Canada’s Beresford Clements wins silver at Egna Spring Trophy

EGNA, Italy – Beresford Clements of Gibsons, B.C., overcame an injury-plagued season to win the silver medal on Sunday in the men’s junior event at the Egna Spring Trophy figure skating competition.

Gabriele Frangipani of Italy took the gold with 179.93 to edge the Canadian who earned 179.89. Nikolaj Memola of Italy was third at 124.15.

“I reached my goal by doing a clean free skate,” said Clements. “I got all my spins and just competed the way I trained. It was exciting to show off my abilities on the ice.”

This was Clements’ first career international assignment. He withdrew from an event earlier this season and didn’t qualify for the national championships.

“For this event I wanted to make sure I was fully healed,” said Clements. “I just trained really hard and focused on getting better. It was a slow process. It took about six months and required a lot of physio and days off.”

Matthew Markell of Prescott, Ont., second after the short program, withdrew from the free skate.

In junior women competition, Sarah-Maude Blanchard of Sherbrooke, Que., dropped from first to fourth overall with 139.46 points.

Full results: http://www.fisg.it/upload/result/4597/index.html.