Defending Champ Chen Opens Strong At Skate America

Defending champ Chen opens strong at Skate America

Los Angeles, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Oct, 2019 ) :Nathan Chen launched is bid for a third straight Skate America title in style Friday, scoring 102.71 points in his short programme at the first ISU Grand Prix event of the season in Las Vegas, Nevada.

America's two-time reigning world champion opened his short programme to "La Boheme" with a quadruple Lutz, followed by a triple Axel and a quadruple toe-triple toe combination.

Russian Dmitry Aliev was in second place, trailing Chen with 96.57 points after a short programme that included a quadruple Lutz and a quadruple toe.

Canadian Keegan Messing was in third on a personal-best 96.

34 points.

Chen, 20, hasn't lost a Grand Prix event since his silver medal at the Grand Prix Final in 2016, and it seems unlikely he'll be caught in Vegas, which is hosting the event for the first time.

China's Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, who were fourth at the World Championships in Japan in March, grabbed a narrow lead in the pairs short programme their 72.73 points putting them just 1.48 ahead of Russian Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin.

US champions Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc were third on 68.20.

Competition continued later Friday with the rhythm dance and the women's short programmes.