| 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Day One |
The 2002 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships started today in Jeonju City, South Korea, with 109 skaters participating from 12 ISU Members. These are the fourth Four Continents Championships and they are staged for the first time in South Korea.
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dances
The Championships opened with the Compulsory Dances. They count 20% percent of the final score. The Compulsories that were skated at the Four Continent Championships were the same as at the European Championships: the Ravensburg Waltz and the Blues.
US-Champions Naomi Lang/Peter Tchernyshev, danced to take the lead with their teammates Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto following in second. Currently in third place are Canadians Megan Wing/Aaron Lowe.
Lang/Tchernyshev produced a solid Waltz and a smooth Blues, dancing with expression and flow. The 2000 Four Continents Champions received marks up to 5.6 for technique and up to 5.7 in both the Waltz and the Blues. The Four Continents are the first international competition for the couple in this Olympic season, as Tchernyshev suffered from shin splits earlier this season. "It feels great to be back on the ice again", Lang commented. "Honestly, being out we missed out a lot. It just feels really good to be out there in front of the public and the judges again. It's always difficult, but you have to put everything into perspective and do your best." Tchernyshev also mentioned that he is completely recovered from the injury by now.
Belbin/Agosto also turned in two good dances, although they seemed to be holding back a little. Their Waltz was light and charming, while their Blues was soft, showing off deep edges. "We're really getting used to the ice in Jeonju", Belbin explained. "I think as the competition progresses, we'll be more and more comfortable out there. Hopefully it will just go up from here."
Wing/Lowe skated confidently in both dances. "Today was the third time we've done the Ravensburg (Waltz), and it felt like the best we've done it", Lowe said. "It felt really nice today. We did it at Nationals and at Skate America. It just kept getting better all year. That's a good improvement." Beata Handra/Charles Sinek (USA) came in fourth.
Pairs, Short Program
China's Qing Pang/Jian Tong took the lead in the Pairs event that took place in the early afternoon. Skating to the soundtrack of "Seven Years in Tibet", the couple delivered a clean program that featured a triple throw Salchow, side by side triple toeloops and a high double twist. The marks ranged from 4.8 to 5.5 for required elements and from 4.9 to 5.5 for presentation. "We are glad to have done a good short program", Tong said. "We are especially happy with our throw and the side by side triple toeloop today. We are in first now, but we don't feel pressure heading into the long program. For us, this competition is the most important warm up for the Olympic Games."
Annabelle Langlois/Patrice Archetto of Canada finished second after they had a small problem with their lift. Their other elements such as triple throw Salchow and triple toeloop and an original death spiral were solid. "We didn't do the right lift", Langlois admitted. "We went up wrong, but we saved it, did a lift anyway, just not as hard as usually. We rushed into it; we didn't take our time. It (the planned lift) would have given us a lot more points. The rest was great." Nonetheless, the Canadians received two first place ordinals form the judges.
In their Four Continents debut, Stephanie Kalesavich/Aaron Parchem (USA), were ranked third in the Short Program. The US bronze medallists completed a triple throw Salchow, a double twist and a nice pair spin in their routine to "Little Wing" by Stevie Ray Vaugn, but Kalesavich two-footed the side by side triple Salchow. "I didn't quite take it (the Salchow) to the top, so the landing was more difficult, but I managed", she explained. "This is our first Four Continents, so we are happy to be here."
The reigning World Junior Champions Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang of China are currently standing in fourth. Skating first, the couple set the standard with a solid performance that featured a triple throw Salchow followed directly by the side by side triple toeloop and a difficult lift. "It's our first international senior event, and we are here to learn from the others", Hao Zhang commented. However, he caught a cold and wasn't feeling too well.
Men, Short Program
The final competition of this first day of the Championships was the Men's Short Program. Matthew Savoie (USA) is leading the standings, with Canadian Jeffrey Buttle in second and Johnny Weir (USA) in third. Skating in the first warm up group, Savoie had to put out a clean skate and that is exactly what he did, although his jumps were a bit shaky. The 2001 Grand Prix Final bronze medallist nailed a triple Axel, a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz and showed fast, well centered spins. "At least I stood up on everything and ended up well", Savoie remarked. "All the jumps, I struggled with the landings, and that was pretty obvious. I was pretty happy with my presentation, but the jumps could have been much stronger." Savoie's marks ranged from 5.2 to 5.7 for required elements and from 5.4 to 5.6 for presentation.
Buttle completed a triple flip-triple toeloop combination, a triple Lutz, but he stepped out of the landing of the triple Axel. His marks went up to 5.3 for required elements and up to 5.6 for presentation of his program to "The Last Emperor". "The take-off felt a little bit funny, but I decided to pull it anyway", he explained about his mistake on the Axel. He was surprised to be in second. "I'm trying not to make a big deal out of it. I have to concentrate on the long program", he added.
Like Buttle, Weir is competing in his first ISU senior Championships. The 17-year-old reigning World Junior Champion had a solid start into the program with a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination and a triple Axel. He also performed strong spins, but then touched down on the ice with is hand on the triple flip out of footwork. "I was just a little tentative on it, and I switched some edges going into it", Weir explained. "Overall, I think the program was a little shaky, I was a little tired. (US) Nationals were last week. I was pleased that I went out and didn't fall all over the ice!"
China's Song Gao came in fourth place with a solid performance that featured a triple Axel-triple toeloop combination. Reigning Four Continents silver medallist Takeshi Honda of Japan finished is fifth place, after falling on the quadruple toeloop and on the triple Axel.
The Four Continents Championships continue tomorrow with the Original Dance, the Pairs Free Skating and the Ladies Short Program.
Results Ice Dancing FPl. Name Nat. Points C1 C2 OD FD 1 Naomi LANG / Peter TCHERNYSHEV USA 0.4 1 1 2 Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO USA 0.8 2 2 3 Megan WING / Aaron LOWE CAN 1.2 3 3 4 Beata HANDRA / Charles SINEK USA 1.6 4 4 5 Josee PICHE / Pascal DENIS CAN 2.0 5 5 6 Weina ZHANG / Xianming CAO CHN 2.4 6 6 7 Tae-Hwa YANG / Chuen-Gun LEE KOR 2.8 7 7 8 Rie ARIKAWA / Kenji MIYAMOTO JPN 3.4 8 9 8 Nozomi WATANABE / Akiyuki KIDO JPN 3.4 9 8 10 Ru FAN / Bin SUO CHN 4.0 10 10 11 Jia QI / Xu SUN CHN 4.4 11 11 12 Natalie BUCK / Trent NELSON-BOND AUS 5.0 12 13 12 Julia KLOCHKO / Ramil SARKULOV UZB 5.0 13 12 14 Aimee HARTOG / Daniel PRICE AUS 5.8 14 15 14 Kirstie KETTLETON / Trevor SIEDERS AUS 5.8 15 14 Pairs FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 0.5 1 2 Anabelle LANGLOIS / Patrice ARCHETTO CAN 1.0 2 3 Stephanie KALESAVICH / Aaron PARCHEM USA 1.5 3 4 Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG CHN 2.0 4 5 Valerie MARCOUX / Bruno MARCOTTE CAN 2.5 5 6 Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN JR. USA 3.0 6 7 Jacinthe LARIVIÈRE / Lenny FAUSTINO CAN 3.5 7 8 Yang DING / Zongfei REN CHN 4.0 8 9 Kathryn ORSCHER / Garrett LUCASH USA 4.5 9 10 Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alexander MARKUNTSOV JPN 5.0 10 Men FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Matthew SAVOIE USA 0.5 1 2 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN 1.0 2 3 Johnny WEIR USA 1.5 3 4 Song GAO CHN 2.0 4 5 Takeshi HONDA JPN 2.5 5 6 Roman SKORNIAKOV UZB 3.0 6 7 Yamato TAMURA JPN 3.5 7 8 Xiadong MA CHN 4.0 8 9 Derrick DELMORE USA 4.5 9 10 Makoto OKAZAKI JPN 5.0 10 11 Jayson DENOMMEE CAN 5.5 11 12 Vladimir BELOMOIN UZB 6.0 12 13 Bradley SANTER AUS 6.5 13 14 Zhengxin GUO CHN 7.0 14 15 Mauricio MEDELLIN MEX 7.5 15 16 Daniel HARRIES AUS 8.0 16 17 Dino QUATTROCECERE RSA 8.5 17 18 Stuart BECKINGHAM AUS 9.0 18 19 Gareth ECHARDT RSA 9.5 19 20 Manuel SEGURA MEX 10.0 20 21 Tristan THODE NZL 10.5 21 22 Michael GILPIN MEX 11.0 22 R Emanuel SANDHU CAN For further information please contact: 2002 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships Aline Bussat Ingwersen, Kim Tae Wan, ISU Media Coordinator Press Officer Tel: +41 21 612 6666 Tel: +82 63 224 1276 or Fax: +41 21 612 6677 +82 63 224 1380 E-mail: bussat@isu.ch