four Continents debut. His personal best 159.84-point free skate opened with a quad toe loop-triple toe loop combination.
“I’m really glad that I did the greatest program I’ve ever done in my life here and I wish everyone had a great time watching me on the ice,” Hiwatashi said.
Japan’s Shoma Uno topped the podium with 289.12 points and China’s Boyang Jin finished second with 273.51 points.
In the pairs competition, 2019 U.S. champions Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc were the top American team and fourth overall with 196.82 points. The team opened with a throw triple twist to earn 129.33 points in their free skate. They placed second in the event last year.
“We’re really proud of our effort today,” LeDuc said. “It sets us up well for the World Championships.”
Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier took the fifth spot with 184.18 total points. The duo achieved four Level 4 elements to score 122.47 in their free skate.
“We’re proud of our performance because we had a tough start to the season and we came out here showing promise and improvement,” Denney said.
2018 Four Continents champions Tarah Kayne and Danny O’Shea finished just behind Denney and Frazier in sixth place with 180.36 total points after scoring 114.02 points in their free skate.
“I’m very disappointed in my performance today,” Kayne said. “I think we just got a little off and unfortunately we weren’t able to overcome today.”
China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han topped the podium with 211.11 total points. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro of Canada won the silver medal with 211.05, and China’s Cheng Peng and Yang Jin placed third with 205.42.
