Senior Worlds Pairs Preview

We’ve got the biggest and most diverse pairs field in years and a podium battle that is sure to be intense! If you haven’t watched pairs this season, do. It’s a fun time.

Riku Miura/ Ryuichi Kihara (JPN): undefeated this season, the reigning world silver medalists, 4CC champs and GPF champs are hoping to win Japan their first ever pairs title at home. They’ve upgraded their jumps and landing them will be key, especially for a team who can struggle with nerves.

Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier(USA): the reigning world champs come into this event with less than ideal training circumstances but they’ll be hoping to bring the senior world title back to their coaches, who also have the junior world champs. Their throws, twist and lifts are some of the best in the world but they’ll need to be clean in what could be their final worlds.

Sara Conti/Niccolo Macii (ITA): the European champs and GPF bronze medalists are having somewhat of a fairytale season. They’ve also upgraded their jumps and will be looking to keep their consistency in their first senior worlds.

Deanna Stellato Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN): the Canadian champs and 4CC bronze medalists are leading a revival of Canadian pairs this season. Their fight and performance is excellent but throws and triple sals have been an issue this season. They’ll have to be clean if Deanna hopes to step back on to the world podium for the first time in 23 years.

Lia Pereira/Trennt Michaud (CAN): they placed 4th at 4CC in only their 3rd event together. They’ve covered a lot of ground quickly but will need those triple throws to be solid. What they lack in PCS can be made up in jumps but the nerves may be big.

Brooke McIntosh/Benjamin Mimar (CAN): the most technically consistent of the Canadian teams come armed with a new lift. They aren’t the biggest performers but can be counted on to get the job done.

Emily Chan/Spencer Howe (USA): they took a surprising 2nd at 4CC after a disastrous GPF and nationals. They’ve both been dealing with injury on and off this season but will need to rotate and stay vertical for a chance at the podium.

Camille Kovalev/Paval Kovalev (FRA): the French husband and wife duo have had a late career resurgence this season and have enjoyed the best results of their career to date. They were 6th at Euros.

Karina Safina/Luka Berulava (GEO): the 2022 junior world champs have been sidelined by injury for much of this season. They were 4th at senior worlds last season and could repeat that result depending on how healthy they are.

Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (GER): the Euros bronze medalists are thriving with a coaching change. Triple sals will be key for them for an outside podium shot.

Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulous Moore (AUS): the 2 time junior world silver medalist will have the highest jump value of the competition. They’ll need to be very clean for a podium shot. Hektor has been dealing with a knee injury.

Alisa Efimova/Ruben Blommaert (GER): they were 4th at Euros and have 2 challenger silvers but they’ve struggled to put together two clean programs this season. They have wonderful lifts but have struggled with illness this season.