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Virtue and Moir take silver in close ice dance

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FUKUOKA, Japan – Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., were edged out by Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White for top spot in record performances Saturday in  ice dancing at the ISU Grand Prix Final.

The exciting competition set the stage for what should be one of the great figure skating battles at the upcoming Olympic Games.

Davis and White, the current world champions, earned 191.35 points while Virtue and Moir, the Olympic champs,finished at 190.00.  They are the two highest scores ever in the event.  Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat of France were third at 169.11.

“We had a great skate,” said Moir.  “We’ve been training so well and working so hard all season.  We did our technical elements really well at this event.  We’ll need to come out with more speed and more emotion heading into the Games and hopefully that can put us on top.”

“We’re right on track,” agreed Virtue.  “Our approaches are bang on.  It’s a process, we still have two more months to train before the Games and we need to trust that process that it will get us where we need to go.”

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., dropped from fourth to fifth overall after the free dance.

“We know we can grow in both programs,” said Weaver. “We’re going to be fast at work at home and make sure everything is bigger and better and stronger for the Games.”

In pairs, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany won the gold medal with Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia second and Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China in third.

Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., were fifth and Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto sixth.  Both Canadian pairs had trouble with their side-by-side jumps and spins.

“We needed to apply that same kind of feeling and attack we had in the short program yesterday (Friday),” said Radford, who set a personal score with Duhamel in Friday’s performance..  “It’s never easy to start off the program with a major mistake.”

“We’ll take our performances here and work on improving ourselves at home ,” said Moore-Towers.  “Despite the mistakes we kept fighting and didn’t let things go.”

On Friday, Patrick Chan of Toronto won the silver medal in men’s competition.

The final competitive event for the Canadian entries here before the Olympic Winter Games will be the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. That event takes place at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, January 9-12, 2014.

Louis Daignault

Chan wins silver medal at Grand Prix Final

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FUKUOKA, Japan – World champion Patrick Chan of Toronto won the silver medal on Friday in men’s singles at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan took the gold with 293.25 points, Chan followed at 280.08 and Nobunari Oda of Japan was third at 255.96.

“I faced a good challenge today trying to come back from a disappointing short program,” said Chan. “Even though I didn’t win the competition I felt like I accomplished a lot and gained a valuable experience. It was a great long program.”

Despite heading into the competition with two wins on the Grand Prix circuit this season including a world record score last month in Paris, Chan said he felt some doubts for Friday’s long program.

“I don’t have the best track record in Japan,” he said. “Every time I come back here I re- live the moments I didn’t skate my best. So to come in a do a strong long today and get back to what I did in Paris and Skate Canada is really going to help me.”

Canada is in contention for more medals in ice dancing and pairs.

In ice dancing, Olympic champions Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., are second after the short dance only 0.7 points behind world champions Meryl Davis and Charlie White. The Americans earned 77.66 and Virtue and Moir 77.59.

“Overall it was strong,” said Virtue. “Technically we got all the points we wanted which was our objective. We just have to go out and perform the same way in the free dance.”

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev of Russia stand third at 68.90 just ahead of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont., at 67.68.

“We captured the essence of the program,” said Poje. “We didn’t lose that uniqueness. We wanted to utilize the taps and the back and forth between the two of us.”

In pairs, Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., totalled 73.07 and are fourth less than three points behind third spot. Kirsten Moore-Towers of St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto are sixth.

“This is the type of skate we’ve been waiting for,” said Radford. “After some rough short programs this season, this one gives us a lot of confidence.”

Moore-Towers and Moscovitch also came off the ice satisfied.

“We can’t do much better than a clean short,” said Moore-Towers. “The best part was our energy. We felt comfortable and at home out there. It was fun and when we get to feel it that way, it’s enjoyable.”

The top-three are Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia in first, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany in second and Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China in third.

The free dance and pairs free skate are on Saturday.

The final competitive event for Chan before the Olympic Winter Games will be the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. That event takes place at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, January 9-12, 2014.

Louis Daignault

Patrick Chan second after short program at Grand Prix Final

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FUKUOKA, Japan – World champion Patrick Chan of Toronto stands second in men’s singles after Thursday’s short program at the ISU Grand Prix Final figure skating competition.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan earned a world record 99.84 points to grab the lead with Chan second at 87.47 and Nobunari Oda of Japan third at 80.94.

Chan hit his opening quad toe-loop, triple toe-loop combination but touched the ice landing his triple Axel and doubled a planned triple Lutz to finish with 87.47.  The 22-year-old won gold at his two Grand Prix events this season.

‘’I’m a little upset about today,’’ said Chan. ‘’It’s a little unfortunate to not skate the way you wanted.  I have to remember to take one step at a time as I did earlier this season and produce an equal effort throughout the program.’’

After landing the quad-triple combo with remarkable ease, Chan ran into difficulties on two essential jumps.

‘’I felt really good after the quad-triple but I went into the Axel slower than normal,’’ said Chan.  ‘’The Lutz was the weirdest thing.  I saw the overhead camera and that might have been a bit of a distraction.  That was unusual and it’s something you learn along the way.’’

Hanyu opened with a quad toe-loop and hit all his other jumps to the delight of a sellout crowd at Marine Messe. His 99.84 points surpassed the previous high of 98.52 by Chan at the Trophee Bompard in Paris last month.

The men’s free skate is on Friday.

Canada’s four other entries are also in action Friday for their short programs.  They are Meagan Duhamel of Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford of Balmertown, Ont., as well as Kirsten Moore-Towers of St.Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch of Toronto in pairs.  The ice dance entries are Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., along with Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Waterloo, Ont.

The Grand Prix Final is the reserved for the top-six finishers overall in each event following the six-stops on the circuit this season.

Louis Daignault

Canadians head to Japan to compete with world’s best at ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating® Final

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OTTAWA, ON: Canada will send five entries, for a total of nine skaters, to compete against the top figure skaters in the world at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating® Final in Fukuoka, Japan. The culminating event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating® series takes place at the Marine Mess Fukuoka, from December 5-8, 2013.

The ISU Grand Prix Final is the concluding event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating® circuit.  The series hosts six stops: United States (Skate America), Canada (Skate Canada International), China (Cup of China), France (Trophée Eric Bompard), Russia (Rostelecom Cup), and Japan (NHK Trophy). Skaters are awarded points based on their placements at their assigned events and the top six in each of the four disciplines advance to the Final.

Three-time defending World Champion Patrick Chan, 22, Toronto, Ont., qualified in first place in men’s. The representative of the Granite Club has previously competed at this event five times, winning in 2010 and 2011, and earning bronze in 2012. This season, Chan competed at Skate Canada International and Trophée Eric Bompard, winning gold at both events. He is coached by Kathy Johnson and trains at the Detroit Skating Club.

In the pair discipline, Kirsten Moore-Towers, 21, St. Catharines, Ont., and Dylan Moscovitch, 29, Toronto, Ont., qualified in fourth. This will be their third time competing at this event, having placed sixth in 2010 and fifth in 2012. Moore-Towers and Moscovitch won silver at Skate America and bronze at the Rostelecom Cup to qualify for this event. The pair train with Kris Wirtz and Kristy Wirtz at the Kitchener-Waterloo Skating Club.

World bronze medalists Meagan Duhamel, 27, Lively, Ont., and Eric Radford, 28, Balmertown, Ont., qualified in fifth in pair. This will be their third consecutive year competing at this event, placing fifth in 2011 and fourth in 2012. The representatives of Walden FSC and CPA Saint-Léonard won bronze at Skate Canada International and silver at Trophée Eric Bompard on the ISU Grand Prix circuit this season. They are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte at CPA Saint-Léonard.

Tessa Virtue, 24, London, Ont., and Scott Moir, 26, Ilderton, Ont., will be Canada’s first entry in ice dance, having qualified in second. Representing Ilderton SC, the 2010 Olympic Champions have previously competed at this event four times, winning silver in 2009, 2011, and 2012 and placing fourth in 2007. Virtue and Moir won gold at both of their ISU Grand Prix assignments this season, Skate Canada International and Trophée Eric Bompard. They are coached by Marina Zoueva, Johnny Johns, and Oleg Epstein at Artic Edge Ice Arena in Canton, Michigan.

Kaitlyn Weaver, 24, Waterloo, Ont., and Andrew Poje, 26, Waterloo, Ont., will also represent Canada in ice dance. This will be their third time competing at this event, having placed fifth in 2010 and fourth in 2011. Representing Sault FSC and Kitchener-Waterloo SC, Weaver and Poje won silver at both Skate Canada International and the Rostelecom Cup this season to qualify in fifth for this event. They are coached by Pasquale Camerlengo and Angelika Krylova in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Skate Canada Director of Corporate Communications, Barb MacDonald, will be the media contact at the event. To arrange onsite interviews please contact her by email at [email protected].

Skate Canada High Performance Director, Mike Slipchuk, will be the Canadian team leader at the event. Dr. Bob Brock of Toronto, Ont., and physiotherapist Scott Fraser of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Karen Butcher of Nepean, Ont., and Jodi Abbott of Edmonton, Alta., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

Skate Canada President, Leanna Caron, and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Thompson, will also travel to the event to represent Skate Canada.