2019 Europeans: Ladies SP

[gsk8]

The 2019 European Figure Skating Championships kicked off with the Ladies' Short Program on Thursday in Minsk, Belarus. Russia's Alina Zagitova currently leads the pack, followed by fellow countrywoman Sofia Samodurova and Switzerland's Alexia Paganini.

“If something doesn’t go so well, I’ll start the new year fresh,” said the 2018-19 Grand Prix (GP) Final silver medalist. “That’s what I did. I only take the good things with me. After Russian nationals, my parents took away my phone and gave me another one, without internet, so I’m now reading books and I’m studying for school. Studying is important [as] I won’t do figure skating for my whole life.”

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What are your thoughts on the Ladies' Short Program?

 

[chopinskate]

Zagi should probably not be leading, but I do hope that her issues for the season are behind her and that she can skate lights out for the rest of the season. It would be great to see her skate well at worlds.

 

[BillNeal]

Loved Sofia's SP, a very nice debut at her first ISU championships. I'm glad to see the judges giving her more recognition as the season progresses and hopefully the Fed will do the same and send her to Worlds, pending the FP of course.

Also, glad to see the European ladies from the smaller feds rising up to the occasion and challenging for that podium, defying many expectations of a supposed podium sweep. Alexia's reaction to finishing the segment in 3rd place (getting a small medal at the very least) was a highlight.

 

[Merjan]

Viveca from Finland did really well, 4th, considering she has or has had a back problem. Great combination. I'm happy for her.

 

[pohatta]

Lindfors' 3lz-3t was the highest scoring element of the whole competition, 11,87. Konstantinova was 20th in TES and 3rd in PCS.

 

[andromache]

I LOVE Sofia. She's my girl. Her jumps are tiny and the rest of her skating is VERY rough around the edges, but she's a fantastic underdog and she's got a fierce personality. I can't help but root for her! But...I can see how Alina is ahead of her in PCS, even without reputation - Alina has much more polish and skates faster and bigger.

Thrilled for Alexia and Viveca. I hope either one (or both) brings it in the LP and pulls out a medal.

Hard to say what will happen to Stanislava...RusFed adores her but I don't think they can send her to Worlds after that SP.

 

[rachno2]

I.......don’t have any beef with the judging here tbh. It wasn’t Alina’s best skate, but I do think she deserved the lead (more speed, better spins, slightly “bigger” skating, and of course those difficult transitions).

That said, I have a feeling Sofia is going to win this. Just a hunch.

 

[coldblueeyes]

That said, I have a feeling Sofia is going to win this. Just a hunch.

I expect to be proven wrong, but I also see Zagitova giving away precious points in the FS and Sofia pulling ahead. But I'd love for Alina to just skate her best and gain some confidence back.

 

[Fluture]

I don‘t think Alina will let the opportunity slip of winning her second Euros title. Especially not after what happened at Nationals. She looked a bit nervous here, admittedly, but I think she‘s the well-deserved leader. Sofia had more personality, but her skating and jumps are still overall ”smaller“. Alina also has better transitions. I think she’ll get the gold here, even if she makes a mistake here or there. She had an UR and a trouble on the flip here and still leads. I think it will be the same for the FS.

I was surprised Alexia was that far away from the first two in PCS... I‘m not a fan of her program (just don‘t like the music) but she has presence and has a personality on the ice. But happy for her that she got the small bronze! That‘s already a victory for her. And, ironically, the placements here are exactly the same as they were after Rostelecom SP. Maybe this time they‘ll stay this way? We‘ll see.

I was sad for Stanislava. To see her cry like this... and she really wanted it but her nerves got the best of her. I hope she can end this competition on a good note. She is more of a FS skater so I believe she‘ll do better on Friday. A medal is not completely out of reach but would certainly require a great skate from her and some mistakes from others. Let‘s wait and see. I just hope to see her happier. This was hard to watch.

 

[1904sk8]

This is the first competition this season where I have seen Alina really fight. I feel like even though she was nervous she fought for every jump and was clearly proud of herself at the end. If she keeps the same attitude I think she will be fine in the free.

 

[mrrice]

I can't believe I didn't know that Med was skipping Europeans. Was this her choice?

 

[DenissVFan]

I can't believe I didn't know that Med was skipping Europeans. Was this her choice?

No, she just didn't qualify this year.

 

[Alexz]

Alina was kinda stiff and obviously nervous this time. Nerves finally getting to her. I wish her well in the FS. I like Sofia a lot. She has potential to grow. Can we take over Mishin's will over his student's SS and choreo? Professor is amazing at teaching jumps, but can we please have someone to work on everything else in his team? Heck, let's sent Plyushie to him and let's make t them work together. Mishin - jumps, Plyushie - everything else. Konstantinova better show up for FS, otherwise the reputation of "constantly chocking at big events" will stick to her for a long time. Great to see a non-Russian on the podium too, obviously not that I have anything against Russia or Russians, but this gives wings to other European girls. Good luck to everyone in FS!

 

[Harriet]

I'm so happy for both my French ladies! I know Mae was gunning for the podium this year and she'll be disappointed not to be in the final group for the free, but she can still make top 5, she's a powerhouse and her free skate is gorgeous. And Laurine has really taken it up another notch! I loved seeing her jump confidence back, and the falling leaf transition out of her axel again (and she's added a hop going into it too, very cute). They're definitely going to hold two places for France for next year...and depending on how the FS goes, they might even win a third?

 

[1904sk8]

I'm so happy for both my French ladies! I know Mae was gunning for the podium this year and she'll be disappointed not to be in the final group for the free, but she can still make top 5, she's a powerhouse and her free skate is gorgeous. And Laurine has really taken it up another notch! I loved seeing her jump confidence back, and the falling leaf transition out of her axel again (and she's added a hop going into it too, very cute). They're definitely going to hold two places for France for next year...and depending on how the FS goes, they might even win a third?

The french skating team over all is really strong this year. Which is especially surprising since ice skating is not very popular in France. They only have one pairs team but that one team is one of the best in the world. Hopefully having so many great skaters will help improve the popularity of skating.

 

[Harriet]

They only have one pairs team but that one team is one of the best in the world.

Cleo Hamon and Denys Strekalin are on their way to being worthy successors, too. They got their Euros minimums this year, but unfortunately too many pairs withdrew from the event and their marks were ineligible to be used for qualification purposes (as I recall, there ended up only being French teams in the senior pairs event at that one!).

 

[wolkenschloss]

Alexia Paganini was a nice surprize. She has now a chance on bronze medal.

 

[skylark]

I was pleased to see Viveca and Alexia disprove the idea expressed frequently around here for the last few weeks that there would be no one to challenge the three Russian ladies, that there would be no competition for the medals. Well... figure skating is unpredictable, even though so many are always so sure they have an inside track on the result!

I enjoyed Alexia's program. She "abandoned" the program a couple of times, meaning she was only focusing on the next jump. But in the second half, she picked up the program again.

I really love Viveca Lindfors. Ever since she came roaring into view at Finlandia, I've noticed how passionately she skates her programs. She has beautiful jumps, and all her skating has conviction and emotion behind it.

 

[Noxchild]

I expect to be proven wrong, but I also see Zagitova giving away precious points in the FS and Sofia pulling ahead. But I'd love for Alina to just skate her best and gain some confidence back.

Alina would have to make several drastic errors and Sofia pull out the skate of her life to win imo, that Olympic champion bonus is just too strong. No one else stands even close.

 

[egor555]

I heard that before the short program Stanislava had a chest pain. She was forced to take anesthetic. Maybe it affected her SP.