There are five pairs in the pairs’ field at this week’s Four Continents Championships who could walk away with the title. But the circumstances for each pair’s road to victory are totally different. For some, it will be about skating cleanly, for others, it will be about needing others to be as inconsistent as they have been all season. Either way, this pairs’ event is looking to be a very close race.
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Chinese pairs have won the Four Continents title ten times in the 13 times that the competition has been competed, including the past five. Without either defending champions Qing Pang and Jian Tong or former Olympic silver medalists Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang in the mix, it will be up to Wenjing Sui and Cong Han to continue that streak. But there are many other pairs who could be the spoilers.
GOLD Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford CAN – The new Canadian champions are hoping to continue their strong season with another gold this week. I don’t see them as the best in the field in either the technical or the program components department, but they are the strongest combination of the two. Still a bit raw in their skating in their second season together, Duhamel/Radford is nevertheless supremely exciting, and their enthusiasm is infectious. That side-by-side triple lutz in the free skate doesn’t hurt either.
WATCH: Duhamel/Radford Grand Prix Final short program
WATCH: Duhamel/Radford Grand Prix Final free skate
SILVER Wenjing Sui/Cong Han CHN – Expect a quad twist and a throw quad salchow, both of which they have attempted this season. They have done clean quad twists, but the quad salchow is a bit more elusive (they most recently had a two-footed quad sal at the Chinese Winter Games). Their consistency this season has been on and off, which is a bad thing for a pair who depends greatly on their tricks. Gold is possible, but while Sui/Han have a big technical advantage over the other pairs, their programs are still at a less refined level than those of their competitors.
WATCH: Sui/Han JGPF short program
WATCH: Sui/Han JGPF free skate
BRONZE Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig USA – Nationals was quite the downer for the two-time U.S. silver medalists, who was left off the World team after struggling with their side-by-side jumps in both programs and finishing third. They have the two strongest programs in the event, and getting their jumps in order could vault them to the top. Their performances and placement at Four Continents could be a major factor in their decision to continue compete next season.
WATCH: Evora/Ladwig Trophee Eric Bompard short program
WATCH: Evora/Ladwig Trophee Eric Bompard free skate
4. Caydee Denney/John Coughlin USA – Their strength lies in consistency – of all the pairs in the competition, you would most expect them to be able to deliver two clean programs. But Denney/Coughlin wouldn’t win this competition on the merit of their programs alone; they would need mistakes from the other teams. The podium is certainly within their reach this week, but they will have to be clean to get there.
5. Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran JPN – There are all sorts of similarities between them and Evora/Ladwig. The two pairs are the most complete teams in the field, but neither team can figure out how to get themselves consistent. The even bigger issue is the fact that they have problems with both their side-by-side jumps and their throws, whereas many other teams really only have issues with their side-by-side jumps. At their best, they can take the title, but is it quite their time yet?
Others to watch for:
Jessica Dube/Sebastien Wolfe CAN – The surprise silver medalists at Canadians, Dube/Wolfe have made some nice inroads since the Grand Prix series. They discovered their triple twist and are skating stronger as a pair. Dube, of course, has had much more big-competition experience than Wolfe has, and their inexperience will be tested this week.
Mary Beth Marley/Rockne Brubaker USA – In their second season together, Marley/Brubaker skated strongly and handled the pressure of leading after the short program well to capture the silver at Nationals. Four Continents will be an opportunity for them to build on that momentum and make a strong case for themselves in international competition. The potential is there, now they need to capitalize.
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