Truly unstoppable: Tutberidze’s skaters extend their winning ways as Shcherbakova takes lead in China

Rising ice-skating star Anna Shcherbakova, who has been training under Russia’s renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze, has taken the lead at the fourth Grand Prix event in China, confidently winning the women’s short program on Friday.

The 15-year-old sensation captivated the Chinese crowd with her near-perfect routine, in which she flawlessly coped with all jumping elements, including a triple lutz triple loop combination, which was thrown in the second part of the program.

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Shcherbakova scored 73.51 points for her almost-perfect performance, becoming the sole skater at the event to overcome the 70-point barrier.

Japan’s Satoko Miyahara registered the second best result in China, sitting almost four points behind Shcherbakova, while Amber Glenn of the USA is currently third place, with a score of 67.69 points.

The 2015 world champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva failed to finish in the top three, falling on her signature triple axel. She also doubled her toe-loop jump which was executed in combination with a triple flip, an error which didn’t go unnoticed by the judges.

Tuktamysheva posted a score of 65.57 points which brought her to the current fourth place, almost eight points behind the leader.

Another representative of Russia, Sofia Samodurova, delivered a nice performance in China which earned her 63.99 points.

The reigning European champion won fifth place in the short program, sitting right behind teammate and training partner Tuktamysheva.

The first-year senior Shcherbakova dominated the season-opening Grand Prix event – Skate America – leaving behind her more experienced rivals, including Tuktamysheva.

So far, all three Grand Prix stages have been won by Tutberidze’s skaters, who have stunned all the pundits with their sensational quad-jumping performance.