Grand Prix Final Pairs Free Skate Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS	131.46	65.59		65.87	8.14	8.14	8.36	8.32	8.21	0.00	#5
2	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS	131.09	63.21		69.88	8.82	8.54	8.64	8.82	8.86	2.00	#6
3	Qing PANG / Jian TONG	CHN	128.07	61.67		66.40	8.46	8.04	8.32	8.32	8.36	0.00	#4
4	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN	122.89	63.11		59.78	7.64	7.25	7.43	7.61	7.43	0.00	#3
5	Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV	RUS	120.70	59.50		61.20	7.68	7.54	7.71	7.64	7.68	0.00	#1
6	Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH	CAN	119.50	61.05		58.45	7.36	7.21	7.32	7.32	7.32	0.00	#2

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Maxim TRANKOV	RUS	204.55	1	2
2	Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV	RUS	201.60	2	1
3	Qing PANG / Jian TONG	CHN	192.81	3	3
4	Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD	CAN	187.09	4	4
5	Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH	CAN	180.45	5	6
6	Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV	RUS	178.72	6	5

Grand Prix Final--Pairs Free Skate

Group 1

Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch, CAN

• Triple Twist--big crash into him on the landing but otherwise good
• 3T + 2A seq--She has a really low landing on the second jump but their timing was good
• 3LoTh--Another low landing but she hangs on to it
• Group 5 Lift--Nice position in this axel lift with a flip exit
• 3S--She takes a knee and spins around out of the landing
• Choreographic Spirals--They have decent positions here and I like their connection with each other
• Death Spiral--I wish she had a little more arch to her back and she kept her legs together
• Pairs spin--Nice position changes and nice transition out of the spins
• Group 5 Lift--Into the 2nd half and the bonus.  Great ice coverage throughout this lift and he skates on one leg.  Flip exit
• 3STh--Great landing on this jump
• Flying combination spin--Great unison on these spins
• Group 3 Lift--He lifts her from a lunge position on the ice and her air position is good.

59.21 TES + 52.63 PCS -1.00 = 110.84 and into 1st place

Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze, RUS

• 3S--nice timing and well landed for both of them
• Triple Twist--Great height and an easy catch for him away from his body
• 3T +2T seq--Great timing and beautifully executed
• 3FTh--Her air position was wobbly and she landed funny but she really fought for the landing and pulled it off
• Group 5 Lift--her air position is exquisite and the transition out of the lift is seamless
• Pairs spin--Their positions are different but their spins are super slow
• 3LoTh--Into the 2nd half and the bonus.  Great throw and a great landing from her
• Group 5 Lift--Great position where she is on her back and he's holding her with only one hand
• Combination spin--Timing looks slightly off but otherwise fine.
• Group 3 Lift--Press lift to a hip hold and onto her back again with only one hand holding
• Choreographic Spirals--Interesting with her foot on his body
• Death spiral--Nive position for her but a little bobble on the ending.
• Their program was solid, but the top teams will have 5 of their elements in the bonus and they only have 3.  This could hurt them in terms of their technical scores matching up with the teams above them.

60.99 TES + 56.39 PCS = 117.38 new seasons best and into 1st place

Wenjing Sui/Cong Han, CHN

• I like the matching roses on the back of their costumes
• 2A +2A seq--well timed and nicely done
• 4STh--They have so much speed going into it.  She completes the rotations but two foots it and falls to her knees.  I can't wait to see them actually land this in competition.
• 3T--He turns out of it
• Death Spiral
• Flying Combination Spin--Tons of speed and good unison 
• Choreographic Spirals--Incredible position for her in the spiral--reminescent of Caroline Zhang's pearl
• 3FTh--Into the bonus.  Huge throw and she really holds her landings with a nice high free leg
• Triple Twist--Nice and high with her arm over her head and he catches her away from his body
• Group 4 Lift--He flips her from upside down and presses into the lift.  The position changes are great and effortless.
• Pairs spin--Not a lot of speed through these spins but the positions are good.
• Group 5 Lift--Incredible one handed lift into the air
• Group 5 Lift--I like her flexibility but she could use a little more stretch through her legs in her air positions.
• I'm not sure if they can hold off the Russians with the two mistakes at the top of the program but they have some completely incredible moves that no one else can do and are a delight to watch.

63.28 TES + 55.27 PCS -1.00 = 117.55 new seasons best and into 1st place

Group 2

Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov, RUS

• 3T--She was sideways in the air and two footed the jump
• Triple Twist--Nice high throw and a clean catch away from his body
• 3FTh--She was a little off in the air and manages to hold on to the landing but doesn't get her free leg all teh way extended back
• 2A + 2A seq--She falls on the first jump and can't complete the combination and he falls on the 2nd jump
• Pairs spin--Great positions in their pairs spin and she is so stretched out through her legs
• Choreographic spirals--Nice position for both of them and I like thir movement around each other
• Group 5 Lift--Into the bonus.  Her air position is great and the exit is very intricate but so effortless
• 3LoTh--She nails this jump and has a great landing
• Group 3 Lift--Nice positions and position changes
• Flying Combination Spin--Great speed and unison and good positions
• Group 5 Lift--Great flight positions and he sets her down with one hand
• Death Spiral--Nice death spiral with the hand change.
• Some unfortunate mistakes at the top but otherwise a really nice program.  It's going to be close for the bronze.

57.40 TES + 57.54 PCS -2.00 = 112.94 and into 3rd place

Qing Pang/Jian Tong, CHN

• 2A+2A sequence--Nicely done but I'd like to see them hold on to their landings a little longer.
• 2T--I think he may have done a triple but she doubled hers
• Group 5 Lift--Nice press lift but her position could be a little more stretched
• Flying combination spin--Good speed and unison and their positions are nice
• Pair spin--Nice positions in this spin and good transitions between the positions
• Triple Twist--Into the bonus with great height and an easy catch away from his body.
• 3STh--Great height and a great landing by her
• Choreographic spirals--Nice stretched out positions
• Group 5 Lift--Nice position from her but I'd love to see slightly more arch in her back
• 3LoTh--She is forward and touches a hand to the ice, but otherwise good.
• Death Spiral--Not crazy about her death spiral position and I prefer the legs together
• Group 4 Lift--She could use a wider split position in this lift.
• Overall a good solid program but it doesn't wow me or touch me like Impossible Dream did last year.

55.20 TES + 66.10 PCS = 121.30 and into 1st place

Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy, GER

• She has sequins in all the wrong places on this costume.
• 3FTh--Huge throw with an easy landing
• 3T +3T Seq--slight timing issue on the 2nd set but otherwise solid
• Death Spiral--Not crazy about this death spiral position
• Flying Combination Spin--Great speed through their positions and a slight timing issue--he either let go too early or lost his leg
• Choreographic Spirals--She really shows off her fliexibility here
• Triple Twist--Into the bonus.  Good height but a little bit of a crash landing.
• 2S--She was a little wobbly on the landing but held on to it.
• Group 5 Lift--Nice air positions for her and a difficult position for him
• Pairs spin--Good positions but a little slow and nice transitions between the positions
• Group 5 Lift--Nicely done
• Group 3 Lift--Nice hold on her hip with one hand and a toss into a flip exit
• 3STh--Great throw and an easy landing for her
• Solid program and they should easily win gold.

67.48 TES + 68.84 PCS = 136.32 new seasons best and into 1st place

Top 3:
1) Savchenko/Szolkowy
2) Pang/Tong
3) Sui/Han

Top TES: Savchenko/Szolkowy
Top PCS: Savechenko/Szolkowy

Gold: Savchenko/Szolkowy
Silver: Pang/Tong
Bronze: Sui/Han

Trophee Eric Bompard Pairs Preview

Savchenko and Szolkowy started their season strong with a gold medal finish at Skate America.  They still hold the highest scores for the season and should have no problem bringing home the gold here.  They were over 20 points below their personal best, so look for them to bring their scores up here.  Bazarova/Larinov also had a strong first outing posting personal best scores and winning the silver medal.  They should repeat that feat here.  The third podium spot will likely be a toss up between Mylene Brodeur and John Mattatall of Canada and Hausch and Wende of Germany.

My podium predictions are:
Gold: Savchenko/Szolkowy
Silver: Bazarova/Larinov
Bronze: Brodeur/Mattatall

My USFSA Fantasy team is:
A) Savchenko/Szolkowy
B) Brodeur/Mattatall
C) Zhang/Toth

Information on all the competitors is below.

Mylene Brodeur/John Mattatall, CAN: They finished 7th at Four Continents with a personal best short program.  They finished 6th and 5th at their two Grand Prix assignments last season.  They finished 6th earlier this season at NHK Trophy with a personal best total score.

Klara Kadlecova/Petr Bidar, CZE: They finished 14th at the World Junior Championships.  They finished 7th at both their Junior Grand Prix assignments earlier this season.  This is their Grand Prix debut.

Maylin Hausch/Daniel Wende, GER: They finished 17th at the Olympics, 14th at Worlds and 9th at Europeans with a personal best short program.  They finished 7th earlier this season at NHK Trophy with a personal best free skate and total score.

Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy, GER: They won bronze at the Olympics with a personal best short program score and silver at Worlds and Europeans (with a personal best free skate and total score).  They have 2 additional Gold and 1 Bronze medal at the World Championships and 3 Gold and a silver at Europeans.  They won bronze at Trophee Eric Bompard and gold at Skate Canada last season, qualifying them for the Grand Prix Final where they won bronze.  They won gold at Skate America earlier this season.

Anna Khnychenkova/Mark Magyar, HUN: They finished 15th at the World Junior Championships with personal best scores across the board.  They finished 15th at their Junior Grand Prix assignment earlier this season.  This is their Grand Prix debut.

Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov, RUS: They finished 11th at the Olympics, 8th at Worlds and 5th at Europeans.  They finished 4th at their only Grand Prix competition last season.  They won silver earlier this season at NHK Trophy with personal best scores across the board.

Felicia Zhang/Taylor Toth, USA: Zhang and Toth finished 9th at World Juniors with personal best scores in the short program and total score.  They finished 6th and 11th at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments last season.  Zhang also competes internationally as a junior in singles.  They finished 7th at their Grand Prix debut at Skate America with personal best scores across the board.