| | NAGOYA, Japan -- World champion Maria Butyrskaya of Russia overtook compatriot Victoria Volchkova with a solid and graceful performance, taking her second NHK Trophy figure skating singles title.
Volchkova, the leader in after the short program, skated conservatively with few errors and finished second ahead of defending champion Tatyana Malinina of Uzbekistan.
Butyrskaya last won the NHK Trophy in 1996, outskating Tonia Kwiatkowski of the United States and Azerbaijan's Yulia Vorobieva.
The 27-year-old Butyrskaya, who had stumbled on a triple loop in the short program, started her 4-minute free-skating program aggressively with four triple jumps, landing wobbly on a triple lutz. She was otherwise in complete command.
Skating to "The Swan Lake," Butyrskaya landed a triple-double sequence and a high double axel, and enchanted the crowd with a graceful repertoire of step sequences, spins and spirals.
The 17-year-old Volchkova's skating in the longer and more important free program was slower and less playful than Butyrskaya's. This allowed the older skater to surge ahead into the lead and the victory.
Still, the winner was not entirely pleased.
"I was sleepy this morning, and I am not quite satisfied with my performance today," said Butyrskaya. "I could not sleep well last night, maybe because of the difference in weather and time."
"I made some mistakes, and now that the most important competitions are to come, I have to prepare for them," said Butyrskaya, referring to the Grand Prix Final in January, the European Championships in February and the World Championships in March.
Butyrskaya, winner of the Sparkassen Cup in Germany and the Trophee Lalique in France in November, said her next immediate goal is to finish third or better in the Russian Championships Dec. 24-25. "Otherwise I may fail to qualify for the European and the World Championships."
Volchkova said of her performance, "I did a clean short, and I didn't skate that bad in the long program."
Malinina, who was fourth in the short program, came back stronger in the long, landing four high and clean triples as well as a double axel.
"It was difficult for me to skate because I had a serious injury three weeks ago," said Malinina, who suffered a groin injury in the Sparkassen Cup. "So, I'm quite satisfied."
Ukranian Elena Liashenko, who was third in the short, placed fourth after landing two-footed on a triple and skipping a combination of jumps.
Two competitors from host Japan, Shizuka Arakawa and Fumie Suguri, placed fifth and eighth, respectively.
The NHK Trophy is the sixth and last event in the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series. Under a points-scoring system, the series leads to the Grand Prix final in Lyon, France, Jan. 14-16.
Several big-name skaters who had already qualified for Lyon skipped the Nagoya event. They included Russians Alexei Yagudin and Irina Slutskaya, American Michelle Kwan and Canadian Elvis Stojko.
In three other free-skating sessions held on Saturday, Evgeni Plushenko of Russia won the men's singles title, the Russian duo Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov won the pairs event, and France's Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat took the ice dancing title.
For his second straight NHK Trophy title, the 17-year-old Plushenko hit a quadruple followed by a triple and a double, the first combination of its kind ever landed cleanly by any skater in competition.
Plushenko edged American Timothy Goebel, famed for jumping three quads in one program five weeks ago. Goebel held on to second place for the silver medal after jumping two quads but falling on his third.
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 ABC Sports special feature on Maria Butyraskaya
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Butyraskaya's performance at NHK Trophy (Courtesy: ABC Sports)
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