Win, Lose, or Draw in Beijing

Some big winners in Beijing...some big losers in Beijing at the Grand Prix Final...and a few draws. See all the results here.

Winners
First and foremost, Alissa Czisny! She said after her free skate in Beijing "I almost feel like this is a new beginning for me. The past is gone - over and done with. I almost feel like I am a new skater." If it goes from almost to a certainty, none of the other girls have a chance at U.S. Nationals. We've all known for a few years now that if Alissa Czisny can put together a short program and a free skate in the same competition, she'd be formidable. Well...point proven! In Ice Dance and Pairs it was kind of what most people expected. Davis and White have virtually no competition currently with Virtue and Moir out so it was no shock to see them win. I think Savchenko and Szolkowy have refound their thunder (it was totally stolen by Shen and Zhao last season) and are back on track (despite a rather cheesy free skate to Pink Panther). Patrick Chan clobbered the field with a strong skate and huge component scores. Patrick has consistently brought in the biggest PCS score this season and now armed with a quad is the toughest guy to beat. The only skater currently in Patrick's neighborhood on PCS is Daisuke Takahashi and he was seven points back. Food for thought...

Losers
Oh Rachael Flatt. It was so unfortunate to see her come undone like that. Let's not even talk about the scores (I'll leave that to Phil Hersh). A lingering leg injury is partially to blame but she was dealing with that same issue at Skate America and skated much better there. This performance has many doubting her chances in Greensboro: "I'm going to go home, regroup and start over from scratch on a few things. I need to use the time to build up my confidence in my training again." The only other big loss I think was dealt to Miki Ando who finished ahead of Rachael in 5th. After a disappointing short program (a new short program), she rallied to win the free skate...and didn't move up a single spot despite out skating everyone ahead of her. She came in the favorite and leaves empty handed...and behind two of what promises to be tough competitors at Japanese Nationals; Akiko Suzuki and Kanako Murakami (who took the bronze).

Draws
I think Pang and Tong had a draw here. Coming off of last season where they won the Olympic Silver Medal and World Title, I expected them to push Savchenko and Szolkowy a bit more here. They didn't skate bad...but where not up to the level they need to be to keep pace ahead of the Germans. A draw for Carolina Kostner who continues to be awarded for easy programs...but not a win this time. And Nobunari Oda who has a Patrick Chan problem this season (the monkey on his back). He has to figure out how to 1) get all the way through his free skate clean and 2) figure out how to raise his PCS score. He's skating good...he needs to find a way to skate great.

And how about this video...definitely affected both of their performances. A nasty crash between Kozuka and Takahashi in practice. Kozuka had to fight for the bronze and Daisuke ended up off the podium (his doctor advised he withdraw but he chose to compete anyway).



Also, take a look at the winning performances!









Bonus Video! Check out American Richard Dornbush kill it in the Junior Men's Free Skate!

End of the Junior Grand Prix

The last two weekends brought about the end of the Junior Grand Prix. The last two stops were in Dresden, Germany and nearby Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The big winners included:
Pairs - Sui & Han of China (GER) and Yu & Jin also of China (CZE)
Men - Richard Dornbush of the United States (GER) and Han Yan of China (CZE)
Dance - Kosigina & Moroshkin of Russia (GER) and Pushkash and Guerreiro also of Russia (CZE)
Ladies - Elizaveta Tuktamisheva of Russia (GER) and Vanessa Lam of the United States (CZE)

Other American Medalists at the events included a silver for Christina Gao in Germany, a bronze for Lichthman and Copely in Germany, and a silver for Cain and Reagan in the Czech Republic.

Results for Junior Grand Prix Germany can be seen here and Junior Grand Prix Czech Republic here.

The final field is set for the Junior Grand Prix Final which will take place in Beijing December 9th-12th. Competitors include:

Ice Dance
1.Monko and Khaliavin (RUS)
2.Stepanova and Bukin (RUS)
3.Pushkash and Guerreiro (RUS)
4.Lichtman and Copely (USA)
5.Kosigina and Moroshkin (RUS)
6.Sinitsina and Zhiganshin (RUS)
7.Galyeta and Shumski (UKR)
8.Antipova and Kudashev (RUS)

Men
1.Andrei Rogozine (CAN)
2.Han Yan (CHN)
3.Joshua Farris (USA)
4.Keegan Messing (USA)
5.Richard Dornbush (USA)
6.Max Aaron (USA)
7.Zhan Bush (RUS)
8.Gordei Gorshkov (RUS)

Ladies
1.Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)
2.Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (RUS)
3.Risa Shoki (JPN)
4.Polina Shelepen (RUS)
5.Christina Gao (USA)
6.Yasmin Siraj (USA)
7.Kristiene Gong (USA)
8.Kiri Baga (USA)

Pairs
1.Stolbova and Klimov (RUS)
2.Sui and Han (CHN)
3.Yu and Jin (CHN)
4.Takahashi and Tran (JPN)
5.Purich and Schultz (CAN)
6.Silaeva and Minchuk (RUS)
7.Cain and Reagan (USA)
8.Steele and Schultz (CAN)

Russia came up WAY big in Ice Dance qualifying 3/4 of the field! US was the big winners amongst the men and the women with the most entries (but not the top qualifiers) and a smattering of countries qualified in pairs. Should be interesting.

Junior Grand Prix: Hungary

The season got underway this past weekend in Budapest and Team USA did pretty well.

We were strongest in the Men's where American Richard Dornbush took the title (video below) with teammate Grant Hochstein right behind winning the silver. Richard told Ice Network, "You don't want to put out your best now and not do as well later; I'm happy with how I did, but I have room to improve." It was a bit of clammer to get to the bronze but it eventually fell into the hands of Russian Zhan Bush.

In Ice Dance, Team USA was unable to get on the podium with Gilles and Donohue surprisingly finishing fourth. They had some problems with their twizzles in the free skate and didn't get the levels they expected for their step sequences. "It's still a much higher-level program that it was given credit for," Donohue told Ice Network. Russians Ilinykh and Katsalapov skated to a convincing victory with Canadians Routhier and Saucke-Lacelle earning the silver, Italians Alessandrini and Vaturi the bronze.

In the ladies field, Russian Polina Shelepen won convincingly with a free skate that included seven triple jumps! American Angela Maxwell, who had a rough short program and found herself in fifth place, regrouped in the free skate and surged up to take the silver. Despite earning another Junior Grand Prix medal, she told Ice Network she wasn't happy with her performance. "My nerves got the better of me. I was trying to pull myself together the whole program." Japan's Haruka Imai took the bronze medal. American Ellie Kawamura who was second after the short program finished fourth after a tough free skate.

Here are the complete results.

Next weekend, the Junior Grand Prix comes home and will take place in Lake Placid (same site as the Senior Grand Prix Event, Skate America). A large contingency of Americans will be competing including: Bonacorsi and Mager, Duarte and Grafton, Joshua Farris, Taylor Firth, Andrew Gonzales, DeeDee Leng, Ross Miner, Kristine Musademba, Pipkin and Dunne-Neustadt, Maia and Alex Shibutani, Simpson and Miller, and Tibbetts and Brubaker. Lake Placid is one of only a few JGP events to have a pairs field so it should be an exciting competition.

Also of note, Ice Network will be airing Junior Grand Prix Lake Placid live and free so be sure to tune in.



Don't forget I'm compiling a list of the Greatest 1000 Moments on Ice. Be sure to let me know what should go on that list!

Junior Grand Prix: South Africa

In a stunning reversal from last week when no American's made the podium, this week the American's swept the podium at the Junior Grand Prix in Cape town, South Africa,

Richard Dornbush took the men's title, his second title on the Junior Grand Prix. Alexe Gilles bettered her silver from Mexico and won the ladies title. Madison and Keiffer Hubbell stayed consistent and won the Ice Dance title.

Given these results, Dornbush, Gilles, and the Hubbell's will qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final in South Korea. Gilles and Donohue, who took the silver in Ice Dance should also make the JGP Final. Amanda Dobbs who won the ladies Bronze medal also should qualify for the JGP Final.

Overall, a very successful day for the Americans! Full results can be seen here.

Junior Grand Prix: Mexico

Things have wrapped up in Mexico and the U.S. walked away with four medals, three of which are Gold!

Richard Dornbush took the Men's title, Madison and Keiffer Hubbell won the Dance title, and Amanda Dobbs in her Junior Grand Prix Debut won the Ladies title. Alexe Gilles, reigning U.S. Junior Champ, was a close second for the Silver Medal in ladies singles.

Full results can be seen here.

This week the Junior Grand Prix moves to Ostrava, Czech Republic.