| 2002 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Day 3 |
The 2002 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Hamar, Norway, continued with the Compulsory Dances and the Men's Short Program.
Ladies, Qualifying Rounds
The Ladies started their competition with the Qualifying Round. There were 48 entries for the event. The top 15 skaters from each group will advance to the Short Program. The Qualifying counts for 20 % of the skaters' final scores.
2001 World Junior silver medallist Ann-Patrice McDonough (USA) won group B, which skated first. The 16-year-old completed four triple jumps, including triple Lutz-double toeloop and triple flip-double toeloop combinations and excellent spins. However, McDonough stepped out of her first triple Lutz and first triple flip in her program set to "Cinderella" by Sergei Prokofiev and "Romeo and Juliet" by Nino Rota. Five out the seven Judges had her in first place. "It was OK, but it will get better", the American promised. "Somehow it (the Qualifying) is kind of annoying, otherwise you get the feel of the ice and you know what's coming up for your final. I came back (to Junior Worlds) because I want to win."
Canadian Joannie Rochette finished second ahead of another American, Louann Donovan. Rochette's routine featured five triple jumps but she popped the flip, two-footed a toeloop and fell unexpectedly while skating backwards. "She was happy with how she skated, but she was upset about the fall", coach Manon Perron commented.
Skating last was newcomer Donovan who cracked the top three with a solid program that contained four triple jumps, but she touched down with her hand on the opening triple Lutz. "It was a great start to a really long week. I know I'm getting better as I'm building my confidence. I'm just taking one step at a time and concentrating on my skating", Donovan explained.
In Group A, Miki Ando and Yukari Nakano of Japan skated to first and second place respectively with Beatrisa Liang (USA) placing third. Defending champion Kristina Oblasova of Russia faltered and finished a distant eleventh.
Ando, the winner of the Junior Grand Prix Final, went for her triple Lutz-triple loop combination (step out on the loop) and hit three more triples to stay ahead of her competitors. Nakano landed a shaky triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip and three other triple jumps. Liang popped her opening triple Lutz but recovered to execute four more triples, finishing on a high note. "It was pretty good. I went out there and just attacked everything", Liang said. "Of course it could have been better. It's really exciting coming all the way to Norway. It's really fun."
Pairs, Free Program
The Pairs finished their competition with the Free Program. Elena Riabchuk/Stanislav Zakharov of Russia overtook their teammates and overnight leaders Julia Karbovskaya/Sergei Slavnov to win the title. China's Yang Din/Zhongfei Ren claimed the bronze medals. Although all three pairs had competed before at the World Junior Championships, they medalled for the first time. Skating to "Conquest of Paradise" Riabchuk/Zakharov earned the gold medal with a strong performance. The Muscovites opened their routine with a triple twist, side by side triple toeloops and a difficult one-handed lift. The couple also executed a triple throw Salchow, triple throw loop and side by side double Axels. Their only mistake came when Riabchuk missed the second double Axel. The couple scored marks up to 5.4 for technical merit and presentation.
Their compatriots skated right after them, and Riabchuk/Zakharov stayed in the Kiss and Cry area to watch their performance. Karbovskaya/Slavnov were off to a strong start with solid side by side double Axels, but then both fell on the triple toeloop. They recovered instantly and produced a double twist, a triple throw Salchow, a triple throw loop and good lifts. The team especially showed mature choreography to the "Romeo and Juliet" soundtrack by Nino Rota. The Judges recognized their efforts with high presentation marks up to 5.6. However, the technical scores ranged between 4.9 and 5.4, and the couple from St. Petersburg lost to Riabchuk/Zakharov by a five to four split on the Judges' panel.
Ding/Ren risked a spectacular quadruple throw toeloop right at the beginning of their performance but Ding slightly touched down with her free foot on the landing. The Chinese went on to reel off a huge triple twist and side by side triple toeloops, yet they made some errors. Ding stumbled on the second double Axel and later fell when the pair was about to enter a spin. The Chinese received marks from 5.2 to 5.5 for technical merit, but their presentation marks were lower, ranging from 4.8 to 5.4 and they remained in third place.
Maria Mukhortova/Pavel Lebedev of Russia pulled up from fifth to fourth place with a strong Free Program.
"We've been preparing a long time for this event", Zakharov told the press. "We've been working all season and of course we hoped to win." Riabchuk had to overcome a dangerous injury one and a half years ago, when her partner hit her head with his blade during a side by side camel spin. The girl was in hospital for several weeks. "It was not easy to come back after this", Riabchuk said. "But I overcame the pain and the fear." Karbovskaya/Slavnov were a bit disappointed about missing their side by side jump. "We didn't skate badly, but something didn't work. Our Russian friends were stronger tonight", Slavnov commented. "There was a lot of psychological pressure", his partner added. "Plus, we got a cold here and it was hard for us to skate."
"We are not so happy, because we had some problems in our program", Ren explained. "We know that the Russian teams are very strong competitors, and we were nervous."
The 2002 World Junior Figure Skating Championships continue on Thursday with the Original Dance and the Men's Free Program.
Ladies FPl. Name Nat. Points QB QA SP FS 1 Miki ANDO JPN 0.4 1 1 Ann Patrice McDONOUGH USA 0.4 1 3 Yukari NAKANO JPN 0.8 2 3 Joannie ROCHETTE CAN 0.8 2 5 Louann DONOVAN USA 1.2 3 5 Beatrisa LIANG USA 1.2 3 7 Lauren WILSON CAN 1.6 4 7 Stephanie ZHANG AUS 1.6 4 9 Tatiana BASOVA RUS 2.0 5 9 Viktoria PAVUK HUN 2.0 5 11 Kimena BROG MEIER SUI 2.4 6 11 Yukina OTA JPN 2.4 6 13 Ekaterina BURTSEVA RUS 2.8 7 13 Sari HAKOLA FIN 2.8 7 15 Sara FALOTICO BEL 3.2 8 15 Roxana LUCA ROM 3.2 8 17 Asa PERSSON SWE 3.6 9 17 Susanne STADLMÜLLER GER 3.6 9 19 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 4.0 10 19 Jenna McCORKELL GBR 4.0 10 21 Silvia KONCOKOVA SVK 4.4 11 21 Kristina OBLASOVA RUS 4.4 11 23 Lucie KRAUSOVA CZE 4.8 12 23 Svetlana PILIPENKO UKR 4.8 12 25 Magdalena LESKA POL 5.2 13 25 Jubilee-Jenna MANDL AUT 5.2 13 27 Jenna-Anne BUYS RSA 5.6 14 27 Gintare VOSTRECOVAITE LTU 5.6 14 29 Henna HIETALA FIN 6.0 15 29 Kristina MICHAILOVA BLR 6.0 15 31 Sun-Bin LEE KOR 16 31 Qingyun WANG CHN 16 33 Christiane BERGER GER 17 33 Martine ZUIDERWIJK NED 17 35 Anne-Sophie CALVEZ FRA 18 35 Madeleine DALENG NOR 7.2 18 37 Diana Y. CHEN TPE 19 37 Zeljka KRIZMANIC CRO 19 39 Teodora POSTIC SLO 20 39 Sonia RADEVA BUL 20 41 Kristiina DAUB EST 21 41 Bianka PADAR HUN 21 43 Melissandre FUENTES AND 22 43 Maria MASTROGIANNOPOULOU GRE 22 45 Rebeca GARCIA ESP 23 45 Ksenia JASTSENJSKI YUG 23 47 Salur DUYGU TUR 24 47 Helena GARCIA MEX 24 Pairs FPl. Name Nat. Points SP FS 1 Elena RIABCHUK / Stanislav ZAKHAROV RUS 2.0 2 1 2 Julia KARBOVSKAYA / Sergei SLAVNOV RUS 2.5 1 2 3 Yang DING / Zhongfei REN CHN 4.5 3 3 4 Maria MUKHORTOVA / Pavel LEBEDEV RUS 6.5 5 4 5 Carla MONTGOMERY / Ryan ARNOLD CAN 7.0 4 5 6 Tiffany VISE / Laureano IBARRA USA 10.0 6 7 7 Tiffany STIEGLER / Johnnie STIEGLER USA 12.5 13 6 8 Julia BELOGLAZOVA / Andrei BEKH UKR 12.5 9 8 9 Johanna PURDY / Kevin MAGUIRE CAN 13.0 8 9 10 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Petro KHARCHENKO UKR 14.5 7 11 11 Veronika HAVLICKOVA / Karel STEFL CZE 15.5 11 10 12 Colette APPEL / Lee HARRIS USA 17.0 10 12 13 Diana RENNIK / Aleksei SAKS EST 20.0 14 13 14 Dominika PIATKOWSKA / Alexandr LEVINTSOV POL 20.0 12 14 For further information please contact: Aline Bussat Ingwersen, or John Inge Vikan, Press Officer ISU Media Coordinator Tel: +47 625 501 25 Tel: +41 21 612 66 66 Cell phone: +47 900 997 08 E-mail: bussat@isu.ch