Mar. 8, 2005. 07:44 AM

Skating on the edge
Complex Sandhu attempts to put a positive spin on world championship efforts
Change in training regimen provides lift for Canada's Buttle
RANDY STARKMAN

Emanuel Sandhu's complex world figure skating championship experiences began
with the self-described "Minneapolis Meltdown."

Now, he's hoping to avert the "Moscow Massacre."

For all his exceptional talent, Sandhu has never finished higher than eighth at
the world championship, a result he looks to improve on starting at next week's
event in Moscow but about which he's not exactly espousing a lot of positive
talk.

"Of course the world championships are important to me," Sandhu said yesterday
in a conference call. "But for me, even if I don't do as well as I might have
hoped, it's what I learned from it and can I still be happy after that, because
life does go on."

It's clear the 24-year-old Richmond Hill native remains scarred by his series of
ill-fated performances at the worlds. It started in 1998 in Minneapolis where,
after he became a cause célèbre when the Canadian Olympic Association refused to
send him to the Nagano Winter Games, he failed to get out of the qualifying
round.

"I think from that point forward - since that's what I sort of call the
Minneapolis Meltdown - it didn't take seed, it didn't take root, I had a little
of an ominous feeling when I went to the world championships a little bit," he
said.

Last year in Germany, he won his qualifying group but bombed in his short
program en route to finishing eighth.

Sandhu is trying to replace that ominous feeling he talks about with a more
carefree attitude. He talks about learning to relax enough that he can have some
fun instead of dwelling on such things as a rough practice.

"You have to have a little bit of reverence and respect for these competitions,
but when it goes beyond that and becomes way too fierce and a bit of a pressure
cooker, then that's when things become a little more difficult, things start to
fall apart," he said.

Reigning Canadian men's champion Jeffrey Buttle can relate to those nerves, but
says he's never felt better as he prepares for his third worlds.

"Before, I would get really stressed out mentally before the worlds," Buttle
said in a separate conference call. "That's because I don't think I was as
strong mentally as I am this year. I've been really positive with my training. I
think this year I've had a transformation with my training."
The 22-year-old from Smooth Rock Falls, Ont., credits his outlook to the fact
he's now splitting his training between his long-time base, the Mariposa School
of Skating in Barrie, and Lake Arrowhead, Calif., where he works with Michelle
Kwan's coach, Rafael Arutunian.

"I think what's really helped is any change," Buttle said. "The training I
wouldn't say is completely different. It's actually very similar. It's just a
new face, new voice, new ideas. I just feel stronger, not only physically but
mentally. I have the ability to deal with mistakes and keep going."

Sandhu has one quadruple jump planned in his short program and two in his long
program for Moscow, including a salchow, while Buttle is still wrestling with
the idea of whether to insert a quad into his long program.

Buttle has excelled under the new judging system this season even without a quad
- capturing silver at the Grand Prix final in December - but knows a quad might
be necessary to reach the podium in Moscow. He said he's landing about one or
two out of every four or five attempts and suspects he'll make a decision before
leaving this week for the worlds.

"It's something I don't want to pretend I won't need," he said. "If I go in, I
just need to be confident in whatever it is I do. ... It's really all about how
I'm feeling that day."




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