ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2008
Day Three
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2008 continued
Thursday in Sofia, Bulgaria with the Original Dance and the
Mens’ Free Skating.
Ice Dancing, Original Dance
The Ice Dancing event continued with the Original Dance. The
Original Dance for the 2007/2008 season is the Folk/Country
Dance. The 30 couples presented an interesting variety of
dances from Russia, Turkey, Spain, Poland, India, China, Romania,
Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, USA, Ireland, Denmark,
Finland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Ukraine, Greece, South Africa
and Serbia.
Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates (USA) strengthened their lead
while Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier of Canada moved up to second
and Russia’s Kristina Gorshkova/Vitali Butikov came
in third. The top two couples are separated by less than two
points, and the couples ranked third and fourth are not far
behind.
Samuelson/Bates had chosen a Russian Dance to “Kalinka”
and “Russkie Napievi” that was highlighted by
precise steps, a rotational lift and a straight line lift.
Bates slipped briefly after the side by side footwork, but
recovered instantly. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver
medallists earned a level four for all their elements but
for the spin that was graded a level three. They got a new
personal best score of 57.84 points (31.74/26.10) for this
dance and so far have accumulated 92.95 points. “We
had a lot of fun out there and hopefully portrayed Russian
Folk as best we could. It felt great. When we originally heard
that it was Folk, it was definitely something new and interesting.
We were excited to try something we’ve never done before.
Our coaches brought us DVDs and had us watch Russian Folk
dancing so we could really get the feeling what we’re
supposed to portray on the ice. Even now we’re still
happy with the program and with the folk. I think it’s
a great choice, because you see so many different countries’
folk dances out there”, Samuelson commented. “For
us today’s performance was pretty good, we just had
one small error that I made, but other than that we were really
happy with how we skated and the rest of it went pretty well”,
Bates added.
Crone/Poirier put out a characteristic Romanian Gypsy Dance,
completing a difficult circular and side by side step sequence
as well as curve lift and a dance combination spin with change
of direction. The Canadians were awarded a level four for
all six elements of the dance and picked up 57.52 points (32.45/25.07),
which was a new personal best for them. They pulled up from
third to second at 91.23 points overall.
Gorshkova/Butikov had chosen a Greek Dance that featured
a well synchronized side by side step sequence, a serpentine
step sequence, a curve and rotational lift. The Muscovites
received a level four for all these elements and a level three
for their combination spin to score a new personal best of
55.46 points (30.53/24.93). They now have collected 88.98
points and moved up one spot from fourth to third.
Maria Monko/Ilia Tkachenko (RUS), who stood in second place
following the Compulsory Dance, slipped to fourth after she
stumbled on a twizzle in the side by side footwork.
Men, Free Skating
The Men’s event concluded with an exciting Free Skating.
Adam Rippon (USA) took the gold medal ahead of Russia’s
Artem Borodulin. Jinlin Guan of China captured the bronze.
Overnight leader Rippon had drawn to skate first out of the
top contenders. Performing to “Moonlight Sonata”,
he nailed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple
Lutz, triple loop, triple Lutz-double toe-double loop as well
as another triple flip and two double Axel. The only error
came when he did one step too many in his double Axel-triple
Salchow sequence and subsequently the second jump didn’t
count. The American earned a level four for all three spins
and a level three for both step sequences and picked up 130.55
points (66.27 element score/64.28 program component score),
which added up to 199.90 total. It was Rippon’s first
appearance at Junior Worlds. “It feels great. I wish
I just could have skated a little bit better, but I’m
so happy with the result. I was hoping it would be enough,
but I didn’t think I had skated well enough to hold
the lead after the free skate, but I’m happy with the
overall result”, Rippon commented right after he knew
that he had won.
Borodulin opened his dramatic performance to “Berlin
Concert” with a high triple Axel followed by a triple
Lutz-triple toeloop combination, but he stepped out of the
second jump. The 18-year-old Russian recovered to land five
more triples and also showed a level-four combination spin.
He scored a new personal best of 128.61 points (67.17/61.44)
and racked up a total of 194.77 points. Borodulin competed
for the second time at the World Junior Championships and
was ranked 7th last year.
Guan, who stood in fourth place following the Short Program,
delivered a strong routine to a medley of soundtracks by Ennio
Morricone that featured a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination,
a triple flip, a triple loop, three more triples and a level-four
flying sit and change-foot-sit spin. The Chinese earned 127.13
points (68.49/58.64) and moved up one spot with a total of
189.60 points. The bronze medal was his first at Junior Worlds
in his fourth consecutive appearance in the event.
Brandon Mroz (USA), who was ranked third in the Short Program,
slipped to fourth (186.20 points).
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2008 continue
Friday with the Ladies Short Program and the Free Dance.
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