By Laura Reid

Kallang Ice World, Saturday, March 7, 2009 - Singapore's overseas skaters dominated the short programme in the Junior event at the National Figure Skating Championships today with superior flow, beautiful spiral sequences and great spins. However, they all struggled with their jumps at Kallang Ice World, a rink that is about 30% smaller than a traditional Olympic size surface.

For the overseas skaters, adjusting to the smaller ice surface has always been the major drawback about making the journey back to Singapore for Nationals. However skaters need to compete well at Nationals if they hope to win coveted spots on the National and Youth Development teams for the Singapore Ice Skating Association. In turn, inclusion on the Teams helps determine selection for events held by the International Skating Union, including the Grand Prix and the Junior and Senior World Championships.

17-year-old Sarah Paw, a Singaporean who has grown up in Beijing, won the short programme with a score of 32.64. Skating to West Side Story, Sarah skated with the charm and expression that Singapore has come to expect from this three-time National Champion. She did a signature layback spin that left the crowd breathless while her musical interpretation raised the bar for everyone. However she had trouble landing her jump combination in the smaller rink and received a 1-point deduction for a fall. Sarah's technical score was 17.30 and her programme component score was 16.34.

14-year-old Brittany Lau, who came back to Singapore from her new training base in Minnesota, was a close second in the short with a score of 32.20. Brittany, a permanent resident of Singapore, moved to the US last September so she could attend Shattuck St. Mary's, a sports boarding school. Being able to train at a dedicated facility has brought out new qualities in Brittany's skating, including a stillness that speaks to the great economy and efficiency in her movement.

Always an exquisite spinner, Brittany moved across the ice with incredible speed that unfortunately left her with inadequate room to do the second jump in a planned double-double combination. When she found herself too close to the boards again, she singled a planned double salchow. She scored a technical mark of 16.84 and a programme component score of 15.46.

Placing third in the short programme was 13-year-old Sarah Rodgers with a score of 31.53. Sarah is a Singaporean who is competing as a guest skater at Nationals this year. She had the highest technical score for the short programme with a mark of 17.31 and a programme component score of 15.22.

Like Sarah Paw and Brittany Lau, Sarah also struggled to adjust her speed to the smaller ice. On her very first night skating in Singapore during an ice time, she actually crashed into the boards because she was skating too fast.

Sarah was required to test in Singapore before being deemed eligible to compete in Junior as a Singaporean. However she suffered an ankle injury on the day of the test and withdrew from the test. As a result, she is competing as a guest skater and will be ineligible for representation on the National team.

Thanks to physiotherapy, Sarah was able to land her double-double combination but subsequently went down on a later jump during the short programme. She was heading back for more physio after the competition on Saturday.

Sarah last competed at Singapore Nationals two years ago in what was then known as the PreNovice level. Most recently, she won a bronze medal in Novice at the British National Championships.

On March 8, the National Figure Skating Championships resume at 12:15 at Kallang Ice World at Kallang LeisurePark. Primary Ladies and Intermediate Ladies will be the first to skate their free programmes, followed by Novice Ladies, Novice Men and Intermediate Men.

The Junior Ladies will take to the ice at about 1 pm. Admission is free!
The Singapore National Figure Skating Championships are held by the Singapore Ice Skating Association.