2011 Four Continents Championships: Pairs Short Program

**Denotes USFSA Fantasy Skating Team Selections 
Warm-Up Group 1:
1) Mary Beth Marley & Rockne Brubaker (USA)
2) Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford (CAN)
3) Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers (CAN)

Warm-Up Group 2:
4) Yue Zhang & Lei Wang (CHN)
5) Huibo Dong & Yiming Wu (CHN) **
6) Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch (CAN)

Warm-Up Group 3:
7) Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran (JPN)
8) Amanda Evora & Mark Ladwig (USA)
9) Qing Pang & Jian Tong (CHN) **
10) Caitlin Yankowskas & John Coughlin (USA) **

Standings After Short Program

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Qing PANG / Jian TONG	CHN	71.41	39.29		33.12	8.25	8.11	8.29	8.39	8.36	1.00	#9
2	Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS	CAN	59.98	34.21		25.77	6.36	6.14	6.54	6.64	6.54	0.00	#3
3	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN	59.92	35.38		25.54	6.50	6.07	6.46	6.43	6.46	1.00	#2
4	Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN	USA	55.25	29.02		26.23	6.61	6.18	6.61	6.71	6.68	0.00	#10
5	Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH	CAN	54.41	28.12		26.29	6.61	6.36	6.54	6.68	6.68	0.00	#6
6	Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG	USA	52.23	28.14		25.09	6.29	6.07	6.14	6.54	6.32	1.00	#8
7	Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG	CHN	50.61	28.93		21.68	5.64	5.25	5.46	5.57	5.18	0.00	#4
8	Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN	JPN	50.25	26.77		25.48	6.43	6.39	6.25	6.46	6.32	2.00	#7
9	Huibo DONG / Yiming WU	CHN	46.41	25.41		21.00	5.50	5.00	5.25	5.29	5.21	0.00	#5
10	Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER	USA	45.60	23.60		22.00	5.68	5.25	5.50	5.61	5.46	0.00	#1

My analysis:

• These were not the results I expected, but because I did not see the event live, I cannot really comment on the results. Things are very tight from 2nd-8th and for several of those teams, the free skate is their strength so I expect a lot of movement if teams put out their best free programs.
• Pang/Tong: they are in a league of their own and should have no trouble winning here, especially with an 11-point lead after the short
• Lawrence/Swigers: they did a nice short with all level 3s and 4s except for their twist; they will need a personal best free skate to stay in second because some of the teams coming from behind can pull huge numbers in the free
• Duhamel/Radford: they pulled some very strong numbers in the short, but the free skate is the strength for several of the teams behind them so they'll need flawless long programs to stay on the podium
• Yankowskas/Coughlin: they only performed side by side double toes and also received negative GOEs on their throw-must have been an off day for them-and their strength is the free skat but  they'll need the free skate they performed at US Nationals to make up a 4.5-point gap to make the podium
• Moore-Towers/Moscovitch: their strength is the free skate and they can put up some huge scores so if they do a clean free, teams ahead of them better watch out
• Evora/Ladwig: Mark's skate broke when toe picking in for the side by side double toes and caused a fall; without that they could have been much higher in the rankings and the free skate is also their strength so they could easily make up the distance and land on the podium with a strong free
• Takahashi/Tran: many expected them to be in podium contention and while they are currently 8th, they could still get there; their side by side triple salchow was downgraded and they also had two fall deductions; a perfect free skate could put them back in the running