Canadians need to play catch-up at ISU World Junior Championships

TAIPEI CITY – Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Strathroy, Ont., were the top Canadians Wednesday standing sixth after Wednesday’s short program in pairs at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii of Russia lead with 61.27 points, Yumeng Gao and Zhong Xie of China are second at 59.97 and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia third at 59.82.

Walsh and Michaud totalled 51.93 while Lori-Ann Matte of and Thierry Ferland of Lévis, Que., follow in seventh at 50.78.

“That was our best score internationally so we are very pleased about that,” said Michaud. “It’s a great way to go into our free program which we are really excited about and been skating well in practice.”

In men’s competition, Dmitri Aliev of Russia is first after the short program at 83.48, Jun Hwa Cha of South Korea second at 82.34 and Alexander Samarin of Russia third at 82.23.

All three Canadian men executed clean programs.

Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., is seventh with 77.20, Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., is ninth at 76.27 and Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., is 18^th.

“I felt my short program was very good and for me it’s a good way to end the season with this program,” said Nadeau, last year’s silver medallist. “My goal coming into this event is to do two clean skates.”

Sadovsky wasn’t feeling 100 percent confident heading into his short program.

“I had a rough practice this morning so my expectations weren’t high,” said Sadovsky. “I just stepped on the ice wanting to prove I could skate and do well, so to go out and do a clean short is pretty satisfying.”

For Orzel, the competition is a learning experience and he scored a personal best 66.21.

“I executed all my jumps well and I achieved my goal with a personal best score,” said Orzel. “It’s a good stepping stone for next year but there is still a lot to work on. It’s a good way to start my final event of the season.”

Competition continues Thursday with the men’s free program and short dance.

Full results: ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2017