British Championships 2015, 1-6 December | Golden Skate

British Championships 2015, 1-6 December

TontoK

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Looking at the list of entries for the senior events, I'm hoping that someone (of the many) I don't know about will shine.

Imagine British skating... 3 straight Olympics with an OGM... Curry, Cousins, T/D... should come to this.

I imagine the sport is popular, as it is featured on BESP regularly. But, really, I don't understand how the federation has let things slide.

Disclaimer: I don't say that to disparage those who will be trying very hard, I just want Britain to return to the glory days.

Other that dancers C/B, does anyone have an entry that I should keep my eye on?
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
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Looking at the list of entries for the senior events, I'm hoping that someone (of the many) I don't know about will shine.

Imagine British skating... 3 straight Olympics with an OGM... Curry, Cousins, T/D... should come to this.

I imagine the sport is popular, as it is featured on BESP regularly. But, really, I don't understand how the federation has let things slide.

Disclaimer: I don't say that to disparage those who will be trying very hard, I just want Britain to return to the glory days.

Other that dancers C/B, does anyone have an entry that I should keep my eye on?

On the contrary, skating is not popular at all. Ever since those glory days in the 80's, when everybody knew our skating stars, it has become a fringe sport.

When Torvill and Dean came along with "Dancing On Ice" on ITV, it did raise people's awareness a bit. But, not much.

Since the 80's, no competitive skaters have been household names.

In the late 90's / early 2000's, Jenna McCorkell was a household name here in Northern Ireland. But that was because the local media thought it was a novelty for somebody from "Our Wee Country" to compete in figure skating. Once the novelty wore off, we didn't hear about her too much.

To be honest, I am as blind as you when it comes to the skaters competing in the Senior British Championships. The only skaters that I am familiar with are those that we regularly see competing in the international competitions.

In Ladies, Scotland's Karly Robertson should win, all things being equal. The only others I have seen before are Danielle Harrison and Katie Powell, and they are the favourites to join her on the podium. The rest, I am afraid, I am not familiar with.

In Men, the field may be smaller, but there are actually more that I have seen before! But, that is purely because of watching Senior B's earlier in this season. Before then, I couldn't have named any of them. But, as they were in different competitions, I don't know how well matched they are against each other.

I'll have to take a good look at previous results before I make my Men's predictions... ;) :biggrin:

Pairs, well, Amani and Christopher are the only entries. But, they are a couple to watch for the future. If they stay together... (They have already given us one scare this season, when it looked like they were splitting)

Apart from Coomes / Buckland, the only Ice Dancers I have seen before are Jones / Sharpe. But I would not say I was that familiar with them. Although, I have to admit, I am slightly more familiar with Carter Marie than with Richard, purely because she has previously competed on the international stage with other partners.

On the whole, I am familiar with more Junior and Novice skaters than Senior skaters. And that is purely because of the recent CBBC documentary series "Ice Stars" (see this thread).

If you want a name to keep an eye on for the future, my pick is Junior Men's skater Josh Brown. He was one of the main featured skaters on Ice Stars, and made his Junior GP debut this season. And although his first Junior GP did not go too well, he grabbed a lot of people's attention in his second.

Also, keep an eye out for Ellie O'Connell / Josh Tarry in Advanced Novice Ice Dance. This is their first Nationals at Advanced level, so I don't know how they'll fare against the others. But they are adorable! You can't help but like them!

CaroLiza_fan
 
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TontoK

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Thank you CaroLiza_Fan.

I appreciate the time you spent writing that. I'll look for some of these rising stars.
 

YesWay

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If you want a name to keep an eye on for the future, my pick is Junior Men's skater Josh Brown.
In juniors, Graham Newberry is very promising... 3 times Junior national champion... this was his 2nd year in the JGP... and he is jumping 3A in competitions. he would be my pick for the future.

Apart from Coomes / Buckland, the only Ice Dancers I have seen before are Jones / Sharpe. But I would not say I was that familiar with them.
I saw Jones/Sharpe at this year's Finlandia. They didn't do so well there, but Carter Marie was injured - saw her several times at the official hotel, and each time she was wearing a foot brace and limping a bit. Their programs are very entertaining this year, well worth watching IMO.

In the senior Men competition, I'll be looking out for Phillip Harris - I was impressed by his skating at NRW this weekend, very expressive...
 
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CaroLiza_fan

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Thank you CaroLiza_Fan.

I appreciate the time you spent writing that. I'll look for some of these rising stars.

Your welcome! Happy to be of service.

In juniors, Graham Newberry is very promising... 3 times Junior national champion... this was his 2nd year in the JGP... and he is jumping 3A in competitions. he would be my pick for the future.

Ah, I forgot about the Newberrys! Although, I'll use the excuse that I thought they would both be on the Senior entry list. :p

Where's Jack? Is he injured?

I saw Jones/Sharpe at this year's Finlandia. They didn't do so well there, but Carter Marie was injured - saw her several times at the official hotel, and each time she was wearing a foot brace and limping a bit. Their programs are very entertaining this year, well worth watching IMO.

Oh! I hadn't heard that. I hope it was nothing too serious. And that it is much better now.

In the senior Men competition, I'll be looking out for Phillip Harris - I was impressed by his skating at NRW this weekend, very expressive...

Thanks for the tip. I had to give up on watching the Senior B's once the Senior GP Series started, so I haven't seen anything from the most recent competitions.

Great to see that this will be streamed!

Yes it is. But, the thing that has always put me off streaming British Championships is that NISA used a streaming service that you had to PAY for. And, no disrespect at all to the skaters competing, but it was just not worth the money.

CaroLiza_fan
 

Loubee

Spectator
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Looking at the list of entries for the senior events, I'm hoping that someone (of the many) I don't know about will shine.

Imagine British skating... 3 straight Olympics with an OGM... Curry, Cousins, T/D... should come to this.

I imagine the sport is popular, as it is featured on BESP regularly. But, really, I don't understand how the federation has let things slide.

Disclaimer: I don't say that to disparage those who will be trying very hard, I just want Britain to return to the glory days.

Other that dancers C/B, does anyone have an entry that I should keep my eye on?


Eleanor HIRST and Jordan BARRATT are a new pairing at Senior Dance but are already seriously challenging JONES/SHARPE. They've made vast improvements in very short time.
 

Layback11

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Joined
Nov 18, 2014
In Basic Novice Dance the National Ice Skating Association of Great Britain have said the ones to watch are Alice GAVIN and Dominic BARTER

They already have a season's best of 51.79.

www.facebook.com/GavinandBarter

www.gavin-and-barter.com

They have a real hunger and passion for the sport and are definitely 'going for it'
Wow...huge score for novices! I hope they can keep improving and do well on the JGP when they move up. They sound very promising!
 

tulosai

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Dec 21, 2011
Yes it is. But, the thing that has always put me off streaming British Championships is that NISA used a streaming service that you had to PAY for. And, no disrespect at all to the skaters competing, but it was just not worth the money.

CaroLiza_fan

100% agree but this year it seems to be free? At least I am able to watch right now for free :)
 

CaroLiza_fan

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It's completely free now.

Ah good! Glad to see that NISA have seen sense and realised that chraging to watch was preventing them from getting new people interested.


By the way, a seemingly strange choice for the winner of the Ladies competition in the Predictions Game has led to me making a discovery.

2 TIME BRITISH CHAMPION, AND FREQUENT PODIUM FINISHER, ZOE JONES IS BACK!!!! :jaw:

She is now competing under her new married name, Zoe Wilkinson.

Zoe may be 35 now, and may have been out of the game for a long time. But with her pedigree, I wouldn't bet against her shocking some of the younger skaters and making the Top 6.

CaroLiza_fan
 

YesWay

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Ah, I forgot about the Newberrys! Although, I'll use the excuse that I thought they would both be on the Senior entry list. :p

Where's Jack? Is he injured?
He's in the Pairs...

...and it's Graham who is now injured... he withdrew from the SP this afternoon :-/
 

CaroLiza_fan

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He's in the Pairs...

...and it's Graham who is now injured... he withdrew from the SP this afternoon :-/

Ah, thanks for the info.

And if anybody wants to play the Predictions Game on these championships, you have roughly 1h 30m left until the target time to get them in.

And if anybody thinks Zoe Jones is rusty after 14 years away from the British Championships, think again. According to her new Stats On Ice page, she has done 2 competitions so far this season, and has done very well at both of them!

CaroLiza_fan
 

tulosai

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Dec 21, 2011
I am really enjoying the novice dancers but now there is a complete power outage? I am not sure how they plan to proceed...
 

CaroLiza_fan

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Just looked at the results of the Ladies SP.

What on Earth happened Karly Robertson that she is down in 6th position?! Like, it's not as if she fell!

And Katie Powell one place ahead of her?! Admittedly, Katie did fall, but I still would have expected her to be higher.

Well done to Nina Povey for taking the overnight lead. I'd never heard tell of Nina before this week, so I'm really impressed.

But not anywhere near as impressed as I am with Zoe Jones. Third place in the SP, and only 0.22 points behind Danielle Harrison in 2nd.

Bearing in mind that Zoe is 20 years older than Danielle, and that is remarkable. :clap: :rock: :points:

To put things in perspective, Danielle was not even 1 year old when Zoe won her first British Senior Ladies title! :eek:

Just shows you that if you are good enough and talented enough, you can still do it against the youngsters!

Oh, I really hope Zoe can stay on the podium!!!

But, there is less than 5 points covering 2nd position to 9th position. And I fully expect Karly and Katie to make up places in the FS. Although any of the Top 9 have a realistic chance of getting on the podium, I think Karly and Katie will put up the biggest challenge to those that are already on it.

It will be a really exciting FS, and I am fascinated to find out what happens!

CaroLiza_fan
 
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