events

Matthews and Zavozin Golden

Morgan Matthews and Max Zavozin File photo by Michelle Harvath

Event Results, News and Photos

(3/4/05) - They were powerful. They were soft. They were lively. And by the time they took their final bow, Morgan Matthews & Maxim Zavozin, of the U.S., were World Junior champions.

The engaging couple expressed many moods as they wove their way through their entertaining and technically challenging Lord of the Dance finale. It was, they said, the best they had ever performed that program.

When Matthews and Zavozin, the last of 23 couples to perform, took to the ice at the Kitchener Auditorium, the score to beat was 88.18 — the number posted by popular Canadian duo Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.

The Americans' lifts, twizzles, step sequences and spins earned 88.73 points, giving them the segment win by the slimmest of margins. Leading from post to pole, the American couple amassed 187.51 points to the Canadians 183.43.

Matthews and Zavozin, knowing that Virtue and Moir had outscored them in the free dance on two previous occasions, worked hard to increase the technical difficulty of their routine. They succeeded on that front, recording three level threes and three level fours (the highest level) on their elements.

"We started off our first competition with all level ones and now we have almost all threes and fours," Matthews noted. "This was definitely the best we're ever done this program."

Zavozin added, "When we were novices, we just dreamed to be on top at Junior Worlds and here we are. We won. It's an incredible feeling."

The Canadians were on home turf, having trained in Kitchener for seven years before relocating to Michigan last summer to skate with coach Igor Shpilband, the man who also guides U.S. champions Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.

Virtue, 15, and Moir, 17, had the audience in the palm of their hands as they strutted around the ice to "Adios Nonino," performing their tango number. Unfortunately, he slipped and went down on one knee, just after they had completed a flawless twizzle sequence.

"We had a little bit of a bobble, but we handled it pretty well. I lost my footing and we weren't exactly together and I almost went down," Moir explained.

Still, the quality of their performance was at the highest level and the Canadians recorded a personal best score, just as they had in the previous two segments this week.

"We really felt the energy (of the crowd)," Virtue said. "It helped us alot. We really enjoyed ourselves. We really felt the music."

While the U.S. duo were bronze medalists at this event a year ago, the fast-rising Virtue and Moir were 11th.

The two couples had battled each other for Junior Grand Prix gold twice previously this season, with Matthews and Zavozin prevailing both times, including a win at the Junior Grand Prix Final.

Russia's Anastasia Gorshkova and Ilia Tkachenko claimed the bronze medal with a point total of 167.22, edging Israeli brother and sister Alexandra and Roman Zaretski by 1.46 points.

Colorado Springs-based Trina Pratt and Todd Gilles, both 18, earned 71.52 points for their dynamic finale, an emotionally intense and sure-footed performance set to Romeo and Juliet. With a total of 143.92, they finished in eighth overall.

Their showing came as welcome relief for the couple whose confidence had been battered by their fall in the original dance, which dropped them back to 11th place.

"I felt so guilty yesterday for being the reason we weren't in the top 10 anymore," said Pratt, reflecting on her fall in their twizzle sequence.

"The U.S. (federation) gave us a job to do here — to get three (berths) for next year. I would have felt guilty if we didn't ... Finally, we have three American teams get to go to (Junior Worlds) next year," she added.

Looking ahead to next season, Pratt and Gilles will enlist the services of British ice dance legend Christopher Dean to choreograph both their programs. This season he set their original dance.

Along with the gold medal, the ISU will award Matthews and Zavozin $15,000. The Canadians earn $10,500, while the Russian duo collects $7,500.

On top of that, U.S. Figure Skating will pay a bonus of $15,000 to Matthews and Zavozin, part of a new program created this year for success on high levels.

The 2005 World Junior Championships will conclude Saturday with the men's free skate.