2015 NRW Trophy Single & Pairs 25- 29 Nov

[Alex D]

Quick feedback, internet is a nightmare again


Anna Duskova was great, she fell a lot on her lz - toe combination during warm up, actually she fell not just a lot but also hard and guess what, in competition she landed the combination, so happy for her. (3-2) She smiled at us while nailing it on the ice, such a beautiful moment!

In general, her expression is lovely and I think it helps her a lot that she is also a pairs skater. You need those skills there and she can use them at the singles competition well. Nice alignment of her elements with the phrases of the music, that´s what I want to see and without having access to details, I think she can have scored some pretty good PC´s there, especially in INT - as you could see exactly in her face, outfit and posture, what the program was all about. Wonderful girl, who we will see again later in junior pairs!

Thita Lamsam, god how I love proud skaters, she has so much fun! It makes you always wonder, why can a skater from Germany, not show this proudness, well - not all at least. Some do, like Paula

Fleur, her grace, these arms it is so gorgeous. If you are a young skater, go check Fleur and how she does it, it is what you must have as a world class figure skater, you need to present yourself and the elements to the audience, do it with grace and do it with style. No lose arms or staring at the ice, that is not wanted

G3 now,

Niki will skate, lets see what new skills she picked up in Canada and also on the ice is Alina Karavaeva, who I met this morning :luv17:

 

[NaVi]

Sad Alina Karavaeva singled her flip... I was kind of interested to see how she would do... if you look at her scores from internal Russian she about a smidge behind the bronze medalist in the advanced novice girls competition.

 

[NaVi]

I'm waiting impatiently for Laurine LECAVELIER's skate to be uploaded... I wasn't paying close attention at the time.
[edit]

And just as I typed this it was uploaded... (and apparently we can't delete posts anymore).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjgEaMeRxYg

 

[Alex D]

Senior Ladies

Sad Alina Karavaeva singled her flip... I was kind of interested to see how she would do... if you look at her scores from internal Russian she about a smidge behind the bronze medalist in the advanced novice girls competition.

She is a very beautiful skater, her change of position greatly aligns to the rhythm of the music, its the Russian school of figure skating, every part of her body performs. Flip indeed lost... shame.

Laurine did wonderful, she is such a graceful skater, I love how she works with her upper body, and I am sure she did skate for Paris too, great facial expression, so emotional. Great triple toe combination, and triple lutz. I love the exit of her Axel and the hop in the transition, it makes the element look even easier and as always, you want to make it look effortless, whatever you do on the ice, must look like "no problem".

Niki had issues on the lutz, but flip - toe was fine. But you can see the skills she picked up in Canada. Canadian coaches always put a lot into presentation skills, talking about proud to be a Canadian and if you see Niki, it shows. The presentation to the judges and audience has a very graceful and confident look. She had amazing speed too, she lost a bit towards the end though, but she is so fast, I hope it translates on screen.

Inga, she has improved too.:luv17: Her hand work is a lot smoother now, the layback is such a beast, I am so proud of what she did there. She still has to work on the expression and for instance the presentation skills, but compared to 5 years ago, it is much better now, but ya, she is a little kitten so this is ok Lutz and Sal, so proud she can land them now, sure it does not get the GOE, but it is landed and such a big thing for my Inga.

Sara was great too, great SS, one of these programs where you don´t want to say or do anything, but watch.

Anna did so much better than in practice and warm up, lutz - toe on the ice, then another triple toe and those presentation skills, as I mentioned it is so pair skating, what a wonderful skater and so fun to watch.

Pity about Fleur, her program seemed a bit "overloaded", but she is still the most beautiful skater in this world, what a lady and these arms, there must be a higher level to grace, because that is what she has.

 

[Alex D]

Voronov ***, that program - what a beast. 84.53 Great expression and knee work.

 

[NaVi]

Denis Ten stepped out of both his quad and combo... but it'll be close to Voronov's score.

[edit]
82.63... I agree with that...

 

[NaVi]

Niko ULANOVSKY landed a quad toe(with a slight hand down)... no 3A yet though... he received a 64.98... I was expecting a 1-2 points more.

 

[NaVi]

Jorik HENDRICKX just received a 82.93 without a quad! It really was very, very good.

 

[Alex D]

Jorik was amazing, this guy has a wonderful expression doesn´t he? Fast spins, great steps, knee falls, grace in his arms.... really special and not often to be found at a men´s competition. This is one way how a man can skate, besides the powerful, party stuff. Both ways work for me, emotional and power, but I hate that "rip your shirt off" stuff, that some male skaters have - sorry, while it surely works for the ladies (they always go crazy when men do that - not sure who would cheer if I do this though ...), but ya I can not stand these programs

 

[Alex D]

Jorik HENDRICKX just received a 82.93 without a quad! It really was very, very good.

Indeed!

 

[NaVi]

Nice skate from Alina USTIMKINA / Nikita VOLODIN... and a disastrous from Anna DUSKOVA / Martin BIDAR. Duskova skated singles today but it was Bidar who seemed to be off his game which could be because he wasn't able to warm up with her. Another factor could have been skating after the Russians who did well. Hopefully they can shake this off.

I personally think that if everyone couple skated there best at the JGP Final that it would go Russian(Gold)-Czech(Silver)-Ukranian(Bronze)... but I actually expect two Russian couples to medal.

 

[cathlen]

I'm glad NRW Trophy upload videos. Definitely will watch few of them after reading reports & comments here

 

[Alex D]

Day 4 as it happened

Table of contents:

1. We are ok
2. Sexiness meets skill
3. My name is Hase
4. Beast on ice
5. Emotion
6. Grace
7. What Inga did


1. We are ok

First of all,

Anna & Martin are doing ok! No injuries or anything and they were smiling again, at the podium. Martin btw. is one of very few men who smiles, which is great. I have a lot of VC pictures, with the girl going all out, showing me her best and the guy next to her looks like a bus driver who lost his donut box.

Anyways, the Czech had a pretty hard Free Skate, simply because, they were unable to practice this morning. I watched the practice and he was alone, which was interesting to look at, as he lifted air, he skated with air in his hands - it was skating with a ghost. Anna was not injured and no she did not oversleep either, or needed longer in the bathroom, no! Anna had Seniors practice earlier and therefore was unable to join Martin.

In Said Senior competition, the 15 years old came second, with a wonderful program, that had so much of her charming skating abilities to offer, that you have to ask yourself if she should not just focus on this competition from now on. At the Ladies, she performed a lovely triple Lutz - double toe, an element that did not work at all in practice and she fell so awkwardly a few times, that I can only say "respect" young lady!
Her skate to Larrons En Foire was flawless and courageous, she aligned her steps and movements, lovely to the various phrases of the music and she really enjoyed her time on the ice, with huge smiles.

Said smiles, were gone during their pairs skate - but as mentioned, they came back at the VC when they grabbed their trophies for coming second with 123.52 points, while showing an excellent double Axel - double toe - double toe and a great triple twist and no touch sequence.
So should Anna dumb Martin, no I do not think so, because they have a huge potential and I am not sure if Anna and Martin know that, but Maxim Trankov is a fan of you, he likes your skates and see´s you as a very talented couple and he is right. The transitions are really advanced already, a good example is the transition to the side by side, flying camel, where Anna goes through the legs of Martin to introduce the new element, which lowers the amount of time to align themselves or prepare said element, which increases the difficulty and honestly, also looks good.


2. Sexiness meets skill

Looks good, oh boy Alina does. You should had seen the photographers next to me, "click, click, click" whenever she was close by and yes, I am guilty too, I made some good shots of her as well and she really is a pretty girl, those blue eyes, wow! The 15 years old, however, is not just beautiful, no! Her flexibility opens up a huge amount of possibilities for the Russian pair, as she can pretty much do the split everywhere on the ice, therefore allowing beautiful transitions like into their lifts or during the choreographed sequence where the pair has to perform no touch and in hold. It is amazing, that already the next Russian pair is coming and I said it yesterday, the extreme size difference is a problem, but maybe Alina will grow a bit more in height, so that this could be fixed. Mostly visible is it during the pair spins and death spiral, its such a pity to be honest. But we will see, maybe she will grow a bit more.

Anyways, the couple from St. Petersburg is extremely talented and won the Jr. competition at Dortmund with 142.74, while performing twist and Sal throw both as triple and the side by side lovely with triple toe - double toe - double toe.

They do have a lot to offer and they showed it, just like they and the other two proved, how lovely pair skating can be.

3. My name is Hase

Minerva, Fabienne Hase. This girl looks like a star, she has the name of a star and she might some day, skate as a star. I know, once again I start a report about Hase / Seegert like this, I am sorry - but she can not hide, I just like that name so much!
In 2014 they teamed up and I wrote about them last season a few times and, to me they have what I like to see on the ice. Their FS to Romeo and Juliet has a brilliant choreography, as example.
When the strings lead to the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack kicks in, they have a tiny choreographed dance lift, where he holds her on his arms and exactly this is what pairs skating is all about. The man has to present the lady and the lady has to let the man present her. But also the holds are very romantic and balanced, you just think its actually Romeo and Juliet on the ice and this is what has to translate to the audience.

There are high decorated pairs which can not skate like that, so this alone shows the huge potential in that German pair. Of course, you clearly see that Minerva is just a pair skater for a bit more than a year now, she does at times look a bit like a shy kitten asking Nolan to lead and she does not yet have the confidence of a pair skating girl, who did the holds and transitions with someone on the ice for years. But, I am sure this will come over time, they have a huge potential in delivering great stories and I bet, next time I see them, they made again an improvement! Respect to the guy who did the choreography, its really nicely done.

4. Beast on Ice

While Hanyu broke the world record, we saw a guy with tattoos, breaking hearts. I am surely not the biggest men´s skating fan in this world, but! I have my moments and today, I had them twice. What a beast of a performance did Voronov perform. Holy moly, mushroom. That was just out of this world! His performance to Muse had everything I expect of a man on the ice. Power, he looks bad *** and he skated bad ***, opening up with his quadruple - triple toe combination and later Axel and loop, both receiving the 10% bonus, while showing a clean exit and landing. There is no cheating or shaky exit, it is clean and stable, he really presents those elements and does not try to just get away with them.

I do not know what it is, but Russian man skate very good on the ice. The same it was with Plushenko or Menshov and the same it is with Voronov. They do not just pull the quads, no they perform the elements clean and safe, while having strong expression and "man" power. It was surely a big day when Hanyu broke the record, but for me - this guy here, he skated fantastic, heads up high, strong eye to eye contact and even speeding up accordingly to the music during his step sequence. WOW!

Thank you very much!

5. Emotion

That you can also skate a fantastic men's program, if you do not have tattoos and the obvious "male" skate, Jorik Hendrickx proved well. He was skating to "you raise me up", a song I hate - as its been covered by one of those "girly man good looks" guys and all women love them, ya I am jealous, who loves me??? ... anyways! The song in Joriks hands and by John Groban, however, was completely different and at no time, did I think about this silly good looking Alexander Klaws guy. No, I saw a skater from Belgium who had an incredible choreography, fantastic linking of his elements and an interpretation, so visible to everyone by presenting the choreography with graceful arms, knee falls and desperate eyes.

Honestly, he was the complete opposite to Voronov, but he was equally enjoyable and it is very seldom that I post so much about a men´s competition, so you guys out there hopefully understand, how massive these two guys performed today! Tomorrow he will skate to Titanic, so I am ready to get on board, are you?

6. Grace

I saw her at Bordereaux and she is an incredible good looking woman, a woman who I am not man enough to talk to No seriously, if I would meet her in a club, I would probably look at her, yet leave the club alone. Laurine has a wonderful charm, she has an incredible posture in her upper body, clean spins on one blade, it looks so "dance" to me - not sure if she ever did professional dance in her life, most likely ballet, as she has the style of a dancer. She presents elements incredible well, very proud and confident, - even if her face, was desperate and suffering, after what happened at Paris and I am sure her program did now also relate to this.

Her Axel, is spectacular, the exit into the hop - amazing! This is how you do an Axel, you do not wait 10 seconds and jump it a hundred times in your head, you also do not land it just so - no! You do what Laurine did, you go into the element, skating on one blade, make the element while having a clean landing, backwards and then you add a transition into the next, brilliant!

Girl you rock so much, I am speechless!

Ladies, this is how you skate to make man like me, cry.

7. What Inga did

As always, Inga. My little Inga has now mastered the tripe Lutz, she lands it and she really improved a lot again since her last skate. Maybe, you guys think I am a Dreamer, but for me are skaters who I follow since they were kids, just so close to my heart and Inga is one of them. I saw her land the first Flip, the first double Axel and you know - she has my heart still. Her layback is gorgeous, you can not do this element any better, how her hand goes to her heart, wow! I wish we would have extra points for something like that in FS.

Seriously, so beautiful!

Besides that, she links her elements better now, a few years ago, it was like a 2 second break before every new phrase in her program and this is much less common now. Besides that, she had such a nice dress, it was so typical for my Inga, she is such a cute lady and I am so proud of her. Proud that she is working so hard every day at the ice rink and that she is really keeping it up, even with Alexandra & Co. around. These kids get all the fame in Lithuania, but the truth is, without my Inga, they would not be on the ice now.

I am so looking forward to tomorrow, thanks ladies and gentleman and girls (Talisa). Good luck tomorrow everyone, we will see us at the ice rink.

 

[silverfoxes]

Thanks, Alex D. I am the opposite of you - much prefer the men to ladies - so I'm glad you were impressed enough to write about 2 of them. If you don't mind, I copied the Sergei comments to his fan thread where hopefully more people will see them. Great review.

 

[Alex D]

Thanks, Alex D. I am the opposite of you - much prefer the men to ladies - so I'm glad you were impressed enough to write about 2 of them. If you don't mind, I copied the Sergei comments to his fan thread where hopefully more people will see them. Great review.

Yes that´s all right , glad you liked it.

 

[Winnie_20]

Now that the GP madness is calming down a bit today, I can concentrate a bit on NRW. I missed the men's SP, definitely want to see Ten's, Voronov's and Jorik's.

 

[Alex D]

11.50 is the start for the Ladies, men will follow around 15.00 Niki is last skater for the ladies :luv17: 14:10 o clock.

 

[NaVi]

Great skate form Laurine LECAVELIER...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX30n4xvT1s

3T-3T 3Lz 3S 3F(hand down) 3Lo(turn out) 3Lz+2T 2A

She's leaving points on the floor though not doing a 3 jump combination and not doing 2 2A. I wonder if she could do replace the 3S with a 2A-1Lo-3S or a 3S+2A+SEQ along with a 3Lz+2T+2T.

Even without those changes she should be able to get into the 180s if she goes clean.

 

[Alex D]

Ladies

FPl.	Name	Club	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Laurine LECAVELIER		FRA	173.93	1	1
2	Elizaveta UKOLOVA		CZE	136.87	4	2
3	Anna DUSKOVA		CZE	135.16	2	5
4	Pernille SOERENSEN		DEN	130.66	5	3
5	Elin HALLBERG		SWE	126.17	8	4
6	Sara CASELLA		ITA	123.00	7	7
7	Niki WORIES		NED	119.54	3	10
8	Camilla GJERSEM		NOR	118.71	11	6
9	Alina KARAVAEVA		RUS	114.03	6	12
10	Thita LAMSAM		THA	110.84	12	8
11	Jéromie REPOND		SUI	110.49	10	9
12	Inga JANULEVICIUTE		LTU	106.65	14	11
13	Belinda SCHÖNBERGER		AUT	106.10	9	16
14	Fleur MAXWELL		LUX	104.29	13	14
15	Jemima RASMUSS		NOR	102.66	15	13
16	Hristina VASSILEVA-ZHECHEVA		BUL	102.40	16	15
17	Joanna SO		HKG	97.31	17	17
18	Sofie BARNOVA		CZE	87.09	18	18
WD	Guia Maria TAGLIAPIETRA		ITA

Well, this was quite a tough afternoon so far, poor girls, always trying to get these triples in and then if it doesn´t work for one lady, then all start to fall apart on the ice. At times I was a bit afraid they might just give up and go home, but nah, this is not what these skating girls are made of right!

Laurine won, with a great score, 173.93 points - which will be the ticket for her European assignment, as 170 were demanded by the French fed.
Her performance was strong and confident, having the jumping repertoire of triple toe´s, Lutz & co. While her ballet skills and facial expression, made it look easy and graceful at all times. Again, we are talking about skating for the audience, for the judges - showing how easy it is for you and how you enjoy it.
To note is, that during her skate, the door at the ice rink was open, which can be extremely annoying and dangerous for a skater, making her performance even bigger!

I loved how she was singing the Marseillaise on the podium so proud she was and big smiles - great girl!

Second came Elizaveta Ukolova, with a pretty good skate. She won the juniors a few years ago and she is still the shy girl from back then But she cracked a smile! and she has improved her presentation on the ice as well. She is looking more for contact with the audience now, I like that.

Third came our power girl Anna Duskova, who already competed in pairs. Her weekend was very busy, but she fought until the last bit, when she nailed the Axel on the ice and everyone was cheering for her. I love her ballet posture to Paquita, very strong - heads high, arms in hold . Love how she is trying to present her program at all times, strong kid!


She and many other girls today, showed what it means to be a figure skater. You fall and you stand up again and again and again, until you just stop falling down.

I felt especially sorry for Niki, I so love the middle part of her program, the dreamy element with the hands behind her back and she had good speed as well and a lovely presentation. Her jumps were off, :noshake: she just didn´t get into the air and spinning. But she is such a cute skater, I am sure the day will come when she goes clean, I am sure of it. Heads up Niki!

 

[NaVi]

Voronov skated first and didn't have a good outing... fell on his first 4T, IIRC had a bit of a turnout on his 2nd 4T and didn't do a combo, and he popped one of his 3A into a 2A... there may have been more issues but I had to do a quick errand after those jump passes.