World Championships Short Dance

Group 5
Davis/White, USA: 38.29 TES + 38.83 PCS = 77.12 and into 1st place

• Great unison on the twizzles, right on the music and good distance between them
• Nice expression, fluidity and edges in the non touching step sequence
• Nice speed in the polka and flow across the ice, good bounce to the steps while still being down into their knees
• Nice final position in the rotational lift in a split position on his back
• Solid performance from start to finish and everything looked really clean

Coomes/Buckland, GBR: 33.43 TES + 30.23 PCS = 63.66 and into 3rd place

• Good set of three twizzles right on the music, but they seemed a little bouncy
• She seems to lean forward a bit in some of the transitional steps and could stretch through her back more
• They look very stiff in this polka and everything seems very placed and mechanical and it could have a lot more flow
• A little bouncy and off on their timing in places in the non touching step sequence
• There's quite a height difference between them and they don't seem to always know how to use holds that work for them to emphasize the difference
• Nice back walkover into the lift

Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER: 30.85 TES + 29.74 PCS = 60.59 and into 4th place

• Traveled really far apart on the twizzles and he seemed to slightly lose his leg position in the 2nd set
• They could stretch more through their arms in the hand to hand hold in the Polka and they could do more with their free arms as well; good speed and down into the ice though
• He has really nice stretch through his lines and she could have a bit more to match him
• Twist around to a straight line lift with a nice exit

Weaver/Poje, CAN: 34.22 TES + 33.32 PCS = 67.54 and into 2nd place

• Good match to their leg lines in the Polka, but I'd like to see more extension and snap through their change of arm positions
• Good twizzles but 2nd set of three seemed slow
• I usually love everything Kaitlyn wears, but this dress seems to have too much fabric around the midsection and almost seems too big for her
• Good energy through the midline step sequence but just a bit choppy in places
• Nice entry into the haircutter rotational lift
• A really solid performance for them considering they weren't even supposed to be here after her surgery in December

Virtue/Moir, CAN: 35.57 TES + 38.30 PCS = 73.87 and into 2nd place

• Really lovely turn sequence at the beginning where she seems to spin forever before falling into his grasp
• Odd edit to the music to get the polka in and they seem to be moving faster than the pace of the music because of the way it sounds
• It looks like she caught an edge on her twizzles and they slightly lose the unison in two of the sets
• Lovely lines and good one foot sequence through the non touching step sequence
• Twist up to a good, fast rotational lift
• I like this program a lot more than at the beginning of the season but I think the Polka seems thrown in as an afterthought and does not have a cohesive flow.  The Polka seems to interrupt the waltz rather than add to it

Group 6
Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA: 34.57 TES + 35.08 PCS = 69.65 and into 3rd place

• A little off on their unison in the twizzles and very slow in the 2nd set
• Good matching leg lines, changes in pattern and unison in their non touching step sequence
• Nice changes of position in the rotational lift
• Good leg lines in the polka and nice use of their arms in the hold and their free arms to carry the character of the piece
• That little assisted back flip came out of no where and was very smooth

Cappellini/Lanotte, ITA: 34.28 TES + 33.65 PCS = 67.93 and into 4th place

• Good unison on their twizzles but a little slow compared to the top teams
• He holds her by the wrist and causes her to bend her arm in a few places in the Polka hold; good speed and flow through the Polka 
• Nice flow, coverage, unison, leg extension and expression in their non touching step sequence
• I'd like to see a bit more speed and a more creative entry into their rotational spin

Shibutani/Shibutani, USA: 34.14 TES + 32.00 PCS = 66.14 and into 7th place

• He has a great frame for her in the Polka; great fast feed with nice flow and ease across the ice
• Insane unison and difficulty in their twizzles--especially when they open up from the rotation and pull back in to complete another turn to finish them off
• I really like the length of their lines in the non touching step sequence and the use of their arms
• Good speed in the rotational lift
• Technically everything looked really good but this program doesn't let them shine

Ilinykh/Katsalapov, RUS: 31.28 TES + 34.79 PCS =66.07 and into 8th place

• He goes a little rogue on the first set of twizzles but manages to hold on
• Nice speed and ice coverage in the non touching step sequence, but the unison was off in places and a little choppy
• I'd like for their free arms to match better in the Polka; they also seem to be rushing and not really hitting through the end of their lines

Bobrova/Soloviev, RUS: 34.71 TES + 35.34 PCS = 70.05 and into 3rd place

• Nice fast feet, but they seem to be a bit above the ice in times on the Polka
• Slow and far apart on the twizzles
• Cartwheel flip up into a nice lift that wrapped around his body--nice to see something beside a rotational lift 
• A little choppy and she seems to be losing her posture in places on the non touching step sequence
• She started celebrating the program before the music even ended

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE	USA	77.12	38.29		38.83	9.57	9.50	9.82	9.82	9.79	0.00	#20
2	Q	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR	CAN	73.87	35.57		38.30	9.46	9.43	9.64	9.71	9.61	0.00	#24
3	Q	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	70.05	34.71		35.34	8.82	8.64	8.93	8.86	8.89	0.00	#29
4	Q	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	69.65	34.57		35.08	8.68	8.54	8.86	8.93	8.82	0.00	#25
5	Q	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	67.93	34.28		33.65	8.29	8.18	8.50	8.46	8.57	0.00	#26
6	Q	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	67.54	34.22		33.32	8.25	8.04	8.50	8.39	8.43	0.00	#23
7	Q	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	66.74	34.78		31.96	7.89	7.71	8.11	8.07	8.11	0.00	#15
8	Q	Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI	USA	66.14	34.14		32.00	8.07	7.86	8.11	8.04	7.93	0.00	#27
9	Q	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	66.07	31.28		34.79	8.82	8.50	8.75	8.68	8.71	0.00	#28
10	Q	Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND	GBR	63.66	33.43		30.23	7.39	7.43	7.79	7.57	7.61	0.00	#21
11	Q	Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI	GER	60.59	30.85		29.74	7.25	7.07	7.68	7.64	7.50	0.00	#22
12	Q	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	60.58	31.86		28.72	7.00	6.89	7.36	7.29	7.32	0.00	#19
13	Q	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO	RUS	59.52	28.86		30.66	7.71	7.46	7.71	7.79	7.64	0.00	#18
14	Q	Siobhan HEEKIN-CANEDY / Dmitri DUN	UKR	59.20	32.93		26.27	6.57	6.39	6.68	6.75	6.46	0.00	#8
15	Q	Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER	CAN	58.61	31.00		27.61	6.89	6.50	7.07	7.00	7.00	0.00	#5
16	Q	Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI	ITA	57.89	30.85		27.04	6.79	6.54	7.00	6.68	6.79	0.00	#7
17	Q	Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV	AZE	57.80	29.65		28.15	7.18	6.82	7.21	7.07	6.93	0.00	#16
18	Q	Isabella TOBIAS / Deividas STAGNIUNAS	LTU	57.39	31.13		26.26	6.54	6.32	6.68	6.79	6.50	0.00	#9
19	Q	Cathy REED / Chris REED	JPN	53.95	28.29		26.66	6.50	6.29	6.75	6.93	6.79	1.00	#17
20	Q	Sara HURTADO / Adria DIAZ	ESP	53.12	29.92		23.20	5.68	5.57	6.04	5.89	5.82	0.00	#4
21		Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Neil BROWN	CZE	51.82	28.13		23.69	5.96	5.61	6.00	6.07	5.93	0.00	#11
22		Olesia KARMI / Max LINDHOLM	FIN	48.06	27.29		20.77	5.21	4.93	5.25	5.36	5.18	0.00	#3
23		Allison REED / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	46.63	25.78		20.85	5.25	5.07	5.21	5.43	5.11	0.00	#1
24		Zsuzsanna NAGY / Mate FEJES	HUN	45.60	22.73		22.87	5.82	5.54	5.82	5.86	5.57	0.00	#12
25		Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	45.29	22.79		22.50	5.79	5.39	5.71	5.93	5.36	0.00	#10
26		Federica TESTA / Lukas CSOLLEY	SVK	44.73	22.50		22.23	5.54	5.25	5.64	5.75	5.57	0.00	#6
27		Justyna PLUTOWSKA / Peter GERBER	POL	44.00	23.57		20.43	5.11	4.89	5.29	5.14	5.11	0.00	#2
28		Alisa AGAFONOVA / Alper UCAR	TUR	43.98	22.21		22.77	5.75	5.36	6.04	5.64	5.68	1.00	#13
29		Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	32.50	14.50		18.00	4.54	4.29	4.50	4.79	4.39	0.00	#14

World Championships Dance Preview

Since the 2010 Olympics, the story has been the same: Virtue and Moir vs Davis and White.  Virtue and Moir won back their World title last season but have not beat Davis and White at their next three meetings.  To make matters worse, Virtue and Moir had to stop their free dance at Four Continents as Tessa was experiencing leg pain.  She has struggled with compression syndrome and has undergone surgery to alleviate the pain.  They attributed this setback to overtraining.  They have the top short dance score of the season and the 2nd top short dance score of all time.  Their Carmen free dance is hit or miss depending on the audience.  Some love it's fiery intensity and modern take on a classic tale.  Others find the choreography awkward and disjointed.

Davis and White have made attempts to silence their critics this season from their spot on portrayal of the Giselle ballet in the short dance and their emotional Notre Dame free dance.  I admit that I was not a fan of their free dance, but the changes they made before US Nationals have added a new layer to their program.  One of my favorite moments is the sustained arabesque spirals in the middle of the program.  They narrowly lost to Virtue and Moir in the short dance at Four Continents but ended up winning by three points.  While their point advantage has been slowly shrinking over the season, I'm not sure Virtue and Moir will be able to catch up in time to overtake their training mates.

Pechalat and Bourzat were hoping to use this season to set themselves up to challenge for Olympic gold.  After winning gold at both of their Grand Prix assignments, they won bronze at the Final.  They missed the chance to defend their European title due to his groin injury.  Fabian has admitted that he is still experiencing pain from the injury, however, they have not had to make any changes to their programs to compensate.  They won their bronze medal at Worlds last season while she had a broken nose and have proven they can still compete with an injury.

Ilinykh/Katsalapov and Bobrova/Soloviev have been trading places as the number one Russian team over the past few seasons.  Bobrova and Soloviev finished ahead at both the Grand Prix Final and at Europeans.  However, they only bested their teammates by .11 at Europeans.  Both have faced criticisms over the years: Bobrova/Soloviev for their poor posture and lines and Ilinykh/Katsalapov for their work ethic and choreography.  Bobrova and Soloviev have made great strides in improving their style this season and are showing off their improvements in their lyrical programs.

Cappellini and Lanotte took home the bronze medal at Europeans and nearly defeated Virtue and Moir on home ice at Skate Canada earlier this season.  While they haven't quite been able to keep up with the top teams in the World, they should easily be able to replicate or improve on their 6th place finish at Worlds last year.  Their Carmen free dance has a classic interpretation but doesn't have quite the technical levels to put them on the same level as Virtue and Moir.

Weaver and Poje had a slow start to their season, failing to qualify for the Grand Prix Final and then suffering a training injury which required surgery for Kaitlyn and kept her off the ice for 8 weeks.  They missed Canadian nationals but are competing at Worlds on their home turf.  While their modern free dance choreographed by So You Think You Can Dance alum Allison Holker was interesting to watch and nicely put together, they weren't getting the levels or the scores they were expecting.  They've taken their time away from competitive ice and completely revamped their program in hopes of maintaining their place as one of the top five teams in the world.

Fighting for the number two US spot are Chock/Bates and the Shibutanis.  Chock and Bates have beat the Shibutanis at their last two events, US Nationals and Four Continents.  While both were by a small margin and the Shibutanis had mistakes, the mistakes seem to be a consistent problem for them this season.  These two teams used to be training partners, but in the split, Chock and Bates moved to Novi with Shpilband and seem to be flourishing as one of the top teams in the rink.  On the other hand, the Shibutanis programs do nothing for them this season.  The short dance pattern should be perfect for them but they chose to go with an out of the box program that doesn't suit them.  However, the Shibutanis are some of the best technical skaters in the ice dance event and do have a World Bronze Medal to their credit.  Both teams are likely to finish in the top 10 and should be able to easily secure three spots for the US in Sochi combined with Davis and White's result.

Riazanova and Tkachenko have taken a back seat to their Russian teammates, and while they fly under the radar they have had consistent good results this season.  After winning bronze at both of their Grand Prix events, they placed 4th at Europeans.  They finished 9th at Worlds last season and should be able to improve.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Davis/White
Silver: Virtue/Moir
Bronze: Pechalat/Bourzat

Bios of the competitors:
Zlobina/Sitnikov, AZE: They placed 17th at Worlds last season.  They finished 7th at Europeans.  They finished 6th at Skate Canada and 5th at Trophee Eric Bompard.  Their personal best is 144.83.  She is 23 and he is 26.

Kavaliova/Bieliaiev, BLR: They placed 21st at Junior Worlds.  They finished 9th at JGP France and 11th at JGP Austria.  Their personal best is 111.34.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Gilles/Poirier, CAN: They placed 5th at Four Continents.  They finished 4th at Skate Canada and 6th at Trophee Eric Bompard.  Their personal best is 157.83.  She is 21 and he is 21.  They have the 7th best free dance and 10th best total scores.

Virtue/Moir, CAN: They are the reigning World Champions and Four Continents Silver Medalists.   They won gold at Skate Canada and gold at Rostelecom Cup to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won silver.  They are the 2010 Olympic Gold Medalists, 2010 World Champions, 2008 and 2011 World Silver Medalists, 2009 World Bronze Medalists, 2008 and 2012 Four Continents Champions, 2009 Four Continents Silver Medalists, 2006 and 2007 Four Continents Bronze Medalists, 2006 World Junior Champions and 2005 World Junior Silver Medalists.  Their personal best is 183.84.  She is 23 and he is 25.  They have the best short dance, 2nd best free dance and 2nd best total scores.

Weaver/Poje, CAN: They finished 4th at Worlds.  They won bronze at Skate America and Cup of China.  They are the 2010 Four Continents Champions, 2012 Four Continents Bronze Medalists, and 2007 World Junior Bronze Medalists.  Their personal best is 166.55.  She is 23 and he is 26.  They have the 7th best short dance, 10th best free dance and 9th best total scores.

Mysliveckova/Brown, CZE: They placed 14th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 124.62.  She is 23 and he is 23.

Shtork/Rand, EST: They placed 22nd at Worlds last season.  They finished 11th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 132.90.  She is 19 and he is 20.

Karmi/Lindholm, FIN: They placed 19th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 110.92.  She is 20 and he is 22.

Carron/Jones, FRA: They placed 21st at Worlds last year.  They finished 10th at Europeans.  They finished 7th at Skate Canada and 8th at Trophee Eric Bompard.  Their personal best is 142.27.  She is 26 and he is 24.

Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA: They are the reigning World Bronze Medalists.  They won gold at Cup of China and Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won bronze.  They are the 2011 and 2012 European Champions.  Their personal best is 173.18.  She is 29 and he is 32.  They have the 4th best short dance, 3rd best free dance and 3rd best total scores.

Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER: They finished 11th at Worlds last season.  They placed 6th at Europeans.  They placed 5th at Skate America and 5th at Rostelecom Cup.  Their personal best is 147.28.  She is 25 and he is 28.

Coomes/Buckland, GBR: They placed 14th at Worlds last season.  They finished 5th at Europeans.  They placed 7th at Rostelecom Cup and 6th at NHK Trophy.  Their personal best is 152.95.  She is 23 and he is 23.

Nagy/Fejes, HUN: They placed 23rd at Worlds last season.  They finished 16th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 117.60.  She is 26 and he is 25.

Reed/Rogov, ISR: She is 18 and he is 22.

Cappellini/Lanotte, ITA: They placed 6th at Worlds last year and are the reigning European Bronze Medalists.  They won silver at Skate Canada and at Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 4th.  Their personal best is 165.80.  She is 26 and he is 27.  They have the 6th best short dance, 6th best free dance and 6th best total scores.

Guignard/Fabbri, ITA: They placed 9th at Europeans.  They finished 5th at Cup of China.  Their personal best is 142.48.  She is 23 and he is 25.

Reed/Reed, JPN: They placed 24th at Worlds last season.  They finished 7th at Four Continents.  They finished 5th at NHK Trophy.  Their personal best is 133.33.  She is 25 and he is 23.

Tobias/Stagniunas, LTU: They placed 18th at Worlds last season.  Their personal best is 139.53.  She is 21 and he is 27.

Plutowska/Gerber, POL: She is 21 and he is 20.

Bobrova/Soloviev: RUS: They placed 7th at Worlds and are the reigning European Champions.  They won silver at Skate America and silver at Cup of China to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th.  They are the 2011 and 2012 European Silver Medalists and  2007 World Junior Champions.  Their personal best is 169.25.  She is 22 and he is 23.  They have the 3rd best short dance, 5th best free dance and 4th best total scores.

Ilinykh/Katsalapov, RUS: They finished 5th at Worlds last season and are the reigning European Silver Medalists.  They won silver at Rostelecom Cup and silver at NHK Trophy to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 6th.  They are the 2012 European Bronze Medalists and 2010 World Junior Champions.  Their personal best is 169.14.  She is 18 and he is 21.  They have the 5th best short dance, 4th best free dance and 5th best total scores.

Riazanova/Tkachenko, RUS: They finished 9th at Worlds last season.  They placed 4th at Europeans.  They won bronze at Skate Canada and bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard.  Their personal best is 157.77.  She is 21 and he is 26.  They have the 9th best short dance.

Testa/Csolley, SVK: They placed 12th at the preliminary round at Worlds last season.  They finished 17th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 114.62.  She is 19 and he is 22.

Hurtado/Diaz, ESP: They placed 19th at Worlds last season.  They finished 15th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 124.26.  She is 20 and he is 22.

Agafonova/Ucar, TUR: They finished 16th at Worlds last season.  They placed 13th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 127.59.  She is 22 and he is 28.

Heekin-Canedy/Dun, UKR: They placed 15th at Worlds last season.  They finished 12th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 129.36.  She is 21 and he is 23.

Chock/Bates, USA: They are the reigning Four Continents Bronze Medalists.  They finished 4th at Cup of China.  Their personal best is 160.42.  She is 20 and he is 24.  They have the 8th best short dance, 9th best free dance and 7th best total scores.

Davis/White, USA: They are the reigning World Silver Medalists and Four Continents Champions.   They won gold at Skate America and gold at NHK Trophy to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won gold.  They are the 2010 Olympic Silver Medalists, 2011 World Champions, 2010 World Silver Medalists, 2009 and 2011 Four Continents Champions, 2008 and 2012 Four Continents Silver Medalists, and 2006 World Junior Bronze Medalists.  Their personal best is 188.55.  She is 26 and he is 25.  They have the 2nd best short dance, best free dance and best total scores.

Shibutani/Shibutani, USA: They placed 8th at Worlds last season.  They finished 4th at Four Continents.  They finished 4th at Rostelecom Cup and won bronze at NHK Trophy.  They are the 2011 World Bronze Medalists, 2011 Four Continents Silver Medalists and 2009 World Junior Silver Medalists.  Their personal best is 163.79.  She is 18 and he is 21.  They have the 10th best short dance, 8th best free dance and 8th best total scores.

French Nationals Results

Senior Men

FPl.	Name	Points	SP	FS
1	Florent AMODIO	230.44	1	1
2	Chafik BESSEGHIER	190.54	2	2
3	Romain PONSART	184.24	3	3
4	Charles TETAR	175.89	4	4
5	Simon HOCQUAUX	168.95	6	5
6	Kévin AYMOZ	161.29	7	6
7	Florian LEJEUNE	152.51	5	7
8	Gaylord LAVOISIER	136.50	8	8
9	Timofei NOVAIKIN	130.32	9	10
10	Alexander ZAHRADNICEK	130.28	10	9
11	Alexi DALRYMPLE	122.46	11	11
12	Cédric TOUR	115.36	12	12

Senior Ladies

FPl.	Name	Points	SP	FS
1	Anaïs VENTARD	154.04	2	1
2	Maé Bérénice MEITE	153.48	1	2
3	Laurine LECAVELIER	145.20	3	3
4	Lénaëlle GILLERON - GORY	134.91	4	6
5	Léna MARROCCO	131.48	5	4
6	Bahia TALEB	128.40	6	5
7	Nadjma MAHAMOUD	123.43	7	7
8	Laurianne CIRILLI	100.47	9	8
9	Gabrielle SCALZO	92.27	10	9
10	Flora LEBLANC	82.49	8	10

Senior Pairs

FPl.	Name	Points	SP	FS
1	Vanessa JAMES / Morgan CIPRES	162.01	1	1
2	Daria POPOVA / Bruno MASSOT	134.54	2	2

Senior Dance

FPl.	Name	Points	SD	FD
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	177.21	1	1
2	Pernelle CARRON / Loyd JONES	148.09	2	2
3	Sarah ROBERT-SIFAOUI / Oleksandr LIUBCHENKO	89.36	3	3

Junior Dance

FPl.	Name	Points	SD	FD
1	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	154.78	1	1

Grand Prix Final Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE	USA	110.19	52.56		57.63	9.54	9.46	9.71	9.75	9.68	0.00	#6
2	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR	CAN	108.56	51.70		56.86	9.39	9.29	9.61	9.61	9.64	0.00	#5
3	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	101.48	48.78		52.70	8.79	8.61	8.82	8.86	8.96	0.00	#4
4	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	99.53	50.21		49.32	8.11	7.96	8.39	8.36	8.50	0.00	#2
5	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	92.80	43.50		49.30	8.43	7.86	8.43	8.21	8.36	0.00	#1
6	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	91.86	44.83		49.03	7.96	8.07	8.07	8.57	8.32	2.00	#3

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE	USA	183.39	1	1
2	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR	CAN	179.83	2	2
3	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	170.18	3	3
4	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	165.64	5	4
5	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	158.09	4	6
6	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	156.36	6	5

Grand Prix Final Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE	USA	73.20	35.15		38.05	9.43	9.36	9.57	9.61	9.57	0.00	#6
2	Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR	CAN	71.27	34.01		37.26	9.25	9.07	9.39	9.39	9.43	0.00	#5
3	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	68.70	33.58		35.12	8.79	8.61	8.82	8.93	8.75	0.00	#4
4	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	66.23	32.65		33.58	8.32	8.14	8.46	8.50	8.50	0.00	#3
5	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	66.11	33.93		32.18	7.96	7.86	8.18	8.18	8.04	0.00	#1
6	Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV	RUS	63.56	30.43		33.13	8.39	8.04	8.39	8.39	8.21	0.00	#2

Trophee Eric Bompard Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	100.42	47.84		53.58	8.93	8.71	9.00	9.04	9.14	1.00	#8
2	Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE	USA	88.69	44.61		44.08	7.46	7.14	7.39	7.54	7.32	0.00	#5
3	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO	RUS	87.80	41.38		46.42	7.93	7.43	7.79	7.79	7.93	0.00	#6
4	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	87.08	38.85		50.23	8.36	8.04	8.46	8.64	8.61	2.00	#7
5	Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV	AZE	85.54	42.22		43.32	7.11	7.04	7.29	7.39	7.43	0.00	#4
6	Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER	CAN	83.87	42.29		41.58	7.00	6.64	6.96	7.14	7.11	0.00	#3
7	Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO	RUS	78.38	38.54		39.84	6.82	6.36	6.75	6.75	6.68	0.00	#2
8	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	71.88	33.37		39.51	6.64	6.43	6.61	6.64	6.71	1.00	#1

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	168.90	1	1
2	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	153.26	2	4
3	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO	RUS	146.03	3	3
4	Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE	USA	145.23	4	2
5	Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV	AZE	140.30	5	5
6	Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER	CAN	135.86	6	6
7	Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO	RUS	128.26	7	7
8	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	120.23	8	8

Trophee Eric Bompard Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	68.48	33.50		34.98	8.64	8.50	8.75	8.79	8.96	0.00	#8
2	Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE	ITA	66.18	33.07		33.11	8.18	8.14	8.36	8.29	8.39	0.00	#7
3	Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO	RUS	58.23	28.08		30.15	7.68	7.29	7.57	7.46	7.64	0.00	#5
4	Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE	USA	56.54	27.85		28.69	7.25	7.00	7.21	7.11	7.25	0.00	#3
5	Julia ZLOBINA / Alexei SITNIKOV	AZE	54.76	27.36		27.40	6.86	6.61	6.93	6.96	6.86	0.00	#2
6	Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER	CAN	51.99	25.50		26.49	6.75	6.46	6.71	6.54	6.64	0.00	#1
7	Ekaterina PUSHKASH / Jonathan GUERREIRO	RUS	49.88	24.28		26.60	6.79	6.43	6.75	6.71	6.57	1.00	#4
8	Pernelle CARRON / Lloyd JONES	FRA	48.35	20.99		27.36	6.79	6.75	6.82	6.93	6.89	0.00	#6

Top Senior Dance Scores

Short Dance

1. Davis/White: 77.12 (World Championships)
2. Virtue/Moir: 75.12 (Four Continents)
3. Bobrova/Soloviev: 70.05 (World Championships)
4. Pechalat/Bourzat: 69.65 (World Championships)
5. Ilinykh/Katsalapov: 68.98 (European Championships)
6. Cappellini/Lanotte: 67.93 (World Championships)
7. Weaver/Poje: 67.54 (World Championships)
8. Chock/Bates: 66.74 (World Championships)
9. Shibutani/Shibutani: 66.14 (World Championships)
10. Riazanova/Tkachenko: 64.52 (European Championships)

Free Dance

1. Davis/White: 112.68 (Four Continents)
2. Virtue/Moir: 111.17 (World Championships)
3. Pechalat/Bourzat: 101.48 (Grand Prix Final)
4. Ilinykh/Katsalapov: 100.16 (European Championships)
5. Cappellini/Lanotte: 100.11 (World Championships)
6. Bobrova/Soloviev: 99.83 (European Championships)
7. Weaver/Poje: 98.66 (World Championships)
8. Chock/Bates: 98.37 (World Team Trophy)
9. Gilles/Poirier: 97.63 (Four Continents)
10. Shibutani/Shibutani: 96.71 (Four Continents)

Total (only top score listed)

1. Davis/White: 189.56 (World Championships)
2. Virtue/Moir: 185.04 (World Championships)
3. Pechalat/Bourzat: 170.18 (Grand Prix Final)
4. Bobrova/Soloviev: 169.25 (European Championships)
5. Ilinykh/Katsalapov: 169.14 (European Championships)
6. Cappellini/Lanotte: 168.04 (World Championships)
7. Weaver/Poje: 166.20 (World Championships)
8. Chock/Bates: 164.91 (World Team Trophy)
9. Shibutani/Shibutani: 159.97 (Four Continents)
10. Gilles/Poirier: 157.83 (Four Continents)

Total (all scores listed)

1. Davis/White: 189.56 (World Championships)
2. Davis/White: 187.36 (Four Continents)
3. Virtue/Moir: 185.04 (World Championships)
4. Virtue/Moir: 184.32 (Four Continents)
5. Davis/White: 183.39 (Grand Prix Final)
6. Virtue/Moir: 179.83 (Grand Prix Final)
7. Davis/White: 178.48 (NHK Trophy)
8. Davis/White: 176.28 (Skate America)
9. Virtue/Moir: 173.99 (Rostelecom Cup)
10. Pechalat/Bourzat: 170.18 (Grand Prix Final)
11. Pechalat/Bourzat: 169.73 (Cup of China)
12. Virtue/Moir: 169.41 (Skate Canada)
13. Bobrova/Soloviev: 169.25 (European Championships)
14. Bobrova/Soloviev: 169.19 (World Championships)
15. Ilinykh/Katsalapov: 169.14 (European Championships)
16. Pechalat/Bourzat: 168.90 (Trophee Eric Bompard)
17. Cappellini/Lanotte: 168.04 (World Championships)
18. Weaver/Poje: 166.20 (World Championships)
19. Cappellini/Lanotte: 165.80 (European Championships)
20. Cappellini/Lanotte: 165.64 (Grand Prix Final)

Cup of China Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	100.58	48.83		52.75	8.71	8.58	8.88	8.92	9.04	1.00	#8
2	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	95.14	44.50		50.64	8.33	8.13	8.58	8.71	8.71	0.00	#6
3	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	93.38	44.25		49.13	8.13	7.96	8.33	8.33	8.38	0.00	#7
4	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	90.28	45.92		44.36	7.25	7.17	7.54	7.58	7.63	0.00	#5
5	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	82.37	41.45		40.92	6.75	6.58	6.92	7.00	7.04	0.00	#3
6	Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI	ITA	82.01	42.42		40.59	6.75	6.58	6.83	6.92	6.88	1.00	#4
7	Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG	CHN	74.25	36.89		37.36	6.21	6.08	6.42	6.33	6.21	0.00	#2
8	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	63.45	31.00		32.45	5.42	5.21	5.46	5.71	5.38	0.00	#1

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	169.73	1	1
2	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	159.46	3	2
3	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	158.97	2	3
4	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	149.54	4	4
5	Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI	ITA	137.58	5	6
6	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	137.46	6	5
7	Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG	CHN	121.01	7	7
8	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	106.42	8	8

Cup of China Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT	FRA	69.15	34.00		35.15	8.67	8.50	8.92	8.88	8.92	0.00	#8
2	Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE	CAN	65.59	32.83		32.76	8.17	7.96	8.29	8.25	8.25	0.00	#7
3	Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV	RUS	64.32	31.50		32.82	8.17	7.75	8.33	8.46	8.25	0.00	#6
4	Madison CHOCK / Evan BATES	USA	59.26	30.90		28.36	6.96	6.83	7.25	7.25	7.13	0.00	#2
5	Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI	ITA	55.57	29.17		26.40	6.50	6.33	6.75	6.71	6.67	0.00	#3
6	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	55.09	28.25		26.84	6.67	6.50	6.71	6.92	6.71	0.00	#4
7	Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG	CHN	46.76	21.99		24.77	6.25	5.88	6.25	6.38	6.17	0.00	#5
8	Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG	CHN	42.97	20.58		22.39	5.54	5.38	5.83	5.71	5.54	0.00	#1

Cup of China Dance Preview

Pechalat and Bourzat are the reigning World Bronze medalists but this could be a three-way race for gold.  Weaver and Poje train alongside the French and were nipping at their heels all season, finishing just off the podium in 4th place at Worlds.  Bobrova and Soloviev showed great improvement in their posture and expression at Skate America and narrowly defeated Weaver and Poje for the silver medal. These teams will be neck and neck and any mistake could cost them the title.

Pechalat and Bourzat are debuting here while the other two teams have already competed twice.  They won't have the benefit of judge's feedback on their levels and choreography and will have to shake off some of the competitive rust.

Weaver and Poje lost ground when they didn't achieve the levels they were looking for in their free dance.  If they can clean up those elements they should be able to edge out a lead over the Russians.  They'll need at least a silver medal if they want a chance to make the Grand Prix Final.

Bobrova and Soloviev have tended the last few seasons to start strong and gradually slip as the season continues.  They'll need to buck this trend and show improvement from event to event if they want to hold off up and coming Russian teams.  They'l need a medal of any kind to have a shot at the Final but a silver medal or better will give them their best chance.

Two potential spoilers are Chock and Bates who have not won a Grand Prix medal yet but have received rave reviews for their Dr. Zhivago free dance and Sinitsina and Zhiganshin, the reigning World Junior Champions who are making their senior debut.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Pechalat/Bourzat
Silver: Weaver/Poje
Bronze: Bobrova/Soloviev

Bios of the competitors:
Weaver/Poje, CAN: They finished 4th at Worlds and are the reigning Four Continents Bronze Medalists.  They won bronze at Skate America.  They placed 4th at the Grand Prix Final last season.  They are the 2010 Four Continents Champions and 2007 World Junior Bronze Medalists.  Their personal best is 166.55.  She is 23 and he is 25.

Huang/Zheng, CHN: They placed 12th at Worlds.  They placed 5th at Cup of China and 6th at Trophee Eric Bompard last season.  Their personal best is 130.29.  She is 25 and he is 25.

Yu/Wang, CHN: They placed 7th at Four Continents.  They finished 6th at Cup of China last season.  Their personal best is 125.75.  She is 26 and he is 26.

Pechalat/Bourzat, FRA: They are the reigning World Bronze Medalists and European Champions.  They won silver at Skate America and Trophee Eric Bompard last season to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won bronze.  They are the 2011 European Champions.  Their personal best is 169.69.  She is 28 and he is 31.

Guignard/Fabbri, ITA: They placed 11th at Europeans.  Their personal best is 129.46.  She is 23 and he is 24.

Bobrova/Soloviev: RUS: They placed 7th at Worlds and are the reigning European Silver Medalists.  They won silver at Skate America.  They placed 6th at the Grand Prix Final last season.  They are the 2011 European Silver Medalists and  2007 World Junior Champions.  Their personal best is 163.52.  She is 22 and he is 23.

Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS: They are the reigning Junior World Champions.  They won gold at JGP Poland and JGP Austria last season to qualify for the JGP Final where they won gold.  Their personal best is 153.81.  She is 17 and he is 20.

Chock/Bates, USA: They finished 4th at Skate Canada and 5th at Trophee Eric Bompard last season.  Their personal best is 135.10.  She is 20 and he is 23.