2010 Skate Canada

Pairs Event

Young Russian Team Opens Lead in Short Program

The eight young teams from five countries contesting the pairs title are representative of the next generation of pair skating, with most of the older elite teams from last season having retired.  Most are in the ir late teams or early twenties and have the time to go on for the next two Olympic cycles (talent willing).

Taking the lead in the Short Program were Lubov Iliushechkina & Nordari Maisuradze, the 2009 World Junior Champions from Moscow.  SHe will be 19 next week, and he is 22.  The skaters teamed together in 2006 and for the last three seasons have placed third or fourth at Russian Nationals.

Their performance to "Figaro" from the "Marriage of Figaro" was lively and engaging.  They had a minor error on the catch in their triple twist (level 2), while a minority of the judges (four of nine) had some issue with their side-by-side combination spin at level 4.  We found their death spiral somewhat awkward looking, but the judge apparently did not agree.  With the restructuring of the events this season, only the side-by-side spin is required this year, with the pair spin alternating and required next season instead.

Skating with sharp crisp movement in time to the music, their component scores averaged in the mid to high sixes, but with a huge diversity of opinion among the judges, with marks as low as 5.50 and as high as 8.00.  But while the judges could not agree on what the program was really worth for a score, it was clearly the favorite of the majority and was marked several points higher than the rest of the group in both technical ability and presentation.

Marissa Castelli & Simon Shapir took second place by 0.20 points.  The team was the bronze medallist in the Junior division at the 2009 U.S. Nationals, and placed tenth in Seniors in 2010.  Their elements were generally strong but with a marginal catch in the twist list and six of nine judges marked down their side-by-side combination spin, likely because its unison as extremely poor.  There program, to "Money" by Pink Floyd, was well skated technically but had mundane expression.  In TES they trailed the leaders by only 1.07 points, but in PCS were down by 3.31.

Close behind in third place are the Canadian team of Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers.  The team was the 2008 silver medallist in the Junior division at Canadian Nationals, and then place fourth in Seniors in 2009 but sixth in 2010.  Skating to "City Slickers" it was a lively upbeat performance, but sloppy which showed up as lower components in Skating Skills and Presentation compared to Choreography and Interpretation.  On side-by-side triple toe loops, they both got around and stayed vertical, but also both stepped out of the landings, which proved the difference between second and third place.  Their PCS score was 1.02 ahead of the Americans.  Their component scores averaged around 6.00 with fairly good agreement among the judges.

Canadians Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford are a new paring this year, with Duhamel previously skating with Craig Buntin who retired at the end of last season. The team remains in the mix, 1.34 below third place.  They had the second highest component scores, but were down in TES, but to doubling attempted triple Lutzes and Radford poorly landing his jump.

The third Canadian team here, Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch, place fifth in the short, 2.46 behind the medal leaders.  The team paired together in the spring of 2009 and placed fifth at Cabadian Nationals in 2010.  The team skated to the difficult Zorna's dance from "Zorba the Greek" and receive the third highest PCS score.  A fall on throw triple loop, however, pulled there element score down over 3 points and had it been landed would have put them in second place.

Britney Miller & Nathan Miller, the second of the two American teams here, were scored will below the leaders, in both TES and PCS.  Six of seven elements had at least one negative GoE, with significant problems on the first three elements.  Simpson had a poor landingon double Axel, triple twist was downgraded and had a shoulder bump on the catch and there was a ste out of throw triple Salchow.  Skating to the "Pink Panther" their component averaged around 5.50.

Iliushenchkina and Maisuradze Hold on For Gold with Second Place Free Skating Result

Having won the Short Program, Lubov Iliushechkina & Nodari Maisuradze were last to skate and knew exactly what they needed to do.  Despite some general messiness, their routine to "Conquest of Paradise" was nicely skated with nice expression, intricate movements and abundant transitions.  That messiness, however, and several errors (small and large) all added up to land them in second place in Free Skate.  It was good enough, however, to hold on and take the gold medal.

They opened with two nice jump passes and a big triple twist (level 3). Then, on throw triple Lutz, Iliushenchkina stepped out of the landing, the biggest error of the program.  Their lifts were well done and their elements received only a handful of negative GoEs.  In their pair combination spin they had two changed of foot, the first of which was a bit off balance, and on their side-by-side spin the unison was significantly off on the first foot, but was quite good on the second.  Several points were also lost on the choreographic spiral sequence which received no points.  This element does not have levels called, but must meet minimum requirements for the holding the spiral positions, which they did not meet.

No one error cost them the lead in the Free Skate and they were scored second in both TES and PCS.  On the average their component scores were each about one-half point below the Canadians.  There was a significant diversity of opinion in the component marks for this team and the Canadian team -- more so that for the other teams in this event -- with a range of component scores of 1.5 points (6.00 to 7.50, 6.00 to 8.00)

Skating in the first warm-up, Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch were anything but miserable, turning there fifth place finish in the Short Program into a win in the Free Skate.

The team opened with a big triple twist (level 2) with very minor shoulder contact on the catch, quickly followed by a triple toe loop - double Axel sequence and a strong throw triple loop.  There overhead lifts, all level 4 were also well done, with a nice group 5 lift with a carry, flip out, one foot glide, and reverse of direction. On their second throw, however, Moore-Towers fell, the only significant error of the performance.

Their performance to "Les Miserables" was not well developed, with the emphasis on getting the tricks done, but improved as they settled into the second half of the program.  Perhaps this inconsistency is why some judges went down to six (average performance and other up to eight (very good).

The second Canadian team of Paige Lawrence & Rudi Sweigers held third in the Free Skate and finished third overall, nearly 10 points behind the silver medallists.

Their routine was a bit of a struggle with Lawrence falling on triple toe loop, a step out and unequal rotations on a planned double Axel - double Axel sequence, and a reach for the ice and hand touch (?) landing throw triple Lutz.

Skating to "Van Helsing" the program started off with good expression and some nice opening movements.  They were unable, however, to sustain the concept through the second half of the program, which could be punched-up artistically.

Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir dropped from second in the Short Program to fifth in the Free Skate to finish fourth overall, 1.30 points out of the medal.  The first half of the program had three major errors, after which they settled into the rest of the program, with an outstanding group 3 lift near the end of the routine.  Both triple Salchow, and a double toe loop - double toe loop combination (intended as a triple-double) has multiple errors, and on throw triple Axel Castelli fell -- though in the last case even with the fall they earned 3.5 points (after the deduction) making it worth the attempt.  Skating to "Avatar," their components were in the low to mid sixes.

Megan Duhamel & Eric Radford placed fourth in the Free Skate as they did in the Short Program but ended fifth overall.  It would seem no scoring system is without its quirks.  Their performance was inconsistent, with five elements scored with negative GoEs, with the solo jumps their biggest issue.  They were scored fifth in TES but third in PCS for their effort, with component marks in the mid sixes.

Britney Simson & Nathan Miller placed sixth in the Free Skate as they did in the Short Program and finished sixth overall.

2010 Skate Canada Pairs Medalists