HomeSense Skate Canada International, Day 1
03 Nov 2007 04:30
HomeSense Skate Canada International opened Friday in Quebec City, Quebec with the Compulsory Dance, the Pairs, Ladies and Men’s Short Programs.
HomeSense Skate Canada International is the second of six event of the 2007/2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The athletes compete for a a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements. The top six skaters/couples then qualify for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino, Italy.
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance
The Compulsory Dance at Skate Canada was the Yankee Polka. The Yankee Polka was invented by James Sladky, Judy Schwomeyer and Ron Ludington. It was first performed in 1969.
To the delight of the home crowd at the Collisee Pepsi, Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada took the lead ahead of Italy’s Anna Cappelini/Luca Lanotte and Melissa Gregory/Denis Petukhov (USA).
As the highest ranked couple, Virtue/Moir skated last and put out a lively Polka to earn 36.25 points (18.78 element score/17.47 program component score). They just had a little wobble getting into their ending pose. “The Polka went well, we’re happy with it. As always after compulsories, we’re excited about getting into the next event”, Moir told the press. “Every compulsory is really different. For us, we actually didn’t really like the Polka, it took us a while to get into it. So hopefully we can build on that and try to find a love for the dance. We kind of like the Argentine Tango and Austrian Waltz more to tell you the truth”, he admitted.
Cappellini/Lanotte showed a good performance of the Yankee Polka as well and received 32.23 points (17.12/15.11). “It is very exciting for us to be here at Skate Canada and to do this performance. We felt very strong on the ice and we skated very well, but not perfect”, Lanotte said. He explained that the Yankee Polka is not their favorite dance, “because it is very hard to make it very good.”
Gregory/Petukhov seemed a little cautious in their Polka and were edged out by the Italians by less than one point. They scored 32.03 points. “The first dance out, we were happy with the way we skated. We are looking forward to the next one”, Petukhov commented. “We like the Polka. It’s a fun dance. It’s a lot of energy, a lot of steps and very challenging”, his partner and wife added.
Pernelle Carron/Mathieu Jost (FRA) are currently standing in fourth place at 28.27 points. The reigning World Junior Champions Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) finished sixth after they both slipped one time (25.72 points).
Pairs, Short Program
In what was a high-level competition, Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy of Germany captured the Pairs Short Program with Canadians Jessica Dube/Bryce Davison and Russia’s Yuko Kawaguchi/ Alexander Smirnov following in second and third.
Skating to “Asoka”, the soundtrack of an Indian “Bollywood” movie, Savchenko/Szolkowy hit the throw triple flip, the triple twist, as well as the side by side triple toeloop. The reigning European Champions earned a level four for their one-armed Axel Lasso lift and their death spiral and a level three for their interweaving straight line footwork and the side by side combination spin. The Germans picked up 69.44 points (40.64 element score/28.80 program component score) and surpassed their previous personal best of 67.65, achieved at the past World Championships. “This was our first performance in a big international competition, and it was good. We can be proud of ourselves and want to do the same tomorrow”, Szolkowy commented. “We skated better than in Oberstdorf (Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany in September) but still we felt that we weren’t at home”, Savchenko added.
Dubé/Davison delivered a strong performance to “Galicia Flamenco” that featured a side by side triple Salchow, a throw triple loop, a double twist and a level-four pair combination spin. The Canadian Champions received a level three for their Axel Lasso lift, the side by side spin, the death spiral and the footwork and got 63.12 points (36.88/26.24), improving their personal best of 60.80 that they just had set at Skate America last week. “We’re really happy and proud with the way we skated coming back after Skate America”, Davison said. “We still had a couple of shaky moments, there is still room for a lot of improvement. We had more confidence on the side by side jump (than at Skate America) and the throw at Skate America was something that just happened that doesn’t normally happen”, he explained when asked about improving the Short Program since Skate America.
Kawaguchi/Smirnov are not far behind with 60.00 points (36.00/24.00). The couple completed a side by side triple toeloop, triple twist, throw triple loop in their program to “Rondo Capriccioso” by Camille Saint-Saens. The Technical Panel awarded them a level four for the Axel Lasso lift and for the two spins. “We made a small mistake, but this is our first (major international) competition this season and considering that it was ok”, Kawaguchi said. “Yuko was excellent, I made a little error on the jump”, Smirnov explained referring to his shaky landing of the triple toeloop.
Anabelle Langlois/Cody Hay (CAN) are standing in fourth at 53.98 points. They landed the side by side triple toes but Langlois stumbled on the throw triple Lutz. Meagan Duhamel/Craig Buntin (CAN) were fifth (52.78 points) with a solid performance.
Ladies, Short Program
Laura Lepistö of Finland pulled off quite a surprise by grabbing the Ladies Short Program. Emily Hughes (USA) came in third while World silver medalist Mao Asada is currently standing in third place.
Performing to the movie soundtrack “1900” by Ennio Morricone, Lepistö landed a triple toe-triple toeloop combination followed by a triple loop and Axel. The 19-year-old produced a level-four spiral and two level-four spins to collect 59.18 points (34.50 element score/24.68 program component score) and significantly improved her previous personal best of 44.70 points. “It was almost perfect and the best I could do. It was the best short program I’ve done”, Lepistö told the post-event press conference. “My jumps went well, but also my other elements such as my spins and spirals. I didn’t expect this (result)”, she continued, still looking stunned. “I compete in my first senior Grand Prix, and this is a bigger competition than the ones I have been to before. The atmosphere is fantastic and it was really fun to skate tonight.”
Hughes’ routine to “I got Rhythm” by Georges Gershwin included a triple flip, a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination as well as a double Axel and high quality spins. The 18-year-old American was awarded a level four for her layback, combination spin and the spiral sequence and a level three for the flying sit spin to rack up 58.72 points (33.80/24.92), which was a new seasonal best for her. “Coming here from Reading (Skate America) I got my feet under me and had a lot more confidence”, Hughes said.
Asada went for a triple flip-triple loop combination, but underrotated and stumbled on the second jump which was downgraded. The judges also penalized her for the inside edge take off of her triple Lutz. The World silver medalist landed a solid double Axel and was awarded a level four for her flying sit spin, but her layback was graded only a level one. The 17-year-old earned 58.80 points (30.80/27.28). “Tonight I made a big mistake in my combination jump, but I feel I made mistakes on other elements as well. I didn’t get so high levels for my spins and my steps weren’t so smooth”, the 2005 World Junior Champion commented.
Yukari Nakano (JPN) finished fourth. Her triple flip-double toeloop was shaky and she fell on the triple Lutz, but showed excellent spins (55.94 points). Joannie Rochette (CAN) is currently sitting in fifth. Both her triple Lutz and triple flip-double toeloop combination were wobbly (55.48 points).
Men, Short Program
Brian Joubert of France clearly won the Men’s Short Program ahead of his teammate Yannick Ponsero and Canada’s Jeffrey Buttle.
The reigning World Champion Joubert, who skated last, impressed with a dynamic performance to the piece “All for You” that composer Sebastien Damian had written for him. The Frenchman nailed a quadruple-double toeloop combination, a triple Flip and a triple Axel. He received a level three for his combination spin but only a level one and two for his flying sit spin and the change foot sit spin. Joubert earned 78.05 points (40.70 element score/ 37.35 program component score) for this performance. “I am very pleased with my program and I really enjoy skating it. My score wasn’t bad and I hope to get even better scores (in the future)”, Joubert commented. “I was very tense at the Masters (a National competition earlier this season) and it didn’t work out there. I was a little nervous here but I also felt confident, because my practices have been going well.”
Skating to “Otonal” by Raul di Blasio, Ponsero opened with a high triple Axel followed by a quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, but he stepped out of the first jump. The 21-year-old scored 67.09 points (35.44/31.65). “I did a good program like in practice and I am second after the short program. Now I want to show the maximum in the free skating and hope to keep this placement”, the Frenchman said.
Buttle’s classical program to “I Pagliacci” featured a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and a triple Axel as well as high quality spins and footwork. However, the 2006 Olympic bronze medalist slipped on crossovers before setting up for his triple Lutz and then missed the jump. Buttle was awarded 66.85 points (32.60/35.25) and was just edged out by Ponsero. “The jumps weren’t easy, so I got to fight with them”, the Canadian Champion told the press. “For the first time out there internationally it was pretty good. The program, despite having trained it for a while, still feels new. I think it definitely will get more comfortable as the season goes on.”
The skaters ranked fourth to sixth are still within striking distance of the podium. Christopher Mabee (CAN) fell on his triple Axel to finish fourth (66.50) and Kevin van der Perren (BEL) was fifth (66.11). He landed a triple Axel and Lutz but went down on the back end of his quadruple-triple toeloop combination. Vaughn Chipeur (CAN) didn’t make a major error but downgraded his combination to a triple flip-double toe instead of the planned triple-triple. He came in sixth at 65.65 points. |
[复制链接]
显身卡
吴家亮的发挥
和全国赛时状态差太远了吧...