Team Canada at JGP Latvia
Ice dance
Natalie D'Alessandro & Bruce Waddell
Isabel McQuilkin & Jacob Portz (JGP debut)
Looks like a good field for Natalie and Bruce; they could win the silver medal there.
More likely bronze: Kazakova/Reviya (6th at JW) and Ukrainians Golubtsova/Belobrov will likely outscore them in Latvia. |
I'm glad it looks like Joseph will be able to compete, though boy is that a tough field, by comparison.
I wouldn't call that "likely". The Ukrainians competed at two events last year and lost to Bronsard/Bouaraguia at one of them. They're potentially competitive.and Ukrainians Golubtsova/Belobrov will likely outscore them in Latvia.
Bronsard / Bouaraguia beat the Ukrainians at the Czech event, but Golubtsova / Belobrov beat the Canadians in Armenia. I'd give the Ukrainians the edge simply because like Armenia, Latvia is a former SSR where the judging panel is likely to contain several judges from former SSRs.
e.g., the Armenian panel: HUN BLR GEO UKR EST USA CAN GER RUS--hardly a well-balanced group.
The panels at JGP events tend to reflect to some extent the countries competing there. At the Latvian event, in addition to CAN USA RUS UKR FRA there are also teams from BLR EST GEO UZB, so you might expect to see some of those countries represented on the panel, as well as LAT. It's a lot cheaper to import judges from close neighboring countries than from Western Europe.
While there are always political factors in dance, in Armenia Aissa stepped out of his twizzles, which cost them a few points in the RD and meant they skated outside the final FD group; so those results are not just about who's on the judging panel. And Natalie and Bruce are a more experienced and probably overall better team, at least they were when we last saw them (stay tuned!).Bronsard / Bouaraguia beat the Ukrainians at the Czech event, but Golubtsova / Belobrov beat the Canadians in Armenia.
Kaiya indeed makes her debut. I can't recall the last time Canada sent somebody that young out to the ladies' JGP.
Sadly, we had a few big withdrawals, so we'll have to wait to see how Marjorie & Zach stack up in seniors, as well as what Laurence & Nikolaj are skating to this year.The senior dance event at the Quebec Summer Champ is staked, basically a challenger series.