| ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Sparkassen Cup on Ice, Day 2 |
The Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen (GER) continued Saturday with the Men's Short Program, Ladies and Pairs Free Programs and the Free Dance. The Sparkassen Cup is the third event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
Men, Short Program
Today's competition started with Men's Short Program. In a star-studded field, World Champion Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) took the lead ahead of Timothy Goebel (USA) and China's Chengjiang Li. Plushenko delivered a clean program set to rhythms by Michael Jackson, but he did not look as confident as usual. He came to a standstill after the quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination, the triple Axel looked shaky, but then he went on to produce a triple Lutz and amazing footwork. His marks went up to 5.8 for required elements and up to 5.9 for presentation. "I felt I was slow", Plushenko said. "I still have to get more into the program. It was hard today. We had practice very early this morning, so I got up at a quarter to four, and now I feel like it is late evening."
Goebel's performance was a step up from Skate America. Skating to "Danse Macabre", the 21-year-old put his hand down on his quadruple Salchow in the combination with a triple toeloop, but he nailed the triple Axel and triple flip. However, his footwork was weaker than Plushenko's. "It was much better than at Skate America", Goebel commented. "We have made a few changes, and I feel a lot more comfortable with the program. I was disappointed with putting my hand down on the combination."
Li also delivered a fine program that was inspired by martial arts. The reigning Four Continents Champion had to skate first and landed a flawless quadruple toeloop, a triple Axel-triple toeloop combination and showed good footwork. Only his double Axel was wobbly. "Just before the Axel, my head was spinning a bit. It's such an easy element, I just wasn't concentrating hard enough", he explained. "Overall, I felt a lot more confident than at Skate America."
Takeshi Honda of Japan, silver medallist at Skate America, currently sits in fourth place. The 2001 Four Continents silver medallist stepped out of the landing of the quadruple toeloop and only added a single toeloop for his combination. Skate America's bronze medallist Alexander Abt of Russia two-footed the quadruple toeloop to come in fifth. Three-time World Champion Elvis Stojko (CAN) stuttered on his combination and is now ranked sixth overall.
Pairs, Free Program
In an exciting and high-level pairs event, World bronze medallists Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao of China won the gold medal, with Kyoko Ina/John Zimmerman (USA) taking the silver and Russia's Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov winning the bronze.
Skating last, Shen/Zhao delivered a capturing version of "Turandot". The Chinese opened with a solid side by side double Axel-triple toeloop sequence, followed by an enormous triple throw Salchow, a lift and a triple twist. The program also featured a side by side double Axel out of a spread eagle, a high triple throw loop and the pair never lost their dynamism throughout the whole performance. The only glitch came when Shen almost fell out of the side by side spin. The Judges awarded the team marks ranging from 5.8 to 5.9 for technical merit and presentation, which meant first place ordinals across the board. "We are pleased with our program, but we can still improve", Shen commented. "We really were focusing on the second mark today, and I think our presentation was strong. I had a little problem in the flying camel spin, though."
Ina/Zimmerman pulled off a strong program to "Variations of a Theme by Paganini" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The US-Champions completed side by side triple toeloops, two side by side double Axels, a triple twist, a triple throw Salchow and original lifts. Only the triple throw loop was shaky. They were rewarded with marks up to 5.7 for technical merit and up to 5.9 for presentation and pulled up one spot to claim the silver. "John and I were very pleased with our performance tonight. We had a slight problem yesterday in the short program, and today we really wanted to concentrate on every individual element. At home in practice usually we have no problems", Ina said. "John really felt the pressure today."
Petrova/Tikhonov put in a solid program that included side by side triple toeloops and double Axels, a triple twist, a high triple throw Salchow, difficult lifts and a triple throw toeloop that had a lean in the air but was clean. Skating to excerpts from the musical "Chess", the 2000 World Champions skated with much flow, but lost speed towards the end. They lost to Ina/Zimmerman on a split of three to four ordinals and came in third place. "Considering this was our first Grand Prix event, we did quite well", Petrova told the press. "We weren't yet as confident and solid on our elements as we would like to be. But we wanted to show a beautiful program." Her partner added: "I was holding back a little, but I didn't feel tired at the end." Canada's Valerie Saurette/Jean-Sebastien Fecteau finished fourth, pulling up one place after the Short Program.
The Sparkassen Cup was the first Grand Prix event for Shen/Zhao, who take home 12 points. The event was a non-scoring competition for Ina/Zimmerman and Petrova/Tikhonov. The Americans will skate for points again next week at the Trophée Lalique, while the Russians will skate to score at Cup of Russia later this month.
Ladies, Free Program
Maria Butyrskaya of Russia retained her lead after the Short Program to add a third Sparkassen Cup gold medal to her collection. Japan's Yoshie Onda moved up one spot after the Short Program to capture the silver medal while Angela Nikodinov (USA) got the bronze.
Butyrskaya opened her program "Seventeen Moments in Spring" with a triple flip, but she slightly two-footed her first triple Lutz. The Muscovite doubled the toeloop in her combination with half loop-triple Salchow, but recovered to land two more triples including a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination and a double Axel. The lyrical program also featured nice spins. Butyrskaja's marks went up to 5.7 for technical merit and up to 5.9 for presentation. "This is the last time that I compete here at this competition and I really wanted to win, to finish on a high note", the 1999 World Champion said. "The double toeloop threw me off somehow, and I started to think about where to put it in. But then I decided to stick with my program."
Onda risked a triple Axel, but fell on the attempt. The Japanese did not let her program go downhill and completed six triples. The Judges awarded her marks ranging from 5.3 to 5.7 for technical merit and from 4.9 to 5.5 for presentation. The silver medal was Onda's first medal at a senior Grand Prix event. "I thought I wouldn't be nervous when I went out, but then I suddenly was. The triple Axel isn't yet consistent, but I'm working on it", she confirmed.
Nikodinov had a good start into her balletic "Giselle" program, completing a triple Lutz-double toeloop, a triple toeloop-double toeloop and a triple Flip, but then she popped the loop and was not able to pull herself together after this, doubling the toeloop in two attempts an popping the loop again. Although she produced good spins, including her excellent layback, she lost momentum. Nikodinov slipped to third. "Today definitely wasn't a good day for me", she admitted. "I started off very well, but then I made a mistake and let it get to me."
2000 World Junior Champion Jennifer Kirk (USA) remained in fourth place. The Sparkassen Cup was a scoring event for all three medallists. Butyrskaya took 12 points and will skate to score again next week at the Trophée Lalique. Onda earned 9 points and will compete again at the NHK Trophy in December, while Nikodinov's (7 points) next event is the Cup of Russia.
Ice Dancing, Free Dance
Reigning World Champions Barbara Fusar-Poli/Maurizio Margaglio (ITA) danced their way to the gold medal with Canadians Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon winning the silver. World Junior Champions Natalia Romaniuta/Daniil Barantsev of Russia claimed the bronze, their first medal in the senior Grand Prix series.
Fusar-Poli/Margaglio pleased the audience with a lively routine set to the hit "I will survive" that featured good lifts and fast paced footwork. The couple received marks ranging from 5.6 to 5.8 for technical merit and from 5.8 to 5.9 for presentation. "We know what we still can improve on", Margaglio commented. "It was a strong program, but not yet perfect. We can reach a higher level, but we are in a good shape for this time of the year." His partner added: "We really felt the music. The audience received us very well." Dubreuil/Lauzon put in an original program set to "Madame Butterfly" by Puccini. The Canadians displayed many lifts and interesting moves. Their marks went up to 5.5 for technical merit and up to 5.7 for presentation. "Winning the silver medal in our first Grand Prix event (this season) is a good confidence boost for us", Dubreuil commented. "We worked really hard on that free dance, finding the concept that is not too dramatic but that has love in it and passion, because that is something we can demonstrate really well. Of course, it's not perfect now, but we feel it's going to be a good vehicle for us for this year."
Dancing to the mystical soundtrack of "Xotica", Romaniuta/Barantsev also put in a good performance, demonstrating good footwork and an innovative dance spin. However, Romaniuta slipped at one point, but did not fall. After this, the young team appeared to be cautious and looked exhausted at the end. "We never were in such a good position at a senior Grand Prix event, and we let the pressure get to us", Barantsev explained. "We were extremely nervous. Suddenly we were in third and had the chance to medal."
All three medallists collected points in Gelsenkirchen. Fusar-Poli/Margaglio now have 12 points and they will move on to the Cup of Russia, as their second scoring event. Romaniuta/ Barantsev 7 points will also compete there, while Dubreuil/Lauzon will skate to score again at the NHK Trophy.
The Sparkassen Cup on Ice concludes on Sunday with the Men's Free Program and the Exhibition Gala.
Results Men FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Evgeni PLUSHENKO RUS 0.5 1 2 Timothy GOEBEL USA 1.0 2 3 Chengjiang LI CHN 1.5 3 4 Takeshi HONDA JPN 2.0 4 5 Alexander ABT RUS 2.5 5 6 Elvis STOJKO CAN 3.0 6 7 Michael WEISS USA 3.5 7 8 Stefan LINDEMANN GER 4.0 8 9 Roman SKORNIAKOV UZB 4.5 9 10 Frederic DAMBIER FRA 5.0 10 11 Vitali DANILCHENKO UKR 5.5 11 12 Silvio SMALUN GER 6.0 12 Pairs FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO CHN 1.5 1 1 2 Kyoko INA / John ZIMMERMAN USA 3.5 3 2 3 Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV RUS 4.0 2 3 4 Valerie SAURETTE/Jean-Sebastien FECTEAU CAN 6.5 5 4 5 Valerie MARCOUX / Bruno MARCOTTE CAN 7.0 4 5 6 Tatiana CHUVAEVA / Dmitri PALAMARCHUK UKR 9.0 6 6 7 Katerina BERANKOVA / Otto DLABOLA CZE 11.0 8 7 8 Victoria MAXIUTA / Vitaly DUBINA UKR 11.5 7 8 9 Marie-Pierre LERAY / Nicolas OSSELAND FRA 13.5 9 9 Ladies FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Maria BUTYRSKAYA RUS 1.5 1 1 2 Yoshie ONDA JPN 3.5 3 2 3 Angela NIKODINOV USA 4.0 2 3 4 Jennifer KIRK USA 6.0 4 4 5 Kristina OBLASOVA RUS 7.5 5 5 6 Tatiana MALININA UZB 9.0 6 6 7 Silvia FONTANA ITA 10.5 7 7 8 Susanna PÖYKIÖ FIN 12.0 8 8 9 Anne-Sophie CALVEZ FRA 13.5 9 9 10 Andrea DIEWALD GER 15.5 11 10 11 Marianne DUBUC CAN 16.0 10 11 Ice Dancing FPl. Name Nat. Points CD OD FD 1 Barbara FUSAR POLI / Maurizio MARGAGLIO ITA 2.0 1 1 1 2 Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON CAN 4.0 2 2 2 3 Natalia ROMANIUTA / Daniil BARANTSEV RUS 6.0 3 3 3 4 Alia OUABDELSSELAM / Benjamin DELMAS FRA 8.0 4 4 4 5 Valentina ANSELMI / Fabrizio PEDRAZZINI ITA 10.4 6 5 5 6 Agata BLAZOWSKA / Marcin KOZUBEK POL 11.6 5 6 6 7 Stephanie RAUER / Thomas RAUER GER 15.2 7 9 7 8 Jill VERNEKOHL / Dmitri KURAKIN GER 15.8 9 7 8 9 Nozomi WATANABE / Akiyuki KIDO JPN 17.0 8 8 9 10 Anna MOSENKOVA / Sergei SYCHOV EST 20.0 10 10 10 For further information please contact: Aline Bussat Ingwersen, ISU Media Coordinator Tel: +41 21 612 66 66 Fax: +41 21 612 66 77E-mail: bussat@isu.ch or Sparkassen Cup on Ice Gerd Heydn, Press Officer +49 209 954 32 71 (press room)