ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Skate America Day Two
Skate America in Reading, Pennsylvania, continued Saturday
with the Original Dance, the Pairs and Men’s Free Skating
and the Ladies Short Program. Skate America is the first of
six events in the 2007/2008 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
Series.
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
Today’s competition at the Sovereign Center started
with the Original Dance. The Original Dance of the 2007/2008
season is the Folk/Country Dance. The couples chose a wide
variety of different dances from North America, Europe, the
Middle East and Africa.
World bronze medalists Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto (USA)
strengthened their lead ahead of
Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat of France and Italy’s
Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali.
Belbin/Agosto put out an entertaining Western Dance to “Appalachean
Hoedown” and “Country Waltz” that featured
a dance combination spin, a curve lift and a rotational lift
with changes of position for her. The Waltz section was highlighted
by the circular footwork. Belbin/Agosto were awarded a level
four for all their elements in the dance. The reigning World
bronze medalists scored 59.24 points (31.50/27.74) for the
Original Dance and so far have 95.27 points. “We tried
to find as many videos of hoedowns and square dancing which
is actually much harder than you think. As we were digging
into it, we found it was almost an evolution of folk dance
where you have immigrants coming from all over the world to
the US throughout history and they are bringing their own
folk dancing and it melds together so you have a lot of Polish
Polka, Clogging from Ireland, so it’s very interesting
to look back at the American Folk Dance and see where it’s
come from”, Agosto explained on their choice of music.
Pechalat/Bourzat opted for a Spanish Flamenco. The National
silver medalists completed a stationary lift with him turning
on the spot and holding her up high (level four) as well as
intricate footwork. Their midline step sequence was graded
a level four and their circular footwork a level three. The
French received 56.95 points (29.90/27.05) and remained in
second place with 91.51 points. Faiella/Scali produced a very
characteristic dance from southern Italy and captured the
mood of the dance very well. They earned a level four for
all their elements but for the circular step sequence (level
three) and scored 54.56 points (29.90/24.66). They stand in
third place at 85.99 points.
Pairs, Free Skating
Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison of Canada upset reigning
World silver medalists Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) to take their
first gold medal on the ISU Grand Prix series. Russia’s
Vera Bazarova/Juri Larionov earned the bronze medal in what
was their first competition at the senior level.
Dubé/Davison’s romantic program to “The
Blower’s Daughter” included a double twist, a
double Axel-double Axel sequence, difficult lifts with changes
of positions, a big throw triple Salchow as well as a level
four side by side combination spin. Dubé only doubled
the side by side Salchow and fell on the throw triple loop.
The Canadian Champions received 112.46 points (57.38 element
score/56.08 program component score) and accumulated a total
score of 173.26 points.
“To beat our personal best was our goal and win or no
win, we achieved our goal. I think that looking to our future
is the most important”, Davison commented.
Skating to the “Romeo and Juliet” soundtrack by
Nino Rota, Pang/Tong landed a side by side triple toeloop,
a high triple twist, a throw triple Salchow and a difficult
Axel lasso lift that was graded a level four, but he singled
the side by side double Axel and she went down on the throw
triple loop. She also singled the toeloop in (in combination
with the Axel). The Chinese scored 104.87 points and settled
for the silver medal at 165.19 points total.
Bazarova/Larionov’s routine featured a triple twist,
a throw triple flip, a double Axel-double Axel sequence as
well as strong lifts and two level-four spins. Their only
major error came when Bazarova touched down with her hand
on the landing of the throw triple loop. The 2007 World Junior
Champions posted a score of 102.82 (55.30/47.52) and took
the bronze medal with a total of 159.58 points.
Ladies, Short Program
The event continued with the Ladies’ Short Program.
2006 World Champion Kimmie Meissner (USA) edged out current
World Champion Miki Ando of Japan to take the lead. World
Junior Champion Caroline Zhang (USA) came in third.
Meissner opened her routine to “Passion” by Peter
Gabriel with a spiral sequence followed by a triple flip and
triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, but the second jump
was underrotated and downgraded. She also hit the double Axel
and got a level three for her flying sit spin and a level
three for the combination spin. Meissner was awarded 59.24
points (30.40/28.84). “My performance was pretty good,
especially considering (it was) the first time out (with a
new program). I have a lot of things to work on. It was a
pretty solid start to this competition and to the season”,
Meissner said.
Skating to “Samson and Dalilah” by Camille Saint-Saens,
Ando landed a triple Lutz-double loop, a triple flip and a
double Axel but then fell on her straight line footwork. Her
flying sit spin was graded a level three, but the only got
a level one for her layback spin. Ando felt handicapped in
her spins by a shoulder injury. The Japanese scored 56.58
points (30.10/27.48).
Zhang risked a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, but
underrotated the first jump. Her “Spanish Gypsy”
program contained also a triple Lutz, a double Axel and beautiful
spins. The audience gave the 14-year-old a standing ovation.
The World Junior Champion picked up 56.48 points (30.20/26.28).
Men, Free Skating
In what was an exciting Men’s Free Skating, Daisuke
Takahashi of Japan captured the gold medal with Evan Lysacek
(USA) securing the silver. 16-year-old Patrick Chan of Canada
grabbed the bronze medal, his first medal on the senior Grand
Prix.
Overnight leader Takahashi skated last as the skaters competed
in the reverse order of the Short Program result. The reigning
World silver medalist opened his routine to “Romeo and
Juliet” by Peter Tchaikovski with a quadruple toeloop,
but then had to overcome a fall on the triple Axel. He recovered
to hit a triple loop, triple Axel-double toeloop, triple flip-triple
toeloop, a triple Salchow and another triple flip, but he
missed his triple Lutz. Takahashi also completed fast paced
footwork to earn 148.93 points (74.83 element score/76.10
program component score), but he was somewhat sloppy on his
spins. He was ranked second in the Free Skating but overall
defended his first place with at total of 228.97 points.
“I am happy with the result, but I am not so happy with
my performance”, Takahashi told the press. “I
fell two times and my spins were not so good. I think I need
more practice. I can’t believe I missed that triple
Lutz, I haven’t missed that jump for quite some time.”
Putting out a dramatic performance to “Tosca”
by Giacomo Puccini, Lysacek went for the quadruple toeloop
right out of the gate but he two-footed the jump. The two-time
World bronze medalist then nailed a triple Axel and six more
triple jumps including another triple Axel (in combination
with double toe) and a triple flip-triple toeloop combination.
He received a level four for three of his four spins and scored
152.38 points (78.58/73.80) which added up to a total of 220.08.
He won the Free Skating portion but remained in second place.
Chan delivered a solid performance to “Four Seasons”
that featured a triple Axle, a triple flip-triple toeloop
combination as well as four more triples and two level-four
spins. His only major error came when he fell on the last
jump, a triple flip. The 2007 World Junior silver medalist
was awarded 145.86 points (76.36/70.50) and accumulated a
total score of 213.33 points.
Skate America concludes Sunday with the Free Dance, the Ladies
Free Skating and the Exhibition Gala.
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