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2007 Cup of China - Figure Skating HighlightsOriginal Dance, Men's Short, and Pairs LongNov 9, 2007
The second day of Cup of China continued with the Original Dance, the Men's Short Program, and the Pairs' Long Program. Ice Dance (Original Dance)Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin maintained their lead over USA's Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, tacking on a few more points to their total score after the Original Dance (OD). "Emotionally it was a strong performance," said Domnina. "Technically it still could have been better." Domnina added that they weren't sure if they were going to be ready for the competition. "We lost a lot of time because Maxim first had meniscus surgery in May, and then he suffered from appendicitis in September." Nevertheless, the Russians performed a strong Ukrainian folk dance which featured mirrored twizzles in a midline step sequence, two difficult lifts, and a very good dance spin. The defending champions placing first in the OD with a new personal best of 62.20 points and now have a total of 100.97 points overall - putting them in the lead by just over four points. Belbin and Agosto earned 60.81 points for their OD, a little more than a point from what they earned at Skate America despite making several changes to the program. "I think the overall level of the performance was a step up from Skate America," said Belbin. "It's still early in the year, and we obviously have a lot of work to do, but the levels are high." The 2006 Olympic silver medalists engaged the audience with their "Appalachian Hoedown" which included two difficult lifts, two good midline step sequences (one with matching twizzles), and a difficult dance spin - all of which were graded a level four. They are currently second overall with a score of 96.70 points. As with the Russians, Belbin and Agosto were awarded level fours on all elements except for the circular footwork sequence (level three) - an element which was awarded a level four just two weeks ago at Skate America. "We'll fix it and keep working on it," said Belbin. Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali of Italy maintained third overall (90.48 points) after placing third in the OD. They also received level fours on all elements except for their circular step sequence. The 2007 Skate America bronze medalists executed a rotational and curve lift, two midline step sequences, and a very good level three circular step sequence in their Italian folk dance, earning 56.94 points to match their personal best from 2004 Cup of Russia. "As always, we enjoyed performing out Original Dance," said Faiella. "We skated really well." Israel's Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski earned 52.26 points for their Middle Eastern folk dance, maintaining fourth place overall with 83.07 points. Great Britain's Sinead Kerr and John Kerr struggled a bit through their Scottish dance and are currently fifth overall (78.45 points). John, who wore a kilt, labored over a twizzle in the midline step sequence, while Sinead stumbled during the circular step sequence which was awarded a level one. Ukrainians Anna Zadorozhniuk and Sergei Verbillo are currently in sixth place. Men (Short Program)USA's Evan Lysacek lead the men after the short program, followed by teammate Johnny Weir. Stephane Lambiel of Switzerland is currently third. Lysacek put his hand down on the landing of the first jump in a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, but otherwise delivered a triple Axel and a triple Lutz in his Zorro routine. The 22-year-old also executed two level three footwork sequences and two level four spins, earning a new personal best of 81.55 points. "It felt much stronger today than at my first Grand Prix Skate America," said the U.S. champion. "It's a good sign that I'm taking positive steps forward towards the later part of the season." Weir's short program to selections by Alexei Rybnikov featured a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, a beautiful triple Axel, and a triple flip. The U.S. bronze medalist also displayed two good level four spins and a difficult level three circular footwork sequence, earning 79.80 points. The 23-year-old was happy with his performance as he came close to his personal best (80.00 points) at his first grand prix event. "I was excited with today's performance after a kind of shaky warm-up," said Weir. "I handled my nerves well." Lambiel fell on a quadruple toeloop attempt in his routine to Carne Cruda by Fernando Egozcue, but otherwise landed a double Axel and a triple Lutz. "The start into the season is always hard for me," explained Lambiel. "I concentrated too much on my quad and put too much energy into it, so I over-rotated my upper body." The 22-year-old later explained that the reason he did a double Axel instead of a triple is because he's changed his preparation going into the jump. "I still need to get used to this," said Lambiel. The current World bronze medalist also produced very good spins and an excellent level three circular footwork sequence, earning a score of 70.20 points. Skating to music from the Schindler's List soundtrack, Sergei Davydov of Belarus opened with a triple Axel, followed by a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, and a triple flip. The 2006 Cup of China silver medalist also produced good footwork throughout his routine, earning 68.69 points for a fourth place finish. Shawn Sawyer of Canada is currently fifth with 63.41 points. The Canadian landed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination and a triple Lutz, but underrotated and two-footed the landing of a triple Axel. Russia's Alexander Uspenski landed a triple Axel and triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, but fell on a triple flip. He is currently in sixth place with 60.90 points. China's Jialiang Wu is currently in seventh, followed by Karel Zelenka of Italy. Pairs (Long Program)Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China easily out-skated the rest of the small field of competitors at this event, taking the gold medal. USA's Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker captured the silver in their senior debut, while Jessica Miller and Ian Moram of Canada won their first senior grand prix medal - the bronze. The Chinese champions had difficulty in the beginning of their routine when Tong underrotated and stepped of the landing of his jump on the side-by-side triple toeloops. He then singled his second jump on their side-by-side double Axel-double Axel sequence. The current World silver medalists quickly overcame the errors to produce a huge lateral triple twist, throw triple Salchow, and throw triple loop. The team also delivered three difficult lifts, as well as good flying camel combination spins, earning 111.27 points for a first place finish in the long and overall (176.75 points). "This was as mediocre performance," Pang later said at a press conference. "We've made a lot of changes to our free program since Skate America, and we still don't feel so comfortable with the program." McLaughlin and Brubaker placed second in the long program (95.44 points) and overall (154.66 points). "It's wonderful that we were able to come out second and it's great to medal," said Brubaker. Skating to Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, the U.S. junior champions opened with a huge lateral triple twist, but then McLaughlin fell on a throw triple Salchow. The team recovered to complete good side-by-side double Axels, however, they faltered on the side-by-side triple Salchows with Brubaker stumbling on his and McLaughlin falling on hers. "Obviously we struggled in the free skate," said Brubaker. "I think nerves played a little bit of a factor." The current Junior World champions also had problems on their first lift, but otherwise produced two more difficult lifts, two level four spins, and a good spiral sequence. "Sometimes you learn more from the harder skates," explained Brubaker. "I think it will be good going into NHK (their next event) knowing what to expect." Miller and Moram, who also had difficulty on their side-by-side jumps, placed third in the long (86.84 points) and overall (137.70 points). “Being third after the short was definitely something new for us," said Moram. "I think that played a little bit of a role in our skate today." Moram fell his jumps on the on side-by-side double Axels and the side-by-side double triple toeloops (Miller doubled hers). Miller also fell on a throw quadruple Salchow attempt, but the Canadians otherwise executed a lateral double twist, two level four lifts, and a throw triple loop. "It may not be the free skate that we wanted," offered Moram, "but we definitely take the result and we're extremely happy." Yue Zhang and Lei Wang of China finished in fourth place overall (126.78 points), followed by teammates Jiaqi Li and Jiankun Xu (125.08 points). Pang and Tong earned 15 points for this win, and with a total of 28 points, have qualified for the Grand Prix Final in December. McLaughlin and Brubaker (13 points) compete again later this month at NHK, while Miller and Moram (11 points) compete next week at Trophee Eric Bompard in Paris, France. The competition continues with the Ladies Long program, the Free Dance and the Men's Long Program. |
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