The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2009 continued Wednesday in Sofia, Bulgaria with the Men’s Short Program and the Pairs Free Skating.
Pairs, Free Skating
The Pairs event concluded with the Free Skating. Russia’s Liubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze claimed the gold and the title. Anastasia Martiusheva/Alexei Rogonov of Russia soared from 11th to second to clinch the silver medal edging out Marissa Castelli/Simon Shnapir (USA). The Americans earned the bronze.
After a shaky warm-up, Iliushechkina/Maisuradze struggled to keep their nerves under control. Iliushechkina fell on the opening side by side triple toeloop but landed the double Lutz and the double twist. Skating to a medley of music by Edvin Marton, the Junior Grand Prix Final Champions produced excellent lifts and a pair combination spin that were graded a level four by the Technical Panel. The couple also was awarded a level three for the footwork and the side by side spin, but Iliushechkina stumbled on the throw triple Lutz and put her hand down on the throw triple loop. The Muscovites received 89.20 points (42.92 element score/47.28 program component score) and accumulated a total score of 144.32. Last year, they had finished second at the World Junior Championships. “Our feelings are ambivalent right now”, admitted Maisuradze. “We are happy about the result, but our performance was poor. I was not nervous at all, I’m never nervous, but Liuba unfortunately has been struggeling with her nerves all season”, he added.
Martiusheva/Rogonov turned in a delightful performance to “The Nutcracker”. They landed a beautiful throw triple loop, a triple twist, a double Axel-double loop sequence, a double Lutz and difficult lifts. The only glitch in their performance came when she touched down with her hand on the throw triple Salchow. The couple picked up 93.99 points (47.67/46.32) and collected 138.59 points overall to surge to second after a faulty short program that had left them in 11th place.
Castelli/Shnapir gave a solid performance to the “Gladiator” soundtrack that featured a triple twist, a throw
double Axel and throw triple Salchow as well as difficult spins, but Shnapir missed the second jump in their double toe-double toe combination. The Americans, who stood in second place after the Short Program, scored a new seasons best of 88.37 points (45.77/43.60) and racked up a total of 137.47 points. They slipped from second to third.
For both the silver and bronze medallists it was their first appearance at the Junior World Championships.
The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2009 continue Thursday with the Original Dance. For more information and full results please see: www.isu.org and http://www.isuworldjunior2009.com. An extended version of this report will be available on the website later tonight.
