Tag Archive for: 2017 Minsk Arena Cup

Canadian ice dancers skate personal best for fourth at ISU Junior Grand Prix

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MINSK, Belarus – Canadians Ashlynne Stairs and Lee Royer posted a personal best to finish fourth this weekend in ice dancing at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S., won the gold medal with 150.05 points with Anastasia Skoptcova and Kirill Aleshin of Russia second at 143.64 and Arina Ushakova and Maxim Nekrasov of Russia third at 142.94

Stairs and Royer, from Calgary and St. Albert, Alta., skated to music by Sean Lennon and followed at 126.97 to improve upon their fifth place at the second Junior Grand Prix earlier this month.

‘’We skated really well,’’ said Stairs. ‘’We improved our footwork a lot and got higher levels. Everything was just a lot better.’’

Nina Mizuki and Veniamins Volskis of Burnaby, B.C., were 12th.

Russian couples swept the medals in the pairs event with Daria Pavliuchenko and Denis Khodykin taking the gold.

Chloe Panetta Laval, Que., and Steven Lapointe of Laval, Que., soared from 10th to sixth while Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., were eighth.

Meanwhile at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Bratislava, Slovakia Natasha Purich of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Davin Portz of Calgary placed fifth in pairs; Nicolas Nadeau of Blainville, Que., sixth in men’s singles and Larkyn Austman of Coquitlam B.C. was 12 in women’s singles.

Full results Junior Grand Prix: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpblr2017/index.htm

Full results Ondrej Nepela Trophy: http://www.kraso.sk/wp-content/uploads/sutaze/2017_2018/20170921_ont/

Canadian ice dancers in medal hunt at ISU Junior Grand Prix

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MINSK, Belarus – Canadians Ashlynne Stairs and Lee Royer are in fourth place after the short dance on Friday at the fourth stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix figure skating circuit.

Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko of the U.S., lead the field with 63.77 points slightly ahead of Anastasia Skoptcova and Kirill Aleshin of Russia at 61.71. Arina Ushakova and Maxim Nekrasov of Russia are third at 59.62.

Stairs and Royer, from Calgary and St. Albert, Alta., follow at 55.58 as they look to improve upon their fifth place at the second Junior Grand Prix earlier this month.

Nina Mizuki and Veniamins Volskis of Burnaby, B.C., are ninth.

‘’We were disappointed,’’ said Volskis.

In pairs after the short program, Lori-Anne Matte and Thierry Ferland of Levis, Que., are in sixth place.

Ferland had his passport stolen in the stopover in Frankfurt and was forced to spend two days there to sort out the issue. They only had one day of practice together before the competition.

‘’All things considered, I think we got the job done,’’ said Ferland. ‘’We were very happy with how synchronized we were despite not skating together much this week.’’

Chloe Panetta Laval, Que., and Steven Lapointe of Laval, Que., were 10th as they made their junior Grand Prix debut.

‘’We didn’t do as well as we had hoped,’’ said Lapointe. ‘’I don’t think we were extra nervous we just made two errors that we normally don’t make. We plan on coming back stronger in the free skate.’’

Meanwhile at the Ondrej Nepela Trophy in Bratislava, Slovakia Natasha Purich of Sherwood Park, Alta., and Davin Portz of Calgary placed fifth in pairs.

Full results Junior Grand Prix: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/jgpblr2017/index.htm

Full results Ondrej Nepela Trophy: http://www.kraso.sk/wp-content/uploads/sutaze/2017_2018/20170921_ont/

ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit resumes as Team Canada heads to Belarus

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OTTAWA, ON: Canada will have four entries, for a total of eight skaters at the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix of the season, taking place in Minsk, Belarus. Canada will have two entries per discipline in pairs and ice dance at the event which takes place from September 20-23, 2017.

Canadian junior silver medallists Lori-Anne Matte, 17, Lévis, Que., and Thierry Ferland, 19, Lévis, Que., are the first Canadian pairs entry at the event. Last season, they placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic and fourth in Russia. Matte and Ferland also won the silver medal in the junior competition at the Bavarian Open, and placed ninth at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. They are coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte in St.-Leonard, Que.

Canadian novice champions Chloé Panetta, 14, Laval, Que., and Steven Lapointe, 20, Acton Vale, Que., are the second Canadian pairs entry at the event. This will be their first international assignment. Panetta and Lapointe are also coached by Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte in St.-Leonard, Que.

Canadian junior silver medallists Ashlynne Stairs, 17, Calgary, Alta. and Lee Royer, 19, St. Albert, Alta., are the first of two Canadian ice dance entries at the event. Last season, they finished seventh and fifth respectively at their ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments in France and Slovenia, won the bronze medal in junior at the 2017 Bavarian Open and placed 14th at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. This season, they placed fifth at their first ISU Junior Grand Prix assignment in Austria. Stairs and Royer are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe in Burnaby, B.C.

Nina Mizuki, 16, Burnaby, B.C., and Veniamins Volskis, 16, Burnaby, B.C., are the second Canadian entry in ice dance. This will be their first international assignment. Last season, they placed fifth in the novice category at the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Mizuki and Volskis are also coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe in Burnaby, B.C.

Scott Rachuk of Strathroy, Ont., and Bev Viger of Abbotsford, B.C., will be the Canadian team leaders at the event. Dr. Ed Pilat of Winnipeg, Man., and physiotherapist Meghan Buttle of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Andrew Bosco of Thorold, Ont., and Patty Klein of Mt. Royal, Que., will be the Canadian officials at the event.

For results and full entries please visit www.isu.org.

The ISU will be live streaming the competition via the ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube channel.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT ISU JGP #4 – MINSK, BELARUS

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Pairs Lori-Anne Matte / Thierry Ferland 17/19 Lévis, Que. / Lévis, Que., CPA St. Romuald – St. Jean / CPA St. Romuald – St. Jean Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Pairs Chloé Panetta / Steven Lapointe 14/20 Laval, Que. / Acton Vale, Que., CPA Les Lames D’Argent De Laval Inc. / CPA Les Étincelles D’Acton Vale Richard Gauthier / Bruno Marcotte
Ice Dance Ashlynne Stairs / Lee Royer 17/19 Calgary, Alta. / Ft. St. Albert, Alta. Champs International SC / Champs International SC Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe
Ice Dance Nina Mizuki / Veniamins Volskis 16/16 Burnaby, B.C. / Burnaby, B.C. Champs International SC / Champs International SC Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe