| | World champion Maria Butyrskaya completed a near-sweep of the titles for the Russians by taking the women's event at the Nations Cup.
Maria Butyrskaya lead the way for the Russians in the Nations Cup.
Butyrskaya skated to the classic Swan Lake but was spotty in her technical elements. She stepped out of a triple flip and had trouble with landings on two other jumps.
| |  | | | Maria Butryraskaya led the way for the Russians. |
"I have two new programs and it is very difficult mentally for me since I didn't know what kind of mistakes I would make," Butyrskaya said. "I knew I would make mistakes. That was clear from the start. But it is a nice surprise for me to win."
She managed marks between 5.3 and 5.7 for technique which had four good triple jumps in all.
For artistry she had marks between 5.6 and 5.8.
She will have to do better if he is to beat Michelle Kwan at next March's world championships in Nice.
Elena Liashenko of Ukraine was second with Irina Slutskaya of Russia. Annie Bellemare of St-Eustache, Que., was last among the 10 competitors.
Russians also took the men and pairs titles.
Evgeny Plushenko completed eight triple jumps and barely missed a quad to capture the men's event.
Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov of Russia took the pairs event for the second consecutive year here. They had to complete everything cleanly to hold off the rising Canadian pair, Jamie Sale of Red Deer, Alta., and David Pelletier of Sayabec, Que.
Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz won their first event outside of their country in seven years as they took the ice dance title with some jazzy steps to Harry Connick Jr. crooning. Bourne, of Chatham, Ont., and Kraatz, of Vancouver, pocketed $30,000 US.
The top point scorers in the six-meet series qualify for the final in Lyon, France, in January.
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