The inaugural ISU World Team Trophy continued Friday in Tokyo, Japan with the the Pairs Short Program and the Free Dance. This new event features the six best figure skating teams of the 2008/09 season which are the USA, Canada, Japan, Russia, France and China. Each team consists of two Men, two Ladies, one pair and one ice dance couple. The teams qualified primarily according to the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and Final plus possibly the ISU European, ISU Four Continents, ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The total prize money awarded is US$ 1.000.000, which is the highest prize money offered in ISU history.
Team USA defended their overnight lead and still top the standings with now 59 points. Canada overtook Japan to move up to second place with 53 points. Japan is just one point behind in third place. France (37 points), Russia (36 points) and China (33 points) are currently ranked fourth to sixth.
Ice dancers Tanith Belbin/Benjamin Agosto claimed victory for the U.S. team in their disciplines. Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett finished third in the Pairs Short Program
Perfoming to the dramatic “Tosca” by Giacomo Puccini, Belbin/Agosto produced difficult lifts such as a straight line-curve lift and a rotational lift as well as intricate step sequences. The current World silver medalists were awarded a level four for the circular step and a level three for the diagonal step sequence. They scored 98.71 points (48.60/50.11) and racked up a total of 162.98 points. “I think the performance was better than at Worlds, because we were thinking less about it. I don’t think we got all the levels that we did at Worlds, in the footwork, on the diagonal. A few of the levels are maybe not as strong, but it was better overall”, Belbin said. “It felt a little more fulfilling just because it felt like we were ready to go for it. At Worlds we were holding back a little bit. But here it flowed better”, agreed Agosto. “We have to take that with us and try to always do that, because that’s the key. We are really looking forward to the creative process for our new programs. It will be exciting to see what we will come up with.”
Denney/Barrett hit a throw triple Lutz and a triple twist in their routine to “Allegretto” by Karl Jenkins, but she stepped out of the side by side triple toeloop. They were third at 56.58 points (33.90/22.68), which was a new seasons best for them.
“One thing that we’ve really shown here so far is not only our depth but our consistency in every discipline, so I think we should be really proud of that”, team captain Lysacek said. “The girls both had clean skates last night and they blew us all away. The pairs and ice dancers were amazing today. I just tried to continue that moment.”
Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir led Team Canada today with their second place finish in the Ice Dance competition. Their program to “Another Gig in the Sky” and “Money” by Pink Floyd was highlighted by innovative lifts and smooth footwork. The World bronze medalists got a level four for all the lifts and a level three for the twizzles and the step sequences to score 95.73 points (47.30/48.43) which added up to 156.71 overall. Patrick Chan rallied back from a disappointing Short Program to finish fourth in the Men’s event. The reigning World silver medalist missed his triple Axel but completed six other triples, difficult spins and footwork. He was ranked second in the Free Skating with 151.95 points and had a total score of 217.98 points. Vaughn Chipeur finished sixth (198.91 points). Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison came in fourth in the Pairs event after she fell on the side by side triple Salchow and at the end of their side by side spin (55.44 points).
“Team Canada is very pleased with how today went, obviously we moved up a spot. That’s extremely exciting. I think a lot of that is due to the men. They were determined to come out and have a strong skate today and kind of climbed the ladder a little bit up into the top six. I think they will motivate us for our skates tomorrow and hopefully trying getting closer to the powerhouse of the American team”, team captain Moir told the press conference.
Ice dancers Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat moved up to third for the French team. Joubert nailed an excellent quadruple toeloop in his powerful program to “Matrix Reloaded” and “Requiem for a Dream”, but he doubled his planned quadruple Salchow. Seven triples followed, but he put his hand down on a triple Lutz and cut short his two final spins that were graded only a level two and one. The European Champion earned a seasons best of 151.70 points (76.50/75.20) and had 237.09 points overall. Florent Amodio fell on his quadruple Salchow attempt to come in tenth (182.32 points). Pechalat/Bourzat entertained the crowd with their charming Clown routine. They produced impressive lifts like a curve lift with her upside down resting on his shoulders and level-three footwork. The lifts, the twizzles and the spin were all graded a level four by the Technical Panel and the French Champions received 93.27 points (47.00/46.27). They edged out Russia’s Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski and finished third at 150.63 points. Vanessa James/Yannick Bonheur were ranked fifth in the Pairs at 46.20 points. He stumbled on a cheated triple Salchow and their triple twist was messy.
Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov picked up 11 points for the Russian team with their second place in the Pairs Short Program. Skating to “The Swan” by Camille Saint-Saens, the 2009 World bronze medalists had to overcome a rough start when she missed the side by side triple toe, but they reeled off a triple twist, throw triple loop and level four spins and spirals to earn 65.08 points (36.28/29.80). European Champions Khokhlova/ Novitski finished fourth in the Ice Dance category. The Muscovites seemed to rush their Paganini program, although they got high levels for their lifts, footwork. In the end, Novitski slipped and fell in the finishing pose (149.45 points).
Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang won the Pairs Short Program and scored 12 points for China. The three-time and reigning World silver medalists opened their routine to “Riding on the Wings of Songs” with a huge triple twist and throw triple loop. They also nailed the side by side triple Salchow and received a level four for their spins, the lift and the death spiral. The Chinese established a new seasons best with 70.42 points (40.58/29.84). “I’m very happy that we got a new seasons best score. It gives us confidence that we can still progress and achieve higher scores in the future. We are tired, but we are in high spirits”, Hao Zhang explained. “All the members of our team tried their best and their scores are very good so far. We have one day more and I believe they will try even harder and achieve better scores”, he added.
The two men Jialiang Wu and Chao Yang finished ninth and 11th. Ice Dancers Xintong Huang/Xun Zheng were ranked sixth (110.40 points).
For full results please see www.isu.org and further information please refer also to ISU Communication 1490 (ISU World Team Trophy Announcement). The ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating continues Saturday with the Pairs and Ladies Free Skating.
