The Hague (ISU) – Russia’s Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov danced to the lead in the Westminster Waltz Compulsory Dance followed by Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) and Ekaterina Pushkash/Jonathan Guerreiro of Russia.

Ilinykh/Katsalapov delivered a flowing, confident performance of the Waltz to score a seasons best of 37.52

points (20.24 element score/17.28 program component score). “It is a little unexpected for us to be in the lead, after all, we are not the top ranked Russian team”, Ilinykh said, referring to the fact that they placed second to Ksenia Monko/Kirill Khaliavin at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final and Russian Junior Nationals. “We’ve worked very hard since the Final in December, we worked especially on our technique and physical strength, we did many run-throughs of our programs. We are pleased that we were able to improve the technical side of our skating”, Ilinykh continued.

The couples ranked second through fifth are separated by less than one point.

Shibutani/Shibutani put out a solid Westminster Waltz and picked up 34.27 points (18.48/15.79). “We’re very happy with our dance, and we really enjoy skating the Westminster. It’s very joyful. We just want to put out strong performances. We think this is a great start to the week and we’re just going to focus on the skating”, Maia Shibutani commented. “We skated really well and we just had a lot of fun out there. We were relaxed”, her brother added. “The placement is the placement. We still have our goals how we want to skate and we’re going to stick to that.”

Pushkash/Guerreiro skated last out of the 34 couples and produced a strong Waltz as well, showing off their elegant lines. The Russians earned 34.20 points (18.38/15.82). “We showed everything as we can do it in practice, and so we are happy and our coach was pleased as well. We like the Waltz. The flow of the Waltz suits us probably better than sharp movements in other dances”, Pushkash said. “We skated last and we were a bit nervous, but we actually like to skate last. We won’t relax now, as the difference in points between the couples is very small”, she explained. “We are in our first season and we are still gelling as a team, but the Waltz works well for us as we have matching body lines. A Quickstep probably would have been a little harder for us”, Guerreiro offered.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions Maria Monko/Kirill Khaliavin (RUS) came fourth at 34.17 points and Alexandra Paul/Mitchell Islam (CAN) follow in fifth with 33.32 points. Lorenza Alessandrini/ Simone Vaturi (ITA) are ranked sixth (32.35 points).