(March 21, 2007)

Jeff with his ISU medal for his placement in the Short Program

Jeff Buttle's short program brought the Tokyo crowd to its feet.

The three-time Canadian Champion and 2006 Olympic bronze medallist from Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., who is competing in only his second international competition of the season after suffering from a back injury earlier in the season, skated an outstanding short program at the 2007 world championships to finish second only to Frenchman Brian Joubert.

Despite the early season injury, Buttle looked on form and landed a solid triple flip-triple toeloop combination, as well as a triple Axel and a triple Lutz. His program also featured difficult spins and exceptional footwork.

His score of 79.90 places him second heading into the free skate.

"I'm really happy with the way that I skated," said Buttle. "I've been skating really well all week and getting better and better, so I want to stay in that direction. I'm feeling really good, my back is not hurting at all."

Standing in seventh after the short program is Tillsonburg, Ont.'s Christopher Mabee. The Canadian silver medallist delivered a fabulous program and hit all of his elements. He was awarded a score of 71.33.

"I definitely nailed it," said Mabee. "I'm really not here for results but more for experience and definitely in preparation for 2010. (This short program) has encouraged me to go for the free skate."

Currently in 11th is Richmond Hill, Ont.'s Emanuel Sandhu. Sandhu, who had originally planned a quadruple toeloop-triple toeloop combination for his short program, changed the combination and landed a solid triple flip-triple toeloop combination. He fell on his triple Axel attempt.

Sandhu, whose score was 69.42, is looking to deliver a strong free skate on Thursday.

"You look at the points and third to 11th, where I am, is like five points and that's only one triple jump in the long program," said Sandhu. "There is a chance for a medal still."

Joubert skated a clean performance and earned top marks of 83.64 for his James Bond program, while Japan's Daisuke Takahashi, skating in front of a home country audience, was third with 74.51 points.

The men's competition continues with tomorrow's free skate. Both Mabee and Sandhu will skate in the second-to-last group, while Buttle has drawn to skate last in the final group.

Three Canadian pairs finish in top-10

All three Canadian pairs placed in the top-10 in Tokyo.

After finishing fifth in the short program, Valérie Marcoux, of Gatineau, Que., and Craig Buntin, of Kelowna, B.C., placed sixth in the free skate for a total score of 167.25, which placed them sixth overall.

"I just feel speechless right now," said Buntin. "We had such high expectations of ourselves here. We started off strong this season, getting off the ice knowing we could have done better is just really disappointing."

Canadian Champions Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison finished seventh in both the short program and the free skate to place seventh overall with 164.59 points. This result equaled their best finish at a world championship. They finished seventh at their first world championship a year ago in Calgary.

"We skated pretty well except for my Salchow," said Davison referring to his fall on the side-by-side triple Salchow. "This is not something I do often, so I'm a little disappointed in that, but I think we did what we wanted to do in the component mark. We wanted to do a bit better today. I think we are very satisfied with the way we came back from Four Continents."

Grand Mère, Que.'s Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay, of Grande Prairie, Alta., were 10th overall. The duo had been 13th in the short program but moved up to place ninth in the free skate and 10th overall with a score of 160.01. This was the duo's first time competing at the world championships.

"The consistency in our elements has really gone up this year," said Langlois. "We've got a couple of tricks up our sleeves that we're not going to (reveal). It's going to be a surprise for next year."

Capturing their third world title were China's Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao. The 2002 and 2003 world champions, who were first after the short program, delivered a solid performance to place first in the free skate and first overall with a total score of 203.50.

Shen and Zhao's teammates Qing Pang and Jian Tong, the 2006 world champions, were second with 188.46 points, while Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy won the bronze medal, earning a total score of 187.39.

A combined placement total of 13 or less by two pairs from a country is required to earn a third berth for the following year's championship. As Canada's total was 13, the country has qualified to send three pair entries to the 2008 world championships.

Debbi Wilkes and Chris Mabee		Jeff Buttle at CBC interview
Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay