Canadians Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps finish 6th in Grand Prix Final pairs

Canadians Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps, the reigning world champions, finished sixth in pairs at the Grand Prix Final on Friday after a shaky free skate.

The two-time Grand Prix medallists, who won bronze at the 2023 Final, posted 194.36 points after a fall in their free program.

Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara won the title (225.21), ahead of Italy's Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii (223.28) and Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin (221.25).

"We don't know what happened, we felt ready and everything. We're going to take a week off to recover. We've competed in four events in nine weeks, during which time we've also both been sick. We just need to rest and start fresh so we can tackle the rest of the season," said Deschamps.

Canadian pair Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps struggle at Grand Prix Final

The event features the top six entries in each figure skating discipline from the Grand Prix season.

Canadian ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skate their free dance on Saturday after placing third in Thursday's rhythm dance.

In junior ice dance, Canadians Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys opened in sixth after Friday's rhythm dance at their first Junior Grand Prix Final.

Americans Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin lead the field, followed by Ukraine's Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval and France's Ambre Perrier Gianesini and Samuel Blanc Klaperman.

"It's great to be here, we're very proud of ourselves. We worked hard to qualify," shared Veillon. "Our goal was to deliver two good programs, but sometimes things don't go as well, and you have to find a way to bounce back. We're going to look ahead, focus on the future and not the past."

In junior pairs, Winnipeg's Ava Kemp and Yohnatan