2019-20 GP and JGP Final: Day 2 | Golden Skate

2019-20 GP and JGP Final: Day 2

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
(J)GPF Final day 2

I suppose I'm not the one to do this but as so many posters are posting things that happened today, and not yesterday, I hope the GS administrators will give me some leeway here. No way intended to preclude your rights to start off a post like this. Just impatient me wanting to share after the competition parts have ended. All my opinions of course, so feel free to disagree! Just don't disparage any skater.

Junior ladies
I'm not a big follower of children, but in this case their competition was rather fun. It also showed quads aren't everything. Still, congratulations to Kamila Valieva to have won the JPF (without a quad or triple A). As well as a big hurrah for Alysa who did try to do them, and in general is just a lovely little girl skating lights out. Yay!

Junior Ice Dance
I don't know where this is going to go, but having Georgian skaters in first is....a first. The difference with the Americans is small, but they must be proud of themselves. Yet another: yay!

Ice Dance seniors Rhythm dance
It says something about the quality if you can get first with a big mistake. Not a horrendous one (this is Ice Dance, not Pairs), but still. Good for Gabrielle and Guillaume to still be the greatest but of course in points it's disappointing. This RD is the best they ever had (so original and musical, so 80s) but a mistake is a mistake. The battle of the Madisons is also on. Good to see Madison and Evan finally getting their RD into form, while Madison and Zachary have improved a lot since their last GP. Hope the other three will step up in the Free!

Ladies Seniors Short.
Alena Kostornaia is superb. No more to say about this young lady who is the complete package already. Alina is the big fighter...I'm pretty sure she won't be able to maintain this tomorrow, but her short was exquisite. A triple lutz-triple loop to die for, great transitions and spins...well deserved in 2nd. Anna is in third, skated well, just a bit underwhelming compared to the two lights out skates of her compatriots. Bradie skated well too. So many people making jokes about her just aiming for being 6th. Well, she's in fourth now and rightly so (I know tomorrow might be a different picture). she had a good skate. Little dynamic Alexandra was less succesfull today. To be honest, without the technical basics (which because of the rules cannot be performed in a short), there isn't much skating left. Despite inflated PCS (and I say this not because I don't like this girl, but because compared to her compatriots she falls short in this regard) she is in 5th. Rika, finally, had a truly bad outing. Even with a great programme (it's wonderful), you do need to skate clean. And she didn't. As the ISU mantra says: get up! I hope she does.


Pairs seniors FS
This must have been the oddest pairs event I've ever watched. Not because of certain SBS falls (I'm used to that) but because of other incongruities. The best FS was executed by Cheng Peng and Yang Jin with a double SBS salchow with positive GOE (definitely not a pop, but planned), the best technical skate was by Anastasia and Alexandr although their interpretation leaves much to desire (still, their technical basics are second to none), Daria and Denis had an outing they will wish to forget, with a hard fluke fall in the beginning - and gritty Daria still managing to land a SBS 3 Flip. She is such a fierce girl, and Denis tried to be really protective which led to caution in the end. I hope she's okay because she seemed to be in pain throughout the Free Skate. Kirsten and Michael had a good skate, but Michael fell after the throw Salchow (and she twofooted it) which was strange. It's the ladies who fall in throws, right? It was a hard fall too, but they showed grit too and in the end showed a beautiful programme. Alexandra and Dmitrii were not on. Step outs, messy lifts...I can go on. Sad about that, because I like them so much and the Bond programme is fantastic when skated clean. Die hard Mosquina still seemed to be satisfied, but I felt so sad for them. Sui and Han had their own issues...Sui did her jumps but Hans was a bit of a mess. In the end Sui/Han won, because of their excellent short, and it's their first GPF win. Good for them!
 

vesperalvioletta

Medalist
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Country
United-States
I've been looking forward to this thread being posted. Thanks for taking the initiative, ladyjane.

Junior ice dance:
I'm so thrilled for Maria and Georgy with their lead and new season's best! They're such a special team. I'm inclined to believe that the judges will go for Nguyen/Kolesnik's more traditional free dance tomorrow, but I'm very excited to see their one-of-a-kind program again and if they can manage to pull out the win, it would be incredible. Honestly, a podium finish would be very impressive no matter what though. I'm not as enthusiastic about Nguyen/Kolesnik this year. I think it's their programs that aren't really doing it for me, because they're a highly talented team. I loved the commitment to the performance from Andrey Filatov and Elizaveta Shanaeva respectively, and I'm a bit sad for Diana and Gleb. Not sure what went wrong. I don't really have anything to add about the French.

Junior ladies:
Big congratulations to Kamila! Even with a scaled-back program, I think it was a deserved win. I was glad to see the judges call Alysa appropriately, not because I wanted to see her struggle, but because I think in the long run it benefits her more to get honest feedback rather than the panel just ignoring the underrotations. I wish her team wouldn't push the tech so hard and let her focus on the basics. If she'd done just one quad successfully she probably would have won. Laura Lipetsky always gives me this weird vibe like she's some random woman they just pulled off the street who doesn't fully know what's happening but is very excited to be there. I get the sense that the dad is probably running the show a bit. Anyway, it's unfortunately that Daria made so many little errors, because I think the judges would have been willing to put her in second, or maybe even first if she'd been clean. Haein's step sequence was a big highlight for me as well.

Senior ice dance:
I only got to see the final group, and I don't have a ton to say. I'm quite bored with the "battle" between these teams already. I wish I could have seen Stepanova/Bukin and Gilles/Poirier. They're my favorites in this field. I was glad to see the strict calling here. Papadakis/Cizeron are great, but seeing them break a world record every time they go out was getting a bit far-fetched.

Senior ladies:
So pleased for Alyona! Another world record! She is my favorite lady, so I'm obviously a bit biased, but I thought she did tremendously well. It would be a great accomplishment for her if she manages to win the whole thing. I'm also glad that Alina had such a great skate after a couple of challenging performances recently. I'm not sure what the future holds for her, but hopefully this success makes her happy. I was a bit surprised to see the judges go with Anna, but I'm happy for her. 78 is a big score! Makes me wonder what would have happened had Trusova gone clean. Beyond the top three, I'm not sure I have much to say. I am both surprised and not surprised that Sasha attempted the 3A. I don't think it comes as naturally to her as the quads, but I'm sure she'll keep pushing for it.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
Ladies:

I stopped caring who wins basically before the competition started — because they are all my favourites, and it’s crazy cool to watch.

I was excited to see Trusova go for 3A, and that’s too bad she didn’t land it, but fingers crossed for the next time, even happier to see Zagitova bringing the skate home — I love that program. Kostornaya is a miracle, Scherbakova is ethereal, Tennell’s short is so cool this year. I just wish Kihira didn’t fall down :(

Junior ladies

Pretty much the same comment — honestly, I don’t know how they judge stuff there. I was surprised how much URs shaved Lui’s scores. I guess it doesn’t bode well for quadsters tomorrow... well, we’ll see. But, just gorgeous to watch, beautiful programs, the costumes that are great... just a joy.

Pairs...

That’s where I did take a heartbreak. When B/K skate started to break down, it was hard to watch, particularly after P/Kh having that odd fall. I admit I didn’t watch Sui/Han after that, though I am happy they did capture the title. And I am happy for P/J because their programs are so cool. Oh, well. There are Nationals, EU and Worlds. There is always next time :)

Gonna turn in now, to get up in time to see men’s free tomorrow :)
 

Elucidus

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Anna is in third, skated well, just a bit underwhelming compared to the two lights out skates of her compatriots.

:palmf:
Why I am not surprised that there are only a few man of culture who are capable to see what was best performance in this competition by far? :rolleye:

Pretty much the same comment — honestly, I don’t know how they judge stuff there. I was surprised how much URs shaved Lui’s scores. I guess it doesn’t bode well for quadsters tomorrow... well, we’ll see.
Well, Anna and Sasha usually have pretty secure rotations on their quads recently - much better than Liu's rotation. Except maybe Sasha's 4S. So, with their good form it will be ok, I suppose.
 

Orlov

Medalist
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Why I am not surprised that there are only a few man of culture who are capable to see what was best performance in this competition by far? :rolleye:
Unfortunately, not everyone sees how refined and sophisticated Anya's SP. And how Anya is musical in it. Thank God the judges see, and only this is important.
 

heartyxo

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 27, 2019
Senior pairs was a mess. I'm happy for M/G but very sad for B/K.

I'm sad for Rika but I still think Sasha is gonna medal. I don't know if it will be gold though, it depends on how many quads she lands. I think it was good she took the risk with 3A, it's nice to see her challenging herself even further. I hope Alena wins. I think the podium definitely will be a Russian sweep.

My highlight of the day was C/B thriving after flunking the Finnstep all season while everyone else made mistakes and had their worst RD of the season. I was so happy when I saw that Finnstep level 3! It's super close but I hope they can repeat their Cup of China FD and get silver. I do think the dance judges were harsh today, but I'm glad it was consistent, even though I think everyone would have scored higher if it was a regular grand prix event. I think the order was pretty much right, but G/P should have been a bit closer to the rest of the field.
 

Silvia451

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Country
Romania
Alena :love: I wish to see her at top level for many years because she is a joy to watch. I haven't been so excited about a lady since Mao...

I also enjoyed Zagi very much (except for the music, not by cup of tea), she became a mature skater, I tend to forget that she is only 17. I don't think she will remain on the podium after the FS, but I would like to. Sad for Rika though, maybe the FS is going to be better.


Senior pairs was full of mistakes. I'm glad that Sui/Han finally won the GPF, but the performance was uncharacteristic for them, especially for him.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
:palmf:
Why I am not surprised that there are only a few man of culture who are capable to see what was best performance in this competition by far? :rolleye:


Well, Anna and Sasha usually have pretty secure rotations on their quads recently - much better than Liu's rotation. Except maybe Sasha's 4S. So, with their good form it will be ok, I suppose.

Here is to hoping! It sure brings the imo much needed excitement to the ladies skating, showing off the best of grace and power.
 

ruga

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Late to the party, but:
- Ladies were literally as expected. The only unexpected thing was Rika falling on a combo
- Kamila pulled a Kostornaia! Honestly didn't expect the TP to hit Alysa that hard though
- Pairs was a mess, at least Sui/Han managed to win. Too bad Boikova/Kozlovskii didn't deliver, they have such great chemistry and fun personalities
 

snowflake

I enjoy what I like
Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 10, 2008
Why is the ’Day 3’ thread closed?

I wanted to celebrate three male skaters for their lovely free performances:

Nathan Chen, Kevin Aymoz and Shun Sato :hap10:
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
Why is the ’Day 3’ thread closed?

I wanted to celebrate three male skaters for their lovely free performances:

Nathan Chen, Kevin Aymoz and Shun Sato :hap10:

I am not sure, but perhaps as a precaution or by mistake?
 

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Why is the ’Day 3’ thread closed?

I wanted to celebrate three male skaters for their lovely free performances:

Nathan Chen, Kevin Aymoz and Shun Sato :hap10:

We are not sure, but it's open now :)
 
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