2014 Nagoya TV Cup Ladies LP

Figureskaterr said:

At least they congratulated each other. The girl from Kazakshtan just went directly to the podium and didn't shake hands with either of the two girls

Click to expand...

Thats twice this year that Serafima got snubbed by the bronze medalist :/

Meoima said:

Serafima wins for sure.

But I still think Da bin choi should have the bronze.

Click to expand...

I think da bin really needs to work on her presentation. She has the jumps but the rest, not so much

AprilS said:

I think da bin really needs to work on her presentation. She has the jumps but the rest, not so much

Click to expand...

I agree. Her SP was... hwell:

The Senior Team Japan was present today.
Kozuka and Akiko were in the audience.
Akiko gave her dress to one of the girls.

Even Laura and Susanna had problems. I don't know, it seems to be in every sports in Finland. They have gifts, they work hard but when it's time to show what they can, they collapse and fail. Think about Finnish ice hockey team (ice hockey is probably the most popular sport in Finland) - during last 20 years they have been in the WC final 8 times and won only 2 times.

For sure the skaters need more attention and support in mental training. :disapp:

I like Maisy, she was underscored: http://youtu.be/gNfGOjFVg7s

Serafima actually skated better in FS this time than her last event: jumps are higher, and less jerky. But the second part of her music, and chreo, remind me of a floor exercise.
Xiangling li of China actually has very good skating skills among all Chinese skaters, better than Zijun.
Elazavet seems to be quite an introvert girl. Hope she adds some expressions.

Newbiespectator said:

The Senior Team Japan was present today.
Kozuka and Akiko were in the audience.
Akiko gave her dress to one of the girls.

Click to expand...

I was thinking it was very Akiko like! That explains that!

Sam-Skwantch said:

Thats twice this year that Serafima got snubbed by the bronze medalist :/

Click to expand...

Same for Yuka, it's really quite odd.

Figureskaterr said:

At least they congratulated each other. The girl from Kazakshtan just went directly to the podium and didn't shake hands with either of the two girls

Click to expand...

Actually I thought it was quite endearing (Yuka and Serafima). Yuka reminds me of myself in terms of being a little scatterbrained i.e going the wrong way around the carpet, the hug-handshake and almost crashing into Turzynbaeva during the photograph posing during the victory lap), except it's very cute. With me someone usually ends up being injured

Eh. Not really a fan of Serafima's LP. Many awkward moments of choreography in there, and the ending pose where she flicks her head to the side with her mouth open - what's up with that? I think she has a lot of potential and a good feel for the music, but she needs some dance lessons to learn about movement and body awareness. Her SP is much better vehicle for her at this point. I'd also like to fix her jump landing position at some point, they are starting to get distracting for me.

OMG.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnZdWTKM8pg&app=desktop

I finally got to watch the medal ceremony ( 4:34:10) and it was hilarious. When Yuka comes out and is all lost and scrambling around figuring how to avoid the red carpet....which she ends up getting on anyway ....then the handshake vs. hug thing.....then to top it off the Bronze medalist Elizabet doesn't even look at the girls on the podium...maybe because she is afraid of the handshake vs. hug scenario(obviously snub is the correct call here)....and goes straight to the podium. Serafima is just laughing the whole time even for the first few moments of the ceremony following. Priceless. Who said language barriers and awkward moments aren't fun.

Sam-Skwantch said:

OMG.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnZdWTKM8pg&app=desktop

I finally got to watch the medal ceremony ( 4:34:10) and it was hilarious. When Yuka comes out and is all lost and scrambling around figuring how to avoid the red carpet....which she ends up getting on anyway ....then the handshake vs. hug thing.....then to top it off the Bronze medalist Elizabet doesn't even look at the girls on the podium...maybe because she is afraid of the handshake vs. hug scenario(obviously snub is the correct call here)....and goes straight to the podium. Serafima is just laughing the whole time even for the first few moments of the ceremony following. Priceless. Who said language barriers and awkward moments aren't fun.

Click to expand...

Liza thought the hugging/handshaking thing looked too complicated and decided to skip it and Serafima looked amused. Yuka is so cute!

shine said:

Eh. Not really a fan of Serafima's LP. Many awkward moments of choreography in there, and the ending pose where she flicks her head to the side with her mouth open - what's up with that? I think she has a lot of potential and a good feel for the music, but she needs some dance lessons to learn about movement and body awareness. Her SP is much better vehicle for her at this point. I'd also like to fix her jump landing position at some point, they are starting to get distracting for me.

Click to expand...

I have to say I feel the same! I very much prefer Medvedeva's programs, skating and interpretation.

I almost feel bad about it but, despite all the talent, I don’t particularly like any of the Russian babies (yet?).

This time again, judging only from the videos, I enjoyed Yuka Nagai much better than Serafima, although Serafima deserved to win.
I don’t know if I have a thing for the Japanese skaters (I’m not Japanese) but I realize they tend to be my favorites.

What do you think about Yuka’s potential, by the way?
So far, I could see big effortless, fully rotated jumps, very nice lines and arms, lovely spin positions and overall gracefulness and elegance, good musicality.
She looks and moves very harmoniously on the ice, which is something I somehow miss in the Russian girls.

Actually, I can’t think of any of the top Russian ladies, whose lines I would like or whom I would describe as graceful, which is strange, as I’m sure they must be getting plenty of ballet training.
Most of them are either very impressive jumpers e.g. Tuktamysheva (when she’s on), Pogorilaya; or brilliant perfomers (Radionova); or to a degree both (Sotnikova, Sakhanovich, Medvedeva),
or have other assets like Lipnitskaya, whom I don’t consider a particularly great jumper nor a great artist, but she has the difficulty, consistency and the undeniable wow factor (flexibilty, incredible spins etc.)
But really elegant, graceful and polished with clean positions and no distracting movements? For me no, although they still have plenty of time to develop that.

ETA: Just remembered, yes! Elizaveta Iushenko fits this description to me and I really enjoyed her skating in Ostrava, although her jumps were not with her that day.

If there are any others I might have missed, please let me know.
I don’t mean to make this sound anti-Russian (I’m not by any means), nor do I think that gracefulness, beautiful lines and elegance are the only qualities to look for.
I’m just trying to find out if others see what I’m seeing and why the Russian girls might be somewhat lacking in this department, when they seem to have almost everything else.

Back to the competition, I loved Serafima’s energy and how into the performace she was; I was impressed by her jumps and the speed in her spins but, as shine mentioned,
her landing position tends to be distracting and her lines and arm movents are not particularly appealing either. I simply didn’t find the whole picture as well balanced and aesthetically pleasingas in Nagai’s case,
but maybe that’s just me.
Oh, and I absolutely HATE the half-over tights on anybody!

Out of the others I liked Da Bin Choi’s FS overall performance; loved Bradie Tennell’s spins and thought the music choice and choreography really suited her;
found Jenni Saarinen to be a really beautiful skater (pitty about the meltdown) and her skating sometimes reminded me of Mao.

Snow63 said:

Sima looked nervous at the start. But she did really well, except flutz. I enjoyed her skate so much. And her SS getting are better with each start!

Click to expand...

I would not name it flutz. To me it seems very similar to what Wakaba showed last time: very clear outside edge and then going flat. I would say "!" both times. But some people praised Wakaba for the perfect lutz while adding "f" to Sima's. In a strange way I feel sympathetic. So far the Russian ladies are so much better than everybody else that one not being a Russian might feel some grudge.

Where there are no doubts is Evgenya's case - she needs a lot of work on the jump.

http://s010.radikal.ru/i311/1409/fe/f48b83400be8.jpg
http://s017.radikal.ru/i421/1409/ae/21c36ae338f9.jpg

[email protected] said:

I would not name it flutz. To me it seems very similar to what Wakaba showed last time: very clear outside edge and then going flat. I would say "!" both times. But some people praised Wakaba for the perfect lutz while adding "f" to Sima's. In a strange way I feel sympathetic. So far the Russian ladies are so much better than everybody else that one not being a Russian might feel some grudge.

Where there are no doubts is Evgenya's case - she needs a lot of work on the jump.

http://s010.radikal.ru/i311/1409/fe/f48b83400be8.jpg
http://s017.radikal.ru/i421/1409/ae/21c36ae338f9.jpg

Click to expand...

Well, yes. It's not clear edge (!). Still not proper lutz. And I have to say Wakaba's lutz was more on outside edge IMO. Still not perfect though.
And I think you're right about 'some grudge' There's so much pre-justice on this forum towards russian skaters. Not just ladies. But they'll survive, I'm sure

[email protected] said:

I would not name it flutz. To me it seems very similar to what Wakaba showed last time: very clear outside edge and then going flat. I would say "!" both times. But some people praised Wakaba for the perfect lutz while adding "f" to Sima's. In a strange way I feel sympathetic. So far the Russian ladies are so much better than everybody else that one not being a Russian might feel some grudge.
Where there are no doubts is Evgenya's case - she needs a lot of work on the jump.
http://s010.radikal.ru/i311/1409/fe/f48b83400be8.jpg
http://s017.radikal.ru/i421/1409/ae/21c36ae338f9.jpg

Click to expand...

I think it's clear that Wakaba has better edge in her lutz even in her take off the edge looks a little flat, but judging from the angle of the photos you have showed me I can still see that Wakaba is still on the outside edge, but with Serafima it does look like she's on the inside. Not clearly inside but obviously not outside.
And I am saying that NOT as a fan of Wakaba. It's just a fact that her lutz looks clearer.

Snow63 said:

Well, yes. It's not clear edge (!). Still not proper lutz. And I have to say Wakaba's lutz was more on outside edge IMO.

Click to expand...

Wakaba got ! for all her flips instead.

enzet said:

I almost feel bad about it but, despite all the talent, I don’t particularly like any of the Russian babies (yet?).

This time again, judging only from the videos, I enjoyed Yuka Nagai much better than Serafima, although Serafima deserved to win.
I don’t know if I have a thing for the Japanese skaters (I’m not Japanese) but I realize they tend to be my favorites.

What do you think about Yuka’s potential, by the way?
So far, I could see big effortless, fully rotated jumps, very nice lines and arms, lovely spin positions and overall gracefulness and elegance, good musicality.
She looks and moves very harmoniously on the ice, which is something I somehow miss in the Russian girls.

Actually, I can’t think of any of the top Russian ladies, whose lines I would like or whom I would describe as graceful, which is strange, as I’m sure they must be getting plenty of ballet training.

Click to expand...

It's very intersetint that you said this, because I actually feel the same way re: both the Russian girls and Yuka Nagai. I find Yuka much more polished and "moves better" than Serafima as well. Despite the ballet training that the Russian school must be providing, I don't really see that classical carriage and use of arms being translated into the skating in any of the top girl that I've seen, except Yushenko, who isn't a top girl, and maybe Proklova, to a lesser degree. But all this is compensated for me in Radionova's case, who is quite unpolished still and has very high shoulders, simply because she's such a great dancer despite the imperfect carriage and lines.

I think Nagai has a good chance to get the third spot for senior worlds. She was often (unduly) favored by the JSF. Probably because she was considered the most talented (female) skater from Eastern Japan. I even suspect that Kato was given a NHK spot so that they could use one or two JGP spots for Nagai. Now they have sufficient reasons to push her further. Nagai's main rivals should be Kato and Hongo. Both of them are marked "e" on the flutz. Nagai' true lutz will be a big advantage (BV and impression-wise). Also, Nagai has the better looks, lines and presentation. Those things are very important in this sport.