Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) lead the field by almost four points after the Pair's Short Program at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal (CAN) © ISU
Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) soared to the lead as the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2024 opened Wednesday with the Pairs Short Program in Montreal (CAN).
Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps (CAN) nail perfect Short Program
Reigning ISU Four Continents Champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps of Canada nailed a perfect Short Program to take a solid lead in front of an enthusiastic home crowd at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday.
Japan’s 2023 World Champions Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara ranked second, followed by Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii of Italy.
Skating to “Oxygene”, Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps were on from the first second. They hit a triple twist, a side by side triple toeloop, throw triple loop and picked up a level four for the twist, lift, side by side spin and footwork to post a personal best of 77.48 points.
“We were really happy with how the short program went and we look forward to the long tomorrow, by keeping up with the same momentum,” Stellato-Dudek said. “I need to stay calm. I tend to over-try and that never works. So we just need to stay calm and do what we do every day.”
Deschamps enjoyed the atmosphere on home ice.
“It was special. We came here (to the arena) two weeks ago practising, and we took so many pictures on the ice on the (Canadian) logo. So it's very special.”
Miura/Kihara continued their comeback after missing most of the season due to injury. The 2023 World Champions opened their playful routine to “Dare You to Move” with a triple twist and followed up with a triple toe and throw triple Lutz.
Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) finished second in the Pair's Short Program on Wednesday in Montreal © ISU
The 2024 Four Continents silver medalists achieved a season’s best of 73.53 points.
“We did the best we can at the moment,” Kihara said. “We were expecting a lower score than last season. We are happy that we got all the levels. We missed them at Four Continents. We were able to skate with a smile because we had the confidence we gained from having a lot of good practices since Four Continents.”
Conti/Macii skated last out of the 24 couples and ended an excellent Pairs Short Program competition on a high note. The 2023 World bronze medalists produced a triple twist, triple Salchow and throw triple loop in their Tango program “Oblivion Una Sombra Mas” to score a season's best 72.88 points. The Italians switched back to last season’s Short Program before Worlds. Conti was happy they made the switch.
“Finally, we did a Short Program like we know we can do it and we were able to show what we’ve worked on. I didn’t feel the music (of the other program), the transitions, it was difficult and I feel much better with this program.”
Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA) are in the final podium spot after the Pair's Short Program in Montreal © ISU
Macii said it was a lot of fun.
“We wanted to enjoy it and to have fun, skate together. We were precise and it was the last Short Program of the season and only the second clean Short Program in competition (this season). We did 1,000 (clean ones) at home, but that doesn’t count. We hope to do the same in the Free Skating.”
ISU Grand Prix Final Champions Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) remain close to the podium in fourth place with 72.10 points after a clean performance. World Junior Champions Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava (GEO) shone as well and sit fifth, with a personal best of 72.02 points. ISU Grand Prix Finalists Maria Pavlova/Alexei Sviatchenko (HUN) are sixth with 68.01 points.
Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) are 0.78 points out of third after the Pair's Short Program on Wednesday © ISU
The top 20 Pairs advance to the Free Skating on Thursday.
Schedule of the event
The schedule of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships is as follows:
Wednesday, March 20: Pairs & Women's Short Programs
Thursday, March 21: Men's Short Program, Pairs Free Skating
Friday, March 22: Rhythm Dance & Women's Free Skating
Saturday, March 23: Free Dance & Men's Free Skating
Sunday, March 24: Exhibition Gala
For full entries and results, please see the ISU event page and the official website. Follow the discussion on social media using #WorldFigure and #FigureSkating.
Where to watch the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2024:
The ISU World Figure Skating Championships will be live streamed on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. Geo-restrictions will apply in markets where TV rights are in place. You will find the full list in the Where to Watch news here.
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