MOSCOW (AP) — Mao Asada overcame two errors in her free skate to win the Rostelecom Cup on Saturday and qualify for the ISU Grand Prix final for the first time in three years.
The two-time world champion from Japan was leading Russia’s Alena Leonova by less than half a point after Friday’s short program in the last of the season’s six Grand Prix competitions.
Asada double-footed a triple axel and reduced her triple combination to a triple Salchow jump. She earned 118.96 points for the free program and totaled 183.25 to beat second-place Leonova by 2.8 points. Leonova also reduced her combination and fell on a double axel.
Russian teen Adelina Sotnikova was third, her second top-three finish in a Grand Prix event this season.
