by Maggie Doyle
Mao Asada left no doubt that she wanted this Junior Ladies champion title,
going full out technically with her "La Boutique Fantastique" by
Joseph Kern program, landing 8 triples including a triple Axel that was ratified
this time. She was accompanied to the press conference by her coach Mie
Hamada and Hamada's former student Midori Ito who also landed triple Axels.
Ito said of Asada, "It is so great that she won and landed the triple Axel.
I am so happy for her. She's smart, very cute and has it all
together."
Asada said of her accomplishment, "I'm very satisfied for today's
performance. I was a little nervous before, watching the other skaters on
TV," said Asada, "When it was my turn, the nervousness was gone and I
was very happy with what I did."
She gave a lovely and elegant performance that sparkled but without the abandon
that she displayed for the short program but all her elements were well executed
and clean. Her free skate garnered 119.13 points (technical
element score 62.73 and program component score of 56.40) for a combined score
of 179.24, giving her a margin of victory of 20.31. Asada said,"
Asada was the final skater of the night, so Yu-Na Kim of Korea led the leader
board after skating 21st in the 24 ladies' field until Asada's marks came up.
Kim hopes to better her results at next year's junior world championships.
""Since I made so many mistakes yesterday in my short program, I was
nervous, my body was tense, but today, I am very happy. I'm very happy about
this first world medal in Korean figure skating history. Now I have to skate
harder to earn better medals," said Kim. Both Asada and Kim are too
young to make either World or Olympic teams next season.
Kim landed a triple toeloop - triple toeloop combination and then a triple Lutz
- double toeloop - double loop combination in her "Papa, Can You Hear
Me?" program by P. Williams. She also completed a triple flip -
double toeloop and three other triple jumps (loop, Salchow and Lutz) for a clean
program with very secure jump landings.
The third place medalist, Emily Hughes who also made her international junior
debut at this competition and made her first trip to 2005 U.S. championships as
a senior, placing sixth in January 2005, was visibly thrilled to make the podium
here. She said, ""As far as I knew coming here, I was my biggest
competition. I'm glad I accomplished what I did. I had a standing ovation at
nationals and I knew how that felt so that was wonderful, too," said Hughes
Hughes fought hard for her jumps and landed six triples in her "Sleeping
Beauty" free skating program. "She supports me so much and I support
her," Hughes said regarding her sister Sarah, "She's really happy for
me for what I've achieved so far." Sarah called her prior to the
competition to wish her good luck but she hadn't yet spoken to her again after
the press conference. Hughes had planned to see her sister perform in Long
Island but instead will remain in Kitchener to skate in the exhibition.
Alissa Czisny and last year's bronze medalist Kimmie Meissner had to settle here
for short program medals. Meissner finished fourth after singling her
final two jumps; the second Lutz and the triple flip in combination. She
said, 'I was really stupid at the end of my program. It was disappointing but
the beginning was good. I stopped thinking, I guess." She landed four
triples, opting not to try the triple Axel. "We decided that was a
better choice under code of points until I am more consistent," Meissner
explained.
Meissner competes here instead of the 2005 World Championships because she
missed the 15 year old by July 1 ISU rule deadline, even though she was the US
bronze medalist this January. Meissner's coach Pam Gregory called
the rule "a stupid one." She then added, "Why not let the best
compete?" Her coach felt Meissner peaked at the U.S. championships
and that it was harder for Meissner to be as excited about the world
championships since she competed at the event the year before and medalled
(bronze).
Czisny gave a balletic performance to "Swan Lake" but opted to pop her
triple Salchow and fell on her double Axel right in front of the judges.
She completed five triples in her program (triple Lutz - double toe loop
combination, triple flip, triple loop, triple Lutz, and a triple toeloop) but
placed 8th in the freeskate to finish sixth overall. She does take home a
silver short program medal. "I learned from my qualifying and my
short program but I still have to figure out what I learned from this long
program. I enjoyed competing at World Juniors. I'd love to compete
at senior worlds next year but junior worlds also would be nice, too."
Fifth place went to Elene Gesvanishvili of Georgia (GEO) who had a personal best
skate where she raised her personal freeskating best from 64.18 to 90.69 and
pulled up from seventh place to fifth place in the freeskate and overall.
She skated a clean program to "Ballet Egyptian" and included a triple
Lutz - triple toeloop combination and five other triples, although not all of
the quality of some of the other competitors.
Canada's Mira Leung had the best skate of her life, landing every jump until the
final moments when she fell going into her combination spin. "I just
leaned too far over and over I went. Before that I was having the skate of
my life," she said. She pulled up to 8th place overall from 6th place in
the freeskate. Fellow Canadian Amanda Billings struggled today and wound up
slipping down to 12th place in the freeskate for 11th place overall.
The Ladies short program took place at The Aud on Tuesday, March 1 and the
ladies were required to include a double or triple loop and a flying camel spin.
The technical controller is Fabio Bianchetti, the technical specialist is Pirjo
Uimonen and the assistant technical specialist is Jayson Peace. The
referee is Matjaz Krusec and there is a panel of 12 judges with 10 judges
counting for scoring.
Mao Asada of Japan leads with a total segment score of 60.11 (33.26 for total
elements & 26.85 for program component scores) over two American
competitors, Alissa Czisny who scored 52.91 (30.05 for TE and 22.86 for PC) who
is in second place and Kimmie Meissner who is closely behind in 3rd place with a
total segment score of 52.67 (28.15 for TE and 24.52 for PC scores).
Asada floated across the ice for her "Wizard of Oz Fantasy" program.
According to her coach Machiko Yamada, Asada loves playing the role of Dorothy,
which showed in her sparkling performance. Fresh off her
victory at the 2004 Junior Grand Prix final, this competitor handled a
boot problem after her opening triple Lutz combination with poise in her world
junior debut. She immediately went to the referee, re-tied her boot and
picked up her program where she left off. She continued to skate well and
included the rest of her elements for a clean program. She said, "I
didn't feel nervous at all but I was a little shocked and surprised (about boot
problem)."
Cizney also skated clean and got full credit for this triple loop and included a
triple Lutz - double toe combination in her lovely "The Mission"
soundtrack program. She looked like a different skater from her
qualifying round. She included a front Charlotte in her spiral sequence
and had good speed in her combination spin and landed a nice double Axel.
Cizney said, "This makes me more confident for the final. This was so much
better than in qualifying. Sometimes I need to fight and I gave myself a reason
to fight today." One of her coaches, Theresa McKendry said, "She put
it all out there today." Cizney felt this performance was much
better than the one she did at U.S. Nationals in January.
Meissner skated to "Reverie" by Claude DeBussy and also had a much
better skate than she did in qualifying round. This 2005 Junior Grand Prix
final bronze medalist landed a triple Lutz - double toe very close to the
boards, a triple loop and double Axel. She had good speed for her
straight-line step sequence that she described as "just a little trippy"
but she was happy with this performance. "I'm feeling better today
and wasn't nervous. Everything felt good and my last spin was a little bit
shaky," she said, "I am not used to doing three programs in
competition. I am going to take the day off and prepare myself to do a
good free program."
Binshu Xu of China is in fourth place with 51.61 points (29.04 for TE and 22.57
for PC) after skating to "One Summer's Day" as the final short program
competitor. After a very long setup, she landed her triple Lutz - double
toe combination, eked out her triple loop and a double Axel. She places
her arms to the side and then holds her foot as part of her layback spin and
included a Biellmann position in her combination spin.
American Emily Hughes sits in 6th place for her "Allegro" by George
Gershwin short program in her world junior debut. Her double Axel, triple
Lutz - double toe combination and triple loop were all clean. Her sister
2004 Olympic Champion Sarah Hughes gave her the advice to stay vertical before
she competed. "I did that this time," Hughes said with a huge
smile.
Yu-Na Kim of Korea dropped to sixth place after leading her group in the
qualifying round, which didn't carry over to this competitive stage. She
skated to "Snow Storm" by Alexander Sviridorov. She took a
hard fall on her triple loop during competition and also fell in the warm-up.
Also competing here is Tammy Sutan representing Thailand for the first time and
placing 18th. She has dual citizenship and trains in Riverside,
California. Thailand nationals were postponed until April due to the
tsunami tragedy but they allowed her to represent them after seeing her on
videotape. She will compete there in April for the national title.
Canadian Amanda Billings had nearly a fifteen-minute wait for her marks when
they had to reboot the computer scoring system computer during the short
program. She placed 9th. She also had a near miss with a
flower girl prior to going out to skate but handled it well and did not let it
affect her performance. "At first it did rattle me but I quickly got myself
calm before I started," she said. Both Canadian competitors
opted for yellow dresses for the short program. Canada's Mira Leung who is
currently 12th had a new costume and short program since Canadian nationals.
"I felt I had outgrown the old one," she said.
New faces for the medalists at this event as these were the first junior
world medals for all three of the top men, although each had competed at these
championships before. His victory brought him to tears but Oda deserved his
world junior men's title today. He landed a gorgeous opening triple Axel
and a triple Lutz - triple toeloop - double loop combination.
"I landed the triple Axel for the first time in competition, and I had
focused on this. After I landed it, the rest of the program went very
smoothly," Oda explained. He added further, "I only
started landing the Axel here in Kitchener in practices, and I was surprised
about that. I failed to do it in the qualifying round (popped), so I was a bit
nervous about trying it today."
His program to "Zatoichi" (Japanese soundtrack) featured a total of
eight triples as he also landed a double Axel - triple toe combination, a triple
loop - double toe combination and triples of the flip, Salchow and a second
triple Lutz. He earned 196.42 points overall and 132.09 for the Free
Skate, a personal best (TE 69.89 and 62.20 for PC).
He is the direct descendant of a famous Japanese warlord (1534 - 1582), Nobunaga
Oda and his best previous finish at these championships was 11th. "I
didn't like that when I was younger because I was teased about it, but now I am
very proud to be his descendant," said Oda.
France's Yannick Ponsero, who led this competition after the short program,
continued to skate well landing two triple Axels in his free skating program for
the very first time in competition. "This was the most beautiful
competition for me. It was a long, hard program, but I did my best. Finally I
did two triple Axels in one program, but I made a mistake on the quad toeloop. I
can do the quad toe and Salchow every day in practice, now I need to do them in
competition, and that is the most difficult part," he said. His
"Matrix Reloaded" soundtrack program included
Ponsero finished with a total of 185.45 for both programs, earning 120.55,
another personal best for him, in the Free Skate. His technical element
score was 62.41 and his Program component score was 59.14, missing the gold
medal by a substantial 10.97 points. He trains with Didier Lucine in
Annecy, France and skated with power and confidence in this performance.
Russia's Sergei Dobrin took home the bronze medal after finishing 4th in the
free skate but third overall with his "Faust" program.
This medal means Russia is no longer tied with the United States for world
junior men's medals at 29 but takes the lead with 30 medals since this event was
first held in 1976. Dorbin improved on his personal best which was
previously his 2005 Junior Grand Prix Final Free Skate. He amassed 118.84
points for this program with (TE 60.98 and PC 57.86) His combined score
for both programs equaled 179.02.
"These are my fourth World Junior Championships, and I was second after the
short in 2003 in Ostrava (CZE), but then I couldn't hold on to this
placement in the long. That was disappointing", Dobrin said, "This
competition didn't start too well for me with the qualifying, but then I was
third in the short and I'm third after the free, so I'm very pleased with this
result and with finally having won a medal."
Jordan Brauinger last year's bronze medalist finished third in the Free Skate
but was fourth overall after his fifth place finish in the short program.
He skated a strong program but was again docked on his opening triple Axel -
triple toe combination for under rotation so the technical specialist listed it
as a double toe jump. He just missed a medal by a mere .70 points.
He was hampered by his fifth place in the short.
Shaun Rogers who had several painkiller shots before he competed, landed the
quad toe loop but then was erratic and missed some of his easier triples.
He finished 8th with 160.73 points, so the United States will have three spots
on next year's team again.
Fifth place went to China's Jinlin Guan who did not shine as he did in the short
program and sixth place went to Patrick Chan of Canada, who skated in his first
international event here.
At the junior level either a triple or double loop is a required element and
they must do the flying camel spin and a double Axel for their short programs.
France’s Yannick Ponsero, the current leader, experienced a huge jump in
personal best – previously his best international finish in a short program
was 9th in Czech State He skates 21st in the 23 man skating order.
His program to “Safari Bonga Song” featured a triple Axel – triple toe
combination, a triple loop and a double Axel.
All his elements were clean but it took a long time for his scores to appear.
“I have landed the triple Axel combination three times before in competition.
I don’t have a choreographer so I do my own choreography,” he explained.
Ponsero also likes to do dance floor dancing in his spare time. “This is
my best short program ever and these world championships are very important for
me so I am very happy,” he said.
He scored a personal best score of 64.90 (total element score 34.93 and program
components 29.97). He grew up in Annecy, France and still trains there
with Didier Lucine. He also enjoys snowboarding.
Japan’s Nobunan Oda was second with his program to the “Super Mario”
soundtrack, a video game character that originated in Japan for Nintendo game
systems. He landed his first triple Axel while here in Kitchener at
practice. He strained his right hand on one in practice so he said, “I
injured myself so I was happy I could go out and do the program and still smile.
This was a good performance for me so I am very satisfied,” he said.
With a total segment score of 64.33 (TE 33.54 & PC 30.79), he is just .57
behind the leader and is ahead when comparing just program component scores. He
skates 22nd for the free skating final. His mother Noriko Oda is his
coach and his choreographer is Yukako Sugita. Oda completed a triple
Lutz – triple toeloop combination and his other required jumps were clean.
His performance was entertaining.
Russia’s Sergei Dobrin skated with good speed and energy to his “Black Cat
White Cat” soundtrack number by Goran Bregovich for third place in the
standings. He will skate in the 21st spot. This number was
entertaining and fast paced and he included a triple Axel – double toe
combination but fell out of the Axel but his other elements were clean. He
earned 60.18 for his short program (TE 31.83 and PC 28.35) and entertained the
crowd.
He trains in Moscow at the same rink as Irina Slutskaya and is coached by Zhanna
Gromova. He started skating at age 5 but focused more on ballroom dancing
from ages 7 to 10. He moved to Moscow from Lipetsk, Russia at age 12 for
better training conditions. “Thanks to my coaches for preparing me so
well for this competition. I did make a little mistake (on the triple
Axel) but overall it was quite good,” said Dorbin.
Japan’s Yasuharu Nanri placed fourth in this stage with his “Two Guitars”
(Russian folksong) program that featured a triple Axel – triple toe
combination. He trains both in Fukuoka and Ilizuka, Japan with Yumi Kono
and Akira Okazaki and hails from Fukuoka. Pasquale Camerlengo
choreographed this program. He received a score of 59.60 (TE 32.11 and PC
27.49) so Dorbin beat him on the total element score.
American Jordan Brauninger who skated a clean program was fifth but just behind
Nanri by .60 points. He scored 59.00 (TE 29.62 & PC 29.38).
Brauninger received level one on his spin and footwork elements and they
downgraded his triple Axel – triple toe combination to a double toe for being
slightly under rotated but out skated Nanri on the program component mark.
He said, “I was surprised about my placement until I saw how it was called.
Everyone skated really well here so this seems like a rational placement.
I came to win and skate well so I now need to make up more points in the free
skate.”
He worked with choreographer Valerie Cecil and a local Cincinnati, Ohio DJ Kyle
Haze for the trance (club) mix of Clocks by Coldplay. He said, “This
program was a collaborative effort. We three spent 3-4 hours listening to music
together and this club trance music came together. It is a really fun
program to skate,” he said.
In sixth place and skating in the final group as the final skater is China’s
Jinlin Guan who gave a strong performance to “Music from “A Secret Garden”
by Rolf Lovland that included triples. He trains in Beijing, China
with Ying Liu. He grew up in Harbin, China. He scored 57.04
(TE 31.12 and PC 25.92) in this segment after finishing 8th in Qualifying Group
B. Qualifying results do not count in the event standings.
Shaun Rogers of the USA currently sits in 7th place but he wound up with the
best draw possible and skates 17th, the last skater in the second to last
warm-up group. He said of his performance, “I nickeled and dimed myself
on little things to wind up 7th but overall I think I skated pretty well.”
Rogers earned a score of 55.72 (TE 27.55 and PC 28.17).
Russia’s Alexander Uspenski withdrew due to illness (viral respiratory and
fever) prior to the draw. He had lead his qualifying group but finished
14th in the short program. He looked ill during his performance.
Countrymen Sergei Voronov also withdrew prior to the short program due to a
combination of a stress fracture in his right foot and flu symptoms. He
was 6th in his qualifying group.
The ISU went with a 23-man field instead of adding the 25th place skater, which
was American Wesley Campbell after Uspenski’s withdrawal. Campbell
missed his triple flip jump combination and his triple loop today but the rest
of his elements were well executed. He learned two and a ½ weeks ago he
was competing here according to his coach, Laura Sanders. Campbell was
14th in senior men’s at his national championships in January.
The men’s final takes place on Saturday afternoon. The technical controller
was Mrs. Anne Hardy Thomas, with Mr. Ricardo Olavearrieta (technical specialist)
and American pair skater Todd Sand as Assistant Technical Specialist. The
referee is John Greenwood and there are no longer assistant referees under this
judging system.
Canada’s Christopher Mabee had a much better outing for the short program,
finishing ninth. His teammate Patrick Chan is currently 9th after
finishing 2nd in his qualifying group. He was hampered by a lack of
a triple Axel in his program plus he missed
These point scores will not be counted and these rounds serve only to lower
the fields from 40 down to 30 competitors. The results for these top 30 are used
only to determine the draw groups for the short program and the top fifteen
skaters in each group move on to the short program. Jordan Brauninger
said, ‘I am totally okay with the qualifying round not counting. I think
it is better and gives the skaters more options. They can decide to
conserve energy and just qualify or to put the whole program out there and see
how it goes. It gives us lots of options.”
The technical controller is Anne Hardy Thomas, the technical specialist is
Todd Sand and the assistant technical specialist is Karen Archer.
Movie soundtracks were the music of choice for this group’s top
competitors. Japan’s Nobunari Oda leads the field with 121.30 total segment
points over Canada’s Patrick Chan who garnered 110.22 points. Oda missed
his opening axel completely ("Waxel") but then followed that with a
triple Lutz – triple toeloop – double loop combination. He also
included a double Axel – triple toe combination and a triple loop –double
toe combination. Three other triples (flip, Salchow, Lutz) were part of
his performance to the “Zatoichi” movie soundtrack. Oda will
skate 26th for the short program. “I was a little bit nervous but this
is a good beginning. When I missed the triple Axel I still expected the other
jumps to go well.” His programs were choreographed by Canadian David
Wilson.
Chan, the 2005 Canadian junior champion is experiencing his first international
competition ever here and is the youngest male competitor in this competition at
age 14.
He did not attempt his triple Axel today but he and his coach will decide later
if he will include it in his free skate. His program to the
“Backdraft” soundtrack featured a triple Lutz – double toeloop combination
and triple toe – triple toe combination. He included three other triples
(Salchow, Lutz, loop) but fell on a double flip.
Chan will skate 28th for the short program. “I am very happy.
I’ve been wanting to skate a program like that and it was a lot better than my
performance at Nationals,” he said. Of his first international he said,
“Some things have been as I expected and some have not. I want to learn
as much as I can from this experience.”
France’s Yannick Ponsero skated to the “Matrix Reloaded” soundtrack and
received 109.34 points for his performance, which included a triple Axel, and a
triple Axel – double toe combination. He is credited with four other
triples (toeloop, Salchow, flip and Lutz) but did not have a successful triple
loop, receiving credit for a single loop with six judges taking a –3 deduction
for it’s execution. He drew to skate 29th for the next segment.
Countrymen Jeremie Colot is 4th and just missed the final group with 101.50
points for his “Pirates of the Caribbean” soundtrack program but will skate
24th in the short program skating order, which is right before the final group
of six.
Sweden’s Adrian Schultheiss finished fifth with 100.50 points and Victor
Pfeifer of Austria was sixth. Canada’s Christopher Mabee had a
disastrous outing and finished 14th which still advanced him to the next round.
He will be the first skater to compete in the short program.
Alexander Uspenski of Russia leads group B with 113.30 total points over
Jordan Brauninger of the USA who had 110.58. He said, “I think my
performance was appropriate for qualifying. I wanted to do the triple Axel but I
made a technical mistake. I have never skated on Canadian ice before and it has
been quite difficult to adapt (smaller rink). I think maybe that was a factor
plus it was the first element and I was nervous. I was thinking I don’t
want to go too far and crash into the boards”
Uspenski fell on his opening triple Axel but went on to skate a strong
“Phantom of the Opera” program that included a triple flip – triple toe
combination and a triple Salchow – double toe combination along with four
other triple jumps (loop, Lutz, Salchow, toeloop) in his program. Uspenski will
skate 27th in the skating order for the short program.
Brauninger landed a gorgeous triple Axel – followed by a triple toe but fell
after completing the triple toe, as his landing was not steady. He
followed that with a triple Lutz – double toe combination in his “Pirates of
the Caribbean” program. He fell on his second triple Axel but landed
four other triples (toeloop, flip, loop, Sal chow) then lost points with his
final double Axel, downgraded by –2 by six of the ten judges and
-1 by the other four. Brauninger declares he has been pain free
since nationals for the stress fracture in the fibula in his right ankle.
Brauninger earned the bronze medal at the 2004 World Juniors so he is hopeful
for a medal here. He said with an impish grin, “I feel like I am next in
line since those two (medalists) are gone. It’s my turn.’
He finished slightly higher than Uspenski (55.5) on Executed Elements with a
score of 55.78 but lost ground on the program component score with 55.80 to
Uspenski’s 58.80. Brauninger will be the final competitor for the short
program.
France’s Alban Preaubert placed third with 108.00 points, beating America’s
fourth place finisher, Shaun Rogers on the executed element score 57.30 to
52.54. Preaubert’s jumping style is rather sloppy so Rogers was well
ahead on the Program Component scores 56.10 to 50.70. A fall
on his final triple toe loop was quite costly for Rogers, giving him a 1.00
deduction and putting him behind Preaubert by just .36 points.
Preaubert’s opening jump was only a double Axel, and his quad toeloop was only
a double toeloop today for his opening jumps. Later in his “Adios Nonino”
program he pulled out a triple Axel – triple toe combination. His
program included three other triples (flip, loop, Lutz) and a triple Salchow –
double toe combination with a step out. He skates first in the final
group of skaters (25th) for the short program on Friday.
Roger’s performance was uneven. He opened strong with a nice quad toe
loop very close to the boards; he then landed his triple Axel but had but a
single toeloop for that combination. A triple Lutz was followed by a
single Axel and a single loop. He rallied for a triple flip but then
missed his final triple toe loop. He missed making the final group with
this placement but will skate 20th in the skating order for the short program.
“I am pretty happy that I landed some of the harder jumps and hopefully I got
the stupid mistakes out before the final,” said Rogers. He fell hard on
a triple flip a week before coming here which resulted on what he described as a
huge hematoma on his hip.
Russia’s Sergei Dorbin fell on a triple Axel so changed his “Opera Faust”
program to try again but only managed a fall on a double Axel. He
then rallied for a triple Lutz – triple toe combination and completed four
other triples (flip, loop, Lutz, Salchow) for fifth place in his group.
Dorbin skates 23rd for the short program and had a score of 104.80 for his
qualifying round.
His countryman Sergei Voronov, who is coached by 1994 Olympic champion Alexei
Urmanov finished 6th with 96.34 points. He drew to skate 21st in the short
program. American Wesley Campbell was ninth with 90.28 points. He
could pull up but he skates early for the short program, skating 14th in the 30
men field. Campbell was scored with an opening triple loop, followed by a
double Axel – triple toe combination. He landed three other triples (toeloop,
Salchow and flip) but did a double Lutz – double toe combination.
He downgraded his triple Axel to a double Axel today in his “On the
Waterfront” soundtrack program.
The top three teams from the short program all medalled in this pair final
but the top team and third place team switched positions after the final round
held on Wednesday night at the Aud in Kitchener, Ontario. Russians
Maria Mukhortova & Maxim Trankov overcame the high fever and throat
infection that had plagued her all week to skate a strong clean freeskate with
graceful and wonderful style to "The Day You Love Me" by R.di
Blasio.
These final competitors of the night and now the 2005 world junior champions,
also won the 2005 Junior Grand Prix final this season. They gave a
lovely balletic performance with strong elements. "Our performance was
quite good but we can do better. It was not at the limit of what we can do
but I guess it was at the limit of what we were able to do tonight," said
Trankov. Their total segment score was 98.33 (Technical Element
score of 51.44 and Program Component Score 46.89), winning by a over a 5 point
margin.)
The Canadian team of Jessica Dube & Bryce Davison repeated their placement
from the 2004 World Juniors with another silver medal here tonight. "We are
happy with how we skated and proud to be second," said Davison. The
duo trains in Drummondville, Quebec but he grew up in nearby Cambridge, Ontario.
They appreciated the enthusiastic support of the Canadian audience at this arena
for their "Romeo and Juliet" performance.
"I think last year's program was stronger on the technical but that this
years was better for the performance itself'" evaluated Davison.
In this program, they had a low catch on their triple twist, she fell on their
throw triple loop jump and struggled with her throw triple Salchow. She
says she feels back to 95% since the knee surgery, which took them out of their
nationals and the Junior Grand Prix final earlier this season. "There
were a few mistakes, one or two too many, but that's O.K.," Davison said.
"It's been a good learning experience for us this season, learning to deal
with a situation that's not exactly perfect." This team attained a
total segment score of 92.67 (with their total element score 47.15 and program
component score 46.52).
The other Russian team of Tatiana Kororeva & Egor Golovkin moved down from
the short program leaders to the bronze medal position with their performance to
"The Lady and the Hooligan" tonight. She put a hand down
on their throw triple loop but they gave an engaging performance. Golovkin said
of their performance, "Unfortunately not everything worked out for us
tonight. We are basically happy with our performance but we would have
liked to have stayed in first place like we were for the short program but they
skated very well tonight and deserved it."
Swedish team of Angelika Pylkina & Niklas Hogner continues to garner
attention and gave a strong performance to move up to 4th place, just off the
medal stand. This is definitely a team to watch for the future.
Americans Mariel Miller & Rockne Brubaker slipped slightly to fifth place
after finishing fourth in the short program in their world junior championships
debut. These national junior champions had previously won a bronze medal
in the junior grand prix final this season. They train with Dalilah
Sappenfield in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"We have seen most of these competitors at other competitions so we knew
what to expect at our first world juniors. It was really nice and fun to
sit and watch everyone. I didn't watch tonight before we skated because if
I do that I get nervous," said Miller. "This wasn't our best
long but we have had a really long season that started back with Triglov Trophy
last April. Doing all these competitions has been good experience for
us," added Brubaker.
Americans Julia Vlassov & Drew Meekins were fourth at the junior grand prix
final and second at U.S. nationals but did not have their strongest performance
here. In their Paycheck soundtrack freeskate, they skipped their throw triple
Salchow when she caught an edge just prior to takeoff. "Competing
here was a great experience for us to see how it all works. I could tell she was
off balance and the throw wasn't going to work so we didn't try it. We had to
struggle tonight," said Meekins.
He also fell out of the side-by-side double Axel but they completed the rest of
their elements. They finished 9th in the freeskating and overall after placing
7th in the short program. This team trains with her father Alexander
Vlassov and Amelia Amelina.
Canadians Meagen Duhamel & Ryan Arnold landed the first throw triple Lutz
but it was scored as a throw triple flip as there is no button for that element
in the current scoring system. It is to be listed correctly in the event
protocol and the ISU record books according to ISU officials. "That is an
easier throw for us than some of the other ones," said Duhamel.
They finished 8th in the standings.
Rebecca Handke & Daniel Wende of Germany withdrew just prior to the Pairs Free on Wednesday. According to a medical bulletin, Wende is suffering from the flu and they were in 8th place after the short program.
The pairs short program took place at Kitchener’s The Aud on Monday
evening. The required side-by-side jump is either a double loop or a
double Axel and the required throw is a throw triple loop.
The leaders after the short program were Russians Tatiana Kokoreva & Egor
Golovkin with 54.46 total segment points. They finished 7th at this
year’s Russian Nationals but finished fourth at the 2004 World Junior
competition. Their program that utilizes the “Pharaphrase” soundtrack
by Dmitri Shostakovich included side-by-side double Axels and a throw triple
toeloop for executed elements but lost some credit on their double twist.
“I think we did well today, and we’ll fight again in the free skating”,
Kokoreva said.
Canadians Jessica Dube & Bryce Davison placed second and remained close in
the gold medal hunt with a total segment score of 53.89. They included
side-by-side double axels but missed their throw triple toe loop in their tango
program to “Hasta Que te Conoci” by Raul di Blasio. Davison
skates close to home here as he represents the Hamilton Skating Club and hails
from Cambridge, Ontario. Dube had surgery for a knee injury in December
2004, which forced them to pull out of the 2005 junior Grand Prix final and
their national championships. Davidson described their error as a
“normal mistake’ since they are not totally consistent on that element
yet. He added, “We like skating at home.”
Maria Mukhortova is battling illness here with a chronic throat condition but
competed after skipping the morning practice. “We considered withdrawing but
we are Russians and we don’t give up,” she said. She and partner Maxim
Trankov of Russia finished third in this round with 52.58 points. She put
her hand down for the throw triple toeloop and came close to falling over during
their spin combination during their “Quidam” from Cirque du Soleil program
but there other elements were fine. This couple won the 2005 Junior Grand
Prix series final in Helsinki, Finland. Trankov described his partner as
courageous.
Americans Mariel Miller & Rockne Brubaker are currently fourth in the
standings with 51.52 total segment points. They had no deductions but lost
some credit on their lift and death spiral with –1 from several judges. “I
was happy with how we skated this short,’ said Brubaker.
A couple to keep an eye on for the future is Sweden’s Angelika Pylkina &
Niklas Hogner as they looked very promising here with their “Samson &
Delilah” soundtrack program.
They placed fifth with 48.39 points. This is their world junior
championships debut for these Swedish junior champions.
The other American team of Julia Vlassov & Drew Meekins performed to
“Picante” by Vanessa Mae and placed 7th at this stage for their world junior
championship debut. They were fourth at the 2005 Junior Grand Prix
championships and second in juniors at their national championships. They
had problems with their death spiral but landed their side-by-side double Axels.
Mrs. Halina Gordon Poltoak is the technical controller, Sergei Ponomarenko is
the technical specialist and Mr. Christopher Buchanan is the assistant technical
specialist. Christi Heidler is the referee for this free dance event, held
Friday evening at the Aud.
The USA’s Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin won the Free Dance with a
personal best performance that garnered them points for the free dance and
187.51 points for their total score. Their margin of victory was 4.09 over
the Canadian team of Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir with their “Lord of the
Dance” free program. “This was our best performance of this program
ever. Not a single step was wrong tonight,” said Matthews.
Their step sequences were strong with quick turns and twizzles. She added,
“We started off our first competition with all level ones and now we have
almost all threes and fours.”
The Canadians earned a total of 183.42 points with their “Adios Nonino” by
Astor Piazzolla program. Their performance had a strong beginning with
their circular step sequence but he had an unfortunate slip where he went down
on one knee just as they ended of their impressive synchronized twizzle sequence
but they continued on, skating the rest of their program well before their
hometown crowd. They had a personal best score of 88.18 for this dance
(31.98 for technical score and 56.20 for their program component score) but had
to settle for silver here. “We had a little bit of a bobble, but we
handled it pretty well. I lost my footing and we weren't exactly together and I
almost went down," he said. His partner added, "We really felt
the energy (of the audience). It helped us a lot. We really enjoyed ourselves.
We really felt the music."
The other Russian team of Natalia Mikhailova & Arkadi Sergeev, who are also
coached by Alexei Gorshkov, finished third in the Free Dance but since they had
been 7th in the compulsories and sixth in the original dance, they had to settle
for finishing fifth overall. Their Arabian Dance had more skating on one
foot than the other couples below them and a highlight was their multi-level
rotational lift.
The bronze medalists were Russia’s Anastastia Gorshkova & Ilia Tkachenko
who skated to music from the “Kill Bill” soundtrack. This team scored
a total score of 167.22 total event points and their total segment score was
77.29 (TE 25.34 and PC 51.95). She intends to buy herself a new car with
her share of their prize money.
Close behind them were the brother and sister Israeli team of Alexandra Zaretski
& Roman Zaretski who missed the podium by 1.46 points. Their Free
Dance to “Phantom of the Opera” earned 165.76 points for their total
competition score and 76.36 for this Free Dance.
They did borrow a final rotational lift from Galit Chait & Sergei Sakhnovsky,
the Israeli champions but their performance was strong. He had foot
surgery this past summer, which kept him off the ice for five months and delayed
their season preparation.
American’s Trina Pratt & Todd Gilles pulled up from 11th overall and 16th
in the original dance after her unfortunate fall in the original dance segment.
They finished 8th in the Free Dance and overall which means the U.S. has three
team spots for the 2006 World Juniors event instead of the usual two.
Pratt said, “I felt we had a job to do to get three spots and we did it.”
They skated their “Romeo and Juliet” program clean with no mistakes.
This team earned a total element score of 28.16, which was fourth in the
standings when you just look at total element free dance scores. They had
a total segment score of 71.52 and a component score of 43.36 for this segment
which put them 8th and just behind the second Canadian team of Siobhan Karam
& Joshua McGrath.
The Original Dance took place on Thursday, March 3 at the Aud in Kitchener,
Ontario. Morgan Matthews’ partner, Maxim Zavozin celebrated his birthday
on March 2, turning age 20. His friends surprised him with a birthday
celebration the night before the original dance here in Kitchener. With an
early morning practice on Thursday this American team skated on just a few hours
sleep but still skated a strong performance to maintain their lead in the ice
dance event.
Their “Thoroughly Modern Millie” program that features the Charleston, Slow
Foxtrot, and Quickstep rhythms was choreographed by their coach Elena Garianina.
They skated powerfully and with maturity and their performance featured strong
twizzles and ended with a fast rotating lift. Matthews said, “To go out
and do really clean, strong twizzles is a big thing for us.” This team
won the bronze medal at last year’s world juniors and won this year’s junior
grand prix series final.
They lead the Canadian team of Tessa Virtue & Scott Moirr by 3.54 points at
this stage so it will come down to a battle with the free dance. The Canadians
skate first in the last warm-up group and skate 20th in the skating order while
Matthews & Zavozin will be the final free dance competitors in a twenty-four
team field. Moirr’s older brother Danny came in from Copenhagen, Denmark to
see his brother compete here. They used to train in Kitchener, Ontario but
now train in Detroit with Igor Shpilband. “We felt a connection with
each other and the audience here,” said Virtue.
Their slow foxtrot rhythm used the music, “Call me Irresponsible” while
their Quickstep rhythm was to “Putting on the Ritz” which the audience
seemed to particularly enjoy. This engaging couple executed strong
twizzles very well within their step sequence and their program concluded with a
rotational lift. They are right on the heels of the leaders, making a big
jump from 11th place in 2004 World Juniors. They beat them previously this
season on the free dance segment but never overall so this should be an exciting
free dance climax on Friday evening.
Alexandra Zaretski & Roman Zaretski from Israel have only been with their
current coach Evgeni Platov for a few weeks. “They came to me in
mid-January but I was at Europeans so we have only worked together for the past
3 ½ weeks. During that time we totally changed all the elements in their
programs because they needed more difficulty. I am very happy with how they have
skated and placed here so far and hope to see them do even more in the free
dance,” said Platov.
They now train in Simsbury, Connecticut but were previously in New Jersey with
Mia Usova. “It just didn’t work out. We explained to her,
brought her flowers and we parted as friends,” explained Roman Zaretski.
This duo grew up in Israel where their parents now still live. Their
mother coaches figure skating there.
Russia’s Anastastia Gorshkova & Ilia Tkachenko moved up into third place
after the original dance but only have a .53 lead over the Israeli team so it
will come down to the free dance between these two couples as well. “It
was unexpected for us to debut here and tonight was not bad at all but you can
always do better. There is no limit for perfection,” said Tkachenko.
When asked how it is to be coached by her father, Gorshkova replied, “It is
cool.”
Italy’s Anna Cappellini & Matteo Zanni dropped to 7th place after placing
8th in the original dance from their fourth place in the compulsories. We
are staying lots of placement movement at this competitive stage. Only
places 1, 2 and 27 remained in the same spot they had for the compulsories.
American’s Trina Pratt & Todd Giles suffered heartache today when they
dropped from 9th place to 16th place in the original dance segment to put them
now 11th overall. We expect to see them battle back up with their strong
free dance. She fell on a twizzle during their midline step sequence,
which cost them greatly in the scoring. They performed a Charleston rhythm
to “Won’t You Charleston With Me” and a slow foxtrot to “Let there be
Love” by Nat King Cole, and a quickstep to “Let Yourself Go”. They
have an early draw for the free dance and will skate 11th, which is early in the
third group of skaters. Giles said of their mistake, “It was kind of
just a fluke but we still performed well after that."
The 2005 world junior
championship compulsory dance round took place on day 2 of the world junior
championship competition in Kitchener, Ontario at the Aud facility with a field
of 27 dance teams all skating to the Blues. All teams advance to the
original dance competition that takes place on Thursday. This Blues dance
consists of 3 sequences during a 1:14 time span and includes 22 measures of 4
beats a minute.
American's Morgan Matthews & Max Zavozin were the class of the field with
strong edges and deep knees which this dance emphasizes; they were also very
expressive. They returned again this season to defend their title and
Matthews said, "We were very confident. It is like it's our
competition." This team trains in Ashburn, Virginia with his mother,
Elena Garanina and Valeri Spiridonov. They will skate 25th in the
skating order for the original dance.
This team ended this segment with a strong lead with a score of 39.89 over the
second place team from Canada, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir whose overall total
segment score was 36.91. Virtue and Moir hail from London, Ontario, so
they have lots of hometown support. This duo won a pre-novice title in
this same facility four years ago. "We were definitely excited
because it is junior worlds in our home country," said Moir.
This team moved to Detroit last summer to train with Igor Shpilband and Marina
Zueva. They will be the first team to skate in the final group, skating
23rd. They skated confidently with deep edge work for this dance.
Close behind in third place is the Israeli team, Alexandra Zaretski & Roman
Zaretski with 36.58 who are now coached by Evgeni Platov. This brother and
sister team was originally coached by their parents. He had foot surgery
last summer. They will be the final competitors for the original dance.
Their performance was also very expressive. They lost out on 2nd place due to
their lower Program Component score, as they finished ahead of the Canadians on
the total element score.
The Russian team of Anastasia Gorshkova & Ilia Tkachenko finished in a tie
with the Italian team of Anna Cappellini & Matteo Zanni. Gorshkova's
father Alexei Gorshkov coaches this team.
The other American team makes their world junior championship debut here, Trina
Pratt & Todd Giles and they currently sit in 9th place with 32.26 segment
points. The 2005 national junior champions were third at the 2004 Junior
Grand Prix final and train with Patti Gottswein-Britton. They had a
good draw and will skate 24th in the original dance after skating well for the
compulsories.