Young guns
Obertas, Palamarchuk lead pairs at world junior championships
Posted: Monday November 23, 1998 07:06 PM
ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Reigning champions Yulia Obertas and
Dmitry Palamarchuk of Ukraine led the short program of the pairs
Monday at the start of the world junior figure skating
championships.
The duo overshadowed their rivals in a competition where couples
try to express, through a pattern of unified moves and steps
including lifts, a feeling of harmony and teamwork. The short
program makes up 30 percent of final score.
Laura Handy, 18, and Paul Binnebose, 21, of Newark, Delaware, were
second, followed by Canadians Jacinthe Lariviere and Lenny
Faustino.
Tiffany Steigler, 14, and her brother Johnnie, 16, of Manhattan
Beach, Cailfornia, were sixth, and Jaisa Macadam, 14, of Great Island,
Maine, and Garret Lucash, 20, of Braintree Massachusetts, were 11th.
In men's qualifying, which makes up for 20 percent of the final
score, favorite Ilia Klimkin, showed why he's projected to reach
great heights in the sport.
The 18 year-old Russian recovered from a foiled attempt at a
triple axel with an impressive quadruple toe-loop and a host of
marvelous maneuvers to take first place with seeming ease in Group
B. Xiaoou Hu of China was the only other skater to produce a
quadruple jump.
Thirty competitors, from a field of 42, made it into the short
program to be held Tuesday. The best 24 will then advance to the
free program and a shot at the title on Thursday.
Matt Savoie, 18, of Peoria, Ill., was the highest-placing
American qualifier, finishing first in Group A. Ryan Bradley, 15,
of Colorado Springs, Colorado, also qualified in the same group,
taking seventh place. Parker Pennington, 14, of Windsor, Connecticut was the
third American to qualify, taking eighth in Group B.
The pairs title will be decided Wednesday after the free skating
program. The men's short program and the dance compulsory is
scheduled for Tuesday.
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