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'98 World's Diaries: Day 1
Ladie's Practice / Men's Quals
General Remarks
First of all I am even less impressed by the organization here in Minneapolis than I was by Philadelphia. There is no list of the practice groups. So it is impossible to know when certain skaters are practicing. I went to Ladies practice first thing this morning and just missed seeing Michelle Kwan, you can imagine how I felt about that.Result sheets are not available and are not going to be made available. If you want to know what is going on in Minneapolis you have to go on the Internet even if you are here. The event program is mostly ads with precious little info about the skaters or the event.
*****warning, this is a quick run through of the days events. In order to post daily I just can't take the time to check all the name spellings, this is my closest approximations.
Ladie's Practice
Let's start with Ladies Practice. Tanja Szwenczko skated very well, hit all but one jump in her run through. Maria Butryskaia has yet a new hairdo and also did a very solid run through. Lucinda Ruh, Switzerland, started her warm up by doing a very long and fast scratch spin, bringing a loud ovation from the audience. Unfortunately she is having trouble with her jumps. Sylvia Fontana, Italy, did a great run through. She is such a fun and infectiously happy skater. I always get a kick out of watching her, she also landed some solid jumps, though she doesn't have the lutz.Men's Quals
Onto the Men's qualifying. The qualifying is supposed to be just a feel for what a skater can do, no one going all out. Or least that is what I have heard in the past. Todd Eldredge skated a program that would have won that medal for him had he skated it at the Olympics. He did two triple axels, including a triple axel/triple toe. He hit every triple except he did a triple flip/double toe combo. He has gone back to his First Knight program, except I think the choreography has improved and there is more footwork. He did a great job, skating with real intensity and had the crowd on their feet. This was his best free skate of the season, no question. Unfortunately he skated it in an almost meaningless qualifying round.Todd won group A, Plushenko, Russia won goup B. He skated a great performance and landed a quad. His choreogrpahy is weird, jazzy dance moves, but he knocked the crowd off it's feet. Guo of China landed two quads and the kitchen sink. His weakness is his presentation, he doesn't have any. Still I think his technical marks were far too low, in the 5.3 - 5.4 range.
Here is a look at some of the other men in the qualifying round.
Michael Weiss, USA - skated well, doubled a couple of things and two-footed second axel
Michael Shmerkin, Israel - Poor Misha, missed all but three jumps. Great footwork and presentation, his presentation marks were much higher than technical and helped him to hold on.
Steven Cousins, Great Britain - Missed a lot of jumps including both triple axels. Good Presentation, but he is more Ashley Wilkes than Rhett. Shae-Lynn Bourne, Barabara Underhill and Angela DeRochie were sitting together and loudly cheering him on.
Emanuel Sandhu - The Canadian who didn't get to go to the Olympics. Very nice style, some wobbly landings, skating to Michelle's short program music.
Margus Hernits, Estonia - Never heard of this kid. He is young so he has time. He doesn't have a triple axel yet, but he landed five triples. Very stylish, with very innovative choreography.
Yamoto Tamura, Japan - I really like him. He looks young. He did a great Ina Bauer into a double axel. Great presentation really felt the music.
Takeshi Honda, Japan - two footed both his axels. His posture is much improved, needs to get those jumps.
Anthony Liu, Australia - Carol Heiss is coach. Tried the quad and fell. Stepped out of triple axel.
Yagudin, Russia - Landed every triple, two triple axels, two triple/triple combos. No quad.
Cover Page, Next Day
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