Xiaoyu Yu & Yang Jin | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Xiaoyu Yu & Yang Jin

Spiral

Final Flight
Joined
May 4, 2015
They are keeping their programs from last season. Some new practice clips and info from this weibo user: http://weibo.com/nodreams

http://t.cn/RyLwylI
http://t.cn/RyLwHrI

They seem to be switching out the throw flip near the end for the throw salchow instead. The user also mentioned new lifts.

I liked them very much last year, and I'm glad they're learning new elements, but this trend of keeping old programs is becoming an epidemic! And I think it's the first time ever that somebody has kept both of their programs after competing on GP with them. I think ISU should make a rule forbidding skaters to retain programs after they'd used them on GP or Worlds.
 

solar

I got cat class and I got cat style
Medalist
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Country
United-States
So they are keeping both programs for next season?! I loved their programs, but if this is the case, I wish they did something new this season! I wonder if it was the lack of funding due to them being categorized as a "second tier team"
 

ginsengtea

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
It's not really like they had a choice, the Chinese skating federation for some reason didn't fly them out to Canada with Peng/Zhang and Sui/Han to get choreography like they did the season before. W/W are in the same predicament; they're keeping both too.

I don't mind, personally. They had beautiful programs last season and I still feel like they can do more with them.
 
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ginsengtea

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
So they are keeping both programs for next season?! I loved their programs, but if this is the case, I wish they did something new this season! I wonder if it was the lack of funding due to them being categorized as a "second tier team"

The way sports in China are run, everything is fully funded by the government: their lodging, equipment, etc. I hope the CSA intends to send them out for new programs after next season, they're ruining training opportunities for two very talented pair teams.
 

solar

I got cat class and I got cat style
Medalist
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Country
United-States
I agree, I hope both teams get new programs next season! Although, I really liked their programs from last season, so it's not all bad that they're reusing them again
 

veneresplende

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
I agree, I hope both teams get new programs next season! Although, I really liked their programs from last season, so it's not all bad that they're reusing them again

This time, they'll probably get to perform those two programs at Worlds too haha. I doubt Pang & Tong will make a surprise comeback and take the third spot again, as much as I love them. Also, who knows how the CSA works; both Y/J and W/W are not on the "competitive" 1st tier of the national team despite being bigger GP medal threats than most of the skaters on said team. I hope they medal and make the GPF again, but their chances are definitely slimmer this year.
 

solar

I got cat class and I got cat style
Medalist
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Country
United-States
The pairs field will be more competitive this season, I think! Both Y/J and W/W have pretty talented fields they're competing against in their GP assignments, so maybe it's good that they have programs they're already familiar with
 

veneresplende

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Yeah, they could medal at both, especially NHK. I'm excited to see how they'll stack up against Scimeca/Knierim.
 

sses1

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
I wish they could have gotten at least a new SP but I loved their LP from last season so I'm happy I get to see it again. I hope that by keeping their old programs this means they can work on refining their movement.
 

s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Honestly, I'm quite content with them keeping their programs last season. Like pyri_mids said, using familiar programs and strengthening them will indeed be advantageous in this very competitive season. I agree, I think they could present them better and make them more engaging this season. I hoped they'd keep the flip throw and work on it, but it's important to go as clean as possible and max out on the GOEs. Can't afford to lose points. And I can't wait to see the new lifts!
 

Spiral

Final Flight
Joined
May 4, 2015
It's not really like they had a choice, the Chinese skating federation for some reason didn't fly them out to Canada with Peng/Zhang and Sui/Han to get choreography like they did the season before. They worked with David Wilson, them and Wang/Wang. W/W are in the same predicament; they're keeping both both too.

I don't mind, personally. They had beautiful programs last season and I still feel like they can do more with them.

Thanks for pointing out that it's not their choice. TBH I don't understand why the Chinese Fed didn't give them the same treatment this year as last year. It's not like they were a higher-ranked team last year, or like they didn't fulfill expectations.

But regardless, if there were an ISU ruling prohibiting re-using the same programs at GP or Worlds, national federations which subsidize their skaters would have been forced to pay for new programs for them every year. And personally I do mind very much, in all such cases. I think a program that is a work of art can be improved upon forever. Does it mean that it's a good idea for a skater to keep the same programs throughout his career, if he keeps improving in them? And, yes, of course, it's easier to skate the same programs than to prepare new ones - that's why it's unfair towards one's competitors to keep old programs.
 

yyyskate

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
^^possible reasons (all these are my pure speculation based on my very little knowledge of Chinese Fed).
Sui/Han has been upgraded to first tier from last year, First tier Chinese skaters get choreo from Lori (Zijun, Han, P/Z and this year S/H), second tier get choreo from David Wilson (last year S/H, Y/J,W/W etc.).
Chinese Fed has invested huge in ice dance this summer. Chinese no1 ice dance team has been training in US the whole summer.
Fund is limited so they prioritize to the first tier skaters in all disciplines.
 

s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
^^possible reasons (all these are my pure speculation based on my very little knowledge of Chinese Fed).
Sui/Han has been upgraded to first tier from last year, First tier Chinese skaters get choreo from Lori (Zijun, Han, P/Z and this year S/H), second tier get choreo from David Wilson (last year S/H, Y/J,W/W etc.).
Chinese Fed has invested huge in ice dance this summer. Chinese no1 ice dance team has been training in US the whole summer.
Fund is limited so they prioritize to the first tier skaters in all disciplines.

I mean, I understand their decision, as unfortunate as it is for Yu/Jin and Wang/Wang. The athletes are fully funded in China, and the pairs are already quite established whereas the dance teams are not. What I don't understand is Song Nan still receiving first tier treatment. He is far from being remotely competitive, and that money could be going to support Jin Boyang, who is far more promising. Sorry this is going off topic from Yu/Jin, but please tell me he at least got new choreo.
 

ginsengtea

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 15, 2015
Yes, I would think you are right. They place a lot of emphasis on hierarchy, which is why Pang/Tong were automatically given a spot on the 4CC/World teams last season. The top two pairs (P/Z and S/H) got to skip Chinese nationals to prepare for those competitions.

Also I remember reading somewhere that Lori charges for more her services than David does, so the Fed just goes by the more expensive choreographer being "better", which is why only Peng/Zhang got to work with Lori for their programs the previous season.

Maybe Hongbo Zhao decided that for this season Yu/Jin just need to establish themselves more, their path was a bit cut short last season. It will only be their second season on the senior scene after all and they've never gotten to go to senior championships. There are not a ton of expectations in China placed on them because of that, and I would hope that this season they step up to the challenge. Their consistency is admirable so hopefully they continue that trend.
 
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yyyskate

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
I mean, I understand their decision, as unfortunate as it is for Yu/Jin and Wang/Wang. The athletes are fully funded in China, and the pairs are already quite established whereas the dance teams are not. What I don't understand is Song Nan still receiving first tier treatment. He is far from being remotely competitive, and that money could be going to support Jin Boyang, who is far more promising. Sorry this is going off topic from Yu/Jin, but please tell me he at least got new choreo.

about Nan Song's case. it is kinda like once you've been on this No1 status (for whatever reason), it will be hard to pull you off (even if there are better skaters). That's the reason Song was send to 2013 worlds, although many skating fans have already known that Han is much better at the time and would have a much higher chance to earn spots for China.
It took a long time for Song to rise to the top tier, the same applied to Han. Recently, Song gradually receded away from first tier, he used to got both programs from Lori, now I think he got one from Lori and one from David?
it also depends on who your coach is, and their position in Chinese fed hierarchy, I guess. Han's coach is kinda like Jason's coach Kori, a female figure that is quite "green" in the beginning.
Boyang will get new choreo from Chinese choreographer, he didnot got the chance to train abroad with Zijun, Han, S/H and Nan this summer.
 

veneresplende

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
I mean, I understand their decision, as unfortunate as it is for Yu/Jin and Wang/Wang. The athletes are fully funded in China, and the pairs are already quite established whereas the dance teams are not. What I don't understand is Song Nan still receiving first tier treatment. He is far from being remotely competitive, and that money could be going to support Jin Boyang, who is far more promising. Sorry this is going off topic from Yu/Jin, but please tell me he at least got new choreo.

Yeah, not sure why, his World/Olympic chances are almost zero now. I think Boyang still trains with his coach up in Harbin, so while he's technically part of the 1st tier national team (in Beijing) he's also kinda apart from them. He certainly didn't go with them to Canada over the summer. Zhang He did I think, but he trains in Beijing with the others. I would think Boyang's gotten new programs? His last ones were done by Justin Dillon right? I don't know how this relates to Yu/Jin but Jin Boyang seems to be really good friends with Jin Yang which amuses me.
 

s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Yeah, not sure why, his World/Olympic chances are almost zero now. I think Boyang still trains with his coach up in Harbin, so while he's technically part of the 1st tier national team (in Beijing) he's also kinda apart from them. He certainly didn't go with them to Canada over the summer. Zhang He did I think, but he trains in Beijing with the others. I would think Boyang's gotten new programs? His last ones were done by Justin Dillon right? I don't know how this relates to Yu/Jin but Jin Boyang seems to be really good friends with Jin Yang which amuses me.

I only mentioned boyang's case because of the wonky funding thing going on. All/most of the Chinese skaters are very good friends with each other- all the pair girls along with Zijun are close as well. Anyways, I hope boyang does well this season to get a stronger grip on that second worlds spot. He's definitely a strong jumper; if he can improve his pcs and consistency more he could really go places.
Going back to Yu/Jin- I thought about why they decided to downgrade the 2nd throw to a 3sal, but I remembered they're also practicing the quad(there were practice vids recently of them and S/H, P/Z), so they probably have future plans for that. Good luck to all the pairs! China really needs a forth spot for pairs.
 

veneresplende

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
I only mentioned boyang's case because of the wonky funding thing going on. All/most of the Chinese skaters are very good friends with each other- all the pair girls along with Zijun are close as well. Anyways, I hope boyang does well this season to get a stronger grip on that second worlds spot. He's definitely a strong jumper; if he can improve his pcs and consistency more he could really go places.
Going back to Yu/Jin- I thought about why they decided to downgrade the 2nd throw to a 3sal, but I remembered they're also practicing the quad(there were practice vids recently of them and S/H, P/Z), so they probably have future plans for that. Good luck to all the pairs! China really needs a forth spot for pairs.

Yeah, I saw some photos from Junior Worlds when they were messing with each other with Yang trying to throw Boyang and all that lol. Zijun seems to be good friends with just about everyone, not only in her own country:laugh:.

They weren't getting great GOE on the throw flip anyways since she often was low or two-footed it, but I think they just need time to work on the technique. The setup is wonky looking to me still, and the air position needs to be improved, but I hope they do continue to work on it. I'll just be cheering on the side for the Chinese pairs to get those monstrous quad throws consistent, though I wonder if it's even likely.

I would be so, so happy if China somehow miraculously got a fourth pair spot. I love Wang/Wang a lot and it's such a shame if their entire competition season is just two GP's. I want them to get more international assignments. Why the CSA doesn't send any of their skaters to senior B's, I don't know, probably money.
 
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s_parks

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 25, 2013
Yeah, I loved watching them at WTT, they were all adorable. Zijun seems to be good friends with just about everyone, not only in her own country:laugh:.

They weren't getting great GOE on the throw flip anyways since she often was low or two-footed it, but I think they just need time to work on the technique. The setup is wonky looking to me still, and the air position needs to be improved, but I hope they do continue to work on it. I'll just be cheering on the side for the Chinese pairs to get those monstrous quad throws consistent, though I wonder if it's even likely.

I would be so, so happy if China somehow miraculously got a fourth pair spot. I love Wang/Wang a lot and it's such a shame if their entire competition season is just two GP's. I want them to get more international assignments. Why the CSA doesn't send any of their skaters to senior B's, I don't know, probably money.

Yeah, as i posted earlier, it may be better to get goes in the +2/+3 range on the sal than possibly suffer in the goes on the flip. They had lower tech than Tarasova/Morozov, but made it to the gpf over them on account of consistency. Given how competitive it is this season, it may be smart to bank on that same consistency this time as well.

S/H have the best quad throw as of now, since they have experience in attempting them in competition previously. Just from the most recent quad videos I've seen(each of the three teams practicing a quad sal), Y/J actually had the best attempt- fully rotated (though rotation isn't a problem at all for the chinese anyways), just a bit two-footed. They used to practice it(I don't think they've ever tried it in comp. as far as I know) but stopped when Yu was going through puberty. I'm quite optimistic about their chances on the quad, actually.
I agree so much on the lack of senior b assignments from the fed- it would help the skaters so much, especially W/W who only get 2 outings a season, poor things(and b/c of that, I'm glad they're keeping their programs as well since they didn't get to show it a lot). The other skaters would possibly be better prepared for the gp's as well.
 

veneresplende

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Yeah, as i posted earlier, it may be better to get goes in the +2/+3 range on the sal than possibly suffer in the goes on the flip. They had lower tech than Tarasova/Morozov, but made it to the gpf over them on account of consistency. Given how competitive it is this season, it may be smart to bank on that same consistency this time as well.

S/H have the best quad throw as of now, since they have experience in attempting them in competition previously. Just from the most recent quad videos I've seen(each of the three teams practicing a quad sal), Y/J actually had the best attempt- fully rotated (though rotation isn't a problem at all for the chinese anyways), just a bit two-footed. They used to practice it(I don't think they've ever tried it in comp. as far as I know) but stopped when Yu was going through puberty. I'm quite optimistic about their chances on the quad, actually.
I agree so much on the lack of senior b assignments from the fed- it would help the skaters so much, especially W/W who only get 2 outings a season, poor things(and b/c of that, I'm glad they're keeping their programs as well since they didn't get to show it a lot). The other skaters would possibly be better prepared for the gp's as well.

I found a slightly older news clip of the three teams practicing the quad: http://t.co/0alhobIv9q

There was an icenetwork article mentioning that they stopped when she hit her head, thankfully. Now that growing pains are out of the way and they're getting their throw triples consistent again, I really wonder if by 2022 or something they'll have it. I certainly hope they'll surprise me. It's weird to me to think that they're young enough to go for 2026 if they're up to it. Really praying for as little injuries as possible.

I wonder if they're upgrading their side by side jumps? They were great with them last season, no pops at all and only one fall - miraculous for a Chinese team, but they really need another triple. I saw her going through the motions of a 3sal in some video or another. Hope they have success with that if they're putting it in.
 
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