The 2004 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships continued in Hamilton, Canada, Thursday with the Original Dance, the Pairs and Men’s Short Programs.
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
The Original Dance of the 2003/2004 season is the “Swing Combo”. The skaters can choose two or three rhythms from the following: Rock’n’Roll, Jive, Jitterbug, Swing, Blues and/or Boogie Woogie. It was an interesting competition providing movement in the standings and none of the top four couples stayed in the same position.
Overnight leaders Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN) skated first of the leading teams. The Canadian Champions started well into their routine to “Americano” (Swing) and “Why don’t you do right” (Blues), showing difficult lifts and a good side by side straightline footwork but in the final seconds of the dance, at the end of their diagonal step sequence, Lauzon stumbled and tumbled down with his partner falling over him. The couple received marks ranging from 4.9 to 5.3 for composition/required elements and from 5.3 to 5.7 for presentation. “Only a few seconds left and it was a big surprise to fall. There was nothing I could do and I had to fall over him”, Dubreuil said. “I felt the performance was good and we did all the elements. It is alright. We will move forward.” Lauzon was still stunned after the fall. “I don’t know what happend. I felt the edge wasn’t right and I was on the wrong edge. We have never fallen in the Original Dance.”
Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA), who stood in second following yesterday’s Compulsory Dance, delivered an excellent performance of their dance set to Jitterbug, Blues and Swing. The US Champions showed off difficult footwork and strong lifts, and the side by side footwork to the Swing part of their music featured lots of twizzles. They moved into the lead with marks as high as 5.8 for composition/required elements and 5.9 for presentation. “We skated this great at Nationals and it feels good to lay down a strong second performance today. We did the midline well at Nationals and we did it well here. It is our first 5.9”, Belbin commented. “Our program has gotten better every time we do it”, her partner added.
US-silver medallists Melissa Gregory/Denis Petukhov skated an energetic Rock’n’Roll and soft Blues to move up to third place. Their marks ranged from 4.4 to 5.3 (composition/required elements) and from 4.8 to 5.6 (presentation). “We skated really strong. We’re excited about being in third, but we just have to concentrate for tomorrow’s free dance”, Gregory told the press.
Canadians Megan Wing/Aaron Lowe dropped one spot to fourth, but they also performed a good program to the rhythms of Swing and Blues.
Paris, Short Porgram
China’s Qing Pang/Jian Tong and Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang came in first and second in the Pairs Short Program, while Canadian Champions Valerie Marcoux/Craig Buntin finished third in the first portion of the competition.
Pang/Tong’s lyrical program to “Illumination“ by Secret Garden included a high throw triple loop, and double twist as well as a lift with many variations, but Pang slightly stepped out of the landing of the side by side triple toeloop. “It was a little accident, I didn’t quite have the rhythm when going into the triple toeloop”, the athlete explained. “The best element today was the throw jump, I guess.” Her partner aggreed. “Everytime we do an element well, we’re waiting and hoping for the reaction of the crowd. There is always a lot of pressure when we compete, but we try to overcome these difficulties”, he added. The couple earned marks from 5.2 to 5.7 for required elements and from 5.6 to 5.8 for presentation.
Zhang/Zhang nailed their side by side triple toeloops, a throw triple loop and a huge double twist in their bluesy routine to “All Alone”. They looked confident and skated with power to receive marks as high as 5.7 for both required elements and presentation. “The performance today was at the normal level for us an |