2006 World Championships

Men's Qualifying

by Kathleen Stafford

However at the end of this first evening of Men’s competition, in 1^st place was Stephane Lambiel, the 4^th place finisher at the Olympics. In second place was Nobunari Oda who was skating in his first World Championships and did not skate in Turin,. Third place finisher Evan Lysacek was alone in duplicating his Olympic finish of 3^rd place after the qualifying.

In the first group of skaters only Stephane Lambiel, skating for Switzerland, seemed able to overcome the post-Olympic doldrums and deliver a strong free skate. With two clean quad toe loops, one in combination with a triple toe loop, only an awkward two foot landing of a triple flip marred his skate. Stephane, skating to The Four Seasons by Antonio Vavaldi, also completed a triple Axel, a triple loop, a double Axel, a triple flip, a triple Lutz/triple toe loop combination, and a triple Salchow. His trademark spins were appreciated by the knowledgeable skating audience at the Saddledome in Calgary. His total points of 160.90 (83.40 TES + 77.50 PCS) put him in first for Men’s Qualifying Group A and first place overall. Asked about executing two quad jumps in the qualifying round Lambiel commented, "My psychology simply is to do the best each time, to try to give everything on the day and then I’ll rest the night to be able to give everything the next day."

Evan Lysacek of the U.S., skating to Carmen, had a very shaky start to his skate with a fall on a quad toe loop attempt. Evan received credit for full rotation on his quad toe loop, however he received a minus 3 for grade of execution in addition to a one point deduction for the fall. His next jump was a triple Axel and once again he fell and received minus 3 for grade of execution. He doubled his next jump, a planned double loop. After two well executed combination spins he landed a shaky triple Axel. Evan got his feet under him in the second half of his program going on to land a triple flip/triple toe loop, a triple Lutz/triple toe loop and a triple Axel. He was ranked second in this group and third overall with a total of 139.70 points (66.70 TES + 73.00 PCS). Evan reported that when he fell on the quad toe, "I got the wind knocked out of me pretty badly. I fell on my leg and it kind of went numb on me. It affected about the next two minutes (of the program)." Evan is also still recovering from the bacterial infection that hindered his Olympic short program.

Russian Ilia Klimkin finished third in Group A and 8^th overall with 130.60 points (64.10 TES + 66.50 PCS). Klimkin had no falls, however, he did eliminate the second jump in his first two planned jump combinations. He opened with a triple Axel and a quad toe loop followed by a triple flip. Although the rest of his program deviated from his planned elements he did go on to complete a triple Salchow/double toe loop, a riple loop, a triple toe loop, a triple Salchow, and triple toe loop/double toe loop combination.

Crowd favorite, Emanuel Sandhu from Canada had a very disappointing skate. He completed the four required rotations on his opening quad toe loop worth 9.0 points. However he received minus two for grade of execution, making it worth less than a well executed triple Axel. He next singled his planned triple Axel and fell on a double Axel later in the program. He did complete a triple Lutz, another single Axel, a triple loop, and a triple toe loop. His final jumping pass was a triple flip/triple toe loop combination. Sandhu skated with his usual flair and interesting transitions. However, even his program component scores, the third highest in the first qualifying group, could not pull him up in the rankings and he finished in 6^th place in Group A and 15^th overall with a total score of 115.80 (46.80 TES + 70.00 PCS).

In Qualifying Group B the competition was stronger and six of the skaters in the top eight over all at the end of the night were from this group. Johnny Weir opened his skate with a beautiful triple Axel/triple toe loop. His next jump was a quad toe loop. He completed all four rotations, however he two-footed the landing and stepped out of the jump. He next completed a triple Lutz. Johnnie doubled his next two jumps, a double Axel and double loop. He followed with two combinations, a triple Salchow/double toe loop and a double flip/double toe loop. The last jump in his program was a double Axel. His footwork and spins were well executed. After the skate Johnny commented that he had been bothered by back spasms for a few days and they have limited his practice. Johnny finished in fourth place in Group B and 6^th place overall with 133.50 points (62.00 TES + 71.60 PCS).

Like Johnny Weir, Jeffrey Buttle of Canada opened with a beautiful combination, a triple flip/triple toe loop and like Johnny he could not continue the momentum and popped his attempt at a quad toe loop. He then fell on his triple Axel. After a combination spin he completed his next triple Axel in combination with at double toe loop. Skating to Samson and Delilah, Buttle went on to complete a triple loop, a triple Lutz/double toe loop/double loop combination, and a triple Salchow. He fell on his last attempted jump, a triple Lutz. Buttle made the most of his interesting choreography and never gave up on the performance aspect of his skate. He was rewarded with a second place ranking in Group B and 4^th place overall with a total score of 137.90 (63.60 TES + 74.30 PCS).

Brian Joubert, skating for France, successfully landed a quad toe loop in combination with a triple toe loop. He followed that with a triple flip/double toe loop/double toe loop combination. He also completed a triple Lutz, a triple loop, a triple flip, a triple toe loop, and a double Salchow. His interesting choreography to The Matrix kept the crowd engaged. Joubert finished third in Group B and 5^th place overall with 136.20 points (64.00 TES + 72.20 PCS).

Skating third from last in Qualifying Group B, Nobunari Oda of Japan managed to excite the weary crowd with an outstanding skate to Zatoichi (a Japanese movie soundtrack). Nobunari opened with triple Axel/triple toe loop/double loop combination. He followed with a triple Lutz/double toe loop. His smooth style and soft landings took him through a triple Salchow, a triple Axel, a triple flip/double toe loop combination, a triple loop, a double Axel, and a triple Lutz. Oda’s interesting transitions and well executed spins combined with his jumps gave him a first place finish in this qualifying group and a second place overall. He received a total score of 144.90 (76.00 TES + 68.90 PCS) plus a standing ovation. This was strong acknowledgement from an audience who had just sat through 13 hours of skating.

Matthew Savoie of the U.S. had a disappointing skate. He fell on opening triple loop and then doubled his triple Axel which he did in combination with a triple toe loop. On his next planned combination he stepped out of the triple flip, although he was able to complete the triple toe loop that followed. He completed a triple Salchow and then fell on a triple Axel. In the last minute of his performance he landed a triple Lutz/double loop followed by a double loop. He turned out of his next triple Lutz but held the landing. His last jump was a double Axel. Matt finished in 8^th place in Group B and 13^th overall with 120.30 points (57.20 TES + 65.10 PCS).

The top 15 finishers from each qualifying are eligible to compete in the short program. They will carry forward the value of 25% of their score from the qualifying round. This score will be added to their point totals in the short program and free skate to determine the final rankings for the Men’s 2006 World Figure Skating Championships.