2002

Skate Canada

Men's Event

By Maggie Doyle

Emanuel Sandhu

It was not a magical night of skating and too often the required combination jump was elusive in tonight's men's event. The attendance reached 5,506 for the 6,610 seat Pepsi Arena in Quebec City, Quebec.

Of the panel of ten judges only seven had their marks used in the ISU's super-secret judging system. Marks did remain up much longer within the arena than they had the week before in Spokane for Skate America, not that that was any help in understanding what the judges were doing

Russia's Stanislav Timchenkok, in his first year on the senior level international circuit, and fresh off his Vienna cup championship victory, opened the men's competition here with a Tango program. His combination was a strong triple Axel - triple toe but he put hands down on his triple Lutz. He finished fourth, also completing a double Axel.

Jeffery Buttle of Canada made his first quad attempt ever in competition here, but fell leaving him without a combination jump. He also stepped out of his triple Axel but managed a nice triple Lutz. He sits in 5th place although others below him had cleaner performances. It was gutsy to go for the Quad in the short here and the attempt payed off for him in placement for his "Conspiracy Theory" program. His marks ranged from 4.0 to 4.9 and 4.9 to 5.7. He shows potential as a stylist.

Derrick Delmore of Team USA left his jumps on the warm-up ice where he landed a nice quad Salchow combination and triple Axel. Unfortunately for him he fell on the quad in the program and popped his Axel into a single, he did land his triple Lutz and garnered marks ranging from 3.4 - 4.2 for technical merit and 4.5- 52 for presentation for eighth place in the nine-man field.

2001 Canadian champion Emanuel Sanhu stepped up to the plate to skate well after a disastrous short at Skate America, in front of a supportive crowd. For his program to music selections from Safri Duo, he opened with a strong quad toeloop - triple toeloop combination followed by triple Axel where he held on to the landing edge. A good triple Lutz finished the job to put him in the lead tonight with marks ranging from 5.3 to 5.8 for technical and 5.6 to 5.9 for presentation. His colorful costume remains the same as last year for this program and the big question is whether he can handle the pressure for the freeskating to remain in the lead. This short program works well for his skating style.  His quad in the combination jump was the only quad of the evening landed.

Team USA's Ryan Bradley made his first appearance in a senior Grand Prix event, skating to "Fiddler on the Roof."  He landed his triple Axel but his triple flip gives him a lower base mark than the men with quads.  On his Lutz he slowed down on the entry and wound up sitting on the ice. He complained of a lack of energy after competing at Vienna Cup 2 weeks ago and felt that affected his performance here.

There was no ice make between groups, and Belgium's Kevin Van Der Perren withdrew just after the second warm-up. Takeshi Honda took the ice earlier than he originally planned but he said at the press conference that it had no effect on his program. He did fall on his opening quad toe and thus had no combination when he did not attempt the triple toeloop after the quad. He did land his triple Axel and triple Lutz in his "Storm" program by Vanessa Mae, placing second.

Dressed in forest-green, Xiaodong Ma of China did not plan a quad tonight, but landed a triple Axel - triple toe combination, triple Lutz and double Axel in his Pearl Harbor short program. He was docked justifiably on other elements, placing sixth -- which cost him a place in the final group of skaters on Saturday.

The third Canadian in this event was Quebec province native, Jayson Denommee who performed to music by Gillies called "The Sleeping Tuna" and "Wolfstone, but struggled with some elements. He fell on his opening triple Axel but eked out the double toe afterwards. He had a nice triple Lutz, but executed one of the slowest camel spins seen at this level as part of his combination spin, to place last. The Quebec audience was nonetheless supportive.

The final skater, Jeanette Stanick, was a breath of fresh air after so many of the men faltered tonight. He performed to "Jazz House" by Thierry Bertome with style. He did not attempt a quad but plans to include it in his freeskate. He landed a triple Axel - triple toeloop combination followed by a triple Lutz. His spins had interesting positions and good speed. He did a good job of selling the program to finish 3rd at this stage.

This event continues on Saturday, starting at 7 PM.

The men's freeskate in Quebec City was frankly a disappointment as not one skater had a clean program, and only a few competitors provided occasional bright spots.

China's Xiadong Ma opened tonight's competition, skating to "Prison in the Air" choreographed by Jiang Hailan. He did not attempt a quad jump and began with problems on his opening triple Axel combination,  Later in his program, however, he landed a triple Axel - double toe combination where he had originally planned just a triple Axel. His marks ranged from 4.6 to 4.9 for technical merit and 4.5 to 4.6 for presentation. He dropped to eighth in the free skate and eighth overall.

Quebec's own Jayson Denommee was the third Canadian in this competition.  He used three pieces of music in his program, "Santa Monica", "Cool" and "West Side Story" by Leonard Bernstein, with choreography by Julie Brault.  It turned out to be a painful night for him with multiple falls, and he finished in last place in both the frees kating and overall.  He had also been last in the short program. His marks ranged from 4.0 to 4.5 and then 4.4 to 4.7. Denommee does not attempt a quad.

Ryan Bradley for Team USA skated to "Light Calvary Overture" by Franz von Suppe, wearing a red shirt with military trim. He landed his opening triple Axel but skipped the double toe of that planned combination. He pulled off his triple loop and then fell on his quad toe loop. This was the first time he attempted a quad in international competition. According to his coach Tom Zakrajsek, he previously landed a quad at 2002 Southwest Regionals and in an exhibition show. He also included a triple Lutz and triple Salchow, but doubled his second planned triple Axel. His program also had a triple flip - triple toe combination and a final triple Lutz. His marks ranged from 4.6 to 5.3 and from 4.7 to 5.3. He moved up to sixth in the free skate and sixth overall, benefiting from Jeffery Buttle's problems in tonight's skating.

U.S. teammate Derrick Delmore was the last skater in the first group and his performance was an improvement over his Skate America free skate and his disastrous short here. He opened with a triple flip and then landed a triple Axel but without attempting his planned triple toes for combinations on both these jumps. He stood up on his quad Salchow but had a slightly two-footed landing. He fell on his second triple Axel but landed his triple Lutz with a slight turnout. He completed a triple Lutz and triple loop before changing his program. Instead of a planned double Axel, he threw in a triple toe - double toe combination before his final spin combination. His scores ranged from 4.3 to 5.3 and 4.5 to 5.4.  Coach Shirley Hughes and Delmore created his free skate program along with J. Shipstad Thomas.  He skated to Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story" tonight, as did Denommee.

The top five skaters took the ice with no ice-make before their warm-up.  Canada's Jeffery Buttle, who trains at the Mariposa School of Skating in the Toronto area, had what can only be described as a complete disaster tonight for his free skate. For this program choreographer David Wilson chose "Concerto for Cello & Orchestra in E minor, Op. 85 (Adagio-Moderato) by Sir Edward Elgar Orchestra.  Buttle missed every triple jump in his program but the triple Salchow. He fell four times,  including his quad attempt.  His marks ranged from 3.9 to 4.9 and 4.0 to 5.4. His artistic marks held him to seventh place in the free skate and seventh overall.  He had been 5th in the short program.

Russia's Stanislav Timchenko performed to music from the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" by Andrew Lloyd Weber, played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, wearing a long multihued tunic.. Marina Selitsaya coaches him and his choreography was created by Natalina Pavlova and Elena Matveeva. His performance earned him a bronze medal.  His physical appearance reminds one of Peter Tork of the old musical group, The Monkeys, but this young man can certainly jump.  He opened with a triple Axel - triple toe loop followed by a triple Lutz, but a doubled the subsequent planned triple Axel. He then landed a triple flip and a big triple loop, but struggled with his triple Salchow, putting both hands down. Near the end he downscaled a triple - double combination to just a triple toe loop.

Japan's Takeshi Honda who trains in Mariposa, Ontario with Doug and Michelle Leigh skated to "The Mummy", in a program created by Guiseppe Arena. He has a new costume since his Daytona competition in September that this time it did not give him problems as it did there.  Here at Skate Canada he won the second grand prix event of his career (the first being the 2001 NHK competition) and landed two quad jumps for the first time ever in competition.  He opened with a warm-up triple flip and then got down to serious business with a quad toe loop followed by a quad Salchow. His triple Axel had a step out with a hand down so he replaced his third planned quad with another triple Axel. He then included a triple Loop, double toe loop and a triple Lutz. The Lutz had a slight bend on the landing but was successfully completed.  His marks ranged from 5.6 to 5.8 and 5.6 to 5.8.  He moved up to first in the free skate and first overall from his second place result in the short program.

Emanuel Sandhu of Canada who trains in Vancouver, British Columbia started his program with a look of determination. He had four revolutions on his quad toe loop but fell.   He next completed a triple Axel, but had a turn out of the triple toe loop that was part of his planned combination. Next came a triple Lutz and another triple Axel.  He improvised a double toe loop to a planned solo triple flip to complete a combination, and also completed a triple Salchow.  When the scores came up, he had snatched two ordinals from the leader, Honda, but ended up second in the free skate and second overall after leading in the short program.  His costume was more subdued than for the short program, with a vest of orange and black, and black pants. His scores ranged from 5.4 to 5.7 and 5.7 to 5.9.  This program used the music "Ninkov Latora" by Violaine Corradi, "Slow and Sassy" by Henry Mancini, and "Take California" by the Propellerheads, and was choreographed by Sandhu himself and his coach Joanne McLeod.

The final competitor of the night, Stanick Jeannette of France, did not have the performance he hoped and his face showed his disappointment at the program's end. He skated to "L'Enfant Pure" by Maxime Rodriguez, choreographed by ice dancer Gwendal Peizerat. In kiss-and-cry he watched the bronze medal slip through his fingers and had to settle for fourth place here. His scores ranged from 4.6 to 5.5 and 5.2 to 5.4. His quad attempt netted only a triple toe and he then fell on his triple Axel, eliminating two planned combination jumps. He did land his triple flip, but popped his next triple Axel and doubled his loop. His next triple Axel attempt was only a double but near the end he did land a triple Lutz followed by a triple Salchow. His choreography also included a hand puppet that may have been a questionable choice as most observers viewed it as an illegal prop. His costume of blue, beige and yellow gave the program a Cirque du Soleil atmosphere, and to some looked more like a child's pajamas than skating attire.

2002 Skate Canada Men's Medalists