2019 Cup of China: Day 2 | Page 3 | Golden Skate

2019 Cup of China: Day 2

Globetrotter

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Best surprise for me is seeing Yan Han back to some form. The SP just reminded me that he jumps a mean 3A and the 3Lz was done with great technique, clear outside edge, true toe pick jump with barely 0.25 prerotation. It helps also to see that he has greatly improved his basic SS. Awesome.
 

Heleng

Medalist
Joined
Dec 29, 2014
Country
United-States
Han Yan’s free created the moment of the season for me so far (along with Piper and Paul’s free at SC). Skylark so eloquently captured everything I felt about his performance.
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
My three favorites in the women's freeskate were Young You with the beautiful Ina Bauer done leaning far back, flowing with smooth speed and deep edges through upbeat turns, styling with her outstretched arms as she glanced to the side at the camera in her her step sequence. I also enjoyed her arcing arabesque, her deliberate and graceful extensions and movements with far away ethereal facial expressions at the beginning and end of the programs, and the picturesque spread eagle transitioning into the beautiful triple loop with wonderful flow and air position followed by illusion and Bielmann spin with fine centering, position and speed. Somehow though I never listen to Madonna, Young You's marvelous performance of this Evita montage served as a backdrop for a meshing of intriguing moods which drew me to the conclusion that the certainties of obtaining star quality disappear in a veil of Argentina's tears.

Satoko was very fluid in movement and in extension and flow with a lot of intricate and smooth buttery bladework through her turns with beautiful positions and excellent speed on the ice and in her spins with a lot of expression and a wonderful spiral. Stark flashes of contrast in mood dashed through my mind, as I imagined Mao's magnificent invocation of Prelude in C Sharp Minor.

Anna flew high with lofty quads that seemed gravity defying in their lovely lightness, seeming to suspend for an instant above the ice as a firebird in the sky.
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
It's the bear from LINE, a web and social media company known for its cute mascots. I think Anna's tissue box is the same bear?

Anna’s tissue box is Chairoikoguma, from the Rilakkuma series by San-X. Alina’s tissue box is the white bear from that series, named Korilakkuma.
 

sk8kirsty

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 24, 2019
Anna’s tissue box is Chairoikoguma, from the Rilakkuma series by San-X. Alina’s tissue box is the white bear from that series, named Korilakkuma.
My tissue box is a seal from a toy shop I went to when I was a kid
I named it Sasha (after my fav skater Sasha Trusova obvs)
I take her skating every day [emoji4][emoji13][emoji960][emoji173]
 

rain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 29, 2003
I think we've seen everyone's programs now on the grand prix, and it really struck me how many people are using duplicate music, and much of it has been used many times before.

Several Les Miserables programs here. The worst cut has to be the American pair who are using a version on I Dreamed A Dream that devolves into sobbing, which is horrible out of context in a big rink.

I was surprised to see at least three programs here to music from Twilight (and of course Kostornaia's using it as well. But Twilight was quite a few years ago now, so I'm surprised to see it making a renaissance, of sorts, on the ice this season.

Of course two of the top American pairs are using Experience for their free programs, but I heard at least one more here. Two of the U.S. ice dance teams are doing Too Darn Hot for their rhythm dances.

And there were several more Moulin Rouge. Not sure if the horrible one with the woman singing Roxanne is meant to be reminiscent of the film or just a remake of the song itself.

Just finishing watching up mens, and the two Sherlock Holmes programs in a row seemed to underline my point.

Just seems to be a lot of repeats around.

Also, it struck me that the grand prix this season has seemed to have a lot of really, really messy skating. A lot of falls and meltdowns. I don't know if it's more than other seasons, but it feels like it to me. I just seems to have been a rough series so far.
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
I don't know that they're repeats if two pairs or two skaters in the same discipline (like Brendan and Keiji) coincidentally pick the same music. They probably would have preferred not to be skating to the same music, but they're not gonna switch now. Ditto for Knierim/Knierim and Cain-Gribble/Leduc. I must have missed the other "Experience" at CoC ... but I admit to not liking that music much, and if you want drama when you skate to it, you'd better provide it yourself!

I get your point, though. When we watch all the GPs, nationals, worlds, and Europeans/4CC, it gets repetitive!

And it's nothing new ... there was the famous Olympic "Battle of the Carmens" in 1988! Sometimes an idea is "in the air" and two people on opposite sides of the world think it's something new and follow through.

I must admit I laughed like crazy at the back-to-back Sherlock Holmes similarly clad. what were the odds?
 

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset
Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 12, 2014
Country
United-States
Yes, we did! How could I have forgotten that? Maybe because there's no such thing as too much Bohemian Rhapsody, for me.
 

TallyT

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 23, 2018
Country
Australia
I don't know that they're repeats if two pairs or two skaters in the same discipline (like Brendan and Keiji) coincidentally pick the same music. They probably would have preferred not to be skating to the same music, but they're not gonna switch now. Ditto for Knierim/Knierim and Cain-Gribble/Leduc. I must have missed the other "Experience" at CoC ... but I admit to not liking that music much, and if you want drama when you skate to it, you'd better provide it yourself!

I get your point, though. When we watch all the GPs, nationals, worlds, and Europeans/4CC, it gets repetitive!

And it's nothing new ... there was the famous Olympic "Battle of the Carmens" in 1988! Sometimes an idea is "in the air" and two people on opposite sides of the world think it's something new and follow through.

I must admit I laughed like crazy at the back-to-back Sherlock Holmes similarly clad. what were the odds?

As long as we don't get another year like 14-15 and the Phantoms....
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
Quick thoughts on the ladies:

Anna: Glad to see her have such a strong competition. Her SP was wonderful: much more relaxed and easy than SA. She didn't get the rotation on the quads in the FS but even an under-rotated quad is still worth 12 points! I really enjoy her performances. I thought her scores were right on the money and her win was well-deserved.

Satoko: URs are still a problem...but absolutely incredible performances in both programs. It was refreshing to see Satoko getting the love from the judges in PCS. She has gorgeous skating skills and is truly on another level when it comes to PE, IN and CH--it was nice to finally see that in her scoring. With all of the URs it's clear she has a much higher scoring ceiling if she can skate cleanly. Having said that, she got very lucky Liza struggled in the SP...

Liza: Rough SP but it was nice to see her bounce back so well in the FS. Liza is never going to catch up to the others in PCS (there's just not enough there in her skating) but if she can continue to put out the content and skate cleanly, she'll put pressure on the others to deliver. The Final is out for her but hopefully she can carry the momentum of this FS into nationals (or her next competition).

You: That SP was a disaster but it was great to see her fight back in the FS. Several URs (the caller was pretty strict here) but it's great she was able to jump from 7th to 4th overall. I'm still betting on her to win nationals...

Sofia: Solid performance all around. I don't foresee her on a podium any time soon but she's still managing to skate well.

Amber: Great SP, typical FS. One day she may get it together...but good for her for skating so well in the SP on short notice.

Marin: :cry: She is a positively stunning skater to watch but those jumps break my heart.

Hongyi Chen: The Chinese women are rarely worth talking about but this girl caught my eye. She has a gorgeous Carolina Kostner-esque look on the ice with her long limbs and she's quite graceful as well. The jumps she did land were good. China needs someone to be in the mix for 2022...she'd be a good candidate.
 

Kinga

Medalist
Joined
Feb 15, 2008
I don't know much about ice dance, but scores baffle me. It seems like GOE is a decider, and most of the time, awarding GOE seems pretty random to me. Are FB/S 20 points worse than S/K and C/B? Really?
There should be more point differences between levels. And seriously, separating partners technical scores for certain elements? If one partner hits level 1 in twizzles, it should be level 1, period. Just like in pairs, when one partner pops a jump, it is a pop that counts.

Han Yan was a breath of fresh air.
Despite her technical brilliance, I don’t like Annas jumps. The look laboured, muscled and lack flow.
 

randomfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2014
My three favorites in the women's freeskate were Young You with the beautiful Ina Bauer done leaning far back, flowing with smooth speed and deep edges through upbeat turns, styling with her outstretched arms as she glanced to the side at the camera in her her step sequence. I also enjoyed her arcing arabesque, her deliberate and graceful extensions and movements with far away ethereal facial expressions at the beginning and end of the programs, and the picturesque spread eagle transitioning into the beautiful triple loop with wonderful flow and air position followed by illusion and Bielmann spin with fine centering, position and speed. Somehow though I never listen to Madonna, Young You's marvelous performance of this Evita montage served as a backdrop for a meshing of intriguing moods which drew me to the conclusion that the certainties of obtaining star quality disappear in a veil of Argentina's tears.

Satoko was very fluid in movement and in extension and flow with a lot of intricate and smooth buttery bladework through her turns with beautiful positions and excellent speed on the ice and in her spins with a lot of expression and a wonderful spiral. Stark flashes of contrast in mood dashed through my mind, as I imagined Mao's magnificent invocation of Prelude in C Sharp Minor.

Anna flew high with lofty quads that seemed gravity defying in their lovely lightness, seeming to suspend for an instant above the ice as a firebird in the sky.

Hi gotoschool! I’m trying to reply to the PM you gave me but it says you need to clear some other messages first for me to send mine. Since I can’t PM you yet this was the only solution I had! :laugh: Sorry everyone on GS for suddenly bringing up this :eek:topic:
 
Top