We take a quick look back at what happened in the world of skating over the course of the past week.

First Grand Prix Final Qualifiers Decided At Rostelecom Cup

At the Megasport Arena in Moscow, Javier Fernandez showed us exactly why he is the two-time World champion when he captured his third successive Rostelecom Cup title. The Spaniard was in second place after the short program, but rallied in the free skating with a clean routine to win overall. Shoma Uno was leading after the short with a new personal best of 98.59, the third highest score by any skater. A fall on a quadruple toe loop in the free put paid to his chances of winning a second Grand Prix title this season. His second place finish did secure him a spot in the Grand Prix Final next month. Alexei Bychenko took his first Grand Prix medal in winning bronze.

Anna Pogorilaya displayed a new confidence in cruising to her first Rostelecom Cup title. The World bronze medallist was foot perfect in both the short and free and posted a new career best total of 215.21. Elena Radionova almost kept pace with Pogorilaya in the short, but struggled in the free finishing 20 points adrift in the end. Courtney Hicks leaped from sixth after the short to wind up with bronze.

There was some surprise in the pairs event when Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot found themselves in second place after the short due to costly mistakes. Their free was not by any means perfect with a hard fall by Savchenko on a quadruple Salchow throw right at the end of the routine, but it was more than enough to give the Germans their first Grand Prix gold. Russia’s Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert and Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov were second and third respectively.

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev put all their troubles from last season behind them and racked up a new set of personal bests to win the ice dance event in Moscow. The 2013 European champions also booked themselves a place in the Grand Prix Final. Madison Chock and Evan Bates had held a narrow lead following the short dance, but an error by Bates in the twizzle sequence dropped the Americans down to second place. Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje finished second in the free dance, but remained in third overall.