Today’s competition started with the Compulsory Dance. Following a decision of the past ISU Congress, only one Compulsory Dance is to be skated in Senior ISU Championships. The Compulsory Dance drawn for the 2003 World Championships is the Austrian Waltz.
The Austrian Waltz used to be a junior dance, but is skated in senior competitions from this season on. It was invented by Austrian ice dancers Susi and Peter Handschmann and performed for the first time in Vienna in 1979.
According to ISU Rules, when there are more than 25 couples entered, the compulsory dance is split into two Qualifying Groups.
Irina Lobacheva / Ilia Averbukh
(c) Teunis Versluis
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance, Qualifying Group A
Reigning World Champions Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh of Russia took Qualifying Round A ahead of Ukraine’s Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov and Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovksi (ISR). Lobacheva/Averbukh danced to the lead with a smooth and clean Waltz. The husband and wife team scored marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.7 for technique and from 5.6 to 5.8 for timing/expression.
“We did this dance for the first time in competition. It’s a new dance that never was done at Worlds”, Averbukh explained. “Frankly, we didn’t have much time to prepare it. We learned the steps during the summer, but then we didn’t have this dance in our Grand Prix events, and we prepared another dance for Europeans. Then we had to prepare the second free dance for the Grand Prix Final and didn’t have time for the Waltz. We really started to work on it only two weeks ago. Considering that, we’re very pleased with this performance.”
Grushina/Goncharov produced a nice Waltz as well, but looked a bit stiff. The couple received marks up to 5.5 for technique and up to 5.6 for timing/expression.
“The Austrian Waltz is a difficult dance. You can see right away who can skate well and who cannot. We’ve done it twice in competition this year, so we felt comfortable with it”, Grushina commented.
Chait/Sakhnovski showed much improvement in the Austrian Waltz compared to Skate America held last fall. The reigning World bronze medalists were awarded marks as high as 5.5 for technique and 5.6 for timing/expression. “We felt good out there. The Austrian Waltz is new this year and I like it. It is nice to be here, we have lots of audience support and many of our friends are here”, Chait told the press.
Ice Dancing, Compulsory Dance, Qualifying Group B
In the second group, World silver medalists Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz of Canada won with Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski (BUL) and Tatiana Navka/Roman Kostomarov (RUS) finishing second and third.
Bourne/Kraatz produced a soft and lilting Austrian Waltz, showing strong edges. The couple received marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.8 for technique and from 5.6 to 5.8 for timing/expression. “It was awesome; we’re at the top of our game”, Bourne said. “It was the first time we skated this dance in competition and the last time we will skate a compulsory dance. There were so many supporters in the audience we felt like it was a Canadian Nationals.”
Denkova/Staviski hadn’t skated this dance before either, but their dance was strong, right on the beat and technically very clean. The European silver medalists earned marks up to 5.7 for technique and up to 5.6 for timing/expression.
“I was quite nervous”, Denkova admitted. “Most of the other couples have more experience with this new dance, they did it at their Grand Prix events. I hope I will be more relaxed in the OD.” Her partner added: “We didn’t have much time to prepare the Waltz. Therefore I think that this is our weakest compulsory, we do the others with closed eyes.”
Navka/Kostomarov skated their Waltz with good speed, but looked somewhat sloppy overall. Their marks went up to 5.6 for both technique and timing/expression. “The first day is always the hardest, and it’s really important to do well”, Kostomarov pointed out. “I prefer the fact that there is now only one compulsory dance. The Austrian Waltz is a hard dance. We did it at Skate America and we worked on it a lot before this event.”
Timothy Goebel
(c) Teunis Versluis
Men, Short Program
The Men’s competition continued with the Short Program this evening. Evgeni Plushenko of Russia, who stood in joint first place after the Qualifying Round, had drawn to skate first in the final flight. The Olympic silver medalist hit his quadruple-triple toeloop combination and then saved the landing of his triple Axel with the routine of an experienced competitor. The 20-year-old went on to complete impressive footwork and solid triple Lutz in his program to “Adagio” by Albinoni. Plushenko’s marks ranged between 5.7 and 5.9 for required elements and between 5.8 and 5.9 for presentation.
“There was nothing wrong with my triple Axel, I just lacked confidence on it”, the athlete explained. “I didn’t touch down, so it was technically clean, only the execution wasn’t too good. The battle will continue the day after tomorrow, and so far everything is going according to plan. If I feel good I might present a little surprise in the free skating. Which one? You’ll see!”
Next up was Ryan Jahnke (USA), who missed his triple Axel to finish 7th overall. Takeshi Honda of Japan took the ice right after him. The 2003 Four Continents Champion hung on to the landing of his quadruple toeloop and added a double toe instead of the planned triple. Skating to Spanish inspired music called “Leyenda”, the 22-year-old landed a high triple Axel, a triple Lutz and good footwork, but his final combination spin traveled a bit. Honda’s marks went up to 5.7 for required elements and up to 5.8 for presentation. “Before the competition, I had a hard time to wear my skating boots because my (left) foot was swelling. Because of that, my quad jump was not perfect”, Honda said. “I am not going to hold back”, he announced, referring to the Free Skating on Thursday. “I will jump three quad jumps. I want to do my own gold medal performance for the audience!” Switzerland’s Stephane Lambiel faltered, falling on his quadruple toeloop and his triple Lutz. He dropped to 13th overall. The final two skaters were Americans Timothy Goebel and Michael Weiss. Despite not feeling well, Goebel delivered a strong performance that featured a quadruple Salchow-triple toeloop combination, a triple Axel and a triple Lutz. The judges awarded the Olympic bronze medalist marks as high as 5.8 for both required elements and presentation for his routine set to Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Goebel rushed out of the Kiss and Cry as he felt sick. “I woke up with a touch of the flu or something”, he said later in the press conference. “It may have helped because I am lighter than I was in practice! I am glad my performance went as well as my practices.”
Weiss, who had won Qualifying Group B, opened his program to Rock music with a slightly two-footed quad-triple toeloop combination followed by a triple Axel and fast spins, but then he went down on the triple Lutz. “The fall on the triple Lutz was a dumb, silly mistake”, Weiss told the press. “All the hard stuff was there. The triple Lutz is very easy for me. I attempt quad Lutzes in practice, but that’s the way it is. I’m pumped for the free skate.”
Plushenko won the Short Program and took the lead overall ahead of Goebel and Honda. Weiss is currently standing in fourth place, ahead of China’s Chengjiang Li, who ranked fourth in the Short Program with a strong performance.
The 2003 World Figure Skating Championships continue tomorrow with the Ladies’ Qualifying and the Pairs Free Program.
For complete results click here.
