Top pairs' teams
Tatiana Volosozhar /
Maxim Trankov and
Yuko Kavaguti /
Alexander Smirnov appealed to the president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation,
Alexander Gorshkov, to release them on medical grounds from participating in the championship, which is part of the selection process for the European and World Championships. Gorshkov said the pairs had earned their berths by virtue of their strong Grand Prix results and granted their exemptions from the Russian Championships.
Nikolai Morozov, the coach of Grand Prix Final bronze medalist
Alena Leonova, said she had also already earned her place in the team and could have missed the event but she chose to compete.
Evgeni Plushenko placed first in the men's short program, with
Artur Gachinski and
Zhan Bush in second and third respectively. Plushenko won his ninth national title. Gachinski won silver and Voronov climbed from fifth after the short to take the bronze medal.
Adelina Sotnikova won the ladies' short program,
Ksenia Makarova was second, and
Yulia Lipnitskaya third. Sotnikova won her third national title, Lipnitskaya won silver, and Leonova took bronze. In the free skate, Lipnitskaya earned the highest TES (technical elements score), followed by 12-year-olds Radionova and Medvedeva, who were ineligible for junior international competitions.
Vera Bazarova /
Yuri Larionov took the lead in the pairs' short program, with
Anastasia Martiusheva /
Alexei Rogonov and
Ksenia Stolbova /
Fedor Klimov in second and third. Bazarova / Larionov won their first national title, while Stolbova / Klimov won silver and Martiusheva / Rogonov the bronze.
Ekaterina Bobrova /
Dmitri Soloviev placed first in the short dance, with
Elena Ilinykh /
Nikita Katsalapov and
Ekaterina Riazanova /
Ilia Tkachenko in second and third respectively. Bobrova / Soloviev won their second national title, Ilinykh / Katsalapov won silver, and Riazanova / Tkachenko held on for the bronze although Pushkash / Guerreiro were third in the free dance. Riazanova was injured a couple of weeks before the event; she sustained a concussion and a broken nose when her partner accidentally elbowed her in practice. The team to the European Championships was named on December 28, 2011. The World Championships team was announced on February 23, 2012, but only two ladies were confirmed, with the third lady (Makarova) confirmed on March 14.
Schedule Local time, UTC/GMT +04:00 •
Sunday, December 25 • 14:00–14:30 – Opening ceremony • 14:45–16:15 – Short dance • 16:30–18:30 – Pairs' short • 18:45–21:15 – Men's short •
Monday, December 26 • 14:00–16:30 – Ladies' short • 16:45–19:45 – Men's free • 20:00–22:00 – Free dance •
Tuesday, December 27 • 16:00–18:25 – Pairs' free • 18:40–21:30 – Ladies' free •
Wednesday, December 28 • 16:00–16:30 – Medal ceremonies • 16:45–19:15 – Exhibitions
Results Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing ==Junior Championships==