ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: HomeSense Skate Canada International
Day Three
HomeSense Skate Canada International concluded Sunday in Kitchener with the Free Dance and the Exhibition Gala. HomeSense Skate Canada International was the sixth and last event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series and thus the last opportunity for skaters to qualify for the Final. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements. The top six skaters/couples of the series will proceed to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Tokyo, Japan.
Ice Dance, Free Dance
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir of Canada danced to victory on the final day of HomeSense Skate Canada International. France’s Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat took the silver medal and Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje earned the bronze, the first Grand Prix medal of their career.
Virtue/Moir put out an excellent performance of their romantic dance to the “Adagietto” from Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. The program was highlighted by their difficult lifts including a curve-rotational with many changes of position and a straight-line lift with her standing unsupported on his leg and exiting with a little jump. Virtue/Moir picked up a level four for all their lifts and the spin and a level three for the two step sequences. All elements earned mostly a +2 grade of execution from the judging panel. The couple posted a new seasons best of 103.12 points (50.60 element score/52.52 program component score) and accumulated a total of 204.38 points, which was the highest score any couple has achieved so far this season. “Tessa and I were extremely determined today to come out and to skate well. We obviously didn’t have our best skate yesterday. We just tried to stay as relaxed as possible. We knew we would have the energy that we would need”, Moir commented. “Performance-wise we felt we were in the moment.”
Pechalat/Bourzat presented an innovative dance to “Kika” and “Requiem for a Dream” that featured interesting lifts and smooth footwork. The French Champions were awarded a level four for the lifts and the spin and a level three for the diagonal and circular footwork to score a seasons best of 93.47 points (47.50/45.97), which added up to a total of 185.07 points.
“We didn’t make a mistake and we had more power and energy than we had at the Trophée Bompard”, commented Pechalat. “It was especially important to us to skate well here in Canada as the Olympic Games are here and we didn’t skate well last year at Skate Canada. We changed a few things after Trophée Bompard to have more flow in the program.”
Weaver/Poje danced to “Phantom of the Opera” and impressed with effortless lifts that all were awarded a level four. The team received 82.28 points (42.10/40.18) and was ranked fourth in the Free Dance but overall remained in third place at 165.64 points. “As soon as we stepped on the ice we could feel the energy of the audience. We were a little under pressure, because we wanted to skate well at home in front of everyone. Even though there were a couple of little mistakes we feel very proud of what we put out there today”, Weaver told the press. “Being on the podium at this event is a major milestone in our road to qualifying for the Olympics”, she added.
Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS) finished third in the Free Dance with a program to “Adagio” and overall pulled up from fifth to fourth at 161.68 points. Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates (USA) came in fifth with 160.76 points.
Virtue/Moir and Pechalat/Bourzat qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
All finalists now have been determined. In the Men’s event, the finalists are Nobunari Oda (JPN), Evan Lysacek (USA), Brian Joubert (FRA), Jeremy Abbott (USA), Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) and Johnny Weir (USA). In the Ladies, Yu-Na Kim (KOR), Miki Ando (JPN), Joannie Rochette (CAN), Alena Leonova (RUS), Ashley Wagner (USA) and Akiko Suzuki (JPN) qualified. The Pairs finalists are Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN), Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN), Maria Mukhortova/ Maxim Trankov (RUS), Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER), Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov (RUS) and Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang (CHN). Finally, in the Ice Dance the following couples proceed to the Final: Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA), Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN), Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA), Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) and Sinead Kerr/John Kerr (GBR).
Overall, 24 skaters/couples from 10 ISU members will compete in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.
For full results please refer to www.isu.org. The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating of the 2009/10 season concludes with the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final December 3 to 6 in Tokyo, Japan.
