World champions Duhamel and Radford first after short program

BARRIE, Ont. – World champions Meaghan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., are in first place in pairs after Wednesday’s short program at the Autumn Classic International figure skating competition.

Unbeaten last season in international competition, Duhamel and Radford earned 68.97 points for their short program skated to Elton John’s Your Song. Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran are second at 62.07 and Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan of Toronto third at 52.74.

Hayleigh Bell of Acton, Ont., and Rudi Swiegers of Kipling, Sask., are fifth at 48.19.

Canada also leads in ice dancing after the short dance with Nicole Orford of Burnaby, B.C. and Asher Hill of Pickering, Ont., a new partnership this season, first at 54.58 followed by two American couples.  Andréanne Poulin of Ile-Bizard, Que., and Marc-André Servant of Vaudreuil, Que., are fourth at 50.02.

Canadian champion Nam Nguyen of Toronto landed a quad toe as well as a triple Axel and stands second after the short program in men’s competition.  Bennet Toman of St-Lazare, Que., third.

‘’I skated well,’’ said Nguyen, 17, fifth at the world championships last season. ‘’The quad was one of the best ones I ever executed. It is the first time I’ve inserted it in my short program which is a big step up.”

Toman was also pleased with his first foray against senior international competition.

‘’I showed I belonged here,’’ said Toman. ‘’I executed my triple toe and triple Lutz in the second half the program and I was able to land everything.’’

In women’s competition after the short dance, Roxanne Rhéault of Victoriaville, Que., is fourth less than two points behind leader Angela Wang of the U.S.

Canadian wins silver in junior competition

Joseph Phan – 2015 Autumn Classic International

Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., made an impressive international debut winning the silver medal in men’s junior competition. Jun Hwan Cha of South Korea was the winner at 198.44 followed by the 14-year-old Canadian at 167.85. Hugh Brabyn-Jones of Britain was third and Edrian Paul Celestino of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., fourth.

‘’It was fun,’’ said Phan. ‘’It was a great experience for me. I was really happy with how I skated. I was especially proud of my long program. I just want to build on this for the rest of the season.’’

In junior women’s singles after the short, Alicia Pineault of Montreal is first with Alexis Dion of second and McKenna Colthorp of Fort St. James, B.C., fourth.

The free skates for the junior women and all four senior events are on Thursday at the  Allandale Recreation Centre.

Full results: 2015 Autumn Classic International