2019 Cup of China: Day 1 | Golden Skate

2019 Cup of China: Day 1

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Yan Han! I was so thrilled to see him perform so well. As most know, he took a break from skating for nearly two years after shoulder surgery.

I also really enjoyed He Zhang's performance. Great jumping technique.

Another personal best for Shcherbakova - you go girl!

Recaps:
 
Last edited:
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
So happy for Yan Han's come back :clap:

Other than that I had just some glances at the screen every now and then only to witness a fall. Was the competition a total splatfest?
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
Watching live without commentary or commercials is the best way, IMO. It gives almost the same feeling as if one were on the arena.

It was great to watch Han Yan again and what a fantastic performance!!! The program and music suited him perfectly and it was a good choice not jump a quad and go for a perfect performance at the comeback. So many skaters had a fall, unfortunately also Rizzo in his triple lutz, but he placed well without a combo. Those two performances were the highlight for me.

Scherbakova was great! And I also liked Miyahara´s program and performance.
 

lzxnl

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 8, 2018
So happy for Yan Han's come back :clap:

Other than that I had just some glances at the screen every now and then only to witness a fall. Was the competition a total splatfest?

Oh yes. No one with a quad skated cleanly.

In the ladies' field, that was chaotic af. Amber Glenn third in the short? Beating Tuktamysheva, Samodurova and You while only trailing Miyahara by a point? Wildness.
So many carrots in the ladies' short too, so it looks like the 'harsh' (read: fair) judging is here to stay. So many of the URs really were UR.

Anna Scherbakova lands a two-footed 3Lz! that gets +GOE. And some believe in a conspiracy to try to artificially lower Scherbakova's scores. She's not putting in a convincing reason to score her much above 70.
 

Silvia451

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Country
Romania
I'm not a fan of the SP music of Sui/Han, but they are the most amazing pair I've ever seen.
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Only had the chance to catch up and just finished watching ladies SP

Very happy for Anna, she's in a good position to win this.

Satoko was lovely to watch as always apart from those jumps, 2 URS, perhaps lucky to be second.

Impressive skate from Amber but she needs to put it together in the FS

Liza WHY... it is so frustrating, this program is now a mess. It has gone through too many changes (music and layout) in such a short time, it's not helping.
I fear the FS will be much of the same.

Sofia... struggling with puberty. But she gave it her all.

Young You, bless her, she was nervous, practices were rough. She has an outside shot at a medal if she can get herself together in the FS.
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Oh yes. No one with a quad skated cleanly.

In the ladies' field, that was chaotic af. Amber Glenn third in the short? Beating Tuktamysheva, Samodurova and You while only trailing Miyahara by a point? Wildness.
So many carrots in the ladies' short too, so it looks like the 'harsh' (read: fair) judging is here to stay. So many of the URs really were UR.

Anna Scherbakova lands a two-footed 3Lz! that gets +GOE. And some believe in a conspiracy to try to artificially lower Scherbakova's scores. She's not putting in a convincing reason to score her much above 70.

I wondered about that, I thought it looked a bit odd on her landing and how she went up into the loop. Just watched it again and her free leg blade was... I'm not sure what was going on there. Very odd landing
 

Flutzel

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 30, 2019
The lady's field is a joy to follow here, I def did not predict that ranking order for the SP. (Well, as I'm a softie I always wish all participants could get medals, lol, since it does hurt to see people disappointed, but I can't say I'm not really looking forward to the Lady's FS for Cup of China and how it will shake out in the end.)
 

xpi0i21

Spectator
Joined
Oct 29, 2019
young you looked really nervous from the start... i hope she doesn’t beat herself up for the falls and does well in the free skate!
 

Ichatdelune

Long live the Queen and her successors
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
Country
South-Korea
Chaos. Utter chaos. With too many over-the-head shots. And personal heartbreaks. Which I will not dwell upon. I'm this close to terminating this event's existence in history.

ID
- The live tech box said S/K got level 4 YYYYs, protocols said level 3 YYTY. But the ID hierarchy still stands and they had excellent skills.
- C/B are chasing after their Finnstep levels throughout the season so far, it eluded them here once again. They are still Too Darn Hot nonetheless.
- F-B/S were the only team to get level 4 YYYYs, although they've done better in other competitions they proved once again that they're on the rise.
- The Chaplin penguins, aka Wang/Liu, were basically the only ones to get huge cheers from the mostly subdued audience. And those Chaplin penguins are fun, fun, fun.
- H/B are not having a good season so far, which is a pity because their programs are fun (and Jean-Luc Baker's skating is sublime).
- Both Russian teams were equipped with basic skills, but well S/A lost the Bonnie and Clyde battle and I can't remember what E/B were skating to
- The other two Chinese teams were nicely dressed, and shame on the home crowd for not cheering for them
- Komatsubara Misato is a gorgeous woman, that dress is not. Please ditch the thing.

Ladies

- The chaos begins.
- Anna Shcherbakova is comfortably in the lead, one of the few who went clean (minus a !)
- Amber Glenn in 3rd. As said, chaotic. But she did have strong, solid jumps and the sole StSq4 of the ladies' competition
- I again found out that I do not enjoy Egyptian disco, but Miyahara Satoko performed and got deserving PCS for once.
- Sofia Samodurova is regaining the title of The Consistent One, but she needs the sass she had last season back.

Men

- Yan Han (who needs a shave) is sitting in 1st. Fabulous skate from him.
- The 3A god mostly behaved, the quad gods did not.
- So many missed, botched, or popped combos...
- Moving on before I burst into tears again

Pairs

- Only two teams managed to survive the SBS jumps.
- Sui/Han are Sui/Han, but I personally find this SP not up to their standards (Blues for Klook, Hallelujah, the likes). And also rough around the edges, as it was their first outing of the season.
- I/B are in second, which I did not expect. Guess that they didn't fall on the SBS jumps, only stumbled on it, helped? Great lifts though.
- Peng/Jin, my faves here, have had better skates. But GPF is still quite within their grasp, and a silver is guaranteed if they skate their beautiful FS cleanly
- I'm still kinda in amazement that the respected and admired leader comrade up north actually allowed Ryom/Kim to go and get two SPs, but well I vastly prefer Malaguena to this new one
 

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
Classic Day 1 at the Cup of Disaster.

Men
- The man, the myth, the legend, Yan Han, leading after the short program. Who had that in their predictions? He had a lot of help, of course, but welcome back. It seems unlikely he can pull a Kaetlyn Osmond tomorrow and win Grand Prix gold while not having a second assignment, but stranger things have happened.
- I almost screamed in frustration when Rizzo fell on his triple Lutz, since everything had been foot-perfect up until that point.
- Disappointing outing for, well, pretty much everybody here.

Ladies
- Due to it being way, way too early in the morning I missed about the first half of this live and, looking over the protocols, I didn't see much reason to revisit most of it.
- Shcherbakova had the most successful outing of the skaters here, so properly in the lead.
- Miyahara is so divine in everything but the jumps. I don't know how much improvement we can realistically expect at this point in her career, but I really hope Lee has something up his sleeve.
- Liza, sigh. This program is one of the best she's ever had, but it's already gotten messy, not just because of the execution of it here. Falling on the Axel, honestly, she hasn't missed one yet this season, so that's not a big deal. She was due.
- Amber Glenn shows up in a big way, though I she's going to have a tough time staying in the game in the free based on the past. But good luck, and especially this is impressive for somebody who originally had zero Grand Prixs.
- You Young's triple Axel isn't consistent yet, so I thought a lot of predictions for her here were a bit optimistic. Rough time, but I guess she's still in the game since nobody is that far ahead.
- Sofia, great to see her looking improved (if not near top form yet).

Pairs
- Sui/Han absolutely took charge here, as you would expect them to, and delivered the only truly clean performance (notwithstanding Sui's incredible save on their throw). Program at this point is a bit ehhh, but we'll see how it grows.
- Liubov and Charlie, unexpectedly in second place. I don't expect that to stay the case in the free, and I imagine they don't either, but they've got a decent 4-ish point lead on the other bronze medal contenders. Their development continues apace.
- Peng/Jin, a bit rougher than Skate America, though I imagine with Peng's ankle they lost some training time. This is a great program.
- Efimova's triple jump attempt was doomed from its crazily tilted takeoff.
- Ryom/Kim went three seasons with the same short program and now they've got two different short programs in as many competitions? What was wrong with "Malaguena"? Did the Supreme Leader disapprove?

Ice dance
- Sinitsina/Katsalapov's "Singin' in the Rain" sounded like an iffy idea to me when it was announced, but it's turned out to be really good for them (though honestly Nikita could maybe stand to dial it down just a bit, at times he's selling a bit too hard). Levels all good, etc.
- Chock/Bates had good Finnstep results on the Challenger series, so I don't get what's been going wrong at their Grand Prix events.
- Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen were undermarked here, in my opinion, considering their technical excellence (highest BV of the event) and strong performance ability. I believe they're the only team so far to get a Level 4 Finnstep at multiple events.
- Wang/Liu's program is so fun, and them being in fourth is a bit of a surprise. It'd probably take some work to hold onto fourth, but I guess we'll see.
- Hawayek/Baker's program, likewise fun, but levels were not so fun. A step down from SCI.
- Skoptcova/Aleshin have hands down the worst Bonnie & Clyde RD of the season. Terrible music edits.
- I feel sorry for Komatsubara/Koleto, who, even aside from the concussion problems, have to spend their time away from their elite training facility to have any hope of getting him citizenship, and yet because they can't train at Gadbois full-time it's going to be that much harder for them to compete with Muramoto/Takahashi next season.
 
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eterialskater

Guest
Han Yan Skating Skills 8.36
Shcherbakova Skating Skills 8.36

Shcherbakova's musicality and refinement is one of the best I've ever seen and unlike the girl who got the highest PCS she actually rotates her jumps. This outrageously false propaganda is a big yawn.
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Shcherbakova's musicality and refinement is one of the best I've ever seen and unlike the girl who got the highest PCS she actually rotates her jumps. This outrageously false propaganda is a big yawn.

Propaganda?

noun

1.

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.

"he was charged with distributing enemy propaganda"

So no, not propaganda. Just personal opinions.

Your opinion is different

I don't agree that Anna has the best musicality or refinement. Of the younger seniors that one goes to Kostornaia.
Does that make my opinion propaganda ?

By the way, the "other girl" has a name, Satoko Miyahara, and Skating Skills are nothing to do with rotating jumps. Or musicality and refinement either for that matter.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
Shcherbakova's musicality and refinement is one of the best I've ever seen and unlike the girl who got the highest PCS she actually rotates her jumps. This outrageously false propaganda is a big yawn.

Why is it "outrageously false"? Why is it "propaganda"? You may disagree with it, but that does not make it "false" and it certainly doesn't make it "propaganda". It makes it an opinion you disagree with.

The "skater who got the highest PCS", as you call her, IMO deserved it: her skills, artistry and refinement were superior to the other skaters in the filed.

All this kvetching every time a certain coach's skaters aren't scored the highest is, to borrow a phrase, a "big yawn".:bed:
 

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
May we live in interesting times.... well if interesting means chaotic and messy and heart-rending, oh yeah.

Sui/Han - early in the season but they are just wonderful anyway, and I've decided I really really like Liubov and Charlie too much to judge their actual technical skills :luv17: :laugh:

He Zhang was a bright spot, and Han Yan a HUGE bright spot, among a dark and stormy men's outing which - combined with IdF last week - is doing my favourite discipline no favours (Camden did okay though not up to his SC short. It's his first season and he's lovely, so there). I'm not sure I have the fortitude to watch the FS live...

I don't remember a thing about the dance apart from a lot of not very good music, and it wasn't even late here. This is not a good sign.
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Loved the good microphones in the KnC, giving us such gems as Keegan's "Please don't hurt me too much"! :laugh:

Uh-oh, Daniil was so not amused by Anna's scores...

Karen has fantastic spins, how about she gives Camden some private tutoring.

I really wanna love Satoko's short. I love the music, the concept, the creativity, the ending pose. But she's not selling it for me. Her movements are too gentle and they lack that energetic quickness some passages of the music require. Maybe she'll get there towards the end of the season, although not sure she'll even make it to Worlds or 4CC. :(
 
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eterialskater

Guest
Why is it "outrageously false"? Why is it "propaganda"? You may disagree with it, but that does not make it "false" and it certainly doesn't make it "propaganda". It makes it an opinion you disagree with.

The "skater who got the highest PCS", as you call her, IMO deserved it: her skills, artistry and refinement were superior to the other skaters in the filed.

All this kvetching every time a certain coach's skaters aren't scored the highest is, to borrow a phrase, a "big yawn".:bed:

I am pretty sure rotating jumps is part of Skating Skills. I wonder then why should a chronic under rotator and a small jumper at best receive such nice SS scores?
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I am pretty sure rotating jumps is part of Skating Skills. I wonder then why should a chronic under rotator and a small jumper at best receive such nice SS scores?

The difficulty and quality of jumps is already accounted for in base value and GOE. PCS mostly measures everything in between the technical elements (although, admittedly, that isn't much time give the duration of steps in modern programs).
 
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