SASKATOON, Saskatchewan ? Young guns overpowered the veterans on the opening day of the Skate Canada international figure skating competition, with a stunning tour-de-force by 21-year-old Alexei Yagudin of Russia.
Yagudin, a three-time world champion, skated a near flawless short program to take the early lead here. His program, a playful wintery jaunt, included a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, triple Axel, triple Lutz and marvelously choreographed footwork sequences.
Canadian Emanuel Sandhu, also 21, brought the hometown crowd to its feet with his magnetic dance steps and solid jumps. Sandhu, a tremendous showman known especially for his strength in the short program, landed the same jumps as Yagudin. His scores were as high as 5.9 on the artistic mark and landed him firmly in second place going into Saturday's free skate.
The veterans ? 29-year-old Canadian Elvis Stojko and 30-year-old American Todd Eldredge ? finished third and fourth. Both took major deductions and said they were puzzled by their low marks. Certainly, both lost points on their quad toe loop attempts; Stojko nearly fell on his, while Eldredge put a hand down on the landing.
Undaunted, both said they approached Skate Canada as the first step on the road to the 2002 Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
"I thought the 4.9s were a little severe," Stojko, a six-time Canadian champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist, said of his marks. "But it was exactly what I wanted to do out there, because I felt great. . . . This is just a stepping stone to Salt Lake City."
Eldredge a five-time American champion, also took an extra turn between his quad attempt and the combination triple toe loop he had planned and then doubled the second jump. Even so, Eldredge struggled to explain the judges' marks, which were as low as 4.8 on the technical mark.
"I actually was a little surprised," he said. "Who knows? . . . Quite honestly, the most important time to do (the quad) is in Salt Lake City. It's just good to get it in the program."
Thursday marked a happy comeback for Yagudin, who performed dismally at the 2001 Goodwill Games in Brisbane and admitted he nearly buckled under the pressure of the Olympic year.
"During the summer I was really, really upset about my skating over the previous season," Yagudin said, leading him down a dangerous path of weight loss and over-training.
"It became a sickness," Yagudin said. "I do what I have to do right now. And at the Olympics, I will try to do what I did here."
Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, the world's top-ranked pairs team, easily won the pairs short program competition Thursday. Their delightful interpretation of "Jalousie,"seemed even stronger this week. Russians Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin placed second, followed by Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China.
Shae Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz handily won the compulsory dance phase of the ice dance competition. Galit Chait and Sergei Sakhnovsky, representing Israel, placed second.
Skate Canada continues Friday with the season's first head-to-head showdown between the world's top three ladies skaters, Irina Slutskaya of Russia, and Americans Michelle Kwan and Sarah Hughes.
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