I don't normally get the opportunity to see figure skating competitions live and I always appreciate those posters who let us know how particular performances or skaters looked like in the arena. Now that a figure skating competition has finally been held in my hometown I would like to share my experience with you! This was my second time watching figure skating live, first was TEB 2013.
I have loooooots of things to say so I'll try to make a summary of all. Today, only day 1, with senior SP (pairs and ladies)
DAY 1: PAIRS AND LADIES SP
I couldn't attend junior SP, just the seniors. Pairs were great to watch, ladies not so much but I had such a good time in the arena that I even forgot about the mistakes and the fact that our beloved veterans have retired or are taking a season off.
Pairs
The Chinese pairs have incredible twists and throws. I enjoyed Sui / Han very much but then Duhamel/Radford and Stolbova/Klimov made me forget what I had seen so far.
Duhamel and Radford skated very well and deserved their scores. They are quite fast and I believe Eric is a great skater with great skating skills and lightness of movements. Meagan is not a very elegant skater in my opinion, she's strong and does all the big tricks but lacks polishment in comparison to Eric. This is a pair I admire because they always skate to such difficult programs, but the quality of their elements is not top-notch. Very pleasant performance, though.
Stolbova and Klimov have superior speed, SS and elegance (as a pair). Their throws look beautiful live because she always lands with great speed and holds that position forever. Not very high twist or throws but good enough. Their SP is not my cup of tea, but the quality of their skating shines with such fast tempo. I enjoyed both pairs equally, but I prefer S/K skating (the quality, not this particular performance) over D/R, but they still lack more complex elements.
Ladies
As you know, ladies were not that good.
Rika's performance was enjoyable, I think she was a little undermarked but her positions look awkward sometimes.
Ashley didn't catch my attention...I admire her determination but she's not the kind of skater I like, sorry. I don't find her particularly fast, or light and her jumps don't look as good as they used to. Her LP was much better, though, I'll talk about that tomorrow.
Anna is a skater I enjoyed very much in person...she seems to be the least talented of the new Russian girls but the truth is that her jumps are big and she has very good speed across the ice. Such a pity that she seems to have some problems with confidence and always looks so sad when she fails. She needs to skate with more confidence and freedom, because she still lacks projection and the ability to connect with the audience.
Julia's performance was great. I saw her 3-3 from a very good angle (front view) and even in real time I thought her Lutz looked a little inside edge but, obviously, I cannot tell for sure. I think the call on the flip was a little borderline. She's not particularly fast but her SS are not as bad as some people say. The (in)famous axel is indeed low but has nice ice coverage and good speed in and out. She lacks projection too...she's pleasant to watch but her performance was not particularly engaging. Her spins are super fast and impressive, but we have got used to them, I believe ;-)
Elizaveta's jumps are impressive, her artistry not so much. Don't get me wrong, she is artistic in her own style but lacks beautiful lines and her skating skills are not that good. She's not slow, but she doesn't seem to generate speed effortlessly and this annoys me sometimes. Anyway, good and engaging performance.
Elena Radionova is my favourite from all this girls. Yes, she is not polished and looks a little frantic sometimes, but she has quite a character, projects really well and seems to be able to interpret a wide range of emotions (for her age). Polishment will come with time (I hope) but she at least has this innate qualities. Having said this, I don't know what to think about her SP which seems to be choreographed to make her look even less polished. Nevertheless, it was probably the performance I enjoyed the most because of her speed and attack. I like her personality on ice so I forgive her for having such a strange choreography. Such a shame that she fell on the loop. I think she should have been in 1st if she hadn't fell, or at least very close to Liza taking all aspects of their skating into account.
That's all for today. Please share your live thoughts too if you've attended this GPF live!
I have loooooots of things to say so I'll try to make a summary of all. Today, only day 1, with senior SP (pairs and ladies)
DAY 1: PAIRS AND LADIES SP
I couldn't attend junior SP, just the seniors. Pairs were great to watch, ladies not so much but I had such a good time in the arena that I even forgot about the mistakes and the fact that our beloved veterans have retired or are taking a season off.
Pairs
The Chinese pairs have incredible twists and throws. I enjoyed Sui / Han very much but then Duhamel/Radford and Stolbova/Klimov made me forget what I had seen so far.
Duhamel and Radford skated very well and deserved their scores. They are quite fast and I believe Eric is a great skater with great skating skills and lightness of movements. Meagan is not a very elegant skater in my opinion, she's strong and does all the big tricks but lacks polishment in comparison to Eric. This is a pair I admire because they always skate to such difficult programs, but the quality of their elements is not top-notch. Very pleasant performance, though.
Stolbova and Klimov have superior speed, SS and elegance (as a pair). Their throws look beautiful live because she always lands with great speed and holds that position forever. Not very high twist or throws but good enough. Their SP is not my cup of tea, but the quality of their skating shines with such fast tempo. I enjoyed both pairs equally, but I prefer S/K skating (the quality, not this particular performance) over D/R, but they still lack more complex elements.
Ladies
As you know, ladies were not that good.
Rika's performance was enjoyable, I think she was a little undermarked but her positions look awkward sometimes.
Ashley didn't catch my attention...I admire her determination but she's not the kind of skater I like, sorry. I don't find her particularly fast, or light and her jumps don't look as good as they used to. Her LP was much better, though, I'll talk about that tomorrow.
Anna is a skater I enjoyed very much in person...she seems to be the least talented of the new Russian girls but the truth is that her jumps are big and she has very good speed across the ice. Such a pity that she seems to have some problems with confidence and always looks so sad when she fails. She needs to skate with more confidence and freedom, because she still lacks projection and the ability to connect with the audience.
Julia's performance was great. I saw her 3-3 from a very good angle (front view) and even in real time I thought her Lutz looked a little inside edge but, obviously, I cannot tell for sure. I think the call on the flip was a little borderline. She's not particularly fast but her SS are not as bad as some people say. The (in)famous axel is indeed low but has nice ice coverage and good speed in and out. She lacks projection too...she's pleasant to watch but her performance was not particularly engaging. Her spins are super fast and impressive, but we have got used to them, I believe ;-)
Elizaveta's jumps are impressive, her artistry not so much. Don't get me wrong, she is artistic in her own style but lacks beautiful lines and her skating skills are not that good. She's not slow, but she doesn't seem to generate speed effortlessly and this annoys me sometimes. Anyway, good and engaging performance.
Elena Radionova is my favourite from all this girls. Yes, she is not polished and looks a little frantic sometimes, but she has quite a character, projects really well and seems to be able to interpret a wide range of emotions (for her age). Polishment will come with time (I hope) but she at least has this innate qualities. Having said this, I don't know what to think about her SP which seems to be choreographed to make her look even less polished. Nevertheless, it was probably the performance I enjoyed the most because of her speed and attack. I like her personality on ice so I forgive her for having such a strange choreography. Such a shame that she fell on the loop. I think she should have been in 1st if she hadn't fell, or at least very close to Liza taking all aspects of their skating into account.
That's all for today. Please share your live thoughts too if you've attended this GPF live!
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