Skate America, Day 2
28 Oct 2007 04:43
Skate America in Reading, Pennsylvania, continued Saturday with the Original Dance, the Pairs and Men’s Free Skating and the Ladies Short Program. Skate America is the first of six events in the 2007/2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series.
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
Today’s competition at the Sovereign Center started with the Original Dance. The Original Dance of the 2007/2008 season is the Folk/Country Dance. The couples chose a wide variety of different dances from North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
World bronze medalists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA) strengthened their lead ahead of Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat of France and Italy’s Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali.
Belbin/Agosto put out an entertaining Western Dance to “Appalachean Hoedown” and “Country Waltz” that featured a dance combination spin, a curve lift and a rotational lift with changes of position for her. The Waltz section was highlighted by the circular footwork. Belbin/Agosto were awarded a level four for all their elements in the dance. The reigning World bronze medalists scored 59.24 points (31.50/27.74) for the Original Dance and so far have 95.27 points. “We tried to find as many videos of hoedowns and square dancing which is actually much harder than you think. As we were digging into it, we found it was almost an evolution of folk dance where you have immigrants coming from all over the world to the US throughout history and they are bringing their own folk dancing and it melds together so you have a lot of Polish Polka, Clogging from Ireland, so it’s very interesting to look back at the American Folk Dance and see where it’s come from”, Agosto answered when asked about their choice of music.
Pechalat/Bourzat opted for a Spanish Flamenco. The National silver medalists completed a stationary lift with him turning on the spot and holding her up high (level four) as well as intricate footwork. Their midline step sequence was graded a level four and their circular footwork a level three. The French received 56.95 points (29.90/27.05) and remained in second place with 91.51 points. “We really like the Flamenco and we did a very clean performance today”, Pechalat told the press. “Originally we wanted to do a French Can Can, but then we were told that this is not possible. We did a Flamenco when we were Juniors and it worked well, so we decided to try a Flamenco again”, Bourzat revealed.
Faiella/Scali produced a very characteristic dance from southern Italy. They earned a level four for all their elements but for the circular step sequence (level three) and scored 54.56 points (29.90/24.66). They stand in third place at 85.99 points. “We did a great job today and we are very happy with our skate”, Scali said. “We have a typical Italian Folk Dance and we started to enjoy it from the very first time we were trying it on the floor. We knew this could be a strong part of the competition for us”, he added.
Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA) moved up from 5th to 4th place with a Russian Folk Dance to “Kalinka” (83.00 points). Kristin Fraser/Igor Lukanin (AZE), who chose a Russian Gypsy Dance are not far behind at 82.42 points.
Pairs, Free Skating
Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison of Canada upset reigning World silver medalists Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) to take the gold, their first medal on the ISU Grand Prix series. Russia’s Vera Bazarova/Juri Larionov earned the bronze medal in what was their first competition at the senior level.
Dubé/Davison’s romantic program to “The Blower’s Daughter” included a double twist, a double Axel-double Axel sequence, difficult lifts with changes of positions, a big throw triple Salchow as well as a level four side by side combination spin. Dubé only doubled the side by side Salchow and fell on the throw triple loop. “I thought I had landed it and then I fell”, she shrugged. The Canadian Champions received 112.46 points (57.38 element score/56.08 program component score) and accumulated a total score of 173.26 points.
“To beat our personal best was our goal and win or no win, we achieved our goal. I think that looking to our future is the most important. We are at the point where we can challenge these people, and it is good for us to realize that we can be on the top of the podium”, Davison commented, referring to upsetting the higher ranked Chinese team. “It was a nice and smooth performance, but the two mistakes were in there.”
Skating to the “Romeo and Juliet” soundtrack by Nino Rota, Pang/Tong landed a side by side triple toeloop, a high triple twist, a throw triple Salchow and a difficult Axel lasso lift that was graded a level four, but he singled the side by side double Axel and she went down on the throw triple loop. She also singled the toeloop in (in combination with the Axel). Their pair combination spin received no level as the skaters didn’t hold any of the positions for the minimum of two revolutions. The Chinese scored 104.87 points and settled for the silver medal at 165.19 points total. “Today was still better than yesterday and we hope to do better in our next competition”, Tong said.
Bazarova/Larionov’s routine featured a triple twist, a throw triple flip, a double Axel-double Axel sequence as well as strong lifts and two level-four spins. Their only major error came when Bazarova touched down with her hand on the landing of the throw triple loop. The 2007 World Junior Champions posted a score of 102.82 (55.30/47.52) and took the bronze medal with a total of 159.58 points. “We are very happy with our performance and with today’s result. It is really good for us, considering that this is our very first senior level competition”, the 14-year-old pair skater said. “We just recently added the lift to our (junior) program as there was no time”, she went on, referring to the fact that the couple competed in their third event in as many weeks.
Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig (USA) came in 4th. They produced beautiful lifts, a triple twist and a throw triple loop, but she missed the throw triple Lutz, and the side by side triple Salchow was underrotated (140.40 points).
Dubé/Davison now got 15 points for the Grand Prix Standings and will compete again next week at Skate Canada in Quebec City. Pang/Tong have 13 points and are scheduled for the Cup of China in Harbin in two weeks. Bazarova/Larionov don’t have a second Grand Prix assignment and will return to junior competition for the rest of the season.
Ladies, Short Program
The event continued with the Ladies’ Short Program. 2006 World Champion Kimmie Meissner (USA) edged out current World Champion Miki Ando of Japan to take the lead. World Junior Champion Caroline Zhang (USA) came in third.
Meissner opened her routine to “Passion” by Peter Gabriel with a spiral sequence followed by a triple flip and triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, but the second jump was underrotated and downgraded. She also hit the double Axel and got a level three for her flying sit spin and a level three for the combination spin. Meissner was awarded 59.24 points (30.40/28.84). “My performance was pretty good, especially considering (it was) the first time out (with a new program). I have a lot of things to work on. It was a pretty solid start to this competition and to the season”, Meissner said. “I’m just going in (to the program) to do what I can do.”
Skating to “Samson and Dalilah” by Camille Saint-Saens, Ando landed a triple Lutz-double loop, a triple flip and a double Axel but then fell on her straight line footwork. Her flying sit spin was graded a level three, but the only got a level one for her layback spin. Ando felt handicapped in her spins by a shoulder injury. The Japanese scored 56.58 points (30.10/27.48). “My jumps today were not so good, and I was not fully trained, but I started feeling better and better today”, Ando explained. “I think it was okay for today, but I made a stupid mistake in the footwork and because of my condition I did a triple-double instead of a triple-triple combination. Because of the injury to my right shoulder I have to make some adjustments to my jumps and the layback spin”, the 19-year-old added.
Zhang risked a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but underrotated the first jump. Her “Spanish Gypsy” program contained also a triple Lutz, a double Axel and beautiful spins. The audience gave the 14-year-old a standing ovation. The World Junior Champion picked up 56.48 points (30.20/26.28). “I felt my program was pretty good. It could have been better in terms of holding (the positions in) my spins, but overall I think it was good.” Asked about competing in her first senior event, she answered: “Coming here I just thought, everybody is really tall and I wondered if they can jump over my head.”
Emily Hughes (USA) is currently ranked fourth at 47.66 points. Both her triple flip and triple Lutz were not landed backwards and subsequently downgraded. Mai Asada (JPN) finished fourth (46.82 points).
Men, Free Skating
In what was an exciting Men’s Free Skating, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan captured the gold medal with Evan Lysacek (USA) securing the silver. 16-year-old Patrick Chan of Canada grabbed the bronze medal, his first medal on the senior Grand Prix.
Overnight leader Takahashi skated last as the skaters competed in the reverse order of the Short Program result. The reigning World silver medalist opened his routine to “Romeo and Juliet” by Peter Tchaikovski with a quadruple toeloop, but then had to overcome a fall on the triple Axel. He recovered to hit a triple loop, triple Axel-double toeloop, triple flip-triple toeloop, a triple Salchow and another triple flip, but he missed his triple Lutz. Takahashi also completed fast paced footwork to earn 148.93 points (74.83 element score/76.10 program component score), but he was somewhat sloppy on his spins. He was ranked second in the Free Skating but overall defended his first place with at total of 228.97 points. “I am happy with the result, but I am not so happy with my performance”, Takahashi told the press. “I fell two times and my spins were not so good. I think I need more practice. I can’t believe I missed that triple Lutz, I haven’t missed that jump for quite some time.”
Putting out a dramatic performance to “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini, Lysacek went for the quadruple toeloop right out of the gate but he two-footed the jump. The two-time World bronze medalist then nailed a triple Axel and six more triple jumps including another triple Axel (in combination with double toe) and a triple flip-triple toeloop combination. He received a level four for three of his four spins and scored 152.38 points (78.58/73.80) which added up to a total of 220.08. He won the Free Skating portion but remained in second place. “I was coming into it (the Free Skating) with quite a large deficit so I wasn’t really looking at the win per se, I just wanted to continue to fight and to make the whole event a success overall which I think it was”, Lysacek explained. “Debuting two new programs here was a kind of first for me in quite a while. I think I fought through everything tonight. It’s good to come out on top tonight (in the Free Skating)”, the 22-year-old continued.
Chan delivered a solid performance to “Four Seasons” that featured a triple Axle, a triple flip-triple toeloop combination as well as four more triples and two level-four spins. His only major error came when he fell on the last jump, a triple flip. The 2007 World Junior silver medalist was awarded 145.86 points (76.36/70.50) and accumulated a total score of 213.33 points. “Coming to Skate America being the first Grand Prix I definitely wanted to make a good impression. I trained really hard. I wanted to make sure to be ready, and the results showed. Even though there were some small mistakes like the spins and footwork I thought it was a good start for the first Grand Prix. It’s a good confidence booster for my next Grand Prix”, the Canadian told the post-event press conference. “I was definitely confident going into it (today’s performance) although I was still a bit nervous, especially since I landed the Axel in the short I really felt that people were expecting me to do it in the long (program). Once I landed the Axel, I was pretty much under myself, minus the last triple flip in the program. Overall the program was excellent.”
Takahashi pocketed 15 points and returns to the Grand Prix Series in Japan for the NHK Trophy in December. Lysacek collected 13 points. His next event is the Cup of China. Chan has 11 points and will compete at the Trophee Bompard in Paris, France in three weeks.
Skate America concludes Sunday with the Free Dance, the Ladies Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala.
综合报道，一大篇... |
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显身卡
没这么夸张吧～一圈多一点就换一次身体姿态，一般不会出这样的问题啊……何况是所有动作都没够两周……
