Top Two Face Off in Osaka

Fresh off their respective national title wins, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir of Canada and Meryl Davis & Charlie White of the United States will face off at the 2013 Four Continents Championships in Osaka, Japan. While the top two teams are preparing for a duel, other teams will be fighting for more than medals, including the all important TES minimum scores required for the upcoming World Championships.

This will mark the second time that training mates Davis & White and Virtue & Moir have met in competition this season. Davis & White bested their rivals at the 2013 Grand Prix Final in Sochi, leaving Virtue & Moir to, once again, settle for silver at the only major event that they have never won. Though the Canadians got off to a slower start this season and even recently encountered a level snafu at the Canadian Championships, they have steadily honed their programs to maximum scoring potential and are on course to peak at the right time. Virtue & Moir were Four Continents champions in 2012 and 2008.

Since winning silver at the 2012 World Championships, Meryl Davis & Charlie White of the United States have won every event that they have entered this year and will look to continue their dominance over their friends (and rivals) in Japan. Unlike Virtue & Moir, Davis & White’s national championship experience only further amplified this season’s success as they set their best score yet at the U.S. Championships a couple of weeks ago. Davis & White have won this title twice before, in 2011 and 2009.

A surprise upset at the 2013 U.S. Nationals, saw Madison Chock & Evan Bates nab the silver ahead of siblings Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani (pictured). Both teams will represent Team USA in Osaka and should be in contention for the podium.  


Also representing Canada are two teams competing in their first Four Continents Championships. Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier recently won the silver medal at the Canadian Championships, while Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams were the surprise bronze medalists. Gilles & Poirier will use this event, their first ISU championship as a team, as a springboard for next month’s World Championships in London, Ont. Canada has not yet named their third team for the World Championships, so a strong result at this event could help solidify Orford & Williams’ chances if the injured Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje do not recover in time to compete in London.

For the first time since 2000, Japan is sending three teams to this event, including the reigning Japanese champions, Cathy Reed & Chris Reed. They have not competed in this event since 2008.

For Aussies Danielle O’Brien & Gregory Merriman and Anna Nagornyuk & Viktor Kovalenko of Uzbekistan, Four Continents provides their last opportunity to meet the TES minimum before the 2013 World Championships. Both teams have met the free dance TES requirement and will look to secure the short dance TES (29.00). 

Xiaoyang Yu & Chen Wang are the lone Chinese representatives in the ice dance event.  
Yu and Wang have not met the TES minimum in either the short or free dances, so they will be under additional pressure.

Mexico’s Pilar Maekawa Moreno & Leonardo Maekawa Moreno will make their ISU championship debut in Osaka. They have not yet come close to meeting either TES minimum score.

The event kicks off with the short dance on Friday, February 8, and wraps up with the free dance on Sunday.