Quebec-based Pair Dominate Opening Night of 2023 Autumn Classic International

Pierrefonds, Quebec (September 14, 2023) – 2023 Canadian pair champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek of Chicago, USA and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorian, Que., dominated the first night of competition on Thursday at the 2023 Autumn Classic International taking place in Pierrefonds, Que., finishing their short program more than 12 points ahead of the reigning world champions from Japan with a score of 71.90.

“We were coming here just to show off what we worked on this summer, and we’re proud and happy to have been able to deliver a performance like this after all of the work we did this summer,” said Deschamps following the competition.

Stellato-Dudek added: “We really focussed this summer on adding speed and power. We made some new lift positions, more signature to us, and we’re really looking forward to showing those – we did one of them today. We have really unique programs and program choices, and we’re really excited to debut our ‘Interview with the Vampire’ program tomorrow.”

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan, the 2023 World Pair Champions who live and train in Oakville, Ont., sit second with a score of 59.13, while Emmanuelle Proft of Ottawa, Ont., and her partner Nicolas Nadeau of Boisbriand, Que., are sitting in third with a score of 58.44. Caidence Derenisky and Raine Eberl of Regina, Sask., are sitting fifth with a score of 52.76.

Justine Miclette of Chambly, Que., had the top Canadian performance in the women’s event with her short program scoring a 59.45 to put her in third at the end of the evening.

“It was a pretty good skate, I was supposed to do the triple flip-triple toe, but I wasn’t feeling super good on the triple toe, so I did a double instead, and I was just trying to do a clean program all the way through because of that,” said Miclette who recently placed 11^th at the 2023 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. “My goal here was to enjoy every moment and so I think I nailed that on the short program.”

Kaiya Ruiter of Calgary, Alta., sits just behind Miclette in fourth with a score of 58.87.

Two-time women’s World Champion Kaori Sakamoto of Japan sits in first with a score of 75.62, while Audrey Shin of the USA sits second with a score of 60.07.

Friday will see the women’s and pair competitions wrap-up with their free skates, while the men will skate their short program, and the dance competition will begin with the rhythm dance. The event will wrap up Saturday with the men’s free skate and the free dance.

For full results please visit: https://skatecanada.ca/results/23aci/cscan2023/