Reigning ISU European Champions Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin (GER) shone in the Pairs Short Program to skate to the lead as competition kicked off at Skate Canada International in Saskatoon (CAN). Skate Canada is the third of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series 2025/26.
The 2025 ISU World silver medalists Minerva Hase & Nikita Volodin of Germany put out a crisp tango Short Program to take the lead ahead of Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps and Lia Pereira & Trennt Michaud.
Hase & Volodin sparkled in their characteristic tango routine “El Abrazo” (The Embrace) that has been especially composed for them. The two-time ISU Grand Prix Final Champions produced a triple twist, excellent side by side triple Salchow, throw triple loop and picked up a level four for their lift, spin, footwork and death spiral to score 77.53 points, just below their personal best.
“I think it was the best Short Program of the season so far,” Hase said. “We could show pretty much all levels and elements except for the twist (level three). So, this is something to work on.”
Hase enjoys performing to “their” tango. “It has so much room for us to improve as a pair,” she said. “The music gives so much to work on details and get it better each time. It’s just fun that we are the first team ever to compete to that music and maybe not the last one. That would be like my little wish. Maybe we can put new music out there.”
Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin of Germany delivered a strong performance in the Pairs Short Program at Skate Canada 2025 in Saskatoon, Canada © ISU
Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps’ dramatic performance to “Carmina Burana” was highlighted by a level-four triple twist and a throw triple loop, and the crowd cheered loudly when Stellato-Dudek performed her unique backflip in the step sequence. However, the death spiral was rated a level one. The 2024 ISU World Champions earned 73.03 points.
For us, it was more attack than what we did in France,” Deschamps said. “We had some little silly mistakes on some stuff. But it’s OK, we’ll get back and work on them to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Stellato-Dudek was particularly unhappy about the level one for the death spiral. “That is a lot of points and in France (at the Grand Prix) it was a level four. That is frustrating,” she said.
Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) delighted their home crowd in the Pairs Short Program at Skate Canada 2025 in Saskatoon, Canada © ISU
Skating to ”Say You Love Me”, Pereira & Michaud impressed with another strong performance that included a triple twist, triple toe and throw triple loop. The 2023 ISU Grand Prix Finalists exceeded 70 points for the first time, setting a personal best of 70.66 points.
“We put in a lot of work, especially on this Short Program,” Pereira said. “We really worked hard on the performance in trying to really portray a story and just improve on our skating skills to get within the top teams in the world. I feel like we were able to do that today along with the elements, so we’re very proud of ourselves today.”