Event Previews - Pairs

[dorispulaski]

PAIRS

Pairs was all about the Russians in Mexico City, and I expect Ostrava will not be different. I expect to see Iliushechkina and Maisuradze win this.

Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE RUS
ISU Biography
http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00011009.htm
Best total score 144.86 at World Junior Championships 2008 (2nd Place)
4th place at Russian Senior Championships 157.83
SP at Russian Nationals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVZY_-IuWs
LP at Russian Nationals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YurWyNVuvt4

The silver and bronze medals are less clear. Both the young Russian teams will be in the mix, as well as the two Canadian teams. Castelli and Shnapir, just up from novices in the US, will be a wild card. If they skate their SP as at the Indy Challenge and their LP as at Liberty, they might squeak in for the bronze.

Amanda VELENOSI / Mark FERNANDEZ CAN
Selection from album Save My Soul by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (original mix by Hugo Chouinard)
Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2008/2009
Concerto En Fa by Alain Lefevre
Personal Best Total Score 128.65
2nd Tallinn 2007 125.36
5th Sheffield 2007 125.71
4th 2008 Junior Grand Prix Final
6th World Junior Championships 2007
9th World Junior Championships 2008
Canadian Championships 2008 SP (they finished 10th in Seniors with a score of 131.31
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDst7I1vU0s

Christi Anne STEELE / Adam JOHNSON CAN
Bring Him Home
Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2008/2009
Desperado by Mambo Kings, G. Puente
Malaguena
3rd in Juniors at Canadian Nationals 2007 with a score of 120.18
Personal Best: Tallinn 2007 115.53 (finished 8th)
Sheffield 2007 (finished 9th)
2007 SP Skate Detroit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzTztnyDtOM

Ksenia OZEROVA / Alexander ENBERT RUS
6th at Russian 2008 Championships in Juniors 131.35 (4th in the SP)

Sabina IMAIKINA / Andrei NOVOSELOV RUS
7th at Lake Placid JGP 2007 with a score of 102.63
8th at Russian Nationals in Juniors 127.60
2nd at Russian Cup in Samara 120.

Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR USA
Their Icenetwork biography
http://web.icenetwork.com/skaters/detail.jsp?id=39090&mode=P
10th at Tallinn JGP 2007 (scored 113.98)
3rd at US Nationals in Novices (behind Carman/Knierim and Chase/Speroff)
SP Music: Theme from Survivor by Russ Landau
FS Music: Selections from Gladiator soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard
Their SP, as skated at Liberty:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9iVKDnydp0
They won the Jr. LP at Liberty with a score of 75.51
They finished 3rd in the SP at Indy Pairs Challenge with a score of 46.94


Anais MORAND / Antoine DORSAZ SUI
ISU biography
http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00009517.htm
12th at World Junior Championships 2008 with a personal best total score of 118.92
14th Sheffield 94.82
15th Tallinn 100.31
They are currently the Swiss Senior champions
Their SP at Junior Worlds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PLm38uQHg4
Their LP at Juniors World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Ny4qyterM
EX from the Stephane Lambiel and Friends Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiinICM9Gf4&feature=related

Krystyna KLIMCZAK / Janusz KARWETA POL
2007/2008 SP from JGP Gdansk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdTw1L5fq5E
2007/2008 LP from another competition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QscE471F4zw
Music Short Program / Original Dance as of season 2007/2008
The Age of Swing performed by BBC Big Band
Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2007/2008
Sun Swist (soundtrack)
14th Tallinn 108.48
15th Sheffield 93.55
Best total score 110.69 at Junior Grand Prix Final (8th place)
16th at Junior World Championships

Alexandra HERBRIKOVA / Lukas OVCACEK CZE
Music Short Program / Original Dance as of season 2008/2009
Taking the Field by Yong San Pae
Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2008/2009
Spanish Suites

Gabriela CERMANOVA / Martin HANULAK SVK
17th at World Jr. Championships with a personal best of 95.74
1st at Slovakia Junior Championships
Junior Worlds 2008 SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSOXu0NTG1k
Junior Worlds 2008 LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClKYdMcyz9Y

Malgorzata LIPINSKA / Bartosz PALUCHOWSKI POL
This is a new team whose debut is at Ostrava.
Bartosz has previously been a partner of:
Katarzyna Wilczyk, Aneta Michalek, Agnieszka Klimek.
Lipinska was 4th in senior at her nationals last year


Carolina GILLESPIE / Daniel AGGIANO ITA
2nd in Junior Pairs at Mladost Trophy
SP from 2007 Italian Nationals in Juniors (held in December) They finished second.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cYbeL5MzKw
LP from 2007 Italian Nationals. They won the free skate but were not able to take over the lead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcl2iTY8iEw

Anna KHNYCHENKOVA / Sergei KULBACH UKR
Anna skated singles in the 2005/2006 season.
2008 Ukrainian Championships in Juniors -their LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C__1HbStbFk
Their SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaqCachX190&feature=related

Zoey BROWN / Ian BEHARRY CAN
1st in Novice Pairs in Canada 2008
Bari Phunky Bari by Sergio Percussions, Zulu
Music Free Skating / Free Dance as of season 2008/2009
Selection from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein

Kloe BAUTISTA / Galvani HOPSON USA
They are just up from Novices, having been 4th at the US championships in novices.
Their Icenetwork biography:
http://web.icenetwork.com/skaters/detail.jsp?id=39111&mode=P
SP music: Pink Panther music remix
FS music: Selections from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie soundtrack by Nicholas Hooper
Some tiny videos:
They succeed in doing a throw double flip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bch99TfkIVU
They attempt to do a throw triple flip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-ZCOyCIVpY&feature=related

Tameron DRAKE / Edward ALTON GBR
Best personal score 78.06 at Sheffield 2007 (17th)
2nd in the Junior British Championships in 2007 and 2008

Ji Hyang RI / Won Hyok THAE PRK
2nd in Juniors in North Korea
Their 2007 /2008 LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpcQGJ9d1GA
Another program of theirs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRNwywUHVko

 

[oleada]

Once again, thanks Doris!
I hope Iliuschechkina/Maisuradze win this. They are a breath of fresh air . Their programs are so interesting! It's hard to believe they've only been skating in pairs since 2006.

Ozerova/Enbert are coached by Moskvina, and Morand/Dorsaz switched to Steuer recently. The latter were much improved at Junior Worlds last year (compared to their form the year before that and the JGP). I'd be really interested to see what they look like now. Without any offense to Antoine Dorsaz, his partner really outshone him at that event!

Castelli/Schnapir do some really interesting things, and I think that if they skate well, they can be in medal contention. Their SP was wonderful.

 

[dorispulaski]

Yes, I quite feel in love with Castelli & Shnapir at Liberty--we have not had many US pairs who were doing anything besides ticking off the tricks for some time. They are not from either the Ron Ludington, Jill Watson, Peter Oppegard or Dalilah Sappenfield groups, which makes them somewhat unique here in the US for pairs that get some international exposure.

Their coaches are:
Coach:Bobby Martin, Carrie Wall, Sheryl Franks
Choreographer:Sheryl Franks

Sheryl Franks skated with Michael Botticelli in the 1980 Olympics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPCCWijylsY
They did a double axel into a death spiral. Perhaps C&S will try it sometime.