Russia's Zagitova wins ladies title at Saitama Worlds

Saitama, Japan, March 22 (Xinhua) -- PyeongChang Olympic champion Alina Zagitova of Russia proved she is still the best female figure skater in the world at the 2019 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, here on Friday.

Dancing to the music of the Carmen Suite by Rodion Shchedrin, Zagitova delivered a flawless free skate. All her jumps were clean; her spins and sequences were beautiful. She scored 155.42 points in the free skate, and totaled 237.50 to take the gold medal.

Kazakhstan's Elizabeth Tursynbaeva, who opened her program with a stunning quad salchow, took the silver by 224.76 in total, 148.80 in free skate.

Pyeongchang runner-up Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia came in third with 223.80, scoring 149.57 in the free skate.

China's Chen Hongyi took 19th with 157.59.