The Denis Ten Memorial Challenge wrapped up last weekend at Halyk Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with one blowout and one finish decided by less than a point.
Vladislav Dikidzhi performing at the Dennis Ten Memorial (photo courtesy of the Denis Ten Memorial YouTube channel)
Vladislav Dikidzhi controlled the men’s event from start to finish. He opened with a 107.31 short program on Thursday, more than 11 points clear of the field, and followed with a 205.48 free skate on Saturday to finish at 312.79. Gleb Lutfullin took silver with 277.23, and Petr Gumennik claimed bronze with 261.76. Lutfullin and Gumennik were nearly even, separated by less than half a point, but Lutfullin’s stronger short kept him well ahead.
American Daniel Martynov moved up from fifth after the short to finish fourth with 221.55, passing Vasil Barakhouski, who ended fifth at 218.36. China’s Chen Yudong had the biggest climb in the men’s field, jumping from eighth to sixth.
Alexandra Trusova (Ignatova) wins gold (photo courtesy Denis Ten Memorial YouTube channel)
The women’s event went the other way. Gabriela Juarez-Rivas of the United States led after Thursday’s short program with 78.05, less than a point ahead of Alexandra Trusova (Ignatova)’s 77.39. Competing as an Individual Neutral Athlete, Ignatova won Friday’s free skate with 148.62 to take the title with a total of 226.01. Juarez-Rivas finished second with 225.17, and Kazakhstan’s Sofia Samodelkina earned bronze with 204.36, the host country’s only medal.
Viktoriia Safonova placed fourth with 198.80. Mariia Zakharova rebounded from an eighth-place start to finish fifth at 187.77, while China’s Zhang Ruiyang slipped from sixth to tenth after a difficult free.
In ice dance, Finland’s Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis came from second after the rhythm dance to win with 191.32. Vasilisa Kaganovskaia and Maxim Nekrasov took silver with 187.20. Americans Caroline Green and Michael Parsons led after the rhythm dance with 78.64 but placed fourth in the free dance and finished with bronze at 180.37.
Kazakhstan’s top men’s finisher was Dias Jirenbayev, who placed ninth with 186.27.
The event, held in Almaty since 2019, honors Denis Ten, Kazakhstan’s 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, who passed away in 2018.
