News: 2002-2003

Canadian Skaters Put Down Strong Performances at the 2002 MasterCard Skate Canada International

(November 8, 2002)
Canadian skaters captured three medals at the 2002 MasterCard Skate Canada International, which was held Oct. 31-Nov.3 in Quebec City, Que.

The first Canadian medal came in the Pair event. Anabelle Langlois, 21, of Hull, Que. and Patrice Archetto, 29, of Montreal, Que., who were just coming off a silver medal performance at the 2002 Smart Ones Skate America last week in Spokane, Washington, captured the bronze medal.
The pair placed third in the short program, finishing behind eventual gold medallists, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin of Russia, and the silver medallists, Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China. Langlois and Archetto skated a difficult freeskate, in which they completed a throw triple Salchow, an impressive triple twist, side-by-side double Axels, and a throw triple toe loop. The performance was also highlighted by strong lifts. The couple received marks ranging between 4.9 to 5.4 for technical merit and from 5.2 to 5.6 for the presentation of their program skated to the music Tosca. The Canadians were still able to put in a strong performance even though Langlois was suffering from the pain of a sprained left ankle.

"We managed to go through our long. There are good things and bad things, but we still managed to keep everything balanced," said Archetto. "It's our second Grand Prix, and our second podium, we'll take it."

Langlois and Archetto will make their next appearance on the Senior Grand Prix circuit at the NHK Trophy from Nov. 28 - Dec. 1 in Kyoto, Japan.

It was an exciting Men's competition in Quebec City. The Canadian crowd had a lot to cheer about following an electrifying performance by Richmond Hill, Ontario's Emanuel Sandhu in the short program, which put him in first-place following that portion of the competition. Sandhu, 21, completed the difficult quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, as well as a beautiful triple Axel and a triple Lutz, in the fast-paced program. In the opening seconds of his freeskate, Sandhu just missed landing the quadruple toe loop and had a stumble on the triple toe loop that was in combination with a triple Axel, but refocused to complete another triple Axel, a triple Lutz, a triple flip-triple toe loop combination, and a triple Salchow. He also wowed the crowd with his quick footwork and fast spins. The judges rewarded him with marks as high as 5.7 for technical merit and 5.9 for presentation.

"I thought my performance was another step in the right direction," said Sandhu. "The thing I'm happiest about is that I continued to fight through the program."

Taking the gold medal with a program that included two clean quadruple jumps was Japan's Takeshi Honda. Rounding out the podium was Stanislav Timchenko of Russia, who won the bronze medal in his first-ever Senior Grand Prix event.

The final Canadian medal came in the Dance event. Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon debuted two new innovative programs to win the silver medal. After placing second in the compulsory dances, Dubreuil, 28, of Ste-Catharine, Que., and Lauzon, 26, of Boisbriand, Que., maintained their second-place status in front of a hometown crowd in the original dance. Their program, which was skated to a Waltz from Swan Lake and the Polka Furioso by Johann Strauss, captured the crowd's attention with its difficult lifts and fast footwork. The couple was awarded with marks ranging between 5.1 to 5.5 for composition/required elements and 5.3 to 5.7 for presentation.

Dubreuil and Lauzon carried the momentum into the freedance, in which they skated a romantic program to Quebec recording artist Majoly's Dance with my Heart. The crowd was wowed once again by the couple's innovative lifts throughout the program. Dubreuil and Lauzon scored marks up to 5.6 for technical merit/required elements and up to 5.8 for presentation.

"We were thrilled with how our program went," said Dubreuil. "We worked really hard on this program and we did it a little bit differently."

Ukraine's Elena Grushina and Ruslan Goncharov, who won the gold medal at the 2002 Smart Ones Skate America, held on to their first-place standing after the original dance to win their second gold medal of this young Senior Grand Prix season. Claiming their first-ever Senior Grand Prix medal was Russia's Svetlana Kulikova and Arseni Markov, who won the bronze medal.
Dubreuil and Lauzon will take to the ice Nov. 7-10 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany at the Bofrost Cup on Ice, which is the next stop on the Senior Grand Prix circuit.