Wednesday, March 26 - Pairs Free Program Practice
Trouble for Xue
Well, I faced another delay in getting to the morning practice today. I had run out of film after the Men Short Program. This after I had used nine rolls of 24 exposures that I had bought before I came to Washington, D.C. I planned to try the CVS again for my new necessity, but I found that the highest speed film they sold was 400. I wanted to find 800 film. But, I didn't want to go wandering down side streets again, like how I had found a flower shop. And, I certainly didn't want to relive the ordeal of Wisconsin (I can hardly type that name) Avenue. I had yet to discover the Concierge desk at my hotel and its usefulness. So, I settled on a four pack of the 400 film. Which I much later discovered was a mistake because 800 film performs noticeably better when flash is forbidden indoors.
As I was headed from the hallway to a seat in a section near center ice on the Kiss & Cry side, a moment of klutziness hit me. I was destined for this moment at some point. I landed wrong on my ankle and tripped on the cement stairs as I was descending them to take a seat. I was paying too much attention to the happenings on the ice surface instead of watching where I was going and holding the handrails. It hurt quite a bit initially, and I was certain it would be the end of me walking without a limp for my time here. But, as I got to the front row, I did some exercises on my feet and rolling my ankle around that really averted too much more trouble and soreness.
The pairs were on the ice according to the free skate order. Per my arrival time this included the last two groups - Groups 4 and 5.
Anabelle Langlois and Patrice Archetto narrowly avoided two collisions during their run-through. The first was with Hao Zhang's blade and the second with Dorota Zagorska. It seems hard to coordinate with several teams of two people trying to skate all at once on the ice surface at times. Langlois and Archetto were still working on their side by side jumps. He doubled his, and she popped hers. They did a throw double.
Qing Pang and Jian Tong did side by side doubles. They did only a single twist, and she smiled afterward at the mistake. For their side by side jumps, he did a triple and she a double.
Dorota Zagorska and Mariusz Siudek started with their opening pose, and then left out a section in their run-through. They have changed the free program costumes and now wear royal blue. They did a triple throw. They practiced the slow part of the choreography into the death spiral. They did a press lift with flipping dismount. They had a lift where he was in a spread eagle holding her forward in a star position. They also did a star lift with a complicated entrance. They did a combo spin and then the ending pose. This looked like the program had undergone a complete makeover. But, I still liked it before as well.
Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang had a strong triple twist. She was almost horizontal in the air when he caught her. They did a triple throw. They looked strong.
Maria Petrova took the ice before Alexei Tikhonov. He came later as well as the other Alexei, Sokolov. They skipped the side by side jumps in their run-through.
Sorry, I don't have more on this practice group. I had been brought into a semantical debate with the only three rude fans I met while there. The Ladies Qualifying was to begin in 50 minutes.
Xue Shen hurt herself again in the final group practice. People were gasping and worried faces all around. They weren't able to do much skating after that, of course. And, the concern of the people surrounded the uncertainty that they would have the capacity to skate in the Pairs final.
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