Skate America, Day 1
27 Oct 2007 05:50
The 2007/2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating kicked off Friday with the first day of competition at Skate America in Reading, Pennsylvania. Reading hosted Skate America before in 2003. Skate America is the first of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series. For the first time, the skating order at the Grand Prix will not be determined by a draw. The skating order in the Compulsory Dance and Short Program is according to the ISU World Standings. For the Original and Free Dance as well as for the Free Skating, the athletes will perform in the reverse order of the result of the Compulsory/Original Dance or Short Program respectively.
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The ice dancers opened today’s competition at the Sovereign Center with the Compulsory Dance. The Compulsory Dance for Skate America was the Austrian Waltz. The Austrian Waltz is characterized by elegance of line combined with the typical lightness of the Viennese Waltz. It should be skated with strongly curved edges, bending of the skating knee and wide extended movements of the arms and free legs while maintaining a soft flow throughout the waltz. The Austrian Waltz was created by Susi and Peter Handschmann. It was first performed in Vienna in 1979.
World bronze medalists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) danced to the lead ahead of Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat of France. Italy’s Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali came in third.
Belbin/Agosto put out a solid performance of the difficult Waltz with strong timing and good flow. The U.S. Champions earned 36.03 points (17.86 element score/18.17 presentation score). “The dance felt really strong. We tried to make a lot of improvement to the tightness of our positioning and extensions. The greatest critique we can have at this point is – it can be more waltz. It was a little conservative. But it was very solid, it was a good start”, Belbin said.
Pechalat/Bourzat skated a strong Austrian Waltz as well and received 34.56 points (17.36/17.20). “We’re very pleased with the way we performed, because we did a very fluid dance, without any mistake. We’re pleased with the performance and the result. We beat our personal best score, which is a proof of our progress”, Pechalat commented.
Faiella/Scali turned in a good performance of the Waltz to score 31.43 points (16.30/15.13).
“We think we did a very good compulsory today. We felt very comfortable on the ice. Any kind of waltz is a good dance for us”, Scali said. “We don’t really agree with the score, but the competition isn’t over yet.” The couple is looking forward to present their Italian Folk Dance tomorrow. “We can’t wait to show it to the public. We really have fun when we do the Original Dance”, Faiella explained.
Kristin Fraser/Igor Lukanin (AZE) are currently ranked 4th at 31.19 points. Meryl Davis/ Charlie White (USA) were 5th with 30.16 points.
Pairs, Short Program
In the Pairs Short Program, Canada’s Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison upset reigning World silver medalists Qing Pang/Jian Tong of China to take the lead. Vera Bazarova/Juri Larionov (RUS) finished third.
Dubé/Davison opened their program to “Galicia Flamenco” with a side by side triple Salchow, but she stepped out of it. The two-time World Junior silver medalists went on to complete a double twist, a difficult one-armed Axel Lasso (level three) and two level-four spins. Dubé only touched down with her hand on the throw triple loop. The Canadian Champions were awarded 60.80 points (35.28 element score/25.52 program component score). “It was pretty good. Our goal was the mark of 60 and we did that. It wasn’t perfect, we had some shaky spots”, Davison admitted.
Tong stepped out of the side by side triple toeloop in their romantic program to “O Doux Printemps d’Autrefois” but the Chinese completed a high triple twist, a throw triple loop and a level-three Axel Lasso lift. However, there side by side spin was graded a level two and the pair combination spin received a level one only. Pang/Tong got 60.32 points (32.56/27.76). “We arrived (on Wednesday) at four in the morning and we were a little tired. Hopefully we’ll skate better tomorrow”, Tong told the press. Competing in their first senior competition, Bazarova/Larionov produced a fine routine that contained a high triple twist, a throw triple toeloop and a side by side double Axel. The current World junior silver medalists earned 56.76 points (32.64/24.12). “This is our first senior competition, and it feels completely different from juniors. Our coach told us that we should just show what we are able to do and not to try to do more. We did a good job and we tried our best”, Larionov said.
Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig (USA) are currently sitting in fourth at 46.18 points. She fell on the throw triple Lutz while he missed the side by side triple Salchow which was downgraded in addition to that.
Men, Short Program
Today’s competition concluded with the Men’s event. Daisuke Takahashi of Japan won the Men’s Short Program ahead of Evan Lysacek (USA) and Patrick Chan (CAN). Takahashi delivered an exciting performance to an unusual hip hop version of “Swan Lake”. The reigning World silver medalist hit a triple flip-triple toe, a triple Axel and triple Lutz and produced difficult spins and funky footwork to score 80.04 points (43.04 element score/37.00 program component score). The crowd really appreciated his performance and gave him a standing ovation. “The audience was very excited, and so I was very excited. I was happy to perform today”, Takahashi told the press. “I tried for the first time to compete with this short program, and I am happy with the finish today. Being second (at Worlds) gave me a lot of confidence. I wanted to skate like a medalist here.” Asked about his choice of music, the Japanese answered: “I think he (coach Nikolai Morozov) wanted to try something new. I took dance classes in Manhattan. For two months I went every day to dance classes.”
Lysacek fell on his quadruple toeloop attempt but landed a triple Axel, a triple Lutz and showed fast and well centered spins in his routine to “The Mask of Zorro” and “Legend of Zorro”. The two-time World bronze medalist received 67.70 points (33.30/35.40). “I am happy to go out and up my technical difficulty. I think I have grown a lot as a skater in the last year”, the U.S. Champion said, referring to the fact that he tried the quadruple toeloop in the Short Program. “My score is not very high. I lost a lot of points with the quad because it counted actually as a triple (it was downgraded), but I think I executed the rest of the elements pretty well. It’s an entire program and it’s not all about the quad.”
Chan opened his program to “Exile to Snowy West” and “In the Bamboo Forest” with a solid triple Axel, but he touched down with his hand on his triple flip and added only a double toe for the combination. He also completed a triple Lutz and got a level four for both the combination and change foot sit spin. The reigning World junior silver medalist was awarded 67.47 points (36.12/31.35). “Today I was really happy with the triple Axel. It was my first on the senior Grand Prix circuit. It’s definitely a big step for me. The spins were a bit shaky for me today, I wish I could have fixed it and done it better. I really enjoyed the crowd as well”, the 16-year-old Canadian said.
Alban Preaubert (FRA) hit a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Axel and a triple Lutz to come in 4th (67.05 points). Andrei Lutai (RUS) was the only skater to include a clean quadruple jump (a toeloop in combination with double toeloop) in his program and finished 5th at 66.91 points.
Skate America continues tomorrow with the Original Dance, the Ladies Short Program, the Pairs and Men’s Free Skating. |
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