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Stairs and Royer take fifth spot on ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit

SALZBURG, Austria – World junior team members Ashlynne Stairs of Calgary and Lee Royer of St. Albert, Alta., were fifth in ice dancing on Friday at the second stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Christina Carreirra and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. won the gold medal with 145.39 points, Ksenia Konkina and Grigory Yakushev of Russia were second at 139.80 and Nathacha Lagouge and Corentin Rahier of France third at 129.90.

Stairs and Royer, also fifth after the short program, scored 121.71 to equal their best ever showing on the circuit in four career appearances.

‘’We know we could have done better,’’ said Stairs. ‘’Our technical showing wasn’t what we wanted in the short dance and our footwork was below par in the free dance.’’

The couple know they need to eliminate mistakes at the international level.

‘’When we get back home we are going to make sure we work really hard on the key points,’’ said Royer. ‘’Making sure we are hitting every single one.’’

Irina Galiyanova of Ajax, Ont., and Tommy Tang of Toronto were ninth.

‘’We need to review all our elements in the free dance,’’ said Galiyanova. ‘’Look at all the levels, exits and entries and all the little features we have and see what we’ve missed.’’

In men’s competition, Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., singled his triple Lutz at the end of an otherwise strong short program to stand sixth. The free skate is on Saturday.

Full results: ISU JGP Cup of Austria 2017

Lajoie and Lagha reach new heights at ISU World Juniors

TAIPEI CITY – Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., showed a giant improvement from one year ago in their sixth place finish in ice dancing on Saturday to conclude the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons of the U.S. won the gold medal with 164.83 points, Alla Loboda and Pavel Drozd of Russia were second at 164.37 and Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. were third at 154.68.

Lajoie and Lagha, fifth after the short dance on Thursday, earned a personal best 148.26. They improved from a 13th place finish last year.

‘’It was something special to warm up with the final group of skaters and we felt we did our job,’’ said Lagha. ‘’We wanted to show that we deserved to be among the top teams.’’

‘’We are super happy, we really managed our stress levels and produced a strong skate,’’ added Lajoie.

Ashlynne Stairs of Calgary and Lee Royer of St. Albert, Alta., were 14th.

‘’Our technical scores weren’t what we wanted them to be,’’ said Stairs. ‘’So that’s something we really want to improve upon. We got a great idea this week of what we need to strive for in the future.’’

‘’The biggest improvement we need to make is on our turns and our flow on the ice,’’ added Royer. ‘’The best teams here were a lot faster.’’

In women’s competition, Alina Zagitova of Russia won the gold ahead of Japanese skaters Marin Honda in second and Kaori Sakamoto in third.

Sarah Tamura of Burnaby, B.C. gained two spots in the standings for 17th place.

‘’It definitely wasn’t my best but I’ll take this experience and learn from it,’’ said Tamura. ‘’To compete against the best in the world, you can’t make any mistakes in your program.’’

Canada was shutout of the medals at the world juniors this week. The best result was a fifth place finish for Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Strathroy, Ont., in pairs on Friday.

‘’Our long program is our absolute favorite,’’ said Michaud, who joined forces with his partner less than a year ago. ‘’Even in training we enjoy showing it off so we just wanted to do the same here. We were really calm and relied on each other the entire time.’’

‘’We’ve been in a fast lane learning curve and it’s been super fun,’’ added Walsh.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/wjc2017/index.htm

Canadians win four more medals at Bavarian Open

OBERTSDORF, Germany – Canada finished 1-2 in junior pairs competition to cap a four-medal performance on Sunday at the Bavarian Open figure skating competition.

Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Strathroy, Ont., took the junior pairs gold with 155.20 points. They edged Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., silver medallists with 151.85. Alexandria Yao and Austin Hale of the U.S. were third at 139.80.

In ice dancing, Ekaterina Kuznetsova and Dmitri Parkhomenko of Russia narrowly won gold with 141.22. Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Greenfield Park, Que., were a mere 0.02 points back for silver at 141.20 while Ashlynne Stairs of Calgary and Lee Royer of St.Albert, Alta., third at 136.20.

Canada earned 11 medals at the event.

On Saturday, Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., and Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., finished 1-2-3 in junior men’s competition while Sarah Tamura of Burnaby, B.C., won the women’s junior II event. Stephen Gogolev of Toronto took gold in men’s novice.

The competition featured Canada’s team for the world junior championships next month.

Full results: Bavarian Open 2017

Junior ice dancers Ashlynne Stairs and Lee Royer place fifth in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA: The final day of competition at the ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Ljubljana, Slovenia finished with the women’s and the ice dance events.

Ice dancers Ashlynne Stairs, 16, Calgary, Alta. and Lee Royer, 18, St. Albert, Alta finished in fifth scoring 73.62 in the free for an overall score of 124.14

“Our performances this week were definitely a lot better than our last competition. It felt a lot stronger and we got our components higher,” said Stairs.

Americans Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter took home the gold with 148.62 points, Russians Sofia Polishchuk and Alexander Vakhnov won the silver with 144.76 points, and Anastasia Skoptcova and Kirill Aleshin also of Russia took bronze with 143.78 points.

Sarah Tamura, 15, Burnaby, B.C., finished in eighth place after scoring 89.99 in the free program for an overall score of 141.41.

“I fought through this program today, definitely was not my best but I know what to work on for my next junior grand prix in two weeks. It’s a start but I have a lot of things to work on. I am proud that I fought through it and didn’t give up,” said Tamura.

Rika Kihira of Japan took gold with 194.24 points, Marin Honda also of Japan won silver with 178.75 points and Alina Zagitova of Russia won bronze with 177.38 points.

On Friday, Joseph Phan, 15, Laval, Que., finished in fifth place in the men’s category.

Canada does not have an entry in pairs at this event.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpslo2016/

Top-five finish for Joseph Phan at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA: Joseph Phan, 15, Laval, Que., finished in fifth place at the ISU Junior Grand Prix event in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The event was the fifth stop on the circuit. Phan was third after the short with 70.33 points. He scored 127.39 points in the free program for a total of 197.72.

“I gained a lot of experience at this competition. During my short program, I skated my all and I placed top three and I am really proud of that. During my practices I was feeling the ice and practicing well,” said Phan.

Alexei Krasnozhon of the US won gold with 211.18 points, Ilia Skirda of Russia took silver with 208.28 points and Japan’s Kazuki Tomono earned the bronze with 202.57 points.

Ice dancers Ashlynne Stairs, 16, Calgary, Alta. and Lee Royer, 18, St. Albert, Alta., are in fifth place after the short dance with 50.52 points.

Americans Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter are first with 62.60 points, Russians Anastasia Skoptcova and Kirill Aleshin are in second with 56.80 points and            Sofia Polishchuk and Alexander Vakhnov, also of Russia, are in third with 55.60 points. Ice dance will conclude tomorrow with the free dance.

On Thursday, Sarah Tamura, 15, Burnaby, B.C., skated her short program, she is in eighth place with 51.42 points.

Alina Zagitova of Russia is first with 68.09 points, Rika Kihira of Japan is second with 65.93 points and Alisa Lozko of Russia is third with 59.78 points. The ladies will skate their free program tomorrow.

Canada does not have an entry in pair at this event.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpslo2016/.

Canadian junior skaters head to Ljubljana for fifth event of ISU Junior Grand Prix

Ottawa, ON: Skate Canada will send three entries, for a total of four skaters to Ljubljana, Slovenia for the fifth event of the 2016-2017 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. Canada will send one entry per discipline in ladies, men’s and ice dance to the competition taking place from September 21-25, 2016.

Joseph Phan, 15, Laval, Que., the 2016 Canadian Junior Champion will be participating in only his second junior grand prix event in Ljubljana. Phan finished sixth at his first competition in Ostrava, Czech Republic, earlier this month. Last season, he won the silver medal in the junior category at the 2015 Autumn Classic International. He is coached by Yvan Desjadrins at the Club de Patinage Artistique Laval.

Sarah Tamura, 15, Burnaby, B.C., will be Canada’s lone female entry at the junior grand prix event in Ljubljana. Tamura will aim to build off a successful 2016 season where she captured the Canadian junior title. That performance helped earn her a berth at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Debrecen, Hungary where she placed 13th. Tamura also placed 13th at the 2015 Junior Grand Prix in Latvia. She is coached by Joanne McLeod at the Champs International Skating Centre in Burnaby, B.C.

Ashlynne Stairs, 16, Calgary, Alta. and Lee Royer, 18, St. Albert, Alta., will be representing Canada in the ice dance discipline. The duo finished seventh at the first stop on the 2016 ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit, in France. Stairs and Royer are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe at the Champs International Skating Centre in Burnaby, B.C.

Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que. will act as the Canadian team lead at the event in Slovenia, and she will be accompanied by physiotherapist Siobhan Karam of Ottawa, Ont. Also attending the event are Canadian officials Debbie Islam of Barrie, Ont., and Sabrina Wong of Toronto, Ont.

The ISU will be live streaming the competition via the ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube channel. For results and full entries please visit www.isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT ISU JGP #5 – Ljubljana, Solvenia

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Mens Joseph Phan 15 Laval, Que. CPA Laval Yvan Desjardins
Ladies Sarah Tamura 15 Burnaby, B.C. Champs International SC Joanne McLeod
Ice Dance Ashlynne Stairs / Lee Royer 16/18 Calgary, Alta. / Ft. St. Albert, Alta. Champs International SC / Champs International SC Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe

Canada’s Conrad Orzel in medal hunt at season opening ISU Junior Grand Prix

ST-GERVAIS, France – Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., will go for a medal in men’s singles at his first career ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating competition as he stands fourth after the short program in the season opening event.

Yaroslav Paniot of Ukraine leads at 68.58, Roman Savosin of Russia is second at 67.44 and Kevin Aymoz of France third at 64.74. Orzel, a 16-year-old who was fifth at the junior nationals last season, follows at 61.65.
Eric Liu of Edmonton is 17th.

There was one final on Friday as Alina Zagitova of Russia took the gold medal in women’s singles. Kaori Sakamoto and Rin Nitaya, both of Japan, were second and third.

Olivia Gran, a 13-year-old from Kelowna, B.C., made a strong climb in the standing jumping from 13th after the short program to ninth overall. She had the eighth best free skate.

In ice dancing after the short dance, Ashlynne Stairs of Calgary and Lee Royer of St. Albert, Alta., are in eighth place.

Competition ends Saturday with the men’s free skate and the free dance.

Complete results: ISU JGP St. Gervais 2016

Canadian ice dancers Stairs and Royer climb standings at ISU Junior Grand Prix

ST-GERVAIS, France – Ashlynne Stairs of Calgary and Lee Royer of St. Albert, Alta., produced the sixth best free skate to finish seventh overall in ice dancing Saturday to conclude the first stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Angelique Abachkina and Louis Thauron of France won the gold medal with 152.17 points. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S. took the silver at 148.38 and Sofia Polischuk and Alexander Vakhnov of Russia were third at 137.77.

The Canadians produced a strong free skate to The Beatles hits Here Comes the Sun and Something and to finish with the best ISU Junior Grand Prix result of their career. They were eighth at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments last season.

“It felt a lot stronger than the short program,” said Stairs, 16. “We were more in tune together and skated really well. We kept our positive attitude after a rough short program and that really helped. We wanted to do our absolute best.”

It was a 1-2 Russian finish in men’s singles with Roman Savosin taking the gold and Ilia Skirda the silver. Koshiro Shamada of Japan was third.

Conrad Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., was 11th and Eric Liu of Edmonton gained two spots for 15th. Liu landed his first career triple Axel in competition in Friday’s short program.

“It was a great experience,” said Liu about his international debut. “I got way more nervous than before and it was good to learn it now. I felt my jumping is where it should be at this point but I definitely messed up my spins.”

On Friday, 13-year-old Olivia Gran of Kelowna, B.C., made a strong climb in the standing jumping from 13th after the short program to ninth overall. She had the eighth best free skate.

“It didn’t go the way I plan but there is some learning experience taken out of it,” said Gran about her international debut. “The level of competition was really good and I was impressed by the high scores.”

The second stop on the circuit is this Thursday to Friday in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Complete results: ISU JGP St. Gervais 2016