2017 Worlds Pairs FS

[solar]

I missed the pairs FS but I was still holding my breath for Sui/Han. I'm so glad they finally have the Worlds Gold that they've worked so hard for over the years. Bridge Over Troubled Water is an amazing program and a wonderful way to close the competition. Now that the surgery is out of the way, I can't wait to see them keep improving and scoring better and better. Good luck Sui/Han, work on those 3S jumps, and keep on amazing us with beautiful programs! :luv17:

 

[Jammers]

Can someone tell me why at the Olympics they only allow 20 teams to compete in Pair but in the other 3 disciplines they are allowing many more skaters? This is nonsense and means good teams being left out of the Olympics while teams like the 2nd French team will go to the Olympics despite finishing 27th at Worlds. I'm sorry but a country that has it's 2nd team finish that low doesn't deserve a 2nd spot either. Pairs has gotten so much better over the last couple years and they need to expand the teams to 24 for the Olympics. Who makes the call how many can go to the Olympics? The ISU or IOC?

 

[moriel]

Really happy to see T/M improving and keeping up.
Hopefully now that they are kind of russian #1, maybe they will get better programs finally.
Maybe a Chernyshev choreo? Well, not sure if it will suit them but...

 

[Mango]

I don't think anyone thought the US would be affected by that rule.

 

[Bcash]

Happy for Sui/Han. Hoping for better costumes next season!

S/M's LP still looks the best in this competition in terms of overall packaging, in particular the ebb and flow of the choreo.

Happy for Liubov and Dylan. Cheesy music maybe, but a lovely romantic program and genuine connection between them, plus her carriage is to die for.

S/K. I would've ranked their short second only to S/H if they had skated it clean but, I feel they were propped up too much by the judges in the LP, given their sloppy elements and cold performance.

Sad for James/Cipres. I think the freaky fall in the SP might have knocked them a bit in spirit, given that they're not the toughest competitors out there, and the relatively tame crowd reaction didn't help either.

 

[Chemistry66]

I don't think anyone thought the US would be affected by that rule.

I don't think anyone thought ANYONE would be affected by that rule. It's so rare that it goes down to a technicality like that.

 

[NoNameFace]

this was again a breathtaking competition, I felt really moved and inspired by many performances, maybe not technically perfect, but carrying huge amount of emotion, preservance and poise in them. Teams really showed a great spirit, especially Ksenia and Fedor did something special in that department - they defied mostly themselves, their issues they're battling with and really raised above it all. There was that sheer brilliance of their partnership shining again, a quality - timeless and innate and that sense of quirk/uniqueness about this modernity of style represented by that program which was so amazingly embodied by their movement. A real class shown, a grit and steely force of true competitors of top tier. Salute to them both!

I really salute also to Meagan and Eric for showing up and fighting with all they had, true champions spirit for me. It was not their prime stuff,nor it was cleanly executed stuff, but it was an unity in which I saw a lot of engagement and determination to live up the program and the music as much as they can, considering circumstances. I applaud to the courage and will of Eric,because I feel like he foremost did not want to let Meagan down - they were through a lot,thick and thin, constantly battling odds, but growing and developing together. I just hope to see them two, three times stronger regarding health next season, with great stuff, because I have no doubt that this is a pair, an unit who won't slack and lack poise of competition, because they're living for it as they already proved.

Total bow to Evgenia and Vladimir - I was a crying mess after they finished, so much strenght in fairy Evgenia, so much willingness to not let the opportunity pass. Yes, it is not my favourite program (and I seriously hope for something better next season as they truly deserve the best things as fabulous athletes they are!) and today was not its finest execution, but they still managed to produce a quality performance, pushing through it with no regrets to the finish. There was that feeling of 'adventure' and joy about them being on ice and upbeat feel of the music accentuated that. Still living for her posture, finish of movement, they're both a stunning example of that athletic pair with magnitude of their elements which can lead every program, make every performance amazing and command attention of all - they just have to find maybe better vehicle to capitalize in full on all that things they have, and stil developing. I love that confidence and almost 'stubborn' feel of that performance taken, they sure were for a medal fight, not letting anything slip! Lots of rest and health for Evgenia! And congratulations to Worlds bronze medal!

Two performances really melt my heart by the amount of emotion - Liubov and Dylan proved once again that there's a 'harmony in opposites', that his powerful frame is the perfect compliment to Liubov's delicacy, feminity and all colour she brings to the discipline, her joy so infectious. Despte that combo botched I am extremely proud that Luba did not lose her head after that and really fought for the rest of the program, which paid off generously. I really connected with the way they presented the music, the way they interacted with each other, how it translated into movement. Loved little transitions, musicality so well incorporated within the program, use of her incredible flexibility, so attractive and tastefully presented (which is quite rare!). And my biggest appreciation for Dylan's being a great support to Liubov, for all his effort and for not giving upon skating in general, because I'm a fan of his style and way of partnering.

Another teary performance was no one else than Alexa and Chris - I was clapping and cheering like crazy after they finished!!! After all that difficulty and scare, fighting to come back and effort put, I think that they really outdone themselves, considering it all and where they are now,coming fromwhat they've been through. Alexa is my hero and an inspiration - a delicate warrior, poised and determined to live out her dream and passion, and to share it with Chris. What I love the most about them and this season in general is that they came back stronger than ever, maybe not yet in technical sense, but they came with enormous hunger and strive for skating in general, for skating together. And it is so prominent in the way they're performing, they've never been so with each other. And it's great to see them making that personal space, personal signature over their skating, maybe not accesible/preferred by everyone, but very much 'theirs'. And today they really showed some guts and good fight regarding execution, I have no doubt they'll work hard to be better and achieve more, because what they produced today and yesterday was taken from sheer passion and a strong will to compete. If they have those in spades, the rest comes and will come easier.

Regarding top 2 places, I'm a bit torn, because I loved both performances and love both programs. Whereas Aliona and Bruno's skate had a resemblance of a continous novel story - very fluid, languid and with tension builing to the final, Wenjing and Han's performance was more like a poem - punctuated, with sharp, vivid feel about each part, keeping on the edge. They both were very personality-inflicted and emotional for me, but what striked me the most was this different pace, different accentuation of things in them, which was great to see - an equality in greatness describing both teams for me.

I feel like Aliona and Bruno's focus point was on perfecting elements as much as they could with an effect of performance elevation, and they very much succeeded in that area. This is still my favourite FS as choreographical/musical concept this season due to an exquisite meeting between power and feel, the modernity and fluidity of movement expressing the building of the music. Today, I felt a strong focus, commitment and understanding from that performance, especially from Aliona's side. She is a fearless creature, devoted to the sport, to the thrill of competition, she showed a true champion's spirit, so did Bruno who grown so much in this season, really re-establish himself by Aliona's side as a skater, a competitor and a partner. Loved the confidence and this continous feel of their skate, aforementioned; loved his strenght and assistance, the way he made that sure, still frame for Aliona to spread her wings. I do feel that as much he is there for her, allowing her fulfilling her dreams, she is equally there for him (despite how her expression can be taken), which makes this success foremost. It required/still require a lot of will and compromise to cooperate and produce stuff like they did, their technical elements, great execution of them did not happen miraculously by themselves.

And Wenjing and Han - to be back after sitting entire season out, to endure that much break from skating, to re-build themselves as an unit and to create a moment they did today, it takes a lifetime dedication and strenght, and to see it from such young couple it's mind-blowing for me...Their story itself is definitely an inspiration. This FS really embodied their bond and relationship they have, i reflected on what they've been through and how they feel about it. To do that in a discipline so heavily restricted by technical rules and certain directions to fulfill, to reach deeper in expression and meaning of a simple skate is very, very rare and special. The skate seemed like live expression of a lyrics through movement, it really resembled a poem, those highs and lows, quiet and loud moments accentuated. They represented such mature and engaged interpretation of it all: music, choreography, story they want to portray. And for me, they've done a lot more than just portray it - they reached with it to many people, move them by it. And this performance once again proved to myself how skilled and talented they are both separately, with that insane musicality, feel of movement, softness enclosed in power and strenght and how magnificently those individualities can unite skating together, complimenting each other in every sense. And again, like with Germans - that feel of confidence and commitment in everything they do on ice, there is that competitors spirit, but at the same a feeling lingered that it was a lot for than just competition for them. And I don't wonder why people in the audience were teary-eyed and so many with tissues - Wenjing and Han simply touched people beyond their skate, making it more of an experience than a series of elements.

 

[purplecat]

Can someone tell me why at the Olympics they only allow 20 teams to compete in Pair but in the other 3 disciplines they are allowing many more skaters? This is nonsense and means good teams being left out of the Olympics while teams like the 2nd French team will go to the Olympics despite finishing 27th at Worlds. I'm sorry but a country that has it's 2nd team finish that low doesn't deserve a 2nd spot either. Pairs has gotten so much better over the last couple years and they need to expand the teams to 24 for the Olympics. Who makes the call how many can go to the Olympics? The ISU or IOC?

I think it's because they only want a limited number of groups and pairs only has four in each group as opposed to five in dance and six in mens and ladies. Basically they don't want more ice resurfacing breaks and I think it's terribly unfair to all the pairs. I didn't like that only 16 pairs here got to skate their freeskate. In the past there weren't many quality pairs period but now we have many from various countries so I wish they'd change the rules a bit to allow for more pair skating to be seen.

 

[Skater Boy]

Some quick comments. COngrats to all the skaters; they really tried.

Bravo to Sui and Han for finally getting gold also great work from Savchenko and Massot though I don't like the discrepancy in skill between the two. And nice to see Tarasova and Morosov do so well though it wasn't a great skate. Take a bow K and S you fought back and would have scored even higher but for they skated so early and were so far down the list.

We need to acknowledge that teams like Savchenko and massot, K and S, SK and K, sui and han came back from injury though I think K and S needed more time to recover fully great job. Not that we want anyone injured but SUi and Han and S and M and SK and K for example at least had time to heal though we give them full credit. S and K and certainly D and R didn't have enough time (or in the case of D and R really bad timing. They actually skated still injury and it was so bad that they even did the lesser of two evils the 3T which was hurting Megan but not nearly as bad as Eric who was so injured they even modified spin positions. Sui and Han and Savechenko and massot great quality; Duhamel and Radford despite all the hate on this forum deserve a standing ovation. Wow - they pulled it out and earned Canada though barely three spots. They easily could have pulled out and it would have been understandable.

Some other comments I really like the French but was surprised they could not beat S and K, D and R and I and M. The Italians continue to go up and down. Seguin and Bilodeau were disappointing but clearly were not really ready to come back; is this a Rachel Flatt situation not sure but maybe MT and M were a better choice for Canada.l D and F - how sad I would have never have thought. In fact I thought SK and K after seeing them at 4Cs were ready to finally lay it down. I was disappointed though they might do it next year twice I had so much hope and expectation and then disappointment. The 4 twist wow. Both American teams have such potential. I was shocked D and F didn't make it through. they must have been mortified.

CHina did great to easily win three spots back and reassert themselves as the leading or one of the leading countries in pairs. Now what about Russia. When you think about it really their fourth place okay maybe now third place team won a bronze medal. S and K are still coming back from injury. V and T are celebrating a new life. K and S are clearly still coming back from injury. Not so bad even with K and E falling apart in the fs.

Looks like our Oly podium is set. Sui and Han versus Savchenko (and her latest guy lol) for gold and silver. And a battle of bronze from the latest or healthiest Russian team and Duhamel and Radford.

Darkhorses - The French and the Italians

 

[cathlen]

what will be interesting next year, in the early season, will be the GP series as Duhamel and Radford won't be seeded nor will Peng and Jin absent at these worlds. It will then be very competitive in some grand prix well some others may be more open.

Top 3 seeds S/H, S/M T/M
4-6 Y/Z, S/K and I/M

I bet it will be D/R once again to win Skate Canada though, if healthy of course

 

[Sabrina]

The scene when Han is lifted for the photo shooting was so hilarious...I could not believe the height difference is so big between the men on the podium. I know from real life how big/tall are skaters (men) doing pairs. They are like Gulivers among most single skaters

 

[coldblueeyes]

I don't think anyone thought the US would be affected by that rule.

Well, the US pair who could get this quota actually placed well behind other teams that didn't even have a chance to qualify yet, even reaching the FS. The Czechs, North-Koreans and Aussies did better than D/F but didn't get a quota after the FS, not to talk about the Japanese and Austrians who placed better in the SP. In a way, this is kind of poetic justice.

 

[Skater Boy]

I agree. These would be odds for next year for the pairs.

Odds of winning the OGM next year:

Savchenko & Massot- 45%
Sui & Han- 35%
Duhamel & Radford- 7.5%
Stolbova & Klimov- 7.5%
Tarasova & Morozov- 2.5%
Everyone else combined- 2.5%

Odds to medal:

Savchenko & Massot- 80%
Sui & Han- 80%
Tarasova & Morozov- 80%
Stolbova & Klimov- 25%
Duhamel & Radford- 25%
Everyone else combined- 10%

Tarasova & Morozov are the kind of team right now at Olympics and Worlds who will almost always medal due to their consistency, but not win unless it is a horrible shitshow with all other contenders having bad skates.

Watch your potty mouth lol. I was hoping you would say V and T were returning but they aren't mentioned in your predictions unless they are everyone else combined.

 

[Jammers]

Some quick comments. COngrats to all the skaters; they really tried.

Bravo to Sui and Han for finally getting gold also great work from Savchenko and Massot though I don't like the discrepancy in skill between the two. And nice to see Tarasova and Morosov do so well though it wasn't a great skate. Take a bow K and S you fought back and would have scored even higher but for they skated so early and were so far down the list.

We need to acknowledge that teams like Savchenko and massot, K and S, SK and K, sui and han came back from injury though I think K and S needed more time to recover fully great job. Not that we want anyone injured but SUi and Han and S and M and SK and K for example at least had time to heal though we give them full credit. S and K and certainly D and R didn't have enough time (or in the case of D and R really bad timing. They actually skated still injury and it was so bad that they even did the lesser of two evils the 3T which was hurting Megan but not nearly as bad as Eric who was so injured they even modified spin positions. Sui and Han and Savechenko and massot great quality; Duhamel and Radford despite all the hate on this forum deserve a standing ovation. Wow - they pulled it out and earned Canada though barely three spots. They easily could have pulled out and it would have been understandable.

Some other comments I really like the French but was surprised they could not beat S and K, D and R and I and M. The Italians continue to go up and down. Seguin and Bilodeau were disappointing but clearly were not really ready to come back; is this a Rachel Flatt situation not sure but maybe MT and M were a better choice for Canada.l D and F - how sad I would have never have thought. In fact I thought SK and K after seeing them at 4Cs were ready to finally lay it down. I was disappointed though they might do it next year twice I had so much hope and expectation and then disappointment. The 4 twist wow. Both American teams have such potential. I was shocked D and F didn't make it through. they must have been mortified.

CHina did great to easily win three spots back and reassert themselves as the leading or one of the leading countries in pairs. Now what about Russia. When you think about it really their fourth place okay maybe now third place team won a bronze medal. S and K are still coming back from injury. V and T are celebrating a new life. K and S are clearly still coming back from injury. Not so bad even with K and E falling apart in the fs.

Looks like our Oly podium is set. Sui and Han versus Savchenko (and her latest guy lol) for gold and silver. And a battle of bronze from the latest or healthiest Russian team and Duhamel and Radford.

Darkhorses - The French and the Italians

T/M are and have been Russia's number 1 team all season and this clinched it. V/T are done K/S are aging and getting injured all the time and S/K also keep getting injured and underperforming.

 

[Skater Boy]

W

Irina Rodnina says hello

Anyways, I was unable to watch the first half of the competition, finally watched Stolbova/Klimov and wow... they really are masters of the sport, what a redemption skate. That program is so original it breaks my heart that it won't be performed again :sad21:

Actually... the pairs all deserve rest, but the fact that I won't be seeing them skate for half a year makes me wanna cry Ah well, there's always YouTube Please don't get injured in the off-season, and have a well-deserved vacation, everyone!

What about WTT

 

[Skater Boy]

Is Eric Radford injured?

Oh boy. Yep Lavender Eric is injured look at the change in spins and the change in jumps. I mean poor Megan had to do the 3T which hurts her foot but it was the lesser of the evils I am not sure how they adjusted everything including spin positions and all.

 

[Mango]

Well, the US pair who could get this quota actually placed well behind other teams that didn't even have a chance to qualify yet, even reaching the FS. The Czechs, North-Koreans and Aussies did better than D/F but didn't get a quota after the FS, not to talk about the Japanese and Austrians who placed better in the SP. In a way, this is kind of poetic justice.

Oh yeah, no doubt. I even asked in the pre-event thread how likely was it for D/F to make top 8 because before Worlds D/F thought that was what they could do. I think the response I got was 'it's possible'. I don't think anyone, not even D/F themselves, thought this would happen. But they underperformed and were rightfully behind teams who skated better.

 

[MaiKatze]

Wow, what a competition. I could actually watch this on TV on Eurosport instead of a laggy stream, so that was something! Congrats to Sui/Han, just the antithesis to the boredom of some other skaters from the same country. They are so fresh, it's amazing! I loved them and finally their Medal dreams come true. T/M, great stuff for pulling through the pain, she was definitely in and earning a medal. And of course, Aliona and Bruno. I thought she was crazy to come back at that age, and with a new partner, but she is definitely in contention for that Olympic Gold. Great skate, and great program.

 

[slider11]

US keeps their second spot!

Are you sure?

 

[Chemistry66]

Are you sure?

This issue has already been discussed a lot. At the time that was posted, US had just ensured enough placement for a potential second spot.