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2008 World Junior Figure Skating Championships - HighlightsCompulsory Dance and Pairs Short Program
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The 2008 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships are being held Feb. 26 - Mar. 1 in Sofia, Bulgaria at the Winter Sports Hall. It is the second time since 2001 that Sofia has hosted this event. Approximately 209 skaters from 50 different countries are competing in Sofia.
The ISU will be awarding prize money totaling $200,000 to skaters and couples that place first through 12th. In addition, the top three skaters and couples per discipline having earned the most World Standing points during the 2007-08 season, will be awarded with a World Standings Bonus.
The competition kicked off on Feb. 26 with the Compulsory Dance and the Pairs Short Program.
The Compulsory Dance (CD) of the event was the Cha Cha Congelado, which was created by Bernard Ford, Kelly Johnson, Laurie Palmer and Steven Belanger. It was first performed in 1989 in Richmond Hill, Ontario.
USA's Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates placed first in the CD, followed by Russia's Maria Monko and Ilia Tkachenko and Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier of Canada. Kristina Gorshkova and Vitali Butikov of Russia are currently in a close fourth.
Samuelson (17) and Bates (19) appeared a little "studied" in their dance, but the team skated a precise and exact Cha-Cha with excellent matching lines and extension. Their timing and expression was also very good, and the 2007 Junior Grand Prix (JGP) Final silver medalists earned a new personal best of 35.11 (18.99/16.12) points.
USA's Emily Samuelson (17) and Evan Bates (19) perform the Cha Cha Congelado for the Compulsory Dance. |
The Cha Cha Congelado was also the CD chosen for the JGP Final, and Samuelson and Bates were happy with their improvement.
"When we went to the Final, we weren't really satisfied with our performance and I think here we gave a much stronger performance and we're very happy with the score," said Bates. "It's a fast dance and there are a lot of steps and not a lot of ice to fit them in. You have to be deep, you have to be quick, and also maintain speed and be on the music. So there's a lot of things going on."
Both Samuelson and Bates enjoy skating to latin music.
"We worked a lot off-ice with a ballroom instructor," offered Bates. "Last year we had a latin free dance, which, at Jr Worlds last year didn't go very well." Gesturing toward his partner's dress, Bates said, "In fact that's the dress. It's the same dress from the free dance last year. We couldn't throw the dress away after that." "We just thought it fit the character of the dance of all the dresses I have," added Samuelson, regarding the dress. "You spend so much money on dresses and everything, and it's nice to re-use them."
Monko (17) and Tkachenko (21) put out an enthusiastic and crisp performance, showing excellent expression as well as very good speed. The JGP Final champions earned a new personal best of 34.99 (18.92/16.07) points for a very close second.
"We are happy," said Monko. "We skated quite well and we're just happy that this is our last competition (of the season) and we were able to show off our work we've done this season. We skated this dance at the Junior Final and I started to like this dance this season. Before I didn't like it as much. Now it was the best of all the dances for us this season."
"We felt it was an advantage for us to have skated the Cha Cha many times in competition this season," added Tkachenko. "We didn't have to go into details of new dances. We just had to repeat and hone the Cha Cha. We had no other choice than to like this dance as we had to skate it."
Crone (17) and Poirier (16) placed third with a new personal best of 33.71 (18.38/15.33) points. The Canadians skated close together in their dance, which had excellent expression and very deep edges and curves.
"I feel our performance was very strong," said Crone. "[When] we did it earlier in the year, there wasn't as good pizzazz and connection, but this was very good for us and we worked so hard to get that out."
Poirier agreed, adding, "We've really been working on the technical aspect of the dance as well, and I think it's really paid off for us. Since the JGP Final, we looked at the top teams that medalled and we saw what we needed to do to be medal contenders and we pushed [ourselves]."
"Last year was more nerve-racking 'cause we didn't know exactly where we were going to be," said Crone. "This year we had a goal and we want to stay with that goal and hopefully we can achieve that."
Gorshkova (19) and Butikov (20) are in a very close fourth with 33.52 (17.89/15.63) points. The JGP Final bronze medalists produced an excellent dance with very good expression and speed.
"It felt good," said Gorshkova. "We skated really well. We also liked the ice rink...it has a nice ambiance. Honestly, I can't say if it was better here or at the [JGP] Final. It was quite good in both events. I really like the Cha Cha. It's a fun dance and it probably suits our character."
USA's Madison Hubbell (17) and Keiffer Hubbell (19) are in fifth with 30.52 (16.80/13.72) points. The brother-and-sister team attacked the dance, and skated very close together while displaying very good extension and matching leg lines.
They U.S. Junior champions missed the 2007-08 JGP series as Keiffer was recovering from a hip (nerve and muscle) injury.
"It's definitely exciting," said Madison, about being back. "We're happy mostly because we're back in good health and ready to get back out there. It's nice to be back in Sofia… it's brought us good luck before, so hopefully it will again."
"We had a good JGP experience last year and we definitely knew how to prepare for international competition," said Keiffer. "Basically we had to remember and maybe over-prepare more than we would, but I don't think we're at a disadvantage at all."
The siblings were happy with their marks. "It's a fun dance," said Madison. "It's kind of hard, just because of the quickness of the steps and how deep the pattern is. "It's hard to have the proper pattern within a rink especially when you're going from NHL to Olympic size and back and forth. We skated it pretty well."
Lucie Mysliveckova and Matej Novak of the Czech Republic are currently in sixth place (30.43 points), followed by Russia's Ekaterina Riazanova and Jonathan Guerreiro (28.69 points).
Isabella Pajardi and Stefano Caruso of Italy, who finished seventh at the JGP Final, took a fall in their dance, and are currently in 14th place.
Visibly upset, Pajardi left it up to her partner to explain what happened. "At the first sequence, she turned backwards and tried to push and lost her edge," said Caruso.
Russia dominated the Pairs event despite the absence of Vera Bazarova and Juri Larionov, who won the JGP title earlier this season.
Bazarova and Larionov were unable to compete due to a positive drug test for Furosemide by Larionov on November 26, 2007, and are currently facing a two-year-ban.
According to the investigation by the Russian Federation, Larionov took the prohibited substance inadvertently and only once. He was excluded from the national team and banned from competitions for the rest of the season for "irresponsible use of medication".
The final decision on sanctions will be made by the International Skating Union (ISU). Until then, the team, who won silver at this event last year, are currently suspended from all national and ISU competitions pending the outcome of the investigation.
Ksenia Krasilnikova (16) and Konstantin Bezmaternikh (19) of Russia perform a lift in their Short Program to Quidam from Cirque du Soleil. |
Two-time and reigning World Junior bronze medalists Ksenia Krasilnikova and Konstantin Bezmaternikh of Russia are currently in first place, followed by teammates Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze, and Ekaterina Sheremetieva/Mikhail Kuznetsov.
Krasilnikova (16) and Bezmaternikh (19) skated a dynamic program to Quidam from Cirque du Soleil, which featured a very good level 4 double twist and lasso lift. The 2007-08 JGP silver medalists also produced a throw triple toeloop, two level 3 spins, and solid side-by-side double Axels, earning a new personal best of (56.30 33.56/22.74) points.
"Not so bad for all three of us," said Bezmaternikh, referring to themselves as well as the other two Russian teams. "Each of us could have done better. Each of us did not show exactly what we can do."
The team was asked which element they would take out the of Short Program if they could. "Side-by-side spins, " Krasilnikova replied, while Bezmaternikh said he would add another lift.
Debuting in their first international competition, Iliushechkina (16) and Maisuradze (20) placed second in the short with 52.05 (30.31/22.74) points. Performing to The Gadfly by Dmitri Shostakovich, the newly-formed team executed very good side-by-side double Axels and an excellent double twist, but Iliushechkina took a hard fall on a throw triple toeloop. The Russians otherwise skated with good speed and showed good interpretation of the music.
"We only started to compete this season," noted Iliushechkina, "so obviously we did not show everything that we are capable of. Overall, we feel it was quite good."
When asked who they idolized in skating, Maisuradze mentioned countryman Anton Sikharulidze, while Iliushechkina admires Aliona Savchenko of Germany because she is the "boss" of the team.
As with most pair teams, both skaters were single skaters before they teamed up. Iliushechkina felt the most difficult part about skating pairs was learning to skate with a partner. However, Iliushechkina nominated her partner as the "boss" of their team.
When asked if they could remove an element from the Short Program, both agreed on the side-by-side spins.
Teammates Sheremetieva (16) and Kuznetsov (19) placed third with a new personal best of 51.94 (30.05/21.89) points for their routine to Winter from Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The 2007-08 JGP Final bronze medalists showed excellent speed and very good unison in their program, however, Sheremetieva couldn't hold onto the landing of a throw triple toeloop which resulted in a turnout. They otherwise displayed impressive spins, as well as very good level 4 lift.
"We tried to do everything at the maximum speed and we didn't quite cope with the speed on this element," said Sheremetieva of the mistake on the throw jump. "We were trying our best," added Kuznetsov. "Of course, we trained to skate our program with a clean throw, but we tried not to think about the mistake and tried to do everything as we should do."
The team, who missed most of last season when Sheremetieva broke her foot, is excited about competing in their first Junior Worlds Championships. "We're not too nervous," offered Kuznetsov. "Let's see what happens tomorrow."
China's Yue Zhang (15) and Lei Wang (19) placed a very close fourth with a new personal best of 51.22 (30.48/20.74) points for their charming nautical routine. Zhang struggeled with her jump on the side-by-side double Axels, but the 2007-08 JGP finalists otherwise delivered a solid double twist and throw triple loop.
"We had two minor errors," noted Wang, "but overall it was a quite good performance. We got a good score and a new seasons best, but we'll still have to work hard tomorrow in the free skating."
Teammates Huibo Dong (19) and Yiming Wu (21) are in a close fifth with 51.16 (30.87/20.29) points. They showed excellent speed in their routine to Tosca, and their impressive elements included a high lateral double twist and a huge throw triple toeloop. However, Dong caught her heel on the landing of her jump in the side-by-side double Axels, which resulted in a -1.60 Grade of Execution (GOE).
USA's Chelsi Guillen (14) and Danny Curzon (20) placed sixth with a new personal best of 49.37 (30.34/19.03) points for their routine to Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber. The U.S. Junior bronze medalists captured the subdued and soft feel of the music very well, and showed excellent unison in their program which featured a throw triple toeloop, side-by-side double Axels, and good spins.
Both skaters, along with their coach (Doug Ladret), were obviously very pleased with their performance.
"We skated our best," said Guillen, "clean like we wanted to do." "Each competition we've gotten a little bit better," added Curzon. "We've finished this program off on a good note here."
The team, who has only been together a year and half, are in their last year of eligibility as juniors. "Getting to come here has been such a treat," said Curzon, "kind of like the cherry on top of the year. Getting her (Guillen) all caught up with her pairs tests has been the hardest part."
"At the beginning of the season, this (JR Worlds) wasn't really a goal for us," added Guillen. "We just hoped to skate good at nationals and see what would happen. It's so amazing to come here to skate."
Canadian Junior champions Monica Pisotta (16) and Michael Stewart (20) are in seventh place with a new personal best of 48.29 (29.80/18.49) points. Their routine to Fire on Ice by Mortazan featured synchronized side-by-side double Axels, a throw triple toeloop, and good straightline footwork and spins.
"We skated really well," said Pisotta, "we're really happy."
USA's Jessica Rose Paetsch and Jon Nuss are in eighth after the short with 48.01 (27.75/21.26) points. Paetsch fell on her jump in the side-by-side double Axels, but the U.S. Junior champions otherwise expressed both softness and sharpness of the music in their routine to Por Una Cabeza by Carlos Gardel which featured a strong double twist and level 4 lift.
Canada's Amanda Velenosi and Mark Fernandez found themselves in a disappointing 10th with 46.88 (28.64/19.24) points. The team, who were fifth at this year's JGP Final, produced an excellent level 4 lift and side-by-side spin, but had a minor problem on the side-by-side double Axels (-0.23 GOE). Velenosi also put both hands down on the landing of a throw triple toeloop.
"A couple of mistakes, one on the throw and a small one on the Axel," said Fernandez, when asked about their performance, "but generally quite well."
Maria Sergejeva and Ilja Glebov of Estonia are currently in ninth place with 46.92 points.
Only two of the 20 pair teams received more than level one on their footwork. Pisotta and Stewart received a level 3 as did Japan's Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, who are currently 13th.
The event continues with the Men's Short Program and the Pairs Long Program.
