2011 Four Continents Championships: Short Dance

**Denotes USFSA Fantasy Skating Team Selections
Warm-Up Group 1:
1) Danielle O'Brien & Gregory Merriman (AUS)
2) Xueting Guan & Meng Wang (CHN)
3) Maria Borounov & Evgeni Borounov (AUS)
4) Corenne Bruhns & Benjamin Westenberger (MEX)

Warm-Up Group 2:
5) Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir (CAN)
6) Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier (CAN)
7) Xintong Huang & Zun Zheng (CHN) **
8) Kaitlin Weaver & Andrew Poje (CHN)

Warm-Up Group 3:
9) Meryl Davis & Charlie White (USA) **
10) Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (USA) **
11) Xiaoyang Yu & Chen Wang (CHN)
12) Madison Chock & Greg Zuerlein (USA)

Standings After Short Dance

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR	CAN	69.40	35.64		33.76	8.29	8.18	8.57	8.54	8.57	0.00	#5
2	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE	USA	69.01	34.50		34.51	8.61	8.46	8.64	8.71	8.68	0.00	#9
3	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	65.45	36.50		28.95	7.18	7.04	7.36	7.18	7.39	0.00	#8
4	Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI	USA	62.04	34.22		27.82	7.11	6.75	6.96	6.96	6.96	0.00	#10
5	Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER	CAN	61.66	33.50		28.16	7.14	6.86	6.96	7.18	7.04	0.00	#6
6	Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN	USA	57.14	30.94		26.20	6.50	6.32	6.50	6.82	6.57	0.00	#12
7	Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG	CHN	52.93	28.42		24.51	6.21	5.89	6.14	6.18	6.18	0.00	#7
8	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	50.58	27.78		22.80	5.71	5.43	5.82	5.71	5.79	0.00	#11
9	Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG	CHN	42.77	24.72		18.05	4.64	4.39	4.46	4.61	4.46	0.00	#2
10	Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN	AUS	42.67	25.00		17.67	4.46	4.21	4.43	4.57	4.39	0.00	#1
11	Corenne BRUHNS / Benjamin WESTENBERGER	MEX	40.68	25.28		15.40	4.04	3.64	3.86	3.96	3.75	0.00	#4
12	Maria BOROUNOV / Evgeni BOROUNOV	AUS	28.52	15.62		12.90	3.46	3.04	3.21	3.39	3.04	0.00	#3

My analysis:

• As I, and probably mostly everybody else expected, the Americans and Canadians currently occupy 1st-6th place
• Virtue/Moir: what a fabulous debut from the reigning World and Olympic champions to finish the short dance in first place on their first time out; they lead by .39 and they received level fours on every element but their mid-line step sequence
• Davis/White: an uncharacteristic bobble by Meryl on a twizzle and level 3s on their mid-line step sequence and their 1st golden waltz sequence lost them enough technical points to keep them in second after the short dance, though they did win the program components scores
• Weaver/Poje: they have my favorite short dance of the season and because they were the only team to receive all level 4s, they have the highest technical elements scores; their free dance has been the weaker dance for them this season but if they can avoid mistakes, they may just stay on the podium
• Shibutani/Shibutani: they received all level 4s, aside from a level 3 on their mid-line step sequence but low GOEs on their twizzles, which are usually their strongest elements; if Weaver/Poje struggle in the free as they have all season, the Shib Sibs can definitely move up into podium position
• Crone/Poirier: I've thought their short dance was weak all season and it truly shows in the scores against the top teams in this field; they are about 4 points off of the podium right now but then again they did come from 5th to win bronze at the Grand Prix Final so don't count them out quite yet
• Chock/Zuerlein: they are my favorite team and it kills me to say it but I'm not surprised to see them at the back of the American/Canadian pack; I don't think this short dance suits them terribly well-they only received a level 2 on their 1st Golden Waltz sequence and negative GOEs on their twizzles due to an unusual bobble by Greg-but the good news is the free dance is their strength so if they skate a season's best, they could move up if others make mistakes