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Lajoie and Lagha fourth at Finlandia Open

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ESPOO, Finland – World junior champions Marjorie Lajoie Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., came within less than two points of a podium finish and placed fourth in ice dancing on Sunday at the Finlandia Open figure skating competition.

The competition is the sixth stop of the 2019 ISU Challenger Series, a tune-up for the Grand Prix season which starts next week in Las Vegas with Skate America.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. won the gold medal with 198.26 points, Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu of China were second at 183.09, Betina Popova and Sergey Mozgov of Russia were third at 175.24 and the Canadians followed at 173.69.

Last month at an event in Italy, Lajoie and Lagha placed seventh.

“It went super well,” said Lajoie. “Our ability to comeback from that disappointing result two weeks ago is a big step up for us. We kept the focus on ourselves this time.”

In women’s competition, it was a 1-2 Russian finish. Alena Kostornaia was first, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva second and Yuhana Yokoi of Japan was third.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., ranked 11th for her free skate to climb from 15th to 13th overall.

“I’m very proud of what I did,” said Daleman, a two-time Olympian. “It’s great to be back. It’s been a long journey. I came here to compete and it was just a stepping stone.”

Canada won two bronze medals on Saturday earned by Lubov Ilyushechkina of Toronto and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., in pairs and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughn, Ont. in the men’s event.

Full results: CS Finlandia Trophy Espoo 2019

Two bronze medals for Canada at Finlandia Trophy

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ESPOO, Finland – New pairs partners Lubov Ilyushechkina of Toronto and Charlie Bilodeau of Trois-Pistoles, Que., won the bronze medal in their competitive debut on Saturday and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughn, Ont. was also third in men’s singles at the Finlandia Open figure skating competition.

The competition is the sixth stop of the 2019 ISU Challenger Series, a tune-up for the Grand Prix season which starts next week in Las Vegas with Skate America.

It was a 1-2 Russian finish in pairs as Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov took the gold with 194.28 points. Alisa Efimova and Alexander Korovin were second at 194.28 and Ilyushechkina and Bilodeau followed at 193.58.

“For a first ever international competition together with only seventh months training we couldn’t have hoped for better,” said Bilodeau, ninth at the 2018 Olympic Games with his former partner Julianne Séguin. “It really sets us up well to improve even more in training and do better at our next event.”

“We were nervous but it was exciting,” added Ilyushechkina, who earned two top-10 world championship performances with former partner Dylan Moscovitch. “It was very satisfying to put out two well skated programs.”

Evelyn Walsh of London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud of Trenton, Ont., move from eighth to sixth with 151.72 out of 11 entries.

In men’s competition, Olympic silver medallist Shoma Uno of Japan won the gold with 255.23. His compatriot Sota Yamamoto was second at 223.24 just ahead of Sadovsky at 222.23

“The short program was the best I’ve ever done but the long could have been better,” said Sadovsky.

In ice dancing, world junior champions Marjorie Lajoie Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., are in fourth place after the rhythm dance at 70.75. That is 0.61 points better than their score at the world juniors last winter.

Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the U.S. lead at at 78.80, Betina Popova and Sergey Mozgov of Russia are second at 72.11 and Shiyue Wang and Xinyu Liu of China third at 71.68.

Gabrielle Daleman of Newmarket, Ont., is 15th after the women’s short program.

Competition ends Sunday with the free dance and women’s free skate.

Full results: CS Finlandia Trophy Espoo 2019

Eight Canadian skaters headed to Finland for Finlandia Trophy

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada will have five entries, for a total of eight skaters competing at the 2019 Finlandia Trophy in Espoo, Finland. Canada will have one entry in men, one entry in women, two entries in pairs and one entry in ice dance. This event marks the 24th edition of the Finlandia Trophy and it is the sixth stop of the 2019 ISU Challenger Series.

Roman Sadovsky, 20, Vaughn, Ont., will be the lone Canadian entry in men. Last season, Sadovsky finished 12th at Skate Canada International and seventh at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. He is coached by Tracey Wainman and Grzegorz Filipowski in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Gabrielle Daleman, 21, Newmarket, Ont., will be the lone Canadian entry in women. Daleman finished fifth at the 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and 11th at the 2019 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. She is coached by Lee Barkell in Toronto, Ont.

Lubov Ilyushechkina, 27, Toronto, Ont., and Charlie Bilodeau, 26, Trois-Pistoles, Que., will be the first Canadian entry in pairs. This will be the first ever competition for this team, having announced their partnership in March. The two are coached by Richard Gauthier in Saint-Léonard, Que.

National pairs silver medallists, Evelyn Walsh, 18, London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, 23, Trenton, Ont., will be the second Canadian pairs entry. Last season, the two made their ISU World Figure Skating Championships debut where they finished 12th. They are coached by Alison Purkiss in Brantford, Ont.

National junior ice dance champions, Marjorie Lajoie, 18, Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, 20, Saint-Hubert, Que., will be the lone ice dancers representing Canada. Last season, the two brought home a gold medal at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. They are coached by Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon and Romain Haguenauer in Montreal, Que.

Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada High Performance Director will be the team leader at the event. Physiotherapist Mireille Landry of Toronto, Ont., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Karen Howard of Regina, Sask., and Nicole LeBlanc-Richard of Dieppe, N.B., will be the Canadian officials attending the event.

For more information, please visit www.isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT FINLANDIA TROPHY – ESPOO, FINLAND

DISCIPLINE NAME AGE HOMETOWN CLUB COACH
Men Roman Sadovsky 20 Vaughn, Ont. York Region Skating Academy Tracey Wainman / Grzegorz Filipowski
Women Gabrielle Daleman 21 Newmarket, Ont. Granite Club Lee Barkell
Pair Lubov Ilyushechkina / Charlie Bilodeau 27 / 26 Toronto, Ont. / Trois-Pistoles, Que. CPA Saint-Léonard / CPA Chambly Richard Gauthier
Pair Evelyn Walsh / Trennt Michaud 18 / 23 London, Ont. / Trenton, Ont. London SC / Trenton SC Alison Purkiss
Ice Dance Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha 18 / 20 Boucherville, Que. / Saint-Hubert, Que. CPA Boucherville / CPA Saint-Lambert Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon / Romain Haguenauer