2013 Skate Canada: Pairs Preview

I am a big fan of Meaghan Duhamel & Eric Radford (CAN). They have really shown us the value of hard work and also that a pair can rise up the ladder quickly if they are on the same page. I was thrilled to see them on the World podium last season and they have a real shot at the Olympic podium. They are the favorites here and if they win, it will be their first GP win. Two huge performances on home ice could help set them apart from Moore-Towers & Moscovitch.


We didn't see much of Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (CHN) last season, only a disappointing 12th at

Worlds. They were a force to be reckoned with in their first two years on the Grand Prix. They are exciting to watch and I hope they get that little bit of magic back. They are a near lock for the Olympic team since the Chinese pairs are in such dire straits, but they need to work their way back up the rankings and their road to Sochi starts here. Knowing their energy, I cannot wait to see their Chicago free skate, but I hope they've worked on their connection and chemistry.

Stefania Berton & Ondrej Hotarek (ITA) are not my favorite team in the world, but in a weak field, they look poised to medal. His yellow pants blinded us at Skate America....how lucky are we to see them again? All jokes aside, I must say that their one handed lift in the short was the highlight of the pairs event for me. They are a taller pair, so they have much longer lines and some more impressive lifts than the smaller pairs. I missed their free skate at Skate America, so I'll be excited to see it here. They have a handful of Grand Prix medals and I think they'll add to their collection here.




I'm looking for Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers (CAN) to step it up. They have been spinning their wheels for the past two seasons, but with Canada earning 3 pairs spots for the Sochi Olympics, they have a golden opportunity to step up and seize it. If they flop here again, Canada could look to send a younger team of the future.

My dark horse pick, not necessarily to medal, but to turn some heads and make a splash would be Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier (USA). They are the reigning World Junior champs and this is their first major senior event. It isn't nearly as hard to break into the senior level in pairs as it is in ice dance, case in point, Sui and Han. This team has the technical goods, their artistry is improving, and they are quite consistent. Don't be surprised if they sneak in for a bronze.

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Duhamel & Radford (CAN)
Silver: Sui & Han (CHN)
Bronze: Berton & Hotarek (ITA)

The Rest of the Field:
Lawrence & Swiegers (CAN)
Purdy & Marinaro (CAN)
Vartmann & Van Cleave (GER)
Davis & Brubaker (USA)
Denney & Frazier (USA)

2012 World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Free Skate & Final Results

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN	CHN	175.69	1	1
2	Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN	CHN	167.48	2	2
3	Vasilisa DAVANKOVA / Andrei DEPUTAT	RUS	153.66	5	3
4	Haven DENNEY / Brandon FRAZIER	USA	150.55	4	4
5	Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO	CAN	141.76	7	5
6	Ekaterina PETAIKINA / Maxim KURDYUKOV	RUS	141.19	3	7
7	Katherine BOBAK / Ian BEHARRY	CAN	139.89	6	6
8	Kylie DUARTE / Colin GRAFTON	USA	133.93	8	8
9	Meiyi LI / Bo JIANG	CHN	128.05	10	11
10	Britney SIMPSON / Matthew BLACKMER	USA	127.93	11	10
11	Kamila GAINETDINOVA / Ivan BICH	RUS	127.84	9	12
12	Hayleigh BELL / Alistair SYLVESTER	CAN	126.73	12	9
13	Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI	POL	118.48	13	13
14	Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK	UKR	110.03	15	15
15	Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER	AUT	109.77	16	14
16	Camille MENDOZA / Christopher BOYADJI	FRA	109.64	14	16
17	Rachel EPSTEIN / Dmitry EPSTEIN	NED	FNR	17
18	Bianca MANACORDA / Niccolo MACII	ITA	FNR	18
19	Maria PALIAKOVA / Mikhail FOMICHEV	BLR	FNR	19
20	Alessandra CERNUSCHI / Filippo AMBROSINI	ITA	FNR	20

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN	CHN	116.40	60.28		56.12	7.00	6.79	7.11	6.96	7.21	0.00	#13
2	Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN	CHN	112.76	61.10		51.66	6.64	6.25	6.54	6.36	6.50	0.00	#14
3	Vasilisa DAVANKOVA / Andrei DEPUTAT	RUS	103.16	55.39		47.77	6.11	5.71	6.00	5.96	6.07	0.00	#9
4	Haven DENNEY / Brandon FRAZIER	USA	99.74	50.94		48.80	6.21	5.79	6.29	5.96	6.25	0.00	#16
5	Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO	CAN	92.25	48.12		44.13	5.68	5.25	5.50	5.54	5.61	0.00	#10
6	Katherine BOBAK / Ian BEHARRY	CAN	90.12	45.81		45.31	5.89	5.50	5.54	5.71	5.68	1.00	#11
7	Ekaterina PETAIKINA / Maxim KURDYUKOV	RUS	90.01	45.43		46.58	6.07	5.61	5.68	5.89	5.86	2.00	#15
8	Kylie DUARTE / Colin GRAFTON	USA	85.69	41.67		44.02	5.54	5.25	5.61	5.50	5.61	0.00	#12
9	Hayleigh BELL / Alistair SYLVESTER	CAN	84.72	44.72		40.00	5.21	4.75	5.00	5.00	5.04	0.00	#5
10	Britney SIMPSON / Matthew BLACKMER	USA	81.10	40.47		42.63	5.50	5.04	5.25	5.32	5.54	2.00	#7
11	Meiyi LI / Bo JIANG	CHN	81.08	44.32		37.76	5.00	4.54	4.71	4.71	4.64	1.00	#6
12	Kamila GAINETDINOVA / Ivan BICH	RUS	80.33	40.71		40.62	5.32	4.96	4.93	5.14	5.04	1.00	#8
13	Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI	POL	77.06	41.87		35.19	4.57	4.21	4.46	4.39	4.36	0.00	#3
14	Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER	AUT	70.85	36.55		34.30	4.50	4.11	4.29	4.25	4.29	0.00	#2
15	Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK	UKR	70.32	36.69		33.63	4.43	4.11	4.11	4.25	4.11	0.00	#4
16	Camille MENDOZA / Christopher BOYADJI	FRA	68.97	35.74		34.23	4.57	4.04	4.25	4.25	4.29	1.00	#1

2012 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Short Program Results

The 3rd place short program of Petaikinia & Kurdyukov

FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS 1 Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN CHN 59.29 1 2 Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN CHN 54.72 2 3 Ekaterina PETAIKINA / Maxim KURDYUKOV RUS 51.18 3 4 Haven DENNEY / Brandon FRAZIER USA 50.81 4 5 Vasilisa DAVANKOVA / Andrei DEPUTAT RUS 50.50 5 6 Katherine BOBAK / Ian BEHARRY CAN 49.77 6 7 Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO CAN 49.51 7 8 Kylie DUARTE / Colin GRAFTON USA 48.24 8 9 Kamila GAINETDINOVA / Ivan BICH RUS 47.51 9 10 Meiyi LI / Bo JIANG CHN 46.97 10 11 Britney SIMPSON / Matthew BLACKMER USA 46.83 11 12 Hayleigh BELL / Alistair SYLVESTER CAN 42.01 12 13 Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI POL 41.42 13 14 Camille MENDOZA / Christopher BOYADJI FRA 40.67 14 15 Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK UKR 39.71 15 16 Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER AUT 38.92 16 17 Rachel EPSTEIN / Dmitry EPSTEIN NED FNR 17 18 Bianca MANACORDA / Niccolo MACII ITA FNR 18 19 Maria PALIAKOVA / Mikhail FOMICHEV BLR FNR 19 20 Alessandra CERNUSCHI / Filippo AMBROSINI ITA FNR 20

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN	CHN	59.29	32.60		26.69	6.57	6.57	6.71	6.68	6.82	0.00	#18
2	Q	Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN	CHN	54.72	31.25		23.47	6.04	5.61	6.00	5.82	5.86	0.00	#13
3	Q	Ekaterina PETAIKINA / Maxim KURDYUKOV	RUS	51.18	28.49		22.69	5.82	5.46	5.79	5.54	5.75	0.00	#14
4	Q	Haven DENNEY / Brandon FRAZIER	USA	50.81	27.93		22.88	5.71	5.46	5.79	5.71	5.93	0.00	#10
5	Q	Vasilisa DAVANKOVA / Andrei DEPUTAT	RUS	50.50	27.94		22.56	5.89	5.46	5.64	5.64	5.57	0.00	#3
6	Q	Katherine BOBAK / Ian BEHARRY	CAN	49.77	26.97		22.80	5.71	5.43	5.75	5.82	5.79	0.00	#15
7	Q	Margaret PURDY / Michael MARINARO	CAN	49.51	27.88		21.63	5.54	5.14	5.46	5.32	5.57	0.00	#20
8	Q	Kylie DUARTE / Colin GRAFTON	USA	48.24	26.63		21.61	5.46	5.11	5.46	5.36	5.61	0.00	#17
9	Q	Kamila GAINETDINOVA / Ivan BICH	RUS	47.51	26.91		20.60	5.25	5.00	5.29	5.18	5.04	0.00	#1
10	Q	Meiyi LI / Bo JIANG	CHN	46.97	26.88		20.09	5.07	4.89	5.04	5.11	5.00	0.00	#12
11	Q	Britney SIMPSON / Matthew BLACKMER	USA	46.83	25.82		22.01	5.57	5.36	5.39	5.61	5.57	1.00	#16
12	Q	Hayleigh BELL / Alistair SYLVESTER	CAN	42.01	23.00		19.01	4.96	4.50	4.61	4.82	4.86	0.00	#2
13	Q	Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI	POL	41.42	24.44		16.98	4.36	4.07	4.32	4.25	4.21	0.00	#11
14	Q	Camille MENDOZA / Christopher BOYADJI	FRA	40.67	23.13		17.54	4.57	4.25	4.25	4.39	4.46	0.00	#7
15	Q	Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK	UKR	39.71	22.94		16.77	4.32	3.93	4.18	4.25	4.29	0.00	#9
16	Q	Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER	AUT	38.92	21.21		17.71	4.57	4.21	4.46	4.43	4.46	0.00	#19
17		Rachel EPSTEIN / Dmitry EPSTEIN	NED	36.84	20.19		16.65	4.29	3.89	4.21	4.21	4.21	0.00	#6
18		Bianca MANACORDA / Niccolo MACII	ITA	35.37	20.19		15.18	3.82	3.64	3.86	3.86	3.79	0.00	#4
19		Maria PALIAKOVA / Mikhail FOMICHEV	BLR	33.43	18.49		15.94	4.14	3.86	3.93	4.07	3.93	1.00	#8
20		Alessandra CERNUSCHI / Filippo AMBROSINI	ITA	29.91	14.66		15.25	3.75	3.43	3.79	3.96	4.14	0.00	#5