by Jacquelyn Thayer
A small field of seven, thanks to a late withdrawal, also makes the 2016 Skate Canada International pairs event a prime opportunity for teams seeking to establish or build their international reputation.
Xiaoyu Yu and Hao Zhang (CHN), Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, and Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch at the 2016 Skate Canada International post-short program press conference. Photo by Jacquelyn Thayer.
Back on home turf – and looking to defend their previous two Skate Canada International titles – Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford successfully put Finlandia Trophy’s short program demons behind them. To the audience’s considerable support, the team landed their much-vaunted new throw triple axel and picking up Level 4s on nearly all leveled elements, save a Level 3 triple twist, for a personal best score of 78.39.
“It was a really exciting skate with really powerful, exciting music,” said Duhamel. “It’s a different style than what we’re used to and when we nail those three opening elements — the triple twist, the triple lutz, and the throw triple axel — the energy from the crowd and the energy within us was about to explode. It felt amazing to do that at home, and we’re looking forward to repeating that tomorrow.”
The program to Seal’s “Killer” had undergone revisions from its initial two outings — moving a lift from before the throw to immediately after — with the revamped layout contributing to a stronger choreographic punch besides potentially improving the throw axel’s success.
“After Finlandia, we had some doubt that maybe it was going to stay in our program past the Grand Prix series,” said Radford. “We had a little bit of a plan that if it didn’t start working, we would go back and do the throw triple lutz. So it’s nice to have that reassurance and that confidence as we head into the rest of the Grand Prix season, to know that it’s actually possible for us to do that element.”
Sitting in third after the short with 67.53 are fellow Canadians Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch, improving on their international season debut at Nebelhorn by 1.55 points — and their TES by 0.38, despite faltering on the side-by-side jumps as Moscovitch doubled an intended triple toe.
Their program, a tango to composer Jacob Gade’s Jalousie ‘Tango Tzigane’ marks another new style for a pair who are striving to demonstrate growth and diversity with each year’s set of programs. But it’s the strong dance — and ice dance — influence that particularly characterizes the piece, choreographed by David Wilson and Marie-France Dubreuil. Their at-home team of coach Lee Barkell, Wilson and Tracy Wilson presented the pair with the tango concept following last season’s conclusion, much to Iliushechkina’s particular delight. A late summer trip to Dubreuil’s Montreal base before their first outing at Central Ontario Summer Skate helped the program to more fully set.
An extended use of dance-based holds has meant a few adjustments for the pair. “You really get an appreciation for what they do in ice dance,” said Moscovitch. “And our height difference is different than a typical ice dance team’s, so adjusting to each other’s movement and where we hold each other has been a process. But it’s really starting to gel and we’re starting to be able to move through the program and create speed and body movement while in the hold.”
Silver medalists at last weekend’s Skate America, Americans Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier currently sit fourth here after their Don Juan skate. An error for Frazier on the triple salchow netting a GOE of -1.60. Though frustrated by his mistake, Frazier also expressed pride in the overall performance; indeed, with a score of 66.50, the team lost only 0.79 points from last week’s personal best mark, while a PCS of 30.17 is a new personal best.
Happily and coincidentally in attendance at both events has been the pair’s choreographer, Marina Zoueva, with whom they’ve developed a strong working relationship since Frazier’s time training there during Denney’s rehabilitation from knee injury.
“We work with her from time and again,” said Frazier. “She’s about a four-hour drive from our training location [in the Chicago area], so we try to take any opportunity we get to go see her. We even have plans to go see her right after the Grand Prixes are done.”
Canadians Brittany Jones and Joshua Reagan made their return to the Grand Prix after last competing as host picks at 2014’s event. Winners of September’s U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, the team struggled a bit more here on their elements, scoring 54.23 on their rock-based short to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “Under the Bridge” and landing in seventh. However, one positive sign came in the components — a mark of 26.43 is a new personal best for the pair, and improvement of 2.54 over a prior best set at U.S. Classic.
Pairs concludes Saturday afternoon with the free program.