2019 Rostelecom Day 2

Live report CoR day 2 part 2

This one will be short. I am waiting for the Gala to start.

The need for the food to the body outweighed the need for the food to the soul. We went to our Serbian friends and completely missed the dance. Well, I had few doubts about the final results and I was right.

We came back. During the intermission I met my former colleagues. Figure skating events are virtually the only time we see each other. Another good tradition is meeting with LadyB.

Ok, it's startling...to be continued.

ladyjane said:

Ladies: Lots of respect for the tiny Russian dynamo. Having said that, I do think something is wrong with the scoring when you can win with two falls just because there are quads. A bit like the men, but then Alexandra wishes to compete with the men in any case (I love that girl). Evgenia was fantastic. I really, really enjoyed her skate today. She interprets the music well, and is just wonderful. Good for her! I also enjoyed Mariah's skating today. I often do, but today was special. Nice final of the ladies.

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And there's the rub.

What are general viewers going to make of it all if she wins the World Championships with 2 or even 3 falls. There's only going to be 2 or 3 other competitors - her 2 Russian teammates and Rika Kihira - that are going to get to close to the 230 that she's likely to score even with 2/3 falls, and if they don't skate clean she's going to win.

Evgenia Medvedeva: It was so great for her to have both a great SP and a great LP. I think this is the best she has skated since 2016. Her flow across the ice has improved and so has the ease of her jumps. They are less muscled. These changes have been evident for several months in practice but this is first time she has been able to fully show them in competition. If this was another year, she would definitely be in contention for a World Championship's medal. As it is, she will have to beat Sasha, Rika, Alena and Anna and that is not likely to happen. However, if she continues on this path and continues this improvement who knows what the future holds. I am very happy for her. She just seems like a lovely person..

Sasha Trusova was the winner. Everyone knew that she was going to win, and she did. She was the rightful winnner given the current scoring system. Some of her jumps are really amazing. I really love her 4T. I love her 4S when she lands it (which she wasn't able to in this event, sadly). I, also, usually love her 3lz3lo( although, it wasn't going well this weekend.) However, I don't love her skating. A few posters where mentioning how they can't enjoy Satoko's skating because of her small jumps even though everything else is perfect. (fair enough, to each their own) I, on the other hand, can't really enjoy Sasha's skating because the only amazing thing she does is jump. (and it is amazing don't get me wrong.. it is absolutely amazing) But once, the 4Ts are done, there is nothing else that I want to watch in the program. This, however, takes away nothing from what an amazing, adorable, brave, and strong young lady she is... She was so cute when she fell prior to her program. I think she must be such a fun girl to have around and she is without a doubt her daddy's favorite little girl. (what father wouldn't want an amazing talented daughter like that)

Mariah skated well. I enjoy Mariah's skating, but I think that this was the weakest LP she has skated this year. All of her jumps looked a bit forced. However, she definitely fought through it. I think Mariah has gained confidence and competition nerves. That is really nice to see.

Satoko is beautiful on the ice . Her small jumps don't take away from the performance for me. I just love the perfection of her every movement. Her connection to the music. Her expressiveness. However, it is obvious that she is trying to change her jump technique and, as a result, her jumps are even worse than usual. She was, rightfully, in fourth place given the number of URs. I hope that she uses the time between the GP and Japan Nationals to really focus on changing her technique. As we saw with Med and other skaters though, she is likely going to need at least a year to make any substantive changes.

I really like Yuhana. She is using warhorse pieces this year. (which I usually hate) But, the actually choreography is really lovely and her basic SS are great, too. She really just needs to work on consistency.

In the men's event:

Samarin has a really lovely 4Lz+3T. He deserves and gets high GOE on that jump combination. However, like with Sasha (and even more than with Sasha) once that jump is done, I don't really want to watch the rest of the performance. There is no choreography and the jumping passes are messy. I can tell he is trying to improve and he seems like such a nice person. I am glad that he got a medal as a reward for his hard work.

Aliev is really the opposite of Samarin. He is truly an artistic skater. He doesn't have the best SS but he feels the music. I think his SP is much more effective than his LP. I find the LP to be too dark and, perhaps, too traditionally masculine (I am not sure this the best way to express it) for his brand of skating. He really needs to do better jump math. His jump math at SA cost him the silver medal and it may have cost him the gold medal here. I don't understand how his PCS marks are below Samarin. But, I am not a judge so......


Makar is a really handsome young man. I enjoyed the SP much more than the LP. I don't think he would have been ahead of Shoma had this competition been in another country. However, I think he shows real promise. He just needs to learn how to perform.

Shoma is my favorite. I just love him. I can't be unbiased about his skating. So, seeing him struggle this season has really made me sad. He just has such incredible connection to the music even when he is falling all over the place. I hope he gets a coach soon. At least this competition was a huge improvement over France. I don't think Lambiel is the best coach for Shoma, because I believe that what Lambiel can teach well, Shoma already has. Shoma needs to find a coach who can teach him to check his jumps. I just need Shoma to do better in the second half of the season.

Among the other skaters, I really like Kazuki's program. I hate his song choice, but he is such a good performer so I still love that program. Nam has really improved this season.

There were some really bad costumes throughout the men's program. It is hard to award a winner in the worst dressed category ... it might be a tie between Samarin, and Brezina.


Pairs

I really love Moskvina choreography, especially when performed by a team that is as likeable as Boikova / Kozlovskii. I just fell in love with this team last year, and I love them more each time I see them skate. I like their SP better than their LP but both are so well choreographed. I just adore them.

I am sad to see T/M continue to struggle. However, this was a marked improvement from their previous competitions. They are adjusting to a new training environment and there will always be some initial difficulties. However, I hope that they will be strong by Russian nationals. I do like their programs this year. This is the first year that I have liked both of their programs. However, they really aren't great performers. They get shown up in that regard even by their junior teammates and definitely in comparison to Sui/Han. I hope Marina will help them with this aspect of their skating while encouraging more consistency.

Hase/Seegert and Ziegler/Kiefer did very well. That must be a great personal triumph for them.

I loved seeing Stolbova again. She is the queen. I think her partnership has promise but they need another year to really work out all the details. I think this team will be a real threat next season.

Ice Dance

Victoria Sinitsina is a really great ice dancer. Her edges are clean, her posture is perfect and she has really become an excellent performer. However, I can't say that same about Nikita Katsalapov. He is just so messy and that isn't something that I can forgive an ice dancer. Ice dancers should be perfect.(like Satoko Miyahara (honestly she missed her calling and should be an ice dancer)). Despite that, I find their RD rather enjoyable. I really like good SS and they have them (especially her). However, their SS can't save that boring FD. It makes me want of fall asleep, until I see his messy posture and little messy steps and then I just get angry because I know the judges are going to give them high scores. Anyway, basically, I like Victoria Sinitsina. I wish she had a different partner and different music.

Piper and Paul really have a great vehicle in their FD this year. They don't have the same long limbs that S/K have, but the material and the execution is so much more pleasing. I really think they should have won the FD. However, I am glad they are going to the GPF.

Sara Hurtado is another queen. She is just lovely and their FD is interesting, too. She is the "star" of the program and that the right move because she is truly a diva and should always be the star. I really enjoy the FD this season. I think they need to work more on their RD because it is holding them back.

Natalia Kaliszek looks exactly like Jennifer Grey and she looks beautiful in the FD dance. That is the best thing about their program. I like this team but I don't think this particular music choice suits them.

I did enjoy Reed/Ambrulevicius. We haven't really seen Marina choreography for a while. I miss it. I found their FD refreshing and I think they were a bit underscored here.

Shiplevaya/Smirnov are also adorable. They really chose a look this season and they are selling it to the core. I love their commitment.


All in all it was a good event. But, it wasn't a great event.

There is nothing wrong with the system.

A lady who lands 3 clean quads even with 2 falls had a higher TES than the winner of the mens.
The mens FS was full of falls, stumbles and pops on the big elements. Samarin only had one successfully landed quad.
That's often the case in mens, it can be very messy. Sasha is probably more consistent than most of them.

I saw improvement in all her skills here, more so in the SP when she isn't so focused on quads. Again, that happens in mens too, very few men have mastered quads and excellent performance at the same time.

Sasha is not like any other lady we've ever seen, not even Midori Ito.

Mishaminion said:

There is nothing wrong with the system.

A lady who lands 3 clean quads even with 2 falls had a higher TES than the winner of the mens.
The mens FS was full of falls, stumbles and pops on the big elements. Samarin only had one successfully landed quad.
That's often the case in mens, it can be very messy. Sasha is probably more consistent than most of them.

I saw improvement in all her skills here, more so in the SP when she isn't so focused on quads. Again, that happens in mens too, very few men have mastered quads and excellent performance at the same time.

Sasha is not like any other lady we've ever seen, not even Midori Ito.

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In your opinion (that it is just your opinion, it is not fact), the system is fine. Other people are allowed to have their own opinion and value different things in skating. This isn't a black and white situation. Many people haven't enjoyed the messy skating that has been a huge part men's skating for the last ten years. They would prefer that the same thing not happen in women's skating. The type of criticism that is directed toward Sasha's wins has also been directed toward many male athletes who jump with little artistic thought. Perhaps, you should be willing to accept that other people are not going to value the same things that you do... if you value jumps more than anything else...of course you will love Sasha's skating. And, good for you. Enjoy it. She is adorable. But, other people have a right to value other things in skating like beautiful SS, spins, good posture, great interpretation. I , generally, appreciate your posts because you try to be balanced and are not quick to believe in conspiracy theories. But, I think you are being very one sided and biased about this. You can't impose your likes on others.

readernick said:

In your opinion (that it is just your opinion, it is not fact), the system is fine. Other people are allowed to have their own opinion and value different things in skating. This isn't a black and white situation. Many people haven't enjoyed the messy skating that has been a huge part men's skating for the last ten years. They would prefer that the same thing not happen in women's skating. The type of criticism that is directed toward Sasha's wins has also been directed toward many male athletes who jump with little artistic thought. Perhaps, you should be willing to accept that other people are not going to value the same things that you do... if you value jumps more than anything else...of course you will love Sasha's skating. And, good for you. Enjoy it. She is adorable. But, other people have a right to value other things in skating like beautiful SS, spins, good posture, great interpretation. I , generally, appreciate your posts because you try to be balanced and are not quick to believe in conspiracy theories. But, I think you are being very one sided and biased about this. You can't impose your likes on others.

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I value every skater

No matter what their strengths or weaknesses are

I love Satoko's artistry, I am sad her jumps are so weak, with so many URs and having them called she will struggle against skaters who don't even have quads or 3As.

I love Sasha's jumps and I'm well aware she does not have the artistry of many skaters. She will never be a Satoko Miyahara or even an Alyona Kostornaia
But she does work hard to improve her performance and overall skills, I don't think she is completely devoid of talent in other areas either, some people's comments really do exaggerate I feel. She is decent at the non-jump aspects, not great, but not terrible.

A lot of the comments regarding "what needs to be changed" feel more like "ways to stop this girl winning" which is unfair IMO

Dislike her skating, that's fine but isn't a lot of this "change the rules, change the scoring, change the age limit" talk that goes on also people trying to impose their likes on figure skating as a whole?

Live report CoR day 2 part 3

OK, ladies event.

I still could not connect with Yuhana’s skating. The score seemed generous to me but I don’t mind…ever… unless it affects serious things. It didn’t.

As I said before, my neighbor behind went berserk as Stasya stepped onto the ice. It could help her but only during the first minute or so. After that, it started to deteriorate and ended up in an agony when she even could not hold up a spin position or, may be, she just gave up. I think that she and her team have all the data now to fundamentally reassess their relationships with figure skating. It just does not work anymore. I tried to find a glimpse of hope during her short program – there was none during the FP, alas.

I find Hongui Chen’s free program more entertaining than the short one and her delivery much more convincing. I felt similarities with some Korean skaters. I expected much higher score for what she shown on the ice than she received. However, it’s just an impression of a fan on the stands – judges know better.

Emmi Peltonen, Yuna Shiraiwa, Nicole Schott. I can say nothing – I just can’t remember their programs. It’s obvious that neither of them impressed me.

Satoko once again was a pleasure to watch. I am glad that she is still around and finally she found the style that makes it possible for me to enjoy her undisputed qualities. I remember when I watched her during the Olympics the only positive thing I could say was that she was consistent. Her old classical programs bored me and made me sleepy. This season both her SP and FP are masterpieces and she has all necessary tools to deliver the right impression skating through them. Unfortunately, her consistency has gone south. This could be due to her insecurity – she is absolutely at the mercy of TPs who can give her 3 carrots like at CoC or 5 carrots like at CoR. And, in principle, they can go even further. I understand how difficult for Satoko is to skate knowing this.

I was surprised to see the result of clean Ekaterina Ryabova lower than that of Yuhana with a fall. I liked her skating better even not taking “cleanliness” into account. I assume that she is quite young. Skating for Azerbaijan she has many “protected years” of international competitions. So, I don’t worry about her. One thing that I noticed is that her free leg is somewhat lagging behind during the landings. They look insecure because of that. I remember that Elena Radionova used to have the same thing.

Evgenija’s dresses are very conceptual this season. Of course, the most unusual one is her straight jacket/ ghost’s gown from the gala.



Her “geisha kimono” is also a contrast to her previous dresses which I liked better. It’s difficult for me to pick the right words to make everyone happy so that in the “Russian style” I shall say directly what I think about her and her skating. This season she looks and skates differently from the previous one. I shrugged my shoulders when last season people found “improvements”. I believed that they were just in their imagination. What I saw yesterday and today was “old Zhenya” almost as good as during her days of glory. May be (I am not sure about it) she skates faster now. I can’t comment on her “new body” – she looks as slender to me as I can remember 2-3 years ago. What is missing is her “butterfly-like lightness” which stroke me every time I saw her live. But it was still a very nice skate and a well-deserved score.

Mariah Bell is a nice surprise this season. For me before that she was a second tier skater who was inconsistent and could not offer anything distinguishing her from the crowd. After starting to appreciate Bradie’s skating last season now I am on Mariah’s bandwagon as well. There is some sweetness and tenderness in her skating that I don’t see in the others. Yes, she is a big contrast with Bradie whose flirtation with lyrical topics in the free program I find a mistake.

Finally, Sasha did Sasha with 2 falls now. People count her falls and complain. Guys, let’s count her quad landings. I can assure you it is a feat what she is doing and it requires enormous concentration. Today during the gala she fell many times on her signature 4T attempts. It is very difficult even for her. The risk that she won’t land any of her quads is there - what score will she have then? Unlike some skaters that I won’t mention Sasha is not going for popped jumps: she either lands them or falls. She is a heroine and a true winner of CoR.

…to be continued

So happy for Evgenia to have skated well after her previous struggles. She has improved a lot. PCS a couple points too high for me but it's not something I'm totally opposed to. She did very well and was very appreciated by the crowd. She's just an overall strong and likeable, adorable person.

Satoko skated so beautifully. She has one of the best FS of this season along with Rika. I really love her attention to detail and how seamless her moves are. It's skating. It's art. I hope she can find a way to jump higher/rotate faster to at least lessen the URs. I believe in Satoko. She's a fighter and a hard worker. You don't get THAT good with blade to ice skills if you aren't working extra hard.

Sasha is such a force. Her little fall in the SP was so cute I laughed so hard. I love that she's determined. I remember in the interview with her brothers, one of them said "tear everyone down to pieces" and that's what she does. LOL. I don't mind her winning with tech because wow, look at the things she can do. Having said, I don't agree with her SS scores and PCS being at 33.9 and 66 because that's not what I saw on the ice. As much as she is a tech genius, the other elements are really "juniorish" which was put on display when you watch her in the same event as Satoko, Evgenia and Mariah and the others who are more polished skaters.

This is not a comment on Sasha but to figure skating system. I hope they put a bit more value (base value and GOEs) to non-jump elements and PC to balance out both sides of figure skating.

Congrats to everyone and I hope they stay healthy and will come back stronger.

WeakAnkles said:

It's always good to spread REAL TRUTH far and wide, considering how much FAKE EVERYTHING we're subjected to nowadays.

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Also spread hate with it

I wonder if some of the pairs from other nations had wished they had requested Rostelcom. No disrespect to the Germans, but others could have been competitive for that third spot and could have used the GP points. It's always hard to predict ahead of time but this small pairs field is telling.

slider11 said:

I wonder if some of the pairs from other nations had wished they had requested Rostelcom. No disrespect to the Germans, but others could have been competitive for that third spot and could have used the GP points. It's always hard to predict ahead of time but this small pairs field is telling.

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Isn't it just the top 6 at worlds who get to choose? They already had T/M and B/K as seeds.
J/C chose to skip the GP season, S/H and P/J probably wouldn't want to compete directly after Cup of China.
I think the rest are invited by Rostelecom themselves.

A few thoughts on Rostelecom Cup, which I really enjoyed watching:

Ladies
Trusova had impressive jumps, but unfortunately I didn’t find the rest of her programs very compelling. Her reaction to the fluke fall before her SP was very endearing, and I just love her big personality – her dog she takes with her when she can; her fierceness, determination, and bravery; her individualism, like the hair she hasn’t had cut since she was five. But I struggle with her skating skills and the PCS marks she gets – I find myself craving a more complete program. But as she continues with skating, she might get there. Think of early Carolina and Mao – we remember them now for their artistry, but they weren’t always known for that. So we will see.

What I did find compelling was Medvedeva’s skating – her redemptive SP and emotional, beautifully skated FS. I agree with samkrut who said there was much that reminded me of “vintage Medvedeva.” The crowd’s reaction and warmth to her was wonderful. It was also great to see the gratitude and affection she openly displayed to Orser in the kiss n cry. She took such a huge chance on coming to Canada and it couldn’t have been easy, so it’s great to see her in a good place with it.

Bell wasn’t as sharp as she’s been – shouldn’t either the 3F + 2T or 3Lz + 2T been a -3T combo instead? But she still delivered a beautiful skate and continues to bloom as a performer.

Ryabova is an up-and-coming talent. There is something in her energy and rawness that reminds me of Tarakanova.

I found Yohoi to be endearing even with her POTO (ack!) SP, and it seemed like the crowd really responded to her.

Miyahara is still enchanting though she’s struggling right now. It's hard to fully enjoy it worrying about the jumps though. Even if she can’t improve her jump height, I wish she could conquer her underrotations. Such beautiful artistry though.

Men
Like Trusova, I find Samarin an appealing person but his skating just isn’t compelling to me, even though I find his jumps quite impressive. I didn’t originally find Chen’s programs interesting AT ALL but he’s come so far, and I’ve really enjoyed his programs over the past few years. So again, let’s see what happens.

I thought Aliev had a more complete and interesting performance, although I understand why he didn’t get the gold, based on the jump issues. Still I was very impressed when even though the first few jumping passes weren’t what he wanted, he perservered and was successful adding jumps in he knew he needed. I give him much respect for that. I was worried that he’d end up with a Zayak problem -- which he indeed did with an invalidated 3Lz -- because it’s very difficult to rework that much content on the fly. Hoping he’ll make it to the GP Final. I feel like he has so much potential and he’s on the verge of really showing it.

Ignatov proved his Nebelhorn win was no fluke. It be will be interesting to see if he can follow up with a strong performance at NHK next week. A good day for Rukavicin students!

Uno seems like such a lost soul. I hope he can find a coaching situation that works for him.

Pairs
Boikova / Kozlovskii did not disappoint. I liked them a great deal last year, and it’s great to see their success this year. It seems like there could be an interesting rivalry between them and Mishina / Galliamov shaping up. But perhaps one with Tarasova / Morozov is already starting. The sureness of B/K’s elements, their interesting choreography, and their outgoing personalities make them a compelling pair to watch.

I thought T/M were improved, but I don’t think their FS music does them any favors. I found the sameness of it to get boring after a while.

Stolbova / Novoselov looked pretty good in their SP, but understandably for such a relatively new pair in their first competition, the FS still needs more time. I think they have potential though, and it was great to see Stolbova back on the ice.

Dance
I think Sinitsina / Katsalapov have a great vehicle with their SD but their FD is not all that special.

Gilles / Poirier delivered both their SD and, in particular, their FD beautifully. They are so committed to the FD, which really sells it for me, even though I’m not that big of a fan of the music or costuming. Also they weren’t that far from S / K points wise, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the GP Final. So happy for them that they’re finally headed back there.

I agree with a lot of other posters who found Shpilevaya / Smirnov to be one of the more enjoyable performers of the event. I’ve always liked them but have found their previous material to be a little forgettable. This time, I really liked their programs and performances at this event, especially their FD, which I think is a good reflection of their unique style. They’ve GOT to clean up the SD though if they want to rise in the ranks.

[email protected] said:

Live report CoR 2019 day 2 (part 1)

We arrived for the second group of men. The same seats – the same guy behind us. I did not postpone direct measures: continuous fights on GS with those who are much less enthusiastic about Russian ladies than me have strengthened my will. I told him that I was overwhelmed by his sound producing talents but at the same time I have small kids and they may appreciate their father’s not being deaf. Well, my exact words were a bit different but the idea was that I asked him to stay quieter. Of course, I did it in Russian. Despite wearing Russia jacket the guy proved to be a foreigner with limited mastery of natives’ language. I had to do the same in English. And it worked fine after all. It was much queiter this time. Only once did he ask my permission to start shouting: it was when Stasya came on ice. He was her big fan. Of course, I did not mind: Stasya needed all support she could get…

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Interestingly, this is by chance not this guy? (In this video famous fan of russian ladies Peter from Slovakia. He is a fan of all Russian ladies, but most of all he loves Stasya. This is the same fan who gives her big bouquets after performances)

Georgya said:

Also spread hate with it

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the amount of likes those posts got :scard8:
(probs I was right to post here less now )

Thanks for live reposts samkrut as usual :luv17:
I didnt see old Med but you probs know better b/c seeing it live usually makes huge difference so i will believe you. It left me pretty cold.
Speaking of live vs on tv, Makar was much better live when I saw him. Here I'd put him behing Shoma for sure. Lord Samarin obv Fed's #1 & PCS is ridic ))) But I can't hate on him. He's super shy & great nice guy)))
Dima was better than I expected. But he probs needs to not only have a plan B but also plan C in mind before skating ))))
The Israeli Danya made my cry. Such a talented skater & such disappointing performances over & over again ((( (he probs shouldnt be trained by his dad)

The pairs delivered. I didn't want a podium sweep & very happy for the Germans (Minerva's reaction was the best reaction of the comp, I can rewatch it forever ))) I hope the medal will motivate them & other european pair teams. Domination of 1 country is boring even if its my country
Dima & Sasha was fab. As usual as his fistpump returned it made me rolling on the floor & to kill me with cuteness he decided to throw a bear in the air )))) As much as I like them imo they still have alot to improve (esp. Dima) so I wont be already putting them on world's podium yet. Tamara was soo happy! a sight to see. Obviously I felt proud b/c they're my fellow SPb ppl ))) well done!

But I did root for TM more. With their awesome programs & costumes this year I'm sad to see them struggle. But I'm positive the change & being stable will come. Ksenia was fab as usual. I missed seeing her on ice. Him I didnt see in their programms... yet...
Ziegler/Kiefer have my fav LP tune so I rooted for them. No medal but relatively succeessful outing.

Dance was going as expected. I can't be very happy with Sinkats performance that much. But the RD is awesome. No last season's tango but also very very well choreographed. I felt splashes of champagne:luv17: ED is pretty boring (but I didnt like last year's Bach as well so...) but it seems Zhulin knows about the criticism so hopefully next year we'll have something that's really memorable. They are great ice dancers with great flow & SS. & with their RDs they proved they can skate more than lyrical/romantic 'beigeness' with arm waving. Now they can only practice practice & practice. Twizzles were a problem again & I was pretty sad (I want them to retain their #2 in the world but with such messy skating it wont be possible :no

Piper & Paul were good (awesome even in RD!) but I cant see when masterpiece like Vincent became marked lower than absolutely average LP of this year.))) but they're #1 Canadian fed now so bonuses came.

Sara & Kirill were absolute blast! what a FD! Best dance of the season for me.
But Kirill's shirt always detracted from the dance But on the plus side Sara changed the golden 'candy wrap' dress )))) Good girl! Happy for their medal!

Orlov said:

Interestingly, this is by chance not this guy? (In this video famous fan of russian ladies Peter from Slovakia. He is a fan of all Russian ladies, but most of all he loves Stasya. This is the same fan who gives her big bouquets after performances)

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Yes, that's him!

Live report CoR day 2 part 4

Some final remarks. Now that I know who a "mysterious guy" was I send him my regards for his enthusiasm about figure skating in general and the support of Russian ladies in particular. I will enjoy seeing him in Krasnoyarsk...especially if he seats in the row in front of me.

Pairs

I am sure that S/N can become a very high scoring pair. Ksenia has It factor when she delivers. Frankly speaking impression wise I saw very similar presentation to what S/K did. They were very fast and very expressive. However, all S/K issues like weak SBS jumps and Stolbova's occassional falls on throws are there. I hope that they can cure it somehow before the Rusnats. Overall, a beautiful pair. Another thing is the lack of make-up on Ksenia. My wife immediately saw this. I took a closer look and indeed she decided to be natural. It's not like it was before. I wonder if it was discussed and whether there are explanations.

Z/K skated their free program much better than the short one and looked quite satisfied with themselves. The Germans H/S were better in the short program than in the free program. But the point cushion was enough and Minerva was very happy about getting to a podium. We discussed the creativity of her parents: "Minerva" is the name of a Roman goddess, "Hase" is hare. "The goddess of hares" - funny.

T/M in terms of the second mark finally became the pair of S/K and even V/T caliber but I wonder if their tech issues are curable. The better they skate the more insecure they look. Where is their quad twist? When will they learn SBS jumps? It's hard for me to commit to them emotionally because they are so vulnerable.

B/K on the other hand are like a train that no one can stop. 2 technically impeccable programs and the score higher than S/H received in China. And it makes sense as the Chinese made a mistake. B/K are sure contenders for the GPF, Rusnats, and the Worlds gold. It's amazing how fast they have progressed but it's true. And the answer is simple - it's so difficult to skate clean and in sync in pairs. They can do it. A very big respect - I understand how much work is behind this consistency. One thing though is that expression wise they are still far from the best pairs of the recent past: V/T, S/K and present: S/H and T/M. They remind me of early T/M - focus on technical aspect rather than artistry. T/M have progressed in this one considerably. I expect B/K to do the same. Another thing is that Dima is so full of himself. It looked funny when they were just a young aspiring pair. Now that they are one of the very few top world pairs with gold medals aspirations his fist pumping and showing: "I am the one" look a bit over the top.

As I said after watching the test skates there will be a fight for the team spots, not as dramatic as in ladies but still. I think that it will be B/K (for sure) and then T/M and M/G. But P/K may disagree with me. And I don't know if Z/E are going to miss the whole season? It will be very difficult to catch up then.

That concludes my live report.

Congrats to Sasha! I don’t think it’s an issue for her to win even with 2 falls. She still did 3 quads. If a skater executed 3 triples and had two falls while nobody else even attempted triples, they could still theoretically come out on top. Certainly in a system where technical merit is valued more. Under 6.0, some judges might have scored Medvedeva higher on Technical elements. Speaking of which, she is back in form! Kudos to Medvedeva- she looked so strong and confident. Her PCS was deserved, Trusova’s was a joke and Rostelecon home cooking 101.

Speaking of home cooking - lol at the Russian sweep in men. Samarin, while a deserved winner, getting 86.78, the same PCS as Uno (even if cleaner than Uno) is ridiculous while Aliev should have outscored them both on PCS by much more. Not to take anything away from Ignatov - whose quads are just sublime (love the landing posture of his jumps) - his program choreography needs so much work and if not for home ice he also would have been off the podium.

I mean, his PCS jumped from 67.50 at Nebelhorn (where he was a bit cleaner) and 71 at the Denis Ten challenge... to 80.02 at Rostelecon. That must be a record!

I actually think there’s a case for him deserving bronze over Uno based on his much cleaner skating overall but when it comes down to the points and how the system works, Uno was very arguably robbed. That being said, part of me is glad the cleaner skater came out on top even if he was significantly helped out by the judges (I wish he had done the 3S for a more definitive bronze). Tons of potential though and a lovely skater to watch - just needs better programs and projection.

Orlov said:

Interestingly, this is by chance not this guy? (In this video famous fan of russian ladies Peter from Slovakia. He is a fan of all Russian ladies, but most of all he loves Stasya. This is the same fan who gives her big bouquets after performances)

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Oh, is that by any chance the same guy as here?? :think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPqkH9VSLlY&t=231

(always had me wondering why a, I assume, stranger from the audience was hugging her...)

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

Congrats to Sasha! I don’t think it’s an issue for her to win even with 2 falls. She still did 3 quads. If a skater executed 3 triples and had two falls while nobody else even attempted triples, they could still theoretically come out on top.

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It would be a lot more likely, because triples are worth so much more relative to doubles (factor 3), than quads are relative to triples (factor 2), especially after the last rule change with its BV reduction for quads.
For all the complaining about the amount of points awarded for quads and how they outweigh other aspects of a program (which of course is a valid concern) people often seem to omit this fact.

[email protected] said:

Yes, that's him!

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It is often shown on TV when the reaction of the stands is shown. At the stage in France he was with Alina's Russian group of fans. (Here Peter is standing right under the inscription "France" in the left corner of the screen) They say that he's a good guy))
So don’t be offended by him too much - he is just big fan