Osmond, Virtue/Moir lead after short programs at Skate Canada International

Three-time world champion Patrick Chan trails Japan’s Shoma Uno by nine points after the men’s short program and two-time world pairs champs Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are second after the pairs short program.

Virtue and Moir opened to the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil,” Moir thrusting out his chest, and swivelling his hips in Jagger fashion to the delight of the Brandt Centre crowd.

“Is it easy for anyone to channel Mick Jagger?” said Moir, the neck of his black shirt cut nearly to his navel.

“He does it well though, doesn’t he?” Virtue chimed in.

She joked with reporters about the swath of glittering jewels on her sheer, animal print dress, saying “Hopefully we don’t blind you guys.”

Their energetic program shifted to a rhumba-mixed “Hotel California” by the Eagles, and by the time they’d struck their final dramatic pose to Santana’s “Oye Como Va,” the crowd was on its feet.

“It’s certainly rewarding, we’ve been working so hard technically,” said the 28-year-old Virtue, from London, Ont. “It gave us the freedom to add some different expression and bring some fresh energy to the actual performance, which we always love, to bring some spontaneity. At this point in the year, when we’ve been working on the same thing over and over and over again, it makes it extra fun when you know you have a solid base to work from.”

Virtue and the 30-year-old Moir, from Ilderton, Ont., have made a stunning return to competition after a two-year hiatus, going undefeated thus far in their comeback.

“It’s our last (Skate Canada), and we’re really taking it in,” Moir said. “It’s funny, in 2014 (Sochi Olympic season), we really tried not to be too sentimental. This year we’re really just soaking it all in as much as we can.”

Osmond, meanwhile, is riding a remarkable comeback of her own. She takes a personal-best 76.06 points into Saturday’s long program. Anna Pogorilaya is second with 69.05, while Russian teammate Maria Sotskova scored 66.10 for third.

The 21-year-old from Marystown, N.L., is coming off a breakout season that saw her capture silver at the world championships, Canada’s top finish in women’s singles since Joannie Rochette’s second-place finish in 2009.

The breakthrough finally smothered the fear once and for all that she’d suffered since a gruesome broken right leg sidelined her for all of the 2014-14 season. She credited coach Ravi Walia for her comeback.

“Ravi kept pushing me even when I didn’t want to be pushed or couldn’t be pushed or didn’t even know if I wanted to skate,” she said. “He reminded me of what it was like to skate. He brought me to seminars where I could help coach. He brought me to small shows. Anything to remind me of why I love skating.

“He didn’t outright say it to me then, but he did these things to get my passion going for the sport again.”

Walia said little has changed since Osmond’s breakthrough in Finland.

“As a person, nothing is different, and in the way that she trains every day,” the coach said. “Perhaps she is more confident, she definitely is working really hard, very determined and motivated, and confident.

“She had a good season and now we start new, we start over,” he added. “There’s a lot of good women in the competition, so she just looks forward and not back.”

Chan hasn’t found as much success in his return to competition. The 26-year-old from Toronto landed his lone quad Friday night, then touched a hand down on his triple Axel, en route to 94.43 points. Uno, last year’s world silver medallist, landed two quads and finished with 103.62 points.

Chan took a year off after his silver medal in Sochi, and has struggled to catch up with what’s become a quad-centric event. He had two quads in the short program, and three in long last season, both a quad toe-loop and quad Salchow.

But in the aim of enjoying his skating more, he downgraded to three quads over the two programs at Skate Canada, eliminating the Salchow entirely.

“For me, it works,” Chan said. “We know from last year, I can hit 100 (points) with just a toe. If I’m going to be able to hit 100 and enjoy it, then it’s worth it, right? I’m happy with my decision to leave out the Sal, because I could really settle and skate confidently.”

Chan was relieved his luggage, including his costumes, arrived earlier Friday. He land late Thursday after a flight delay, but his luggage didn’t arrive with him.

“This morning the practice wasn’t great, I felt still uneasy travel-wise, being a bit lost, so my expectations were really low,” he said. “There were some mistakes here and there, but honestly I’ll take it, because of everything that’s happened this week.”

In pairs, Duhamel popped the side-by-side triple Lutz, and she and Radford finished with 73.53 points. Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot lead with a score of 77.34.

Skate Canada is part of the ISU Grand Prix circuit. Skaters competing in two events each, and the top six scorers in each of the four disciplines earn a spot in the Grand Prix Final in December.

Lori Ewing , The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

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Osmond, Virtue/Moir lead after short programs at Skate Canada International

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