Chengiang Li, Takeshi Honda, Elvis Stokjo Mens Report

Amber Corwin, Tatiana Malinina, Angela Nikidinov Ladies Report

Sargeant/Wirtz, Shen/Zhao, Hartsell/Hartsell Pairs Report

Lefebvre/Brunet, Bourne/Kraatz, Lang/Tcherneshev Dance Report

Exhibition Practice Notes (Photos to follow)

Men

The big story of this event was the emergence of Takeshi Honda . I first saw Taskeshi as one of the little jumping beans at 1996 Worlds and it's been exciting to watch him develop as a skater. At 1998 Skate Canada, he was working with Galina Zmevskaya and had great programs and a gorgeous triple axel (just like Viktor Petrenko's) but seemed to be lost. His programs were not very coherent. The short program appeared to have constantly shifting elements and this didn't do much for his consistency. Here, he went back to last year's short program and nailed it perfectly with triple axel-triple toe, triple lutz and double axel. He had been having some mediocre practices (I never went to the secondary practice rink so I don't know how practices went there.) and it was great to see him skate well.

Before this event I had never heard of two of the Chinese skaters but they made a big impression on me from the first practice. On the second day of practices, Zhengxin Guo had a minor trip but slid fast into the boards and dislocated his shoulder. He missed the next few days (the men competed at the very end of the week) but it gave his compatriots even more of a chance to shine. Triple axel-triple toe, quad toe, quad toe-triple toe easy and simple. Once the short program came, the jumps were just as easy and simple. Ming Zhang (a very unflattering picture but the best I got!)landed the first clean quad in the short program ever, along with a triple axel-triple toe, enough for second place. Chengjiang Li only landed a triple loop from footwork but a lovely triple axel-triple toe and good enough for fourth. In third was Elvis Stokjo, the local favourite but still obviously having injury troubles. He obviously underotated and two footed the quad toe and then only a triple axel-double toe for the combination. As at Canadians, I thought the serpentine footwork had no discernable serpentine pattern but I don't think that counts much in the judging.

In skate order, here are the jumps (and problems) of the remaining skaters from the short program:

• Zivanovic - 3F(step out) -3T, 3A three out, 3Lz (skidded)
• del Pozo - 2A(held on), 2F, 2Lz(fall)
• Clark - 3A(fall), 3Lz-2Lp, 3Lp(step out)
• Sandhu - 3A(2ft)-3T, 3Lz(step out), 2A
• Litvinov - 2F-3T, 2A, 3Lz (barely)
• Taekuchi - 3A - 3T(2foot), 3F(step out), 2A(skid then fall)
• Amentas - 3Lz(fall), 3F(fall), 1A
• Hebert - 1A - 2T, 3Lz (2foot and hand), 2A
• Skorniakov - 3A - 3T, 3Lz, 2A
• Jin - 3A(step out and 2 foot) - 2T, 2T, 2A(mostly)
• Cockerill - 3Lz(hands and step out) - 2T, 3T, 2A (3 out)
• Guo - 3A-3T(lovely), 2T, 2A
• Goebel - 3F(step out) - 3T, 3A(fall), 3Lz (fall) *
• Liu - 3A-2T,3Lz, 2A

* Of note, although Tim Goebel skated pretty poorly in competition, he was tearing up practice with jump combinations galore. I noted the following in the practice before the short program; quad toe, quad sal, triple axel, quad sal - double toe, triple flip - triple toe, triple flip - triple toe - triple loop, triple loop - triple loop.

In the long program Stokjo was overshadowed by new training mate Honda, again. Takeshi skated his Man in the Iron Mask program with little to complain about. He stepped out of the triple toe following the opening triple axel and planned quad toe became a triple but then clean triple lutz, axel, loop, flip, sal, and double axel. He skated cleanly and confidently and my only complaint is that the program peters out at the end, with no much content in the last minute. Chengjiang Li bounded from fourth to second with a well recieved and strong program to Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. I thought that the crowd reaction was due to Bourne and Kraatz's Olympic Free Dance but I was assured by Martime natives that they love anything Celtic. Either way, Li was crowd pleasing and skated almost perfectly with quad toe-triple toe, triple axel - triple toe, step out on triple lutz, flip, axel, loop and sal. Stokjo managed third place with a flawed quad toe (2 foot and step out), popped axel, and a suspect triple axel - triple toe. He did manage to fight back in the second half of the program but it was not enough to move up. After his spectacular short program, Zhang faltered slightly, falling on the quad toe and a double toe pop but landing a triple axel - triple toe, triple lutz, loop, flip, and sal. Also in the final group was a mixed skate from Anthony Liu with a quad toe - triple toe to start but then some steps outs and doubles and a slightly dissapointing skate from Roman Skorniakov, who was apparently coming down with the flu that many (including me) got in Halifax. Neither triple axel was clean but he did manage a triple lutz, flip, sal, and toe.

The remaining long programs in skate order:

• Amentas - 3 loop (held on), 2 lutz, 2 flip, flying camel, 3 lutz(2 foot), 2 axel ( 3 out), serpentine footwork with many crossovers, spiral, 3 sal (hands and step out), 2 toe, change sit with good positions, straight line footwork slow, combo spin, 3 toe (fall)
• Cockerill - 3 lutz - 2 toe (no flow), cross foot spin, circular footwork, 3 flip (fall), combo spin, 3 sal (2 foot), death drop, spiral sequence not very successful, 2 loop, 3 toe (3 out), flying sit, serpentine footwork, split to 2 axel (hands and fall), combo spin poor on back spin, 3 toe (step out) to 2 toe (step out)
• del Pozo - footwork into 2 lutz - 2 toe, waxel, fall on another lutz, flying camel, held on to double axel, combo spin, spiral sequence not much stretch, 2 toe (2 foot and hands), 2 axel to 2 toe, almost fell on 2 sal, split to 2 toe, death drop.
• Jin - unsuccessful 3 axel - 1 toe, 2 lutz, death drop, held on 3 toe, change sit, slow circular footwork, fall on loop entrance, 3 axel (fall), straight line footwork shaky, combo spin, step out of 3 sal, 2 toe
• Taekeuchi - 2 loop, 3 axel - 2 toe, change sit had good speed and position, 3 lutz(step out) - 2 toe, 3 flip, combo spin, axel that landed forward, 3 sal from steps with good speed and edge, flying camel, 3 lutz (hands), 3 toe from steps, death drop
• Litvinov - he was also apparently getting sick, 2 lutz, 3 axel(fall), back camel, 2 flip, 3 loop(hands), combo spin slow, skated through a jump, 2 sal - 1/2 loop - 2 sal, sit spin, 3 toe (3 out), 2 axel, flying camel to Driscoll
• Guo - 3 axel (held on), 4 toe, huge death drop, 3 lutz, besti squats to 2 loop, 3 axel steps to 2 toe, change sit, circular footwork, 1 flip, scratch spin, 3 sal, 3 toe, flying camel to sit. Considering the shoulder dislocation, a gutsy performance and he looked totally worn out after it.
• Clark - spiral, 3 axel, 3 lutz, 3 axel (step out) - 2 toe, combo spin with layback, 3 sal, crossfoot spin, 2 flip(2 foot), 3 lutz - 2 toe, flying camel, 3 toe (2 foot), 3 loop, arabians, the program was well receieved but I found it very front loaded with excessive posing. However, he got very good second marks for it.
• Goebel - 3 loop, flying camel, 3 flip (step out) - 3 toe, 3 axel(fall out), death drop, 1 sal (step out), 3 axel (fall), 3 lutz(?) steps to 3 toe, straight line footwork, quad sal (fall), change camel to cross foot, 3 sal from hydroblade, change sit
• Herbert - 3 axel - 1 toe , 3 flip, 3 lutz (2 foot), flying sit, 3 sal, change camel, 3 flip (2 foot) - attempt at 2 loop but also 2 foot and step out, 3 axel(2 foot and step out), combo spin, 2 1/2 loop, straight line footwork, 2 axel steps to 3 toe (2 foot), death drop
• Sandhu - he was apparently the most sick of the sick with a very bad stomach flu. 3 axel(2 foot), 1 toe, 3 loop(step out), flying sit, 3 lutz, flying camel slow, 3 axel(2 foot) - 2 toe, straight line footwork, 3 flip, split, 3 sal, very slow combo spin, final spin slow and perhaps not the way to end a program when you have stomach flu.
• Zivanovic - 3 axel - 2 toe, 4 toe(step out and 2 foot), 3 axel(leaning in the air and hands and underotated), 3 flip(2 foot), death drop, slide spiral not enough stretch, change sit, 3 lutz(hands), flying camel, 3 sal, circular footwork, 3 toe(step out), split very good, death drop

Pairs

It was fairly late into the first day of practices that I learned that Jaime Sale and David Pelletier had widthdrawn from the competition. As a victim of a recent back injury, I felt very bad for him. I was suprised that Canada didn't send a replacement team but I later found out that Nadia Micallef and Bruno Marcotte had split up. I did see Bruno in the stands later in the week. So only two Canadian teams as well as two American teams. Add in two Chinese and two Uzbeki teams and it made for a rather small field. Overall, it was Shen/Zhao and then everyone else. They continued with flawless practices as they had all fall. However, they did seem tired and genuinely relieved when the competition was over. They had changed the throw triple sal in the short to a triple loop. Their training mates, Pang and Tong, seemed very rough around the edges but full of potential. They had the same huge moves and great speed but the throw jumps were problematical. They did what I guessed was a throw triple sal but she clearly took off on two feet. Throughout the week, Valerie Saurette was having trouble with the triple toe. She didn't have any trouble with the tons of school children who showed up one day of practices but just loved the crowd and really shone. She definetely has the personality to be a star skater. Sargeant and Wirtz looked calm and confident, just as they did in Ottawa. It looked like the early season troubles were behind them. The Hartsells also looked very happy to have some good skates behind them and seem relaxed and confident. I had last seen them in person at Skate America in 1997 and the improvement was good to see. I had last seen Scott and Dulebohn in juniors but I'd always kept a soft spot for them as a clockwise team. I thought they had some potential. Both are graceful and have a good sense of music and expression and some of the pairs moves were good but she seems to have a hard time getting any height in things (sbs jumps, throw jumps, twist lift) and I don't know if this is something that can be solved. They do a lovely little move where they both do the half-beillman type spiral, she backwards, he forwards, while clapsing torsos. Unfortunately, both Uzbeki teams were not particularly skilled and I even had trouble telling which one might be better than the other.

Short Program Notes

• Shen/Zhao - perfect triple toe, huge double twist, great speed and extension, lift had very good air position, pair spin fine, clean throw triple loop, sbs spin good position but some loss of unison, death spiral fine. The spins are still the weakest part of the package but the jumps, lifts, and throws are spectacular.
• Saurette/Fecteau - double twist fine, possible two foot by her on triple toes, good speed in spirals, very good position on death spiral, lift direct into throw triple sal, good pairs spin
• Hartsell/Hartsell - nice double twist, she stepped out triple toe, sbs spins had good camels, throw triple sal good, pair spin fine, lift set down a bit clunky, spirals had good extension, great position on death spiral.
• Ponamareva/Sviridov - both stepped out of triple toe (she possible double), double twist fine, throw triple toe two foot but no fall, spins lost unison and travelled, lift stayed two hands, spirals very clunky, pairs spins travelled a bit
• Pang/Tong - she fell out of triple toe, huge double twist, throw triple sal(?) she stepped out, lift to 1 hand good, spins fine, death spiral good, well done but not as spectacular as practice
• Sargeant/Wirtz - she fell on triple toe, twist low but clean, spirals fine, spin unison good until the end, she fell on throw triple sal, superb death spiral, pair spin fine
• Shabanov/Knayzev - throw double sal, lift collapsed on entry, triple toe (she doubled), very small double twist, no arch on death spiral, sbs spins out of unison, pair spin nearly fell. He seemed incredibly nervous.
• Scott/Dulebohn - Lift to 1 hand position, she fell on triple toe, double twist not very high, throw triple sal, spins lost unison at very end, pair spin slow, good extension on spirals, death spiral bobbled a bit.

I only saw one practice before the pairs long program and everyone except Sargeant/Wirtz seemed a bit tight. Considering the short program results, I found this a bit odd.

Long Program Notes

• Ponomareva/Sviridov - forward inside DS, 3 toe (she stepped out), low catch on 3 twist, throw 3 toe (2 foot), lasso lift, fly camel to sit has good unison, throw 2 axel (2 foot and step out), sbs 2 axel he stepped out and she underotated, hip axel lift to 1 hand, back outside DS shakey, pair spin, footwork good unison but far apart, 2 flip sequence very mistimed, pair spin, got way off at end
• Scott/Dulebohn - she fell on 3 toe, 3 twist a bit underotated but caught, star lift to 1 hand with flip out, throw 2 axel nice flow, sbs spin good, throw 3 sal (fall), loop lift into nice sitting position, his feet are good on lifts, sbs 2 axel (she 1), platter lift a bit laboured, 2 flip to double toe sequence, back outside death spiral.
• Pang/Tong - huge 3 twist, throw 3 sal(?), sbs 3 toe (he 2), spins had good unison, throw 3 toe , hip axel lift, back outside DS, 2 axel (she fell), 1 hand star lift, forward outside DS very good position, press lift, 2 axel she fell and missed 2 toe, pair spin, very rough and some elements weak but lots of potential
• Shabanov/Knyazev - platter lift, pair spin (fall), 2 axel to 2 toe sequence, 2 twist a bit messy, throw 1 axel, 2 toe (he stepped out and she also had problems), throw 2 sal(2 foot), back inside DS, hip axel lift well done with good air position, fly camel to sit lost unison at end, 2 flip (she 1), forward outside DS, pair spin

During the warmup for the second group, Valerie Saurette had a step out on a throw jump but was unable to control it and slid right into the boards head first. I was sitting at the opposite end of the rink so I didn't see all of what happened but as soon as Val hit the boards, Jean-Sebastien was there and he motioned to Richard within a few seconds. He bounded onto the ice in street shoes so I'm gussing she might have actually been out for a few seconds. Val eventually got up with help and shook off going off the ice but started skating around again. They had a chance to do one twist before the warmup ended. The few times I saw her face during the program she was really grimacing and she looked pained going up in the lifts but at the end of the program she seemed very angry with herself. She was extremely lucky to have no broken bones.

• Shen/Zhao - 3 toe, huge 3 twist, throw 3 loop, 2 axel, lift, forward outside DS, throw 3 sal (huge), spin rather brief, pair spin, straight line fw, lift, 2 axel to 2 toe,lift, pair spin
• Saurette/Fecteau - 3 twist a bit low, 3 toe (she fell), pair spins, lift, throw 3 sal, spirals, 3 toe (he 2 1/2), throw 2 axel(hands), lift to drop down, forward inside DS, spin out of unison direct to pair spin, upside down lift, 2 flip, back outside ds
• Sargeant/Wirtz - 3 toe, 3 twist low, lift, throw 3 sal, lovely forward inside ds, sbs spin good unison, throw 2 axel (she held it), 2 axel to 2 toe, lift, pair spin, lift, back outside ds, very good speed and flow, Kris gave Kristy all the credit for the very good skate and she gutted it out.
• Hartsell/Hartsell - 3 twist good split and height, 3 toe, throw 3 sal small but clean, Hart attack, 2 axel to 2 toe, back inside ds, pairs spin, throw 3 loop (step out), lift, spirals, spins not many rotations, hip axel lift well done, 2 flip out of fw, pair spin, back outside ds, well done although they lost some speed at the end

Ladies

I thought the main competition for the gold would be amongst the Japanese and American women but I hadn't figured on Tatiana Malinina. She could not miss in practice, nailing every jump perfectly. Some of my other notes from practices.

Joanne Carter had impressed me at 97 Worlds and then I lost track of her. Here I was impressed again with her basic skating skills and esp. her footwork but she was having some fairly severe jump troubles. I heard later on that she had some adjustments made to her blades after the event and was jumping better. South Africa sent three skaters and I could understand why Shirene Human is usually the only one sent to worlds. The other two skaters were competent but not really at the senior international level. Shirene did not have confident triples but is a strong skater and also has a lovely layback. In the first practice I was very impressed with Shizuka Arakawa. She landed a 3 toe - 3 toe - 3 toe and underotated a 3 axel. However, her practices began to slip through the week. Suguri also had strong practices at the start of the week but began have more troubles by the tme competition got started. I enjoyed Yuka Kanazawa's short to Danse Macabre but she was a bit lost in the shuffle of the other Japanese ladies skaters. There were also three Chinese women and I was very impressed with Huan Wang. She practiced earlier in the week and then wasn't there. I found out that she was too young under the ISU regulations and was not allowed to compete. Annie Bellemare was at her first big international competition since her suprise silver medal at Canadians and seemed a bit overwhelmed by it all. It was clearly taking some time for her to adjust to it all. Jennifer Robinson, on the other hand, was carrying alot of the confidence from her Canadians win and skating well. Both Annie and Angela Derochie were struggling with 3 lutzes most of the week. Angela was also working on the 3 axel but I didn't see her land any. The final strong group of skaters was the Americans. Angela Nikidinov was not working with Peter Oppegard and the result looked positive. She was skating well and also not getting discouraged. Apparently her placement here determined whether she went to Worlds and she was not about to waste the chance. Amber Corwin also looked like she had something to prove. She spent some fruitless time working the 3 lutz early on but pulled together strong practices before the short program. Erin Pearl was clearly at a lower level than the other US skaters but has tremendous charm and personality. Suddenly the results of US Nationals made more sense to me.

Short Program Notes

• Derochie - she had a new dress which I liked much better than the one from Canadians. hard fall on 3 lutz, spirals, layback, 3 loop (step out and hands), death drop, circular footwork, gorgeous 2 axel, combo spin, good speed and power
• Lu - 3 loop(2 foot and step out) - 2 toe, 3 toe, spirals, layback, fly camel, 2 axel (fall), circular footwork, combo spin
• Malinina - gorgeous 3 lutz - 2 toe, 3 flip perfect, combo spin fast on forward and slow on back, easy 2 axel, fast fly camel, spirals, circular footwork, layback fast but not great position
• Gimazetdinova - 2 axel, 3 sal - 2 toe, fly camel travelled some, spirals rather weak, 3 toe, circular footwork, combo spin with Beillman, layback
• Suguri- 3 lutz (hard fall on step out into boards). 3 flip (hands), death drop, layback, spirals, 2 axel, straight line footwork slowed way down, combo spin fast. I enjoy this program very much but she skated it poorly and got rather lucky in the marks.
• Bellemare - spirals, 3 lutz - 2 toe (held on), fly camel, 3 toe, layback travelled a bit, fall in straight line footwork, 2 axel (fall), combo spin. She was going well until the footwork fall and that seemed to unerve her.
• Arakawa - spirals, 2 lutz - 2 toe (!), layback good position but slow, 3 flip good but not as good as she had done in practice, death drop, 2 axel, losing speed, straight line footwork, combo spin lovely but got slow
• Pang - 3 lutz(2ft) - 2 toe, 3 toe (hard fall), fly camel slow, spirals have good extension but not much speed, layback fine, fall on 2 axel, combo spin very slow
• Robinson - 2 axel (wild but held on), 3 lutz(2ft) - 2 toe(hold on), fly camel, 2 loop from steps, layback lovely, serpentine footwork fine but seemed uncontrolled, spirals good, combo spin well done
• Corwin - 3 toe - 3 toe, 3 loop (good), fly camel had good speed into it, spirals, held on to 2 axel, layback, straight line footwork lost speed, combo spin, overall very well done
• Carter - 3 lutz - 2 toe, fall on 3 loop, combo spin good, spirals good speed and nice footwork bewteen, layback very good, held on to 2 axel, circular footwork very good, fly camel good speed. Much better than I would have expected from practice.
• Chang - spirals had good extension, 3 sal - 1 toe, straight line footwork, combo spin travelled, 2 flip, layback, tenative into 2 axel and fall, fly camel wobble and slow
• Nikidinov - 3 lutz - 2 toe, layback gorgeous, 2 flip, 2 axel (good flow), fly camel, spirals, combo spin, great speed
• Stephenson - Fly camel, 2 axel (held on), spirals, 3 toe (fall), layback, straight line footwork, 2 flip, combo spin
• Visuet - layback, 3 loop(step out) - 2 toe, death drop, 2 axel(fall), spirals slow, 2 flip, circular footwork, combo spin travel and recenter
• Puente - 2 axel (close), combo spin, 1 sal (step out), spirals with spread eagles, fly camel, 1 lutz, circular footwork all in 1 direction, ina into layback. She has the distinction of getting the lowest mark I have seen in person, a 1.1. She wasn't really bad but clearly outclassed here.
• Human - nice 3 toe - 2 toe, combo spin very good, spirals good power, 2 axel, fly camel good speed, 2 lutz, great layback, nice power and flow and good edges, she ended up in the top six and well deserved.
• Kanazawa - Fly camel, spirals, 3 lutz (hard fall), 3 toe or flip (maybe two foot landing), straight line footwork, 2 axel, combo spin, layback
• Joseph - 3 sal (fall), 2 flip, fly camel, 2 axel(2 ft), layback fine, straight line footwork slow at end, spirals slow, combo spin

Long Programs

Amongst the first group of ladies, Roi Pang put up the best performance with a clean 3 sal and toe and slightly two footed 3 lutz and flip. In the second group Annie Bellemare opened up with a huge lutz that went completely bonkers, opening up and fall out of it. This threw her off quite a bit but she finally fought back with three clean triples at the end of the program. Angela Derochie didn't try the triple axel and fell on the lutz in a slightly dissapointing program. The skating was strong but she ended up leaving out parts of the program as she struggled to complete some clean triples. Human couldn't quite live up to the lovely short program with a mixed program to Titanic with no clean triples.

• Arakawa - change camel, 3 sal - 2 loop, 3 lutz (2 ft), 3 toe - 3 toe (maybe two foot), fly camel to sit, spirals, 2 loop, layback, 3 flip, 3 lutz (2 foot) steps to 2 toe, 2 axel(fall - I was later told this was a triple axel), combo spin. She really fought for this program and moved up in the standings quite a bit.
• Gementzidinova - 3 lutz, 3 sal, 3 toe, 2 loop, 3 sal - 2 toe, combo spin with beillman, spirals, 2 axel, popped axel, layback, 2 flip steps to 2 toe, fly camel, scratch spin, she skated better than I would have expected from practice but really has no presentation skills
• Robinson - 3 sal, 3 lutz(2 foot), 3 loop (2 foot), 3 toe (step out), death drop to cross foot, layback, spiral, 3 sal - 2 toe, 3 lutz (hard fall), camel, 2 flip, 2 axel, arabian, combo spin, the program never really lives up to it's haunting opening. It wasn't the best she has ever skated but the portions that were clean were well done.
• Carter - 3 lutz(maybe 2 foot), 3 flip (fall), straight line footwork, layback, 2 toe steps to 2 toe (step out), spin combo, fly camel, held on to triple loop, spirals, held on to 3 sal, combo spin, 3 toe (fall), 2 axel (hard fall), she has great speed and very neat feet, almost like a dancer
• Malinina - gorgeous 3 lutz, 3 flip, 3 toe, 3 loop(2 foot), 3 sal - 2 toe, fast combo spin, spirals, 2 axel steps to 2 axel and step out, layback, circular footwork, 2 lutz, fly camel, very fast scratch spin
• Pearl - 2 axel, 2 toe - 2 toe (I had seen 3 toe-3toe in practice), 2 lutz, combo spin with good low sit spin, layback very good, 3 loop - 2 toe, spirals, 3 sal, 3 toe, fly camel to sit, 3 loop, 2 axel (held on), stars to really nice arabian to death drop, great speed and lots of charisma
• Nikidinov - 3 lutz steps to 2 toe, 3 flip with great air position, straight line footwork got a bit slow, 2 axel, fly camel, 2 loop, gorgeous layback, 2 sal, sideways leaning spin, 1 lutz, 3 toe. This is what I have come to expect as vintage Nikidinov long program. She started strong but once it started to slide, it was hard for her to recover.
• Corwin- 3 toe-3 toe (step out), 3 or 2 flip (the leg wrap was so high I couldn't tell), - 2 toe, 2 axel, death drop to cross foot, 2 sal(step out), combo spin, spirals, fly camel, 2 loop, layback, 3lutz(I thought it was a double from the amount of leg wrap), 3 sal - 2 toe, combo spin. It was a very uneven program but landing the triple lutz was a big victory for her.
• Suguri - 3 lutz(hard fall), 3 flip, 2 axel, 3 sal (step out), 3 loop (step out), 3 lutz (step out) - 2 toe, combo spin, 3 toe, 3 sal - 2 toe, death drop, great speed but full of mistakes. she hardly seems like the same skater I saw at Skate Canada

Dance

These are the notes I wrote up right after the event, more specific notes at the end.

The event was mostly Bourne and Kraatz and then the rest. Most of the other teams had not even been to Worlds so the quality was variable. Chalom and Gates, the US silver medalists, withdrew when Matthew Gates came down with double pneumonia. The strongest dancers were the North Americans, who seemed to be jockeying for position and I think Chalom and Gates lost some ground by not being here. Although it was fairly close between Lefebvre/Brunet and Lang/Tcherneshyev, I more impressed with how well Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe skated, esp. after a difficult Nationals. They skated really well and they got some good marks from the judges. Megan and Aaron also got a very good response from the crowd and skated both the OD and Free the best I saw this season.

The only dance team that were really not senior level were the Uzbeks and even they did a nice waltz. The Aussies(both of them) were not very skilled but did what they could do well enough. After seeing Watanabe and Kido a few times, I'm sorta getting fond of them. They are fairly hapless but they are improving and I'm amused by the fact that he can't seem to comb his hair properly and it is always sticking up in different directions with at least one section completely awry. Zhang/Cao were techincal proficient but I found very dull. Tzsuki and Faroukdinov simliar plus they had a terribly undefined free dance that had me watching the clock. They are coached by Dubova. He did do a waltz practice for one when she wasn't there for some reason and ran part of the OD solo. Debbie Kogel and Oleg Fediukov seemed prone to nerves but they had some of the quietest blades of the week. Really nice skaters with horribly mundane programs. I guess Shae-Lynn has a knee problem, I didn't know about it but she was pretty shaky in the free dance and it looked ragged and sloppy. The battle for second and third turned out fairly interesting with two tango frees. Lefebvre and Brunet had techincal faults in the free, inlcuding missing part of a lift but they had miles more expression than Lang and Tcerhneshev and I think that pulled it out for them. They clearly thought they had blown it by their faces at the end of the dance, no fist pumping from Michel as at nationals.

Other things of note; Megan Wing left the final compulsory dance early and I thought she might be injured but the word was upset stomach They didn't sparkle in the first compulsory but managed well in the second one. The Chinese team had been better than the Japanese teams they were paired with in that practice group but I didn't expect them to do so well in compulsorys. A fall in the OD pretty much took them out of contention. The Uzbeks (Akimova/Driganov) had no discernable pattern or edges in the compulsories. Arikawa and Miyamoto didn't skate on the beat in the OD and if I can pick it up it must be bad. Bourne and Kraatz had low tech marks in Tango Romantica like Canadians. Not as scrapey and slow as Ottawa but still not very impressive for World medalists. New costumes in the free, Black with sparkly stuff and the heart attack symbol turned 90 degrees. ODs at Worlds are Tango and Paso, I predict big trouble for B&K there.

I enjoyed Elizaveta Stekolnikova and Mark Fitzgerald in what turned out to be the first of only two competitions for them. They were coached by Marina Zueva and had a charming French waltz and a fascinating (though perhaps not very difficult) free dance to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony.

The compulsory dances were the Tango Romantica and the Blues, which mostly netted some nice costumes!

Original Dance

• Duval/Rigby - music sounds like and dance looks like a compulsory dance
• Rigg-Smith/Trent-Bond - more complex steps but slowed down while doing them, she has great expression
• Akimova/Driganov - more of a tango style
• Bourne/Kraatz - very charming and good edges but slow
• Zhang/Cao - hard fall near end and missed a lift at the end, rather slow
• Wing/Lowe - best I've seen it skated, great expression and great crowd response
• Koegel/Fediukov - Yes, I had to sit through the Bryan Adams waltz again, nice skaters, terribly boring program
• Lang/Tcherneshev - fast but not very clean
• Stekolnikova/Fitzgerald - a bit slow and scrapey
• Tsuzuki/Faroukdinev - slow in difficult parts
• Watanabe/Kido - lifts a bit shaky, fair amount of two foot skating
• Arakawa/Miyamoto - didn't skate to the beat
• Lefebvre/Brunet - fast and well skated

• Rigg-Smith/Trent-Bond - Swing, very cute but not very difficult and quite slow, she has a charming expression
• Duval/Rigby - Tango, didn't start looking like a tango but got better as it went along
• Akimova/Driganov - Arab theme, lifts rather laboured
• Arakawa/Miyamoto - Happy Peasants, Hungarian Rhapsody, well skated with good speed and some difficulty
• Stekolnikova/Fitzgerald - Beethoven's Seveth, great flow and lifts, footwork a bit scrapey, entrancing
• Koegel/Fediukov - Fiddler, minor slip in lift and a few miscues, footwork a bit slow, lifts overall good
• Watanabe/Kido - Latin medley, started a bit slow but really picked up at the end and well skated
• Zhang/Cao - undefined soundtrack music, well-skated but rather charisma-free, didn't use the msuic very well, lifts complex
• Lang/Tcherneshev - tango, well skated but a bit slow and not much expression
• Tsuzuki/Faroukdinev - techno blues, rather slow and lifts clunky
• Wing/Lowe - very well skated, fast and great expression
• Bourne/Kraatz - a bit ragged, looks like her knee hurts and she is a bit unsteady
• Lefebvre/Brunet - tango, great expression but a few mishaps, slipped on a lift and slowed up in places

Exhibitions

During exhibition practice on Sunday, they first half came out and practiced all together. Aaron Lowe, I never knew you were a burgeoning Kris Wirtz. He was chatting away with everyone and then started mucking about, demonstrating his wonderful freestyle forward crossovers (with head and hair bouncing along) and showed us all his waltz jump and toe loop. Then he got Val into the scence and they did a death spiral. Aaron was so pleased with himself that they did it again and he took a big bow from everyone. Val was in very good spirits so I guess the worst of the bruises had healed up. Aaron and Val were going back to their respective partners, when they had to press against the boards to get out of someone else's way, right at the spot where Val fell. Jean-Sebastien came by and said "Oh, Val, knows this spot real well." I guess they can laugh now.

Most of the skaters took some time in exhibition practice to practice a few moves. I saw Amber Corwin land 3 toe - 3 toe - 3 toe and 3 loop - 3 loop. The Hartsells separately landed 2 axel steps 3 toe and Steve was doing 3 loop.

Created 2 January 2000 by Amy Mossman
Last Update 20 January 2000