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'It's a bummer'
Sargeant, Wirtz not sharp, but dancers bang on
But, for Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz ... well, it wasn't exactly their finest hour.
While Bourne and Kraatz showed the Metro Centre crowd of 3,900 last night why they're easily the class of the ice dance field at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Canada's No. 1 pairs team looked like it left its best game back home in Montreal.
But if Sargeant and Wirtz are upset about standing fourth after the pairs short program -- and the two costly falls that landed them there -- they're not saying it. Just a bad day at the office in their eyes.
"It was a bit off tonight," admitted Wirtz, 29, after their skate. "We made a few mistakes, but that was the short program and tomorrow is the long program. We're pretty calm, it wasn't a good night ... that's all."
Under the gun at last month's Canadian championships in Ottawa, Sargeant and Wirtz were brilliant in winning their second straight title. There's nowhere near as much on the line this week, and it's obvious they know it.
After falling on their side-by-side triple toe jumps, Sargeant rose with a smirk on her face and roll of the eyes. Soon after, she couldn't hold the landing on their throw-triple Salchow.
"On both landings, something weird happened," said Sargeant, 25. "It was a bummer it had to happen, but it's not worlds."
Canadian bronze-medallists Valerie Saurette and Jean-Sebastien Fecteau, on the other hand, were close to flawless. Saurette two-footed the landing of her triple toe loop, but the rest of the program was strong enough to land the Quebec duo in second place, behind Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China. Americans Danielle and Steve Hartsell stand third.
"Overall, it was a little better performance than nationals," said Fecteau. "We have good confidence for tomorrow."
Bourne and Kraatz, meanwhile, couldn't have been happier with their compulsories. It's just another building step toward next month's world championships in Helsinki.
"They felt better than nationals," said Bourne, 23, of Chatham. "Our technique was strong, better than in practice ... you want to skate as well as in practice and show the technique and show the package. So we've done it now, and it'll be even better at worlds."
Americans Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev are second, and Ottawa-based Chantal Lefebvre and Michel Brunet are third.