2016 US Championships: Pairs Preview

The Senior Pairs event seems like it should be a slam dunk for Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierem, based on their International season, but when has a US Pairs event even been that simple? Here are a few questions that have me excited for this event:

1. Will Scimeca & Knierem allow their Skate America and NHK medals and GPF qualification to propel them to a 2nd consecutive US Title?
2. Looking forward, can Delilah Sappenfield coach a World Medalist?
3. Will Kayne & O’Shea or Aaron & Settlage, or Castelli & Tran perform in a way that establishes a clear 2nd place US Team?
4. Will Calalang & Sidhu be able to factor in? 
5. Can Mervin Tran ever achieve the success he once had with Narumi Takahashi again, and with Marissa Castelli? Will they stay together long enough for any of this to matter?
6. Which junior medalists from last year will sneak onto the podium? Fields & Utah Stevens, Liu & Johnson, or both? 
7. Who will give us that classic great half of a free skate and then crumble in the second?
8. And last but not least, how many of these teams will still be together next season?

2014 SKATE CANADA: Pairs Preview

The 2014-2015 edition of the Meagan Duhamel show kicks off tomorrow. I hope she learns to point her feet for the event. The top two seem pretty clear here, but bronze is up for grabs.





Podium Predictions:
Gold: Duhamel & Radford (CAN)
Silver: Sui & Han (CHN)
Bronze: Tarasova & Morozov (RUS)

Duhamel & Radford (CAN) pretty much felt they were guaranteed an Olympic bronze last year, but then Ksenia Stolbova happened. They repeated as world bronze medalists last season, but I feel like that's not enough for Meagan. She is in it to win it for another four years cycle, but finding the perfect programs will be key. The artistic side of skating is foreign to them, but God bless her vegan diet.

Sui & Han (CHN) are looking to hit the reset button after a strong campaign the last quad ended without a trip to the Olympics. Age is no longer a concern, and if they are healthy, they could be on the verge of a world medal this season. Now that they are teamed with Bin Yao and Hongbo Zhou, their ISU standing should escalate.

Tarasova & Morozov (RUS) have two of the most famous names in the figure skating world. They placed an impressive second at the Nebelhorn Trophy after also placing second at junior worlds last season. They have an excellent opportunity to medal here if they hit their elements.

The Rest of the Field:
Jones & Reagan (CAN)-4th at 2014 US International Classic, 7th at Skate Canada Autumn Classic
Moore-Towers & Marinaro (CAN)-No competitive history
James & Cipres (FRA)-5th at 2014 Europeans, 10th at 2014 Olympics, 10th at 2014 Worlds, 4th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trohpy
Vartmann & Van Cleave (GER)-9th at 2014 Europeans, 3rd at 2014 Coup de Nice
Aaron & Settlage (USA)-5th at 2014 World Juniors, 3rd at 2014 US International Classic, 6th at 2014 Nebelhorn Trophy, 5th at 2014 Skate America 

2011 Junior Grand Prix of Poland: Pairs Short Program Results & Videos

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Britney SIMPSON / Matthew BLACKMER	USA	48.89	25.81		23.08	5.89	5.50	5.89	5.75	5.82	0.00	#8
2	Tatiana TUDVASEVA / Sergei LISIEV	RUS	45.17	24.16		21.01	5.36	5.07	5.18	5.29	5.36	0.00	#11
3	Madeline AARON / Max SETTLAGE	USA	42.76	22.70		21.06	5.39	5.04	5.29	5.32	5.29	1.00	#2
4	Jessica CALALANG / Zack SIDHU	USA	42.11	20.85		21.26	5.39	5.14	5.32	5.36	5.36	0.00	#3
5	Katherine BOBAK / Ian BEHARRY	CAN	41.63	20.46		21.17	5.46	5.18	5.18	5.32	5.32	0.00	#9
6	Valeria GRECHUKHINA / Andrei FILONOV	RUS	39.36	18.91		20.45	5.14	4.96	5.14	5.25	5.07	0.00	#5
7	Maria PALIAKOVA / Mikhail FOMICHEV	BLR	36.45	19.83		16.62	4.32	3.96	4.18	4.18	4.14	0.00	#1
8	Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI	POL	34.39	20.68		14.71	3.96	3.50	3.64	3.71	3.57	1.00	#4
9	Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK	UKR	33.02	16.22		16.80	4.29	4.04	4.18	4.29	4.21	0.00	#6
10	Aleksandra MALINKIEWICZ / Sebastian LOFEK	POL	32.01	16.55		15.46	4.07	3.79	3.82	3.93	3.71	0.00	#7
11	Magdalena JASKOLKA / Piotr SNOPEK	POL	29.42	15.22		14.20	3.75	3.43	3.50	3.61	3.46	0.00	#10

Britney Simpson & Matthew Blackmer (USA) 48.89

Tatiana Tudvaseva & Sergei Lisiev (RUS) 45.17

Madeline Aaron & Max Settlage (USA) 42.11