Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
ISU Junior Grand Prix Torun Cup 2009
Junior Men
- Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) 198.65 pts
- Austin Kanallakan (USA) 171.19 pts
- Gordei Gorshkov (RUS) 166.59 pts
- Alexander Nikolaev (RUS) 163.94 pts
- Ronald Lam (CAN) 157.87 pts
Junior Ladies
- Kanako Murakami (JPN) 160.85 pts
- Anna Ovcharova (RUS) 142.71 pts
- Christina Gao (USA) 134.55 pts
- Alice Garlisi (ITA) 121.74
- Karen Zhou (USA) 121.01 pts
Junior Pairs
- Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran (JPN) 150.03 pts
- Tatiana Novik & Mikhail Kuznetsov (RUS) 149.04 pts
- Brittany Jones & Kurtis Gaskell (CAN) 129.45 pts
- Alexandra Vasilieva & Yuri Shevchuk (RUS) 127.12 pts
- Taylor Steele & Robert Schultz (CAN) 126.86 pts
Junior Ice Dance
- Elena Ilinykh & Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) 171.61 pts
- Marina Antipova & Artem Kudashev (RUS) 148.03 pts
- Isabella Cannuscio & Ian Lorello (USA) 145.59 pts
- Alexandra Paul & Michell Islam (CAN) 145.13 pts
- Ruslana Jurchenko & Alexander Liubchenko (UKR) 142.15 pts
Ponsero hopes for break-through season
Yannick Ponsero is one of those talented skaters who have it all, but just needs to put it together to achieve the final break through. Excellent skating skills, beautiful jumps (including arguably the best quadruple toeloop of the current men), originality, and expression on the ice characterize the Frenchman. Ponsero medalled twice at Junior Worlds (silver in 2005 and bronze in 2006), collected two silver medals at French Nationals (senior level), and took the title in 2009 (in the absence of Brian Joubert). Thus far, however, he has finished off the podium at both the European and World Figure Skating Championships.
So far, inconsistency has not only plagued the skater, but has hindered him from realizing his potential on the world stage (his highest placement was 14th in 2007).
"I've made huge progress," Ponsero said, referring to the past season. "I won a medal at the Grand Prix which I never managed before," he said, regarding the bronze medal win at NHK Trophy last December. At Skate Canada, he missed out by less than a point on a second medal after placing fourth. "I am the French Champion and I won the free skating at Europeans," he added.
At Europeans 2009, it was the short program that cost him the podium spot. Ponsero was ranked ninth after several errors, but then rallied back with an excellent free. "The short program at Europeans went wrong, but it was the first time that it happened in the season," he explained. "Overall it's not such a big problem. Obviously I still have to solve it, but I'm getting closer step by step. It means hard work every day in order to achieve consistency and security in practice and in order to stay calm. We will continue with this principle – to attack in practice and there will be further progress."
Unhappy alliance: Reeds' mom blasts JSF over funding
The Japan Skating Federation, which has been found wanting in its support of skaters in the past, is once again being called out for its lack of commitment.This time, the mother of ice dancers Cathy and Chris Reed — who will represent Japan at the 2010 Vancouver Games — says the JSF has ignored her repeated requests for financial assistance to help prepare them for the Olympics.
"It appears the JSF is only concerned with singles skater," Noriko Reed said last month in a telephone interview from her New Jersey home. "JSF executives have told me, 'We don't know ice dancing well. This seems to be their excuse for not helping Cathy and Chris.' "
The Reeds, who have been competing for Japan since 2006, train with Nikolai Morozov, the renowned coach who also has Miki Ando and Nobunari Oda in his stable at the Ice House in Hackensack, N.J.
Noriko Reed says that not only has the JSF not stepped up to help its own athletes, but that it has had a crass manner in dealing with them.
"You would not believe some of the stuff they have done," she said. "The first year Cathy and Chris skated for Japan, they covered the airfare and accommodations for them at events. But at the end of the season they tried to present me with a bill for some additional costs, which I ignored. This is the mentality we are dealing with."
Noriko Reed claims that the extent of the JSF's backing is usually saying "congratulations" after an event.
"They didn't support us last season. It was ridiculous."
She says that the Japan Olympic Committee doesn't even rank the Reeds, who are the two-time defending national champions, which makes obtaining funding for them even tougher.
"There are singles skaters ranked higher than 100th in the world who are certified by the JOC, but not Cathy and Chris. I don't get it," she adds.She notes that the JSF even promotes its junior skaters more than her kids.
"They hype up these young kids who still have not done anything. It just isn't right," she continues.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Chan learns how to skate around the media
He is still just about the coolest kid on the block, but the 2009-10 model Patrick Chan has been to the shop to have a muffler installed.
The technical term for it is “media training.”
It hasn’t taken away his personality, just smoothed out a few of the sharp edges — like the ones that carved up former world champion Brian Joubert, and maybe even rubbed a few judges the wrong way, at the world figure skating championships in Los Angeles last March.
Friday at the Pacific Coliseum, where all the most likely candidates for selection to the Canadian Olympic skating team assembled for a day of program simulation and a horde of interviews, the 18-year-old wunderkind’s ever-so-slightly modified persona handled the most dangerous questions with considerable aplomb — without losing the slightly wacky edge that evokes memories of a young Kurt Browning.
The primary toughie: “How’s the quad coming?”
“It’s always a game-time decision,” said Chan, whose silver medal at L.A. was quadless, but who landed one in the warm-up prior to the Liberty Skate competition in Philadelphia last month. “It’s getting more comfortable. Mentally, I’m not making it into a bigger jump than it is. But again, I make the analogy of Tiger Woods. He carries a driver, but he doesn’t always use it. He won a British Open without ever taking it out of his bag.”
Atta boy, Patrick.
Royal Liverpool, 2006. Tiger surveyed the rock-hard golf course, decided it made no sense to hit driver into fairway bunkers, and played irons off the tee the whole tournament.
“Basically, the same idea,” Chan said. “I have my other triples. And who cares if you do a quad at the beginning of the program if you can’t do the rest of the program?”
Friday’s camp was one of those early-season affairs in which the skaters are only completely into their programs in 15- to 30-second bursts — the opening flourish, a particularly difficult footwork sequence, the buildup to a certain jump. In between, there’s a lot of gliding, consulting with the coach, and dodging other skaters.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)