http://www.canoe.ca/Slam001129/box_san-sun.html
Wednesday, November 29, 2000

Sandhu can do
Skater ready to live up to his promise
By STEVE BUFFERY -- Toronto Sun

Emanuel Sandhu found himself last summer by getting lost.

The Richmond Hill figure skater walked away from the sport after the
1999-2000 season, vowing to leave behind the madness which had
surrounded him ever since his remarkable second-place showing at the
1998 Canadian championships.

Hailed as the second coming of Elvis Stojko, Sandhu had a tough time
handling the spotlight that dogged his every move.

First it was his showing at the '98 Canadians, followed by his being
left off the Nagano Olympic team. Then there were his disappointing
performances at the 1998 and 1999 world championships and his failing
to qualify for the 2000 worlds.

And, of course, his disappearing act last summer. For two months,
Sandhu, 20, buried himself in a blur of parties, and who knows what
else. Nobody, his parents, his coach, Skate Canada, had any idea where
he was. At times, he didn't even know what was going on in his life.
But he did return, and now the Vancouver-based skater is more content
than he has been in years.

"I've grown up so much as a person," Sandhu said last night, as he
prepared for this weekend's Sears Open at Hamilton's Copps Coliseum.
"I'm a lot happier. A lot of it has do with growing up and maturing
and putting things in perspective."

He was referring to such things as being hailed the next great
Canadian male singles star, and carrying on the tradition of Brian
Orser, Kurt Browning and Stojko.

When Sandhu wowed the Copps Coliseum crowd by finishing second to
Stojko at the '98 Canadians, the expectations of carrying the Canadian
team into the new millennium were overwhelming. In the media's eyes
(save for one gushing broadsheet), Sandhu went from being a talented,
artistic, skating phenom to a moody prima donna who couldn't rise to
the occasion at big meets.

"It was hard," Sandhu said of his early experiences on the national
team. "I just turned 17 and was going through all these changes,
mentally, spiritually and physically. Being in the public spotlight,
my parents going through a messy divorce, all of which made everything
more difficult. It was a roller-coaster ride and I was too
inexperienced to handle it."

That's why Sandhu, a former student at the National Ballet of Canada,
believes his two months of living dangerously this past summer wasn't
such a bad thing, even if it made him rush his preparation for the
2000-2001 season.

"It's a journey where a lot of things made me realize my life wasn't
that bad," he said.

He also rekindled his love for skating and now Sandhu is confident
he's on the precipice of a breakthrough year internationally.

"I understand I can be one of the best in the world," said Sandhu,
who finished fourth and six in two Grand Prix events this year. "Even
though I said that to myself before, I never really fully believed it.
It wasn't in my heart as much as it is now. I definitely do feel like
a big player now."