Silver for Canadian ice dancers at ISU Junior Grand Prix

MEXICO CITY –  Ice dancers Madeline Edwards of Port Moody, B.C., and ZhaoKai Pang of Burnaby, B.C., won the silver medal on Saturday to conclude the second stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S. took the gold with 136.45 points staving off a strong challenge from Edwards and Pang in second at 134.02.  Sofia Edmokimova and Egor Bazin of Russia were third at 112.78.

Edwards and Pang posted the best score in Saturday’s free dance earning a personal best 80.56 for their routine performed to music from Les Miserables.  It was their third career junior Grand Prix medal.

‘’We are excited about this performance,’’ said Pang, 18, a year older than his partner.  ‘’’We prepared and trained  hard for this event because it was important for us to get the season off to a good start.’’

The team of Katie Desveaux of Toronto and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Ajax, Ont., did not compete this week due to an error in the submission of documents. They will be reassigned to a later ISU Junior Grand Prix event.

In the women’s final, Polina Edmunds of the U.S. was the winner with Natatia Ogoreltseva of Russia second and Mariah Bell of the U.S. third.

Julianne Séguin of Longueuil, Que., placed sixth and Sandrine Martin of Boucherville, Que., was ninth.

Séguin was again battling stomach problems and dizziness throughout the day.

‘’I really wanted to compete today and there was no question of withdrawing,’’ she said.  ‘’It didn’t go the way I wanted but I gave it everything I had.’’

Martin, 15, made her international debut.

‘’I was just happy to be here and represent Canada,’’ she said.  ‘’It was an amazing experience.’’

On Friday, Nam Nguyen of Toronto was fourth in men’s singles.

Louis Daignault