Emanuel Sandhu |
Plushenko was last beaten in a made for television event in Daytona Beach in early fall 2002. He has not lost an important event since the Olympics. First to skate was Van der Perren who chose music from the sound track of the movie, Robin Hood. He said, "I was better than I expected. This morning I woke up with the flu so I already have a fever and I had to skate the free tonight. I was really scared about my ability to breathe and less worried about the jumps. After the warm-up I was already dead tired and the program was yet to come. I am happy it is over." Van der Perren, who has competed in four Worlds, was 19th in Washington. He recently moved to Newington, CT, to be trained by Nikolai Morozov. Despite his weakened condition, Van der Perren gained the straight base value of 7.6 for his triple Lutz to double loop. Then he got the base value of 14.6 for the three jump combination of triple Salchow-triple toe loop-triple loop plus a 1.20 Grade of Execution. He fell on his triple Lutz incurring a minus 3.0 GoE to the base value of 6.1 but did pull off a triple flip, triple toe loop and two double Axels. He had Level 2’s for his change foot sit spin and change foot combination spins. Afterwards he was obviously completely depleted and looked as if he was about to pass out. He appeared barely able to leave the ice. His effort earned 121.88 points which gave him an overall total of 189.03 which allowed him to push Gao out of fourth place. Gao, who is from Heilongjiang, was 16th in his only world championship in Nagano in 2002. His music was Man in the Iron Mask. His Total Element Score was only 0.10 more than Van der Perren’s despite opening with a combination of quad and triple toe loops – base value 12.5 with a Grade of Execution of +0.80. He followed that with a triple Axel to triple toe loop which has a base value of 12.0 and he received a Grade of Execution of +1.0. However, from then things went down hill and ten of his other twelve elements had negative Grade of Executions. The other two elements were triple flip and double Axel which was supposed to be a triple. He only just held onto the triple Lutz. His loop was a single. His Salchow a double and his last but one move was a single Axel. Gao’s Total Program Component Score (factorized) was 55.70 as opposed to Van der Perren’s 65.00. He said, "I was really tired and I felt even dizzy. I didn’t feel well. I had an upst stomach. I hadn’t eaten all day." Weiss, the current (and 1999 and 2000) US champion, is trained by Don Laws at Laurel, MD. His choreography is done by his wife, Lisa Thornton. They have two children, Annie-Mae, born in September 1998 and Christopher Michael, born in October 1999. Unfortunately it wasn’t a good skate but he stayed third. "I don’t know what happened. I have never been hit by Mike Tyson but after I finished my program it felt like I had. I have been sick with the flu and the easy thing would have been to just pull out but I am glad I stuck with it and competed." Weiss had an almost sideways lean on his opening triple Axel and aborted the planned triple toe loop second jump. Instead of the next move, expected to be a quad toe he did a double Axel. His triple flip was okay but the second jump of the combo, triple toe, looked two footed. His triple loop had a very strained landing and he fell on both a triple Axel and triple flip. His triple Salchow was flawed but he did a good triple Lutz. The program, to When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again, Amazing Grace and Battle Hymn of the Republic, is excellent and he has excellent spins, footwork and transitions but with so many errors it becomes uncomfortable to watch. Sandhu, the 2001 and current Canadian champion who is trained by Joanne McLeod, did one of the best programs I have ever seen the Vancouver skater perform. Skating to Ninkov Latora by Violaine Corradi, Slow and Sassy by Henri Mancini and Take California by the Propellerheads, he began with a quad toe but stepped out of the second jump in the combo, the triple toe. He got the base value of 12.5 but with a deduction of 1.20 for GoE. He did the second combo, triple Axel to triple toe but only just and got a deduction of 0.80 on the base value of 12.0. The triple loop followed by triple Lutz got positive GoE’s. There was an interesting straight spread eagle and a music-matching shake of the head. The Salchow turned into a double but it was followed by a triple Axel and triple flip. He altered his routine slightly to try a second attempt – this time successful at a triple Salchow. He had a exuberant finish with two change foot combination spins – one a Level 3. He earned 75.74 Total Element Score and 77.00 Total Program Component Score (factorized). That gave him 152.74 for the free which turned out to be first place. Overall he gained 228.29 which was good enough for the gold. He was amazed to finish on top of the podium. "This is just crazy. To do it when it counts, I think, that is what being a champion is all about. As I have experienced before, you never know, what is going to happen. This is a step in the right direction and to be able to share it with the audience, my coach, friends at home and all of Canada is important to me." Plushenko skated brilliantly starting with an excellent quad toe-triple toe combination with a base value of 12.5 plus 1.2 Grade of Execution. Initially he planned to add a double loop to that first combination. When that didn’t happen, he decided to try his new combination of quad toe to double loop. That has a base value of 9.5 and he received a Grade of Execution of +0.80. That double loop would cost him the Grand Prix Final title he had won last year. Only two combinations are allowed so his third move, triple Axel to double toe loop, was awarded no points. That was a lot of energy sapped for nothing. He also executed double Axel, triple Lutz, and triple loop. His triple flip was strained and the only move to receive a slight negative GoE of -0.20. His music is Tribute to Vaclav Nijinski by Edvin Marton. (Nijinski, a Russian, was one of the greatest ballet dancers ever.) Plushenko also presented interesting spins and flamboyant, very energetic footwork. He was greeted with a total standing ovation. His total element score was 66.54 and for total program component he received 80.40 which gave him 146.94 for this section That put Plushenko 5.80 behind Sandhu for the free. When combined with the short, the difference was only 3.10. His coach, Alexei Mishin, said, "Too stupid! He wanted to do the second quad with the double loop and I said, ‘Go Ahead.’ But he forgot not to do the triple Axel in combination." Of his second place, Plushenko said, "I’m surprised because I didn’t skate badly. Actually I think I skated well. I don’t know how Emanuel skated. I’m happy with my skate. I did two quads, one with a double loop and I think this combination has never been done before. I’m not so happy with the result and with my placement." The difference between first and second place is $10,000 – winners get $35,000 while runners-up earn $25,000. |
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