[MakkabI]
October 17th, 2004, 04:21 AM
The brother-sister Ice Dance duo of Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky placed second among 16 couples at the last Junior Grand Prix meet of the season, the Harghita Cup, in Miercurea Ciuc, Romania.
Their incredible performance, combined with the bronze medal they took last weekend in the Grand Prix meet in Chemnitz, Germany, gave them enough points to finish the season sixth overall and to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, which takes place in Helsinki, Finland, in early December. Only the top eight pairs on the Grand Prix circuit advance to the final.
It has been a truly arduous period for them, as Roman underwent leg surgery not long after they took part in the World Junior Championships, which cost the siblings much of their preparation time for the current season. In fact, there was some doubt if Roman and Alexandra would skate competitively this season at all.
Apart from their own resolve, much of the credit must be given to coach Maya Usava, who has worked with them to bring them back to world class caliber in a brief period.
After the Compulsory Dance, the Zaretskys stood in second place, and managed to stay in second overall after their third place finish in the Original Dance, giving them a fraction of a point over eventual bronze medalists, Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the USA.
Their Free Dance saw them pull a bit more ahead, giving them 163.84 points to 162.20 for Davis and White. Anastaia Platanova and Andre Maksimishin of Russia won the gold with a combined 170.54 score.
Tamar Katz, skating in only her second Junio Grand Prix, followed last week's 12th place finish with a superb fourth place in the Short Program in the girls event, but was unable to sustain the momentum in her Free Skate, and finished in eighth place overall of 30 participants.
Their incredible performance, combined with the bronze medal they took last weekend in the Grand Prix meet in Chemnitz, Germany, gave them enough points to finish the season sixth overall and to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, which takes place in Helsinki, Finland, in early December. Only the top eight pairs on the Grand Prix circuit advance to the final.
It has been a truly arduous period for them, as Roman underwent leg surgery not long after they took part in the World Junior Championships, which cost the siblings much of their preparation time for the current season. In fact, there was some doubt if Roman and Alexandra would skate competitively this season at all.
Apart from their own resolve, much of the credit must be given to coach Maya Usava, who has worked with them to bring them back to world class caliber in a brief period.
After the Compulsory Dance, the Zaretskys stood in second place, and managed to stay in second overall after their third place finish in the Original Dance, giving them a fraction of a point over eventual bronze medalists, Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the USA.
Their Free Dance saw them pull a bit more ahead, giving them 163.84 points to 162.20 for Davis and White. Anastaia Platanova and Andre Maksimishin of Russia won the gold with a combined 170.54 score.
Tamar Katz, skating in only her second Junio Grand Prix, followed last week's 12th place finish with a superb fourth place in the Short Program in the girls event, but was unable to sustain the momentum in her Free Skate, and finished in eighth place overall of 30 participants.