Glint   -   Yaz's   News   and   Views

Hey, skating fans! Glint is the figure skating 'zine for the obsessed masses, edited by Yours Truly and my fellow skating obsessee, Jenny Tong. Published five times a year, you can find out more about this awesome 'zine by clicking on the link to the Glint mainpage below. Until then ... catch up on the latest news in the skating world, courtesy of Moi, and various other sources!

Grand Prix Results - 1998-99

The Grand Prix (formerly known as the Champion Series) wrapped up in
December, and the results after all six events have the following 
skaters heading to the Grand Prix Final in St. Petersburg - the top
six qualifiers in the ladies and men's fields, and the top five
pairs and dance teams.  The skaters with the seventh and eighth place
totals in singles, and sixth and seventh place totals in pairs/dance, 
are named alternates and will compete in the final in case of any
withdrawals/injuries to the top six/five.

LADIES (Top six qualify for the Final)
1.      Elena Sokolova          RUS     24 pts.    
2.      Maria Butyrskaya        RUS     24 pts.            
3.      Elena Liashenko         UKR     17 pts.             
4.      Tatyana Malinina        UZB     16 pts.             
5.      Fumie Suguri            JPN     16 pts.             
6.      Irina Slutskaya         RUS     16 pts.
------------------------------------------------
7.      Nicole Bobek            USA     14 pts.             
8.      Vanessa Gusmeroli       FRA     11 pts.       

MEN (Top six qualify for the Final)
1=      Evgeny Plushenko        RUS     24 pts.
1=      Alexei Yagudin          RUS     24 pts.             
3.      Alexei Urmanov          RUS     19 pts.             
4.      Michael Weiss           USA     18 pts.             
5.      Alexander Abt           RUS     16 pts.             
6.      Elvis Stojko            CAN     14 pts.             
-----------------------------------------------
7.      Takeshi Honda           JPN     13 pts.            
8.      Andrejs Vlascenko       GER     12 pts.                             


PAIRS (top five qualify for Final)
1.      Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikharulidze     RUS     24 pts.              
2.      Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov           RUS     21 pts.             
3.      Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao                    CHN     18 pts.             
4.      Kyoko Ina/John Zimmerman                USA     16 pts.             
5.      Sarah Abitbol/Stephane Bernadis         FRA     15 pts.             
----------------------------------------------
6.      Kristy Sargeant/Kris Wirtz              CAN     14 pts.                    
7.      Jamie Sale/David Pelletier              CAN     14 pts.            

DANCE (top five qualify for Final)
1=      Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat        FRA     24 pts.             
1=      Anjelika Krylova/Oleg Ovsiannikov       RUS     24 pts.             
3.      Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz          CAN     21 pts.             
4.      Irina Lobacheva/Ilia Averbukh           RUS     18 pts.             
5=      Barbara Fusar-Poli/Maurizio Margaglio   ITA     16 pts.             
5=      Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas     LTU     16 pts.             
----------------------------------------------
7.      Sylwia Nowak/Sebastian Kolasinski       POL     12 pts.             
8.      Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse                 GER     12 pts.             

Have You Heard the News?



New News ... January 25th!


The season is in full-swing and about to hit high gear as the Canadian
and U.S. National Championships both take place in late January/early
February.  

The Bank of Montreal Canadian Championships take place in Ottawa,
Ontario, January 27-31.  Canuck stars Elvis Stojko and Bourne and 
Kraatz are shoo-ins to regain their respective titles, but the pairs
and women's events remain wide open.

Watch for newcomers Sale and Pelletier to battle Sargeant and Wirtz 
for the pairs title.  Former national champs Savard-Gagnon and Bradet
may be forced to withdraw as a back injury has sidelined Bradet and
kept him off the ice for some time.  

In the women's event, 1998 silver medallist Keyla Ohs has been forced 
to withdraw due to illness.  She was diagnosed with mononucleosis and
pulled out of the competition today.  Last year's champ, Angie Derochie,
is now left with former champ Jennifer Robinson as her main competitor.

In the men's and dance event, it's the battles for the silver which
will heat up the competition behind the ever-present leaders Stojko 
and Bourne and Kraatz. Young rising star Emaneul Sandhu will have
to conquer consistency programs to beat the more experienced Jeff
Langdon for the second world team berth, while dancers Megan Wing
and Aaron Lowe will fight perennial silver-medallists Chantal Lefebvre
and Michel Brunet to join Shae and Vic in Helsinki.

South of the border, the U.S. National Championships will be held in
Salt Lake City, Utah, February 7-14.  Not one field seems to have a 
clearly predicted winner, which should make for an exciting competition.

In the men's event, Michael Weiss should take home his first national
title with relative ease, but youngster (and quadster) Tim Goebel, 
among others, will challenge him if he falters.  

The pairs event will be a competition between two brother-sister teams
- Danielle and Steve Hartsell, and Tiffany and Johnnie Steigler - 
against the new pairing of Kyoko Ina and John Zimmerman.  Ina and
Zimmerman have easily been the busiest team this season, competing in
three Grand Prix events as well as several pro-ams - it will be 
interesting to see if the experience has paid off, or lead to
exhaustion.

The dance event will be interesting with Liz Punsallen and Jerod
Swallow gone to the pro ranks and last year's runners-up, Jessica
Joseph and Charles Butler, split.  Many believe the winners will
be Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, who have made rapid progress
on the Grand Prix scene ealier this season.

Lastly, the women's event will feature Michelle Kwan in her first
strictly eligible event of the season.  Will her competitive strategy
for the fall - eschewing Grand Prix events and concentrating on pro-ams 
- give her the edge, or will her lack of "real" competitions hurt her?
Up against Kwan will be former champ Nicole Bobek, Angela Nikidinov,
Amber Corwin, and many others.





The Tour Circuit, and Other Stuff

Glint
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CTV - The Rink
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Slam Skating
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