Quebec Summer Competition August 5 - 8 | Golden Skate

Quebec Summer Competition August 5 - 8

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Here's the announcement:
http://www.patinage.qc.ca/index.asp?id=444

Entries (all events are listed in this file):
http://www.patinage.qc.ca/userfiles/file/WEB_Ete2010_inscriptions.pdf

Notable competitors:
Sr. Men: Shawn Sawyer and Elladj Balde (returned from injury) and Javier Raya (ESP) competing as a sr here.
Sr. Ladies: Myriane Samson, Amelie Lacoste, and Cynthia Phaneuf
Sr. Pairs: Dube & Davison, Takahashi & Tran, Brodeur & Mattatall, and the new pair of Duhamel and Radford and Joanna Sulej & Mateusz Chruscinski POL

I didn't recognize the names of any of the dance teams.

The Sr pairs looks like a great event!
 
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oakl0008

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Thanks for the info dorispulaski!

Yes, indeed the Sr. Pairs competition sure looks exciting.


I think Blade will do very well after having to sit out a year from injury.


I am REALLY hoping someone can sneak a video of Shawn Sawyer's performances, particularly his Alice in Wonderland LP. I am hoping he is ready. :D
 

oakl0008

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Thanks for the info dorispulaski.

Nice that D/D won the SP. Nice that D/R won the LP!

Would you happen to know what was up with Sawyer? He came in 6th in the SP and I saw no results from him in the LP and his name wasn't even listed as WD or anything. Was he even entered into the LP? I'm just curious.
 

i love to skate

Medalist
Joined
Dec 13, 2005
Would you happen to know what was up with Sawyer? He came in 6th in the SP and I saw no results from him in the LP and his name wasn't even listed as WD or anything. Was he even entered into the LP? I'm just curious.

He was only entered in the SP.
 

Kypma

Final Flight
Joined
May 12, 2007
Would you happen to know what was up with Sawyer? He came in 6th in the SP and I saw no results from him in the LP and his name wasn't even listed as WD or anything. Was he even entered into the LP? I'm just curious.

If he wasn't listed as WD from the LP, then that means he hadn't registered for it (which is the case, I just checked). It's a pity we didn't get to see his new long!

I was there all 4 days, but I hadn't had a chance to write up my impressions yet.

Senior Pairs:
Mylène Brodeur and John Mattatall's short program is set to Frank Sinatra's "My Way", with the lift perfectly timed to the crescendo. I really, really liked this program. It's a pity we only have 2 pairs spots at worlds again because this pair is really good, just not enough so in a country with such pairs depth. Mylène also landed the triple toe after missing it several times in warmup, and their triple twist looked so easy that I thought it might have been a double.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford have side-by-side triple Lutzes in their short program, and they nailed them. I have a feeling they're really going for technical difficulty this year, but their unison isn't there yet. The choreography of the short program in particular has very few transitions where they are shadowing each other, perhaps to mask the imperfect unison. The short program lift was indeed aborted, but it looked okay in the warmup. They also had a glitch in the long where after nailing the side-by-side triple flip-double toe-double-toe combination (told you they were going for technical difficulty!!) and the throw triple loop, both to great applause, she slipped on the entrance edge into the flying camel. She was embarrassed but also laughed it off along with the audience--I'm guessing this isn't a familiar situation for them!! The lack of shadow transitions wasn't as apparent in the long, or maybe I was just used to it after the short--essentially it wasn't an obvious lack, but they weren't numerous either.

Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison had an okay short program--I was really only impressed by Brodeur and Mattatall that night, though it may have been the familiar music--but it was nice to see Jessica nail the triple salchow after not landing a single one in warmup. Their lifts weren't quite up to their usual standard and the flip-out dismount they showed in warmup didn't happen in the program, but that may have been partly due to a wrist injury she appeared to have (it seemed to be taped or bandaged). I was really looking forward to seeing their long program, since I saw them practicing a triple toe-triple toe sequence at Stars on Ice, but if they weren't ready then better not show it. After all, William Thompson and (OMG I've forgotten his name--the other important Skate Canada guy...) were in the stands. For other events I also spotted Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon (dance evaluations), Manon Perron, and I think Benoît Lavoie may have been there as well, perhaps as a judge?

Senior Ladies:
Amélie Lacoste is looking good, though her long wasn't perfect her short was pretty good. Compared to all the senior ladies, she really looked like the class of the field--much faster, decent variety of jumps, and good expression in both programs (maybe a tango and something more classical?)

Myriane Samson nailed all of her jumps in the short, and she's really nice to watch when she's on. She was also very elegant in the long, though again there were mistakes. She could really be on the podium if only she were more consistent...

Cynthia Phaneuf's short was energetic, she really entertained the crowd. I'm a little disappointed she's still doing a triple toe as her solo triple in the short program, but if it means a clean short, then I guess it's for the better.

Senior Men:
Shawn Sawyer's short program sounded familiar--maybe it was the same as last year's? He still has trouble with the triple Axel, and he also doubled the Lutz, so it wasn't his night. Otherwise he didn't appear as superior in terms of transitions, skating skills and overall performance as I expected him to be (as the highest-ranked man of the event).

Elladj Baldé's return to competition was very warmly greeted by his home club. The jump landings were rough, and he fell on both triple Axels he attempted (short and long) but he's improving and getting back to competition shape after last year's injury. His spins were slower in the programs than in warmup in some cases, causing him to remove features and drop levels, but I guess some issues can be attributed to competition nerves. After his programs (the short in particular--after the long I was distracted so I didn't notice) he really acknowledged the crowd, which was nice to see. As the star skater of the Pierrefonds skating club, he is really well loved.

I watched the junior and senior short dances, as well as the senior free dance, but nothing really stood out for me. In particular, I don't like the waltz compulsory/pattern in the junior short as it really appears glaringly different from the rest, but the difference is less noticeable in seniors (I actually missed one pattern of the golden waltz in both teams I watched, though it was partly because the dances just weren't that interesting). I'll see as the season goes on but so far I'm less than impressed by the short dance. Maybe it just needs more polishing, but I will admit that the music choices were good; a nice variety of styles while maintaining the required tempo. I heard Bryan Adams, "She's Always a Woman to me" (which made me think of Marie-France and Patrice, sitting a few metres away from me!), "My Favourite Things", Edith Piaf, and others.

Home club skaters Andréanne Poulin and Marc-André Servant looked good, and only afterwards when I googled them up did I notice they were first in Quebec and 5th in Canada at the junior world last year (!). Just like Elladj, they were very warmly greeted by the crowd. In particular, she has very neat feet in the compulsory (and overall) and they relate well to the crowd. The waltz for the short dance really seems to match their style very well. I didn't catch their free (it was at the same time as Senior Men's I think; I know I was volunteering on another rink when their event was taking place), but they placed first by approximately 6 points so I assume it bodes well for the season. I don't know if they've been assigned to a junior grand prix event...
 
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Kypma

Final Flight
Joined
May 12, 2007
I added a few details to my original post (see italics); I didn't realize how much I'd added until after editing.
 
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