(March 20, 2007)

Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon 1st after Compulsory Dance

It was a good start to the 2007 world championships for five-time Canadian Ice Dance Champions Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.

Montreal natives Dubreuil and Lauzon earned a total score of 38.96 for their rhumba, placing them first heading into Thursday’s original dance.

Dubreuil and Lauzon skated a strong compulsory that featured deep edges and solid technique.

“We are the world champions of the rhumba!,” said Dubreuil. “Every little victory is important, every point counts. We are very excited about this, but we still know we have to put on a good show.”

“It’s great to be on the ice; we love compulsories and this dance is one of our strongest,” added Lauzon.

Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir 9th after Compulsory Dance

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje 18th after Compulsory Dance

Canadian silver medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir currently stand ninth. The 2006 world junior champions also skated a solid program, earning 31.45 points. This is their first time competing at the world championships.

“It was fun to kick off the world championships,” said Moir. “Considering it’s our first, it was kind of fitting that we started it off.”

“We enjoy skating (the rhumba), it’s a fun rhythm” added Virtue. “We skated well and feel it was solid. We’re really pleased with it.”

The Kitchener-Waterloo based dance team of Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, who are also competing in their first world championships, are currently 18th. Weaver and Poje, who are just coming off a bronze medal win at the 2007 world junior championships, were awarded 25.76 points for their rhumba.

“It’s extraordinary to feel that great at a first world championships,” said Weaver. “We trained it (the compulsory) for 10 days. We have a certain chemistry that makes performing very easy for us.”

Weaver sported a dress that was previously worn by former Canadian and world champion Shae-Lynn Bourne, who has been working with Weaver and Poje on their artistry and presentation.

Currently in second after the compulsory dance are Bulgarians and 2006 world champions Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski, who earned 37.42 points, while Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin are third with 37.29 points.

The teams will skate the original dance on Thursday.

Canadian teams perform well in pair short program

Valérie Marcoux and Craig Buntin 5th after Pair Short Program

Meanwhile in the pair short program, Canadian silver medallists Valérie Marcoux and Craig Buntin finished fifth. They skated a strong program that earned them a score of 60.73 heading into tomorrow’s free skate.

The duo was pleased with the performance.

“It feels good to be smiling. We’re happy with what we did,” said Buntin. “We kept the focus just on ourselves and skated like Val and Craig out there, and we’re just really happy.”

Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison, the 2007 Canadian Pair Champions, also skated well and are currently in seventh. Despite clicking their blades together on the entry to the side-by-side triple Salchows, Dubé and Davison pulled off the jump and were awarded a score of 58.94.

Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison 7th after Pair Short Program

Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay 13th after Pair Short Program

“We were a little bit too close, I guess (on the entry to the triple Salchows),” said Dubé.

“We were a little bit too anxious and didn’t have quite the right pattern, but we squeaked it out,” said Davison. “We’re happy with it.”

Dubé and Davison are happy to be back competing after Dubé suffered an accident competing at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs.

“The side-by-side spin was the first thing we did (when getting back on the ice after the accident),” said Davison. “It was a good way to get back on the horse after being knocked off.”

Canadian bronze medallists Anabelle Langlois and Cody Hay are 13th after the short program. They earned a total score of 55.96.

“We definitely had a few mistakes we can improve on,” said Hay. “The side-by-side spin has been iffy for us and it has been the last one for us to get together, but overall we upped our skate from nationals and our throw and jumps worked out a lot better. So overall we are definitely pleased.”

Former two-time world champions Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, of China, are currently in first with 71.07 points. The German team of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy are second after earning a score of 67.65, while 2006 world champions Qing Pang and Jian Tong, of China, stand third with 66.75 points.

The pair event continues tomorrow with the free skate.

Mount Fuji (Fujisan), Japan's highest mountain, in the morning		Debbi Wilkes, Petra Burka, Michael Slipchuk and William Thompson