Ice Wars; Four the World 2000


Since this is a Surya-centric site, I will only include information pertinent to Surya and the other ladies she is competing with, despite the fact that this was a team competition, featuring male skaters being paired up in teams with the female skaters.




ARTISTIC PROGRAM ONE:

Yuka Sato: � � � � �� MUSIC: "Hat Full of Stars" (AGAIN!) � � � NOTES:� 4 Jumps � � � �
9.89.89.89.89.8



Kristi Yamaguchi: � � � MUSIC: "Bridge Over Troubled Water" � � � NOTES: No falls, good sit spin.
9.7109.99.99.7



Ekaterina Gordeeva: � � � MUSIC: "Il Postino" � � � NOTES: 3 Clean Jumps, 1 Two-Footed
9.69.79.79.79.5



Surya Bonaly:

MUSIC: "The White Boat (First View)", "The Glass Hall (Choose the Crystal)" & Other Selections by Andreas Vollenweider

NOTES: Surya showed off a brand-new program to selections by Andreas Vollenweider for the first Artistic Program of this event. She had her hair in a bun, and was wearing a gorgeous light chartruse costume with tinges of purple. Great costume. The opening selection of Vollenweider music was "The White Boat (First View)" and she began with a two-footed upright spin, a la "Exotica". After the music change, she entered with great speed into a Triple Salchow, preceded by running turns. A great Double Axel would follow. After this move, Surya entered into another great Combination Spin. This one began as a Flying Camel, which she layed over into a Broken Leg Position, and then moved to a near upright position, before quickly shifting to a sit position briefly. From there, she ended the spin in a nicely done bent-over position where her left skate rests upon her right knee. The music then began to pick up, and Surya moved into a nice Triple ToeLoop-Triple ToeLoop jump combination. She kept up her energy at this point, and ran on the ice right into another Combination Spin. This one was even longer, and included 4 changes of foot! Camel-change foot-Camel-rotational change foot-Butterfly-Sit-Butterfly (applause here)-upright position with one leg straight in front of her, both hands holding the skate nearly to her head. Wonderful position for a wonderful spin! After this, she went into her Straightline Step Sequence. The entire thing was on one foot! This is very difficult, and I was very pleased to see Surya implement this type of footwork. It consisted of a run start, 3 twizzles, a hop, and finally a section where she changed from inside-outside edge back and forth. All of this was on one foot. Wonderfully done. After this, she completed her trademark One-Footed Backflip, and then finished off with a Spiral into a Death Drop, and a great ending. For the difficulty that this routine had, she was severely undermarked. The foot sequence alone warranted higher marks! Not to mention that she was the only lady to complete a jump combination, let alone a Triple-Triple!

9.69.99.79.79.8



ARTISTIC PROGRAM TWO:

Kristi Yamaguchi: � � � MUSIC: "Smooth" (Santana)� �
9.89.89.89.89.8


Yuka Sato: � � � MUSIC: ?? (Bernadette Peters)� �
9.99.99.99.99.9


Surya Bonaly:

MUSIC: "Can�ao do Mar" (Dulce Ponces)

NOTES:

For this program, Surya wore a black costume with red ruffles on her left shoulder and around her waist. This outfit very much fit the "Spanish style" of her music and her program. The music was wonderful -- it is entitled "Can�ao do Mar" by Dulce Pontes, and it comes from the soundtrack of the movie, "Primal Fear". She opens softly into a perfectly landed Double Axel. Her next jump would be a Split Jump-Triple ToeLoop, which was followed by a Split Jump-Death Drop, which turned into a Y-Spin with great extension. Surya then did a couple of dance steps that fit in perfectly to the beat of the music. Next in her program came two spins, back to back. The first was an all-out Combination Spin. It consisted of the following positions: Camel-change foot-Sit-change foot-Camel-Sideways Leaning Spin-Half-Beillman. At the conclusion of this combination, she did a few turns, and went right into her own move, "The Bonaly" spin. The music picked up a bit and she completed a Triple Salchow, which arose right out of a forward spiral. After a rotating split spin on the ice, Surya finished up with a Back Spiral that she held for 3/4 of a large circle pattern on the ice, into some great ending steps. Unfortunately, she was a bit off the music at the end. Regardless, this was a good program, with very nice music. Unfortunately, the judges did not see this, as evident from their marks.�

9.89.99.89.79.7



MY COMMENTS:
� � � I felt Surya was once again severely undermarked. The amount of difficulty in her programs is great, and is not being properly rewarded by the judges. This difficulty is not only in the jumps. Her spinning was superior to all of the ladies at this competition, and her One-Footed Step Sequence is rarely done even by the men.


FINAL RESULTS:


Team
1st Program
2nd Program
Point Total
Surya Bonaly & Kurt Browning
98.2
98.7
196.9
Yuka Sato & Alexei Urmanov
98.2
98.6
196.8
Kristi Yamaguchi & Scott Hamilton
97.7
97.8
195.5
Ekaterina Gordeeva & Ilia Kulik
97.3
N/A
97.3




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