2007 Worlds - Pairs FP

It was sad that Petrova / Tikhonov withdrew (because they had placed so low in the SP evil minds would say), but it was even more moving seeing Dorota cry by the boards when her husband got injured during the warm-up. Maybe both pairs should have retired after the Euros and not just wait until Worlds and be forced to withdraw.

1 Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO CHN 203.50 1 1 – not as good as their Turandot (?) World performance that earned them a gold medal but more than enough for them to get the title
2 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 188.46 3 2 – I liked their SP slightly better but it was still good and the costumes were better even if they had nothing to do with the theme of their program. They remain my second favorite pair at the moment.
3 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 187.39 2 3 – they both made mistakes, nerves I guess, too bad
4 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Stanislav MOROZOV UKR 173.62 8 5 – while I don’t usually like them they were unexpectedly good, they improved a lot since their first apparition on the international skating scene
5 Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG CHN 173.39 10 4 – many mistakes and overall lacking in quality, far from their good form from last season

I’m happy with the podium. :)

2007 Worlds - Men SP

I’ve only seen the last two groups, wished I had seen more.

1 Brian JOUBERT FRA 83.64 – he sure delivered, no mistakes, nothing major anyway, Bond is a good program and the costumes is nice too
2 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN 79.90 – he fails to impress me, his artistry is not bad I suppose but there is no story to his program
3 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 74.51 – I knew he was something special since the first time I’ve seen it coached by Tarasova a couple of years ago, I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the podium
4 Johnny WEIR USA 74.26 – not a convincing program, I’ve seen him do better
5 Evan LYSACEK USA 73.49 – not bad, of course he’s very far from Yagudin’s routine on the same music, but he’s not a kid anymore
6 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI 72.70 – too bad he failed two jumps, his program was better than most of those ranked above him
7 Christopher MABEE CAN 71.33 – missed this one
8 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR 70.72 – missed him too and I really wanted to see him
9 Tomas VERNER CZE 70.45 – he doubled the Axel unfortunately and performed less well then he did at the Euros but I hope he can climb up a bit with the FP
10 Alban PREAUBERT FRA 70.06 – I liked him better than expected, more than at the Euros anyway
11 Emanuel SANDHU CAN 69.42 – could have been well, but it wasn’t and I’m afraid his time is gone.

2007 Worlds - Ice Dance CD

Since there isn’t much to say let me be picky and mean.
As a general observation there was so much skin it felt like a day at the beach and so many hairless chests ewww I wonder if they shaved?

Kristin FRASER / Igor LUKANIN – isn’t yet the time for her to retire, she looks old
Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVISKI – always liked them since they first showed up with that African dance, liked the pink dress, she must really like it too since I’ve seen it last season too
Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON – less impressed with her hair than I was last season and good God someone should have put on a warning to put on sunglasses before she showed up in that green neon dress
Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER – she looks good in yellow like she did at the Olympics only that this particular costume makes her breasts look double in size
Sinead KERR / John KERR – don’t know why but blue just doesn’t work for me on ice, still the costume was rather nice from close
Alexandra ZARETSKI / Roman ZARETSKI – simple red diva dress worked for her in spite of her big thighs
Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI – didn’t like the dress
Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN – very sexy the black veil over the 50’s pink swimming suit
Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI – black and gold sexy dress like the one she wore at the Euros gala, wait it was that dress
Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO – worst outfit of the CD, too busy showing too much and just awful dress, her designer should be fired! I preferred her blonde, nice earrings though.

Ice Dance CD Results:
1 Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON CAN 38.96 1
2 Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVISKI BUL 37.42 2
3 Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN RUS 37.29 3
4 Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER FRA 37.20 4
5 Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO USA 37.17 5
6 Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI RUS 33.32 6
7 Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI ITA 33.29 7
8 Sinead KERR / John KERR GBR 32.09 8

2007 Worlds - Pairs SP

Marylin PLA / Yannick BONHEUR – shaky as overall impression
Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG – some asynchronization, not their best program
Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN, Anabelle LANGLOIS / Cody HAY, Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON – ah, the Canadians! It felt like the Canadian Nationals when their group was on. What can I say, they’re good and relatively close in value but they just don’t sparkle.
Dominika PIATKOWSKA / Dmitri KHROMIN – Poland has good replacements for the main champions who will retire after this season
Dorota SIUDEK / Mariusz SIUDEK – a hesitation at the landing but they skated very fast with their usual lovely style
Qing PANG / Jian TONG – she is so thin and the costume didn’t do her any favors but their fluidity in movements is wonderful
Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Stanislav MOROZOV – they’re getting better but they’re not quite there yet
Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY – oh they’re good, really good, but I liked Pang & Tong better
Diana RENNIK / Aleksei SAKS – they made mistakes
Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alexander SMIRNOV – Russia switched from export to import? Interesting…
Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO – beautiful as ever, well above everyone else
Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV – felt bad for their mistakes, I loved their costumes.

Pairs SP Results:
1 Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO CHN 71.07
2 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY GER 67.65
3 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 66.75
4 Yuko KAWAGUCHI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 62.07
5 Valerie MARCOUX / Craig BUNTIN CAN 60.73
6 Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN USA 59.50
7 Jessica DUBE / Bryce DAVISON CAN 58.94
8 Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR / Stanislav MOROZOV UKR 57.62
9 Dorota SIUDEK / Mariusz SIUDEK POL 57.23
10 Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG CHN 57.00
11 Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV RUS 56.36

2007 Worlds - Ice Dancing Initial Comments

Albena DENKOVA / Maxim STAVISKI – hard to decide if I want him to win again or not, they sure can
Marie-France DUBREUIL / Patrice LAUZON – they have a lovely exhibition number on Serge Gainsbourg’s Ne me quite pas that they kept from last season I think
Isabelle DELOBEL / Olivier SCHOENFELDER – normally I want them to win, even if I’m not crazy about their FP
Sinead KERR / John KERR – is the Last Mohican this year or what? better than the Scottish number but not as good as Matrix in my opinion
Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI – the question is will they fall again?
Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN – don’t get what the fuss is about their FP
Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI – liked them a lot last season, even better than Domnina ans Shabalin at times and will for sure in the future
Tanith BELBIN / Benjamin AGOSTO – was never crazy about them, still ain’t

2007 Worlds - Pairs Initial Comments

Qing PANG / Jian TONG – liked them since 2002 Olympics, not podium material though
Xue SHEN / Hongbo ZHAO – I’d like to see a great skate like when they won their first World title, it might not be too much to ask for in their case
Dan ZHANG / Hao ZHANG – should insist more on artistry but they still have time
Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY – I like their dynamic style, if they win fair I won’t mind
Dorota SIUDEK / Mariusz SIUDEK – again a lovely couple, might be time for them to retire though
Maria PETROVA / Alexei TIKHONOV – I just can’t see them getting the gold this time unfortunately

2007 Worlds - Ladies Initial Comments

Joannie ROCHETTE – for some reason I’m not impressed of her skating
Kiira KORPI – really liked her even since last season, with a good coach she might just make it
Susanna POYKIO – lovely skating in spite of the not so great technique
Elene GEDEVANISHVILI – give her a couple of years, she might just sweep everything
Julia SEBESTYEN – I’m afraid her glory time is gone
Carolina KOSTNER – gracious, also boring, could make it top 5
Miki ANDO, Mao ASADA, Yukari NAKANO – I’m putting them together because I don’t know what surprises they might come up with, technique better than good possibly but not much else
Roxana LUCA – I’ll be surprised if she makes it for FP
Elena SOKOLOVA – top 10, maybe… or not
Lina JOHANSSON – she did good at Nordics, for her sake I hope she manages clean programs
Sarah MEIER – top 5 with a chance for the podium
Emily HUGHES – too heavy but she does fight for it
Kimmie MEISSNER – it will be interesting to see her results now after the last season World title.

2007 Worlds - Men Initial Comments

Sergei DAVYDOV – he did nicely at the Euros this season, he’s graceful and the technique isn’t bad, too bad his programs are boring
Jeffrey BUTTLE - haven’t seen him this season, could be a contender for the podium
Emanuel SANDHU – too inconsistent, when he does well he can be great, when he messes up he really messes up, top 10 I’d say
Tomas VERNER – really challenged Joubert at the Euros, would be nice to see him in top 5 though it might be a lot to ask
Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI – someday in the future he might be good
Brian JOUBERT – if he controls his nerves he can win, I hope he does
Alban PREAUBERT – he takes it over Stanick Jeannette, not sure I like that
Stefan LINDEMANN – this doesn’t seem to be his season
Karel ZELENKA – another hope for the future maybe
Daisuke TAKAHASHI – I liked him a couple of seasons ago, we’ll see how he does now
Zoltan KELEMEN – not expecting much from him, it’s too soon, he needs more training, don’t think he’ll qualify for FP
Andrei LUTAI – a childish Plushenko copy, wished he was more original than that
Gregor URBAS – well, sometimes I like him, sometimes I don’t…
Kristoffer BERNTSSON – love his short program and for once his FP is not classical crap he can’t pull through, he finally learned and does what he’s good at, good for him!
Stephane LAMBIEL – two times World champion, that should count to something, but we’ll see how much after all his injuries
Evan LYSACEK – he improved his choreography a lot, maybe not enough though
Johnny WEIR – great choreography usually though inconstant, still think he skates like a girl.

2007 World Figure Skating Championships

World Figure Skating Championships
20.03.2007 - 25.03.2007
Tokyo, Japan

Official Website

Entry Lists and Time Schedule

Looking forward to see the competition.

Will come back with more comments soon.

The Unofficial Alexei Yagudin Website

Website dedicated to 2002 Olympic gold medalist figure skater Alexei Yagudin.

The Unofficial Alexei Yagudin Website

http://alexeiyagudin.t15.org