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Bofrost Cup 2003 - Pairs LP

The Pairs LP was the first competition of Saturday, the field had gotten a bit measly overall :P ,especially after Fitze & Rex withdrew, but it was fun to watch anyway, since all the 4 pairs were enjoyable.

Handke & Wende are a young German pair that I had not seen yet. I really liked their overall look, she's an elegant cute girl and they fit together quite well. They also got a "pairs look" already at least. They started their program with sbs-2axels, he touched down. Their 2twist was tight. They tried sbs-3t's, but she fell and he doubled and the throw-3loop was 2footed. One of their main problems at the moment is that they are generally slow and additionally they always lost speed when coming out of the elements, so there was no flow to their program and skating. They then did a lasso lift, some transitional moves, a throw-3salchow that was heavily 2footed, followed by an interesting hip lift with change of positions and then a press lift into a hip lift. The music was something nice and classical that built excitement towards the end. They finished waaaaaaay behind their music unfortunately. Of course this was by no means a good skate and they have a lot of work to do, but what I liked about them is that they are overall pleasant to watch and that their program actually had quite nice choreography with a couple of transitions that went well with the music.

Putnam & Wirtz had a rather catastrophic 3twist, that was just saved, but then did sbs 3s - 2t nicely and close together and their throw-3loop was good. She then did a single spin, while he skated a circle around her and then they went into a pairs spin from that (bit shaky). She singled the sbs-2axel attempt. She then fell badly (flat on the stomach) on the entry of the sbs spin. After the circular footwork, they did a good throw-3salchow and the music then went on to something more dramatic and they gained speed. Their lifts overall are rather easy at the moment. Overall it was a rather good performance (except for the fall on the spin, the other mistakes did not disrupt the performance) and I really liked how the music and choreography built power over the course of the program and how they had the energy for the last powerful part, so that they were able to skate it convincingly. And a great music choice :) Nice spirals too. Overall their skating still tends to be a bit "shaky" (and some of the elements certainly need work, for example the 3twist and all their lift entries looked a bit laboured), but I really love their style and how they look together, it's nice to see a tall girl with a tall guy, they match so beautifully.

Obertas & Slavnov started with sbs3t in sequence with 2t. Their 3twist was high, but both screwed up the sbs-2axels (didn't note down how exactly). They then did a throw-3flip, followed by a good lasso lift and a really interesting BODS variation where she held one of her skates with her hand (had not seen that before) with a change of edge in the middle. The music, which had been fast and modern so far, now went to a soft part. She had a touchdown on the throw-3loop, then stepped out and unfortunately went into the boards. They did a cool gliding element where she was in a split position on the ice, followed by a lift with good ice coverage that started out in a star lift position and then she went up and he just held her at one of her legs. They also had a rather good skate overall, they looked a bit more polished than Putnam & Wirtz, but the program doesn't really have all that much choreography and transitions. Most of the choreography at the moment consists of "dancing on one spot" movements that were fun to watch though of course. What I liked best is that they had some really cool elements and overall I really liked the soft part more than the techno parts. I think he's a much better partner for her than Sokolov, because they now look like a promising dynamic young pair, which is not really the impression that Sokolov ever managed to convey ;)

Marcoux & Buntin (I'm still not sure if I'm spelling her name correctly!) wore really nice costumes and skated to some Spanish style music. The 3twist was again a bit tight. They started their program with good speed, the music in the first part was fast and energetic too. They did a throw-3loop and sbs-3t's into 2toe's. Their skating really came across as powerful. They did a lift with rather good ice coverage. The music now turned into something soft (still Spanish sounding) and they did a difficult entry into their death spiral and a very nice spiral sequence with good ice coverage, followed by sbs-3toeloops, a nice lasso. Their skate overall was really great to watch, it was a very good performance, they were energetic and definitely "on", plus they had good speed and flow, very nice choreography, expressing the Spanish feeling well, conveyed a good "pairs feeling" and they have lots of chemistry too. Overall a really cool skate and great to watch.