The Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, started Friday with the Compulsory Dance and the Short Programs for Pairs, Men and Ladies.

Ice Dance

The Sparkassen Cup on Ice opened with the Silver Samba. World Silver Medallists Barbara Fusar Poli/Maurizio Margaglio of Italy took the lead in the Compulsory Dance with a clean and fast performance. They got first place votes from six of the seven judges. "The Silver Samba is probably our favorite compulsory dance", said Fusar Poli. "We like Latin Rhythms!" Margaglio added: "We are happy with how we have skated at this point of the season. We didn't have much time to prepare the compulsories, because we have new programs and there are new rules, so there was not much time left for compulsories." Lithuania's World Bronze Medallists Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas finished second. "I like the Silver Samba much better than the Waltz" (which they skated at Skate America), smiled Drobiazko. Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz (Canada), who received one first place ordinal, came in third.

Men

Timothy Goebel (USA) was the first medal contender to skate in the Mens' Short Program. Goebel, who had won Skate America two weeks ago, landed a quadruple salchow as his solo jump and went on to do a triple axel-triple toeloop combination and an shaky double axel. The American felt that his spins in his program to "Thus spoke Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss were not as centered as they should have been. However, his marks went up to 5.8, both for technical and presentation marks. "I was pleased with my (second) mark, with the 5.8. I don't think I've gotten that before." Goebel commented. "I improved a lot, but I know we've still a long way to go", he said referring to his artistic impression.

Chengjiang Li (CHN) had not skated well at Skate Canada last week and finished in a disappointing 9th place. This time, the Chinese skater redeemed himself. The Four Continents Silver Medallist delivered a clean, dynamic program to music from the "Tarzan" soundtrack. His program featured a high quadruple toeloop, a triple axel-double toeloop combination, a double axel as well as fast spins and good steps. "I'm happy with my performance, but it wasn't perfect", said Li. "I was very disappointed at Skate Canada, of course. I had a problem with my back in Canada."

Russia's Evgeni Plushenko was the last competitor of the group and had to witness the terrible fall of Stefan Lindemann (GER), who skated just before him. Lindemann, the reigning World Junior Champion, tried a triple axel, late in his program, and fell hard on his knee. He was not able to get up and was carried out on a stretcher. According to news from the hospital, it seems that the 20-year-old German was diagnosed with a stretched ligament in his right knee and it is expected that he will off the ice for three weeks.

Plushenko looked very focused when he came out on the ice. He began his fast paced "Bolero" with a huge quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, and nailed a triple axel. Although he was slightly leaning, while in the air, during his triple lutz, Plushenko managed to land it nonetheless. His spins and steps were amongst the best of the field, and one of the Judges awarded him a 6.0 for presentation. However, the European Champion still believes he could have done better. "It was not super", he explained. "My step sequence wasn't a 100 percent. My coach and I think that I can do much better. Of course, I'm very pleased to have gotten a 6.0, there is nothing better!" Plushenko added: "It was difficult to skate after the accident of Stefan. It was terrible. I feel very sorry for him. I tried not to watch and to keep focused on myself."

Plushenko won the Short Program, Goebel came second, Li is sitting in third and Alexander Abt (RUS), who fell on his quadruple toeloop attempt, finished fourth.

Pairs

The Pairs event features the current World Champions Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov of Russia and World Bronze Medallists Sarah Abtibol/Stephane Bernadis (FRA). From those two top contenders, the Russians took to the ice first in the last group. Petrova, who suffered from an ankle injury earlier this year, touched down both on the opening side-by-side triple toeloop and on the triple throw salchow. Their entertaining Russian Folklore program contained a strong lift and got them marks up to 5.8 for presentation. Overall Petrova/Tikhonov placed second in the first portion of the event. "The mistakes happened just like that. They had nothing to do with my (hurting) leg", said a disappointed Petrova. "Tomorrow we'll give our best."

Abitbol/Bernadis skated right after their Russian competitors. The French Champions debuted a new program called "Ninja", inspired by martial arts that features original moves. Abitbol/Bernadis landed side-by-side triple toeloops, a triple throw loop and a very high double twist. The marks went up to 5.8 for required elements and up to 5.9 for presentation, and the team won the Short Program. "We've skated as we do in practice", commented a happy Sarah Abitbol. "Since we have an original program, we were really curious about the reactions of the judges, and we are glad that they obviously liked it."

Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin from Russia finished third. The young team from St. Petersburg had to skate first and delivered a clean performance to "Liebestraum" (Dream of Love) by Ferenc Liszt that featured side-by-side triple toeloops and a throw triple loop as well as a nice spiral sequence. "This is our second competition, and we felt more confident", explained Marinin. "We are pleased that we did well in this group of strong competitors like World Champions and World Medallists. However, my triple toeloop and the throw could have been nicer." Currently, standing in fourth place, going into the Free Program on Saturday, is Canada's Kristy Wirtz/Kris Wirtz who also skated clean.

Ladies

The Ladies were last to skate this evening. 1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya (RUS) skated her program from last season, "Scène d'amour". The Russian opened with a high triple lutz-double toeloop combination but she stumbled on her triple flip. Her speed, flow on the ice and her spirals still gave her the edge over her competitors, and she won the Short Program. "I tried the triple flip in the short for the first time, and it gave me so much trouble", Butyrskaya said. "I'm glad that I landed it the way I did."

Sarah Hughes (USA), came in second. At 15 years of age, she is the youngest competitor at the event. The American landed a triple lutz-double toeloop combination and a triple flip in her romantic program to "Vocalise" (by Sergei Rachmaninov). "I'm very happy with how I skated", said Hughes, who was runner-up at Skate America two weeks ago. "It was an improvement from last time. I felt like it was a good performance. Not only the jumps, also the in-betweens were good."

France's Vanessa Gusmeroli, opened with a triple lutz-double toeloop combination and pulled off a triple flip, to finish in third place after the Short Program. However, she looked a bit slow overall and seemed to lack confidence. "I held back", Gusmeroli admitted. "I was very nervous, my spins were slow. It still was a decent performance for the first competition this season."

US Silver Medallist Sasha Cohen skated a clean program, to finish fourth. "There are a lot of great skaters I usually watch on TV", said the 16-year-old about her first senior Grand Prix event. "It is neat to compete with them." 1999 Four Continents Champion Tatiana Malinina doubled her flip and sits in fifth place before the decisive Free Program.

The Sparkassen Cup on Ice continues Saturday with the Original Dance and the Pairs, Men and Ladies Free Programs.

For further information please contact:

Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final		or	Sparkassen Cup on Ice
Aline Bussat Ingwersen, ISU Media Coordinator	        Gerd Heydn, Press Officer
Tel:	+41 21 612 66 66				+49 209 97 66 271
Fax:	+41 21 612 66 77
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch	

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