2008

World Figure Skating  Championships

Pairs Event

Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy

Spread amongst the 20 teams skating tonight (the Ukrainian team of Ekaterina Kostenko & Roman Talan having withdrawn due to injury) there were six well skated performances that made the event worth watching.  The favorites prior to the event, Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy skated first, racking up an impressive 72 points.  The team executed well, starting off with an impressive throw triple flip, that received an average GoE of 2.  Except for Savchenko stepping out of a triple toe loop, their elements received GoEs that were mainly ones and twos, with some zeros, but also a few threes.  Nonetheless the team was not satisfied with their performance.  Said Szolkowy shortly after their skate, "We were not good, but it was difficult to estimate how we've done, as the other couples still have to skate."

The Germans held first place for the next ten skaters, until the performance of Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang.  The team was rock solid, earning an even more impressive 74.36 points, 43.50 of those in TES.  For all their elements there was only one GoE of zero, with the rest ones and twos, with a few threes.  They opened with their still impressive triple twist.  Even after seeing it for many years, it still never fails to impress.  It was only a level 1, but was so well done it still outscored the only level 2 triple twist of the night that was executed by Savchenko & Szolkowy.  In Program Components the Chinese team was scored less than 0.25 of a point behind the German team, and actually scored higher in Skating Skills.  Also noteworthy for both these two teams was that they were able to combine difficult athletic elements in well choreographed routines that were a pleasure to watch.

Third place was taken by Yuko Kawaguchi & Alexander Smirnov.  There elements were generally well done, with only a few scattered GoEs of -1.  My notes have a small shoulder bump on their triple twist and a small break forward on the landing of throw triple loop, and these are the elements that received -1s from the panel.  The team actually scored second best in TES, but was pulled down in PCS where they had the fourth highest score.  There triple toe loops were well done, and they had lovely positions of many of the elements, but the performance overall came up a little short.  The program seemed to take shortcuts in Choreography and Interpretation and lacked the polish of the top two teams.

The Canadian team of Jessica Dube & Bryce Davison was the fourth team to exceed 40 points in TES, and placed fourth in the Short Program.  The elements were nearly clean, with only two GoEs of -1 for their closing pair spin.  Their flamenco routine was nicely executed, with Choreography and Interpretation the two strongest of the five Program Components.

Skating last, Qing Pang & Jian Tong placed fifth in the short, thanks only to a downgraded triple toe loop from Tong.  Were it not for that error which cost them at least five pints, they would have been in thick of it in the top 3.  The other seven elements received GoEs of mainly ones and twos, with but a handful of zeros. In PCS they were scored third best, one point ahead of the third place team, and two points ahead of the fourth place team.

Rena Inoue & John Baldwin placed best among the U.S. teams, but it was a weak performance, and a shadow of what they put on the ice at the recent U.S. Nationals.  They opened with a triple twist that was under-rotated and had the usual contact of bodies that goes with that.  For a brief time the team appeared lost, then picked up the entry to the throw triple Axel on which Inoue stepped out and then fell.  The remaining six elements were generally clean, but the performance was lethargic, unprepared and untrained.

Brooke Castile & Benjamin Okolski placed 12th in the short.  The team was scored negative in GoE on triple twist that had a poor catch, on throw triple Salchow with a hand down, Axel jumps that Castile singled, and on their side-by-side combination spin.  The performance was scored only slightly better in PCS were it was 11th best.  After their performance Castile was the poster child of a skater unhappy with their performance, saying, "It was definitely the worst short we've done all year and I don't feel we're the most prepared for this competition so for me, so it's a huge let down actually.  I'm not very happy."

Both U.S. teams are buried so low in the standings it is virtually impossible for them to move up high enough for the U.S. to hold on to two spots for next season.

Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang

Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy won the gold medal, overtaking Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang with a technically challenging free skate.  The team is coached by Ingo Steuer who, with his partner Mandy Woetzel, was World Pair Champion eleven years ago.  It is ironic that the gold medal was brought home to Germany by the coach the German Federation has turned it's back on since it was discovered he had worked for the Stasi while competing for East Germany.

Savchecnko & Szolkowy attempted the most difficult program of the evening, with a base value of 62.35 points.  They opened with an outstanding throw triple flp that received six GoEs of 3.  On there second element, a triple toe loop - triple toe loop sequence, Savchenko had a poor landing on the first jump and the element was scored at -1.29 points.  And on their fifth element, Szolkowy fell on triple Salchow and Savchenko put both hands done to keep from falling also.  The remainder of their elements, however, were mainly scored with GoEs of 1 to 3.

Despite the two errors, the Germans received the highest TES for the event, helped by seven level 4 elements and one level 3.  They also were scored highest in PCS, with component scores in the high sevens and low eights.

Canadians Jessica Dube & Bryce Davison moved up from fourth in the short, to place second in the free skate and third overall.  In February of 2007, Dube was lying bleeding on the ice in Colorado Springs after her partner sliced-and-Bryced her during the 2007 Four Continents Championships.  Thirteen months later she and her partner are the World bronze medalist.

The couple owe their place in the Free Skate primarily to the technical strength of the program.  With seven elements called at level 4 and GoEs mainly ones and twos, they earned the second highest TES in the free skate.  Their only error was a break forward on the landing of throw triple Lutz with a reach for the ice that recieved GoE points of -0.50.

In PCS the Canadians were scored respectably, mainly in the low sevens, but overall they were marked only fifth in PCS.  It was a pretty performance to a well constructed program, yet it still came up short compared to the other top teams in the event, particularly in Transitions.

Zhang & Zhang, who won the Short Program, dropped to third in the Free Skate to place second overall.  Errors in two elements and a level 1 in their step sequence cost them the gold medal, which eluded them by 5.04 points.  On their opening double Axel - triple toe loop combination, Dan Zhang singled the jump which was also poorly executed, loosing both base value and GoE points.  Later on triple Salchows, Dan put her hand down, costing them a point in GoE.  In PCS the team was scored third best, with components in the mid sevens.

Yuko Kawaguchi & Alexander Smirnov, who placed third in the Short Program, fell out of the medals, placing fourth in the Free Skate and fourth overall.  They opened with a throw quad Salchow that looked effortless, though fife of twelve judges marked it negative in GoE.  Following that element, however, the program kind of fell apart, with three other elements marked negative in GoE.  An intended triple toe loop - triple toe loop sequence ended badly after the first jump, Smirnov had trouble on the landing of a double Axel, and their side-by-side spin had dreadful unison and was marked at minus one.  The program ended up being marked fourth best in both TES and PCS.

After placing fifth in the Short Program, Qing Pand & Jian Tong were unable to make up any ground.  They placed fifth again in the Free Skate and fifth overall.  Their problem again was in jumps, with triple toe loop downgraded and double Axel downgraded. The team also gave up some ground on their levels which were not up to the standards of the top three teams.

Among the U.S. teams, Rena Inoue & John Baldwin placed best, placing eight in the Free Skate and tenth overall.  It was a superior skate compared the Short Program, and good enough to earn the U.S. two pairs spots at next year's Worlds.  But it was a far cry from their peak performance of two years ago.  They were scored negative on two elements, throw triple Axel and throw triple loop, and received a deduction for a fall (on the triple Axel) and a time violation.  There component scores were only in the mid to upper fives, with only Skating skills breaking past 6.  These marks are nearly a point lower than a year ago when they were under the tutelage of their former coach Peter Oppegard.

The second U.S. team, Brooke Castile & Benjamin Okolski, moved up one place from the Short Program to finish 11th overall.  Theie program was not competitive in either base value or quality of execution  They were scored negative on five elements and receive component marks in only the mid to upper fives.

Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy

2008 Worlds Pairs Medalists