Sears Open -- short program results

[Lee]

Ladies

1. Cohen -- well-skated -- partial standing O
2. Volchkova -- also well-skated, step in between jumps in combo
3. Robinson -- two-footed both jumps in the combo
4. Nikodinov -- fell on the lutz -- no combo
5. Kirk -- fell on the lutz and flip

Pairs

1. Sale & Pelletier -- last year's short -- flawless -- 2 6's for pres -- standing O
2. Sato & Dungjen -- very nice program...solid sbs jumps
3. Lariviere & Faustino -- trouble on sbs jumps, but good program choreographically...

Men

1. Yagudin -- new short -- neat short -- LOVE the shirt!!!!! :) 2 6's for pres -- standing O
2. Honda -- watching Kurt watch Honda skate was a hoot...
3. Eldredge -- HARD fall on the 3-a -- after landing a beaut in the warmup. He looked like he hurt himself, but finished the program.
4. Buttle -- love the program, hate the pants. One fall and doubled the axel...

On to the interpretive programs tomorrow!

[skatingfan3]

Thanks, Lee for the results. I've been waiting all evening for this.

Deborah

[luckiest1]

Thanks, Lee. Do you know what Yags and Honda landed?

[Lee]

I don't remember exactly what they landed -- Lee doesn't take notes...it's on CTV for 3 hours tomorrow (Saturday, the 7th) afternoon.

[memememe76]

I though Shen & Zhao were competing?

Anyways, I wonder what we'll see in those three hours. Showing all those programs shouldn't take that much time.

[luckiest1]

Thats ok, Lee, I appreciate you posting regardless of whether or not you took notes :) I will definitely be watching tomorrow.

[figuristka]

Thank you Lee. :) Glad to hear Alexei sounds healthier .

[Lee]

Time to think and time for some 'commentary'...

The 'complaints' I've heard about Sasha's footwork sequence not covering the ice well enough in her short appear to be legitimate from what I saw tonight. The sequence started a good 15 - 20 feet from the end boards -- considering her tech marks were all in the 5.7 area, it looks to me like there was a deduction of some sort. It's effective footwork, but needs to be fixed. Jumps were good, spiral positions were nice (would like to see more than 3 positions in the sequence though), and spin positions were nice -- but yes, I agree with those who have said the transitions between positions should be smoother. She will have to skate cleanly with 'problem' areas fixed at Nationals -- as will the other ladies. No one's gonna 'walk away' with that one!

Viktoria had one of the best skates I've seen out of her. I really like her short program. She made some pretty big improvements in the past year on in-betweens, use of her arms. I get the impression that her success at CoR has given her a confidence-boost that may serve her very well for the rest of the season.

Angela is a lovely skater, but man, I wish she'd get a spine! I'd LOVE to see her just park a program -- she has all the qualities I love in a skater. She's a :frus: :(

Felt bad for Jenny -- she has a lovely, charming short program, but the jumps just weren't there for her tonight. sulin called her 'ethereal' at the time -- I think she's right. It's like she's skating on air...

Jennifer's program was interesting -- back to the two-footing though -- grrrrr....

Not really much to say about the pairs except that the reception for Jamie and David was great, as expected. For those of you watching tomorrow (or on TNT whenever), the blonde lady sitting with them in the K&C after is Debbie Wilson, Jamie's coach when she was with the Red Deer Skating Club.

Yuka Sato has made a magnificent transformation into a pairs skater. She and Jason do very well together. Their lift was probably the weakest part of their program; jumps the strongest. Still wish Yuka had been competing in the ladies' event -- I LOVE her footwork.

Lenny and Jaz had problems with the jumps and lost a bit of unison on the sbs spins. It's a great program for them -- works very well, and they perform it well. Hopefully, the jumps are there for them come Canadians.

The men...

HOnda...pretty sure he did a quad/double -- will have to tape tomorrow and check. Watching Kurt (who did the choreography for this program) watch Honda was interesting...Kurt was very intent on what Takeshi was doing. And Takeshi did a good job with the footwork and stuff. A couple of the jump landings were rather shaky though -- he left the door open for Yags...

Yags...what can I say? He is *the* man right now - at least for Canadian crowds. Watch for him to crack up just before starting his short -- someone in the audience made a crack about his shirt -- I didn't catch what it was (think it might have been something about 'we love your shirt!'), but half the audience was laughing -- and so was he! He finally settled down and got started...it's a neat program, but I can see the complaints already rolling in -- too many stops, too judge-centric. Crowd didn't seem to mind -- they ate it up and gave the 2nd full standing O of the night (3rd, if you count Kurt's, 4th with Sasha's partial). Did a triple toe/triple toe and a huge 3-axel. Not sure that he might not have pushed the 'comeback' a little -- he seemed to be grimacing in pain a couple times during the warm up and was shaking his legs out quite a bit.

Eldredge had a good warmup -- I have no idea what the music was or even if this was an old program. I'm sorry, I just have trouble telling one dramatic soundtrack piece from the other. He started out well, but took a nasty fall on the 3 axel -- it took him a bit to recover even after he got up and it appeared he had hurt the ankle but being the trooper he is, he kept on going and managed to complete the program rather well. Poor guy...at the Cdn Open, (or just about anytime he skates in Canada) he always ends up skating right after someone who has just brought down the house....he's gotta wonder sometimes if he lives right...:P

Buttle...UGLY pants...*snicker* GREAT program. Unfortunately, he had jump problems. I'm not sure if he was going after the quad or not -- will have to watch the tape. I *thought * he must have, but whatever it was, he ended up on his duff. Then he doubled the axel...the rest of the program was good -- he sells it so well. Canadians is gonna be very interesting!

If I made any mistakes in the foregoing, sue my memory -- like I said earlier, I don't take notes, so I'm going just on what I can remember and what I was thinking at the time of the skates.

Really looking forward to the interpretive programs tomorrow (and the 'meet the skaters' reception afterwards...maybe I'll FINALLY get to meet Kurt and tell him how much I appreciate his skating! :P)

[HeatherC]

Thanx for all the great info. I can't wait to see it all! Hopefully I can eventually. I will be at the Hallmark as this airs in the states so I am trying to find someone who can tape it for me. :D Anyway, sounds great so far and good luck to Jamie & David, Yuka & Jason (who I also enjoy), Alexei, and Todd tomorrow!! :D

Oh, and Shen & Zhao will be competing next weekend at the Hallmark, not at the Sears Open this weekend. You might have gotten them confused and mixed up the weekends. Oh well. No harm done! ;)

[SandraD]

Hi Lee,

Thanks a MILLION for the reports. Can't wait to see Yag's shirt. Tee hee hee.

Sandra

[Koala]

Thanks Lee!

Have fun at the Reception. If you get a photo with Kurt-tell him not to make jokes just as you are having the photo taken!! The photo I got with Kurt I'm totally laughing....and so is he! oh well it'll bring back memories :)

[Jim D]

Hi Lee,

Thanks for the reports. :) … Hope that you and sulin continue to have a great time.

We get to see the Open on the 14th, it's being shown here in the US on one of the cable channels (TNT). … I'll be watching for you and your partner in crime, ;) when I watch the telecast.

Jim :halo:

[adrianchew]

Laurie and Maggie from the Aleksei Yagudin Discussion Board posted a review too...

http://pub76.ezboard.com/falexeidiscussiongroupdiscussionsonalexei.showMess age?topicID=5001.topic

[Tigger]

Thanks for the report Lee. Looking forward to seeing Alexei and Jeff. Darn it about Jen!! I thought she had the two foot demon under control!!! :x Also can't wait to see Jamie and David and Yuka and Jason. Oh and the exhibition by some Albertan that's there. Looking forward to that too.... ;)

[jcspkbfan]

Thanks, Lee! Although fans in Canada, at least, are lucky enough to see this event only a day or so after it actually takes place, it's always great to get a different perspective from someone lucky enough to actually be there! ;)

Too bad we didn't get to see Kurt watching Takeshi's SP during the TV broadcast, but at least we did get to see him sit with Doug Leigh and Takeshi in the kiss-and-cry area. :)

[bornforbuttle]

I really really don't understand how todd eldredge came ahead of jeff buttle!!!! I mean jeff did a triple lutz and todd did a triple toe, they both did double axels and todd fell horribly on a triple axel and jeff fell on a decent quad attempt!! in my opinion (i admit i am slightly biased lol) jeff's spin and artistic are much better as well!!!!!! this makes me so angry!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil: :evil:

[TRAxel]

I just love Alexei, his program rocks and the laughing at the beginning was classic!

Yes, Jeff's pants are ugly... but that is what makes me like them :) anyone that has the guts to wear them is awesome in my books!

Can't wait for it to start again in 1 hour and a half!

[jcspkbfan]

BTW, did anyone else find it ironic the ISU relaxed the short program rules for this event (they extended the time limit to three minutes in order to give the skaters more freedom) specifically to make it more attractive for pro skaters, but I think Yuka and Jason were the only "technically-ineligible" skaters at Canadian Open this year. I'm pretty sure none of the eligible skaters extended their SPs by 20 seconds, either!

[Bailey]

A few thoughts:

Disappointed to see the performance of Jenny Kirk and Angela Nikodinov - two very beautiful skaters. Hopefully they will have a better skate in the long program.

Sale and Pelletier, wonderful but would like to see a new program. Hopefully tonight... Love Jazz and Lenny but they need those jumps!!

Best attempt we have seen from Jeff on the quad - he really had that jump just not quite enough time to get ready for the landing. Poor Todd, tough fall on the axel (I felt that one, ouch!!).

But Alexei - why is he skating if he is still injured and limping backstage?? Has he learned nothing about overtraining and the importance of rest these last few months?? I understand that as an athlete it must be very hard to work through an injury and give your body the time it takes to rest and recover, but if he continues to push himself he can only do more damage than good. I really hope that after this event he takes the time off training and touring to let his body heal or his career will be shortened just as he fears. It makes me sad to see him skating at this event - though I did enjoy his program.

[TRAxel]

Originally posted by Bailey
But Alexei - why is he skating if he is still injured and limping backstage?? Has he learned nothing about overtraining and the importance of rest these last few months?? I understand that as an athlete it must be very hard to work through an injury and give your body the time it takes to rest and recover, but if he continues to push himself he can only do more damage than good. I really hope that after this event he takes the time off training and touring to let his body heal or his career will be shortened just as he fears. It makes me sad to see him skating at this event - though I did enjoy his program.

I think if Alexei was instructed by Doctor's to NOT skate, he wouldn't do it... if Tarasova thought in any way that Alexei skating would harm him in any way, I believe she wouldn't allow him to skate... she seems to have a great influence on him, you can tell he respects her. It is his body also and only he knows his limitations.