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Canadian ice dancers fourth at ISU Junior Grand Prix

GDANSK, Poland – Miku Makita and Tyler Gunara of Vancouver improved their score and equaled their result from their last appearance on the ISU Junior Grand Prix placing fourth in ice dancing Saturday at the fifth stop on the circuit.

Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik of the U.S.won the gold medal with 174.68, Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier of France were second at 162.70 and Ekaterina Katashinskaia and Aleksandr Vaskovich of Russia were third at 162.19.

Makita and Gunara totalled 154.11 which bettered the 149.63 they skated three weeks ago at the second stop in Lake Placid where they also placed fourth.

“We needed to skate our best to get in the top-four again,” said Gunara. “It’s nice to see that only in our second international competition we improved.”

Jessica Li of Brossard, Que., and Jacob Richmond of Toronto were ninth.

In men’s competition, Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., was all smiles after a much improved free skate to finish fifth overall with 207.70 points. Daniil Samsonov of Russia won the gold with 250.51, Yuma Kagiyama of Japan was second at 245.35 and Daniel Grassl of Italy third at 228.64.

Phan ranked fourth for his free skate. Skating to Beetoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto he opened with a quad toe triple toe combo followed by a triple Axel and triple flip. Two weeks ago in Riga he fell on his triple Axel and the program unravelled from there.

Corey Circelli of Toronto was 10th with a personal best 172.72 and four ranks higher than in his international debut in Riga.

“I need to push myself more when I’m out there and really go for it,” said Circelli. “I didn’t show enough confidence or speed in my programs. There were seven skaters that earned over 200 points so it was definitely the strongest event I’ve ever been involved in.”

The sixth stop on the circuit is this Thursday to Saturday in Zagreb, Croatia.

Full results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1920/jgppol2019/

Canadian novice champs sixth in international debut

GDANSK, Poland – Canadian novice champions Kelly Ann Laurin of Saint-Jerôme, Que., and Loucas Ethier of St-Eustache, Que., placed sixth in pairs to conclude their international debut Friday at the fifth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Apollinariia Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov of Russia won the gold medal ahead of Kate Finster and Balazs Nagy of the U.S. in second and Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel of Germany in third.

Laurin and Ethier were seventh after Thursday’s short program and ranked sixth for the free skate.

“For us it was really about the experience,” said Ethier. “It was a thrill to see the competitors from other countries and we felt that we did our performances very well.”

Camille Perrault of Orford, Que., and William St-Louis of Shawinigan were ninth.

“It was a new world for us to compete at this level,” said St-Louis. “I thought we skated well despite a very different setting.”

Alysa Liu of the U.S. took the women’s gold with Viktoria Vasilieva of Russia second and her compatriot Anastasia Tarakanova third. Amelia Orzel of Woodbridge, Ont., was 14th.

“I’m really happy with the way I skated,” said Orzell, also in her Junior Grand Prix debut. “It was an amazing experience and I had so much support and I’m grateful to be here.”

In ice dancing, Miku Makita and Tyler Gunara of Vancouver are in fourth spot less than two points from a podium position with 62.25. Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik of the U.S. are first at 69.20, Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier of France second at 65.82 and Ekaterina Katashinskaia and Aleksandr Vaskovich of Russia are third at 64.23.

Jessica Li of Brossard, Que., and Jacob Richmond of Toronto are seventh at 56.48.

After Thursday’s men’s short program, Joseph Phan of Laval, Que., is sixth and Corey Circelli of Toronto ninth.

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

Full results: ISU JGP Baltic Cup 2019

Canadian skaters headed to Poland for fifth stop on JGP circuit

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have seven entries, for a total of 11 skaters in Gdansk, Poland for the fifth stop of the 2019 ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. Team Canada’s entries include two entries in men, one entry in women, two entries in pair and ice dance. The competition will take place from September 18-21, 2019.

Joseph Phan, 18, Toronto, Ont., will be the first Canadian entry in men. This season, Phan finished sixth at Riga Cup. Last season, Phan won a bronze medal at Czech Skate and placed 12th at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. He finished fourth in senior at the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Phan is coached by Brian Orser in Toronto, Ont.

Corey Circelli, 16, Toronto, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in men. This season, Circelli finished ninth in ice dance with partner Olivia McIsaac at Courchevel. At the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, he finished third in junior men. Circelli is coached by Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson in Toronto, Ont.

Amelia Orzel, 16, Woodbridge, Ont., will be the lone Canadian entry in women. Last season, she finished ninth at Golden Bear. At the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, Orzel placed 11th in junior. She is coached by Brian Orser and Tracy Wilson in Toronto, Ont.

Canadian novice champions, Kelly Ann Laurin, 14, Saint-Jerôme, Que., and Loucas Ethier, 19, Saint-Eustache, Que., will be the first Canadian entry in pairs. They are coached by Yvan Desjardins, Stéphanie Valois and Violaine Émard in Rosemère, Que.

Camille Perrault, 15, Orford, Que., and William St-Louis, 18, Shawinigan, Que., will be the second Canadian entry in pairs. Camille and William created this new partnership in April 2016.  They are coached by Marc-André Craig in Chambly, Que. Camille previously skated with Bryan Pierro.

Miku Makita, 16, Vancouver, B.C., and Tyler Gunara, 16, Vancouver, B.C., will be the first Canadian entry in ice dance. This season, the two finished fourth at Lake Placid. Last season, they finished eighth at JGP Canada and second at Lake Placid Dance. They are coached by Aaron Lowe and Megan Wing in Vancouver, B.C.

Jessica Li, 16, Brossard, Que., and Jacob Richmond, 19, Toronto, Ont., will be the second Canadian entry in ice dance. Last season, they finished 11th in junior at the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The team is coached by Julien Lalonde and Mylène Girard in Chambly, Que.

Dr. Shae Zukiwsky, Senior Director, Performance Excellence, and Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que., will be the team leaders at the event. Physiotherapist Sylvia Cyrurisek of Berwyn, Alta., and Dr. Ed Pilat of Winnipeg, Man., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. André Marc Allain of Gatineau, Que. and Susan Moriss of Victoria, B.C. will be the Canadian officials attending the event.

For more information, please visit www.isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT JGP #5 – GDANSK, POLAND

DISCIPLINE NAME AGE HOMETOWN CLUB COACH
Men Joseph Phan 18 Toronto, Ont. CPA Laval Brian Orser
Men Corey Circelli 16 Toronto, Ont. Toronto CS & CC Brian Orser / Tracy Wilson
Women Amelia Orzel 16 Woodbridge, Ont. Toronto CS & CC Brian Orser / Tracy Wilson
Pair Camille Perreault / William St-Louis 15/18 Orford, Que. / Shawinigan, Que. Académie Performance Isatis Marc-André Craig
Pair Kelly Ann Laurin / Loucas Ethier 14/19 Saint-Jerôme, Que. / Saint-Eustache, Que. École Excellence Rosemère Yvan Desjardins / Stéphane Valois / Violaine Émard
Ice Dance Miku Makita / Tyler Gunara 16/16 Vancouver, B.C. / Vancouver, B.C. Vancouver Ice Dance Academy Aaron Lowe
Ice Dance Jessica Li / Jacob Richmond 16/19 Brossard, Que. / Toronto, Ont. Académie Performance Isatis Julien Lalonde / Mylène Girard

Canadian ice dancers fifth in Junior Grand Prix debut

GDANSK, Poland –  Brianna Delmaestro of Port Moody, B.C., and Timothy Lum of Burnaby, B.C., placed fifth in ice dancing on Saturday to conclude their international debut at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit.

The Canadian couple only joined forces this past April after skating with different partners last season.  Delmaestro is also a former singles skater.

“We had a pretty good skate, very solid,” said Lum, 18, a year older than his partner.  “The whole day today was just amazing.  We are still learning to skate together but we felt we made a lot of progress this week.”

Brother-sister combo Melinda Meng and Andrew Meng of Montreal took eighth spot.

“It was a very good experience,” said Andrew Meng, 16, two years older than his sister.   “Even though I felt we could have skated better.  We had a couple of good elements including our twizzle and our combinations.  The technical side of our skating is what hurt us.”

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker of the U.S., took the gold.

In men’s competition, Adian Pitkeev led Russia to a 1-2 finish.  Nam Nguyen of Burnaby, B.C., posted the 12th best score in the free program to climb from 23rd to 16th overall.

“I was attacking more than the short program,” said Nguyen, 15, a two-time junior Grand Prix medallist.  “Still it wasn’t a great score.  I’m going to have to review what exactly happened this week when I get home.”

On Friday, Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., won the bronze medal in women’s singles.

Louis Daignault

Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman wins bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix

GDANSK, Poland – Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., lost a hair clip in the middle of her performance but still won the the bronze medal in women’s competition on Friday at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand figure skating circuit.

Evgenia Medvedeva of Russia took the gold with 179.96 points for her second victory this season.  Angela Wang of the U.S., was second at 152.36 and Daleman, fifth after Thursday’s short program, climbed to third scoring 148.29.

‘’I had to skate with the hair clip in my hand the rest of the routine,’’ said Daleman, 15.  ‘’My coach yelled at me to hang on to it and keep going.So it was in my hands for my footwork, the Axel and the last spin so I was a little distracted. Still it was a good skate.  I’m happy with it.’’

Last season, Daleman had a breakthrough year placing second at the senior national championships and took sixth spot at the world juniors.

‘’I’ve changed my programs for this season,’’ she said.  ‘’It’s a lot more difficult and I’m still working on it a lot.  I have a triple Lutz triple toe planned but we changed it today to a triple-double because I was so nervous about it.  I hope to have it ready for my next meet.’’

It was also an eventful day for Julianne Delaurier of Kelowna, B.C., who climbed from 12th to ninth overall in her international debut.  She developed a nose bleed after a spin early in her program.

“I lost my focus when the nose-bleed started but I was able to forget about even though it was a little gushy,’’ said Delaurier.  ‘’I never thought about stopping the program.  When I landed some jumps afterwards I kind of forgot about it.  It’s actually not the first time it’s happened.’’

In the short dance Friday, Brianna Delmaestro of Port Moody, B.C., and Timothy Lum of Burnaby, B.C., are fourth only 0.8 points out of third and and just over a point from second spot.  Melinda Meng and Andrew Meng of Montreal are seventh.

In Thursday’s men’s short program, Nam Nguyen of Burnaby, B.C., ranked 23rd.

The free dance and men’s free skate are on Saturday.  There is no pairs event at this stop.

Louis Daignault

Canadian Skaters Continue on ISU Junior Grand Prix Circuit in Poland

OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have seven skaters for a total of five entries at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Gdansk, Poland, from September 18-21, 2013. Canada will be represented in three disciplines, men’s, ladies, and ice dance.

Nam Nguyen, 15, Burnaby, B.C., will be the Canadian entry in men’s. This is Nguyen’s second assignment of the season, having placed fourth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Mexico earlier this month. In two ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments last season, he placed third in Turkey, and ninth in France. He also competed at the 2013 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, placing 12th, and the 2013 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships, placing sixth. Nguyen is coached by Brian Orser at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club.

The 2013 Canadian silver medalist Gabrielle Daleman, 15, Newmarket, Ont., will be one of two Canadian entries in ladies. Last season, she competed at two ISU Junior Grand Prix events, placing fifth and sixth in Chemnitz, Germany, and Linz, Austria, respectively. She also represented Canada at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, placing sixth. Daleman is coached by Andrei Berezintsev and Inga Zusev and trains at the Richmond Training Centre in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Julianne Delaurier, 15, Kelowna, B.C., will be making her international debut, representing Canada in the ladies category. Delaurier is the 2013 Canadian bronze medalist in the novice category. She is coached by Karen Mongrain and Jason Mongrain at the Kelowna Figure Skating Club.

Melinda Meng, 14, Montreal, Que., and Andrew Meng, 16, Montreal, Que., are one of two teams representing Canada in ice dance. The brother-sister tandem placed sixth at their Junior Grand Prix assignment last season in Croatia. They also placed sixth at the 2013 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in the junior category. The Mengs are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon at CPA Gadbois in Montreal.

Brianna Delmaestro, 17, Port Moody, B.C., and Timothy Lum, 18, Burnaby, B.C., are the second entry in ice dance for Canada. This is their first international assignment, having teamed up in the off-season. They are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe at Burnaby FSC.

Bev Viger of Abbotsford, B.C., is the team leader and Dr. Ed Pilat of Winnipeg, Man., will be the Canadian team doctor. Reaghan Fawcett of Aurora, Ont., and Jean Senft of West Vancouver, B.C., are the Canadian officials at the event.