Well, this part of the competition is over. Let's review the Short Programmes of the men and the pairs.
First of all, although the live stream in itself was fine, there was a bit of an issue with the sound. Chris could be heard well enough, but the music to which the athletes were skating was really too soft. It was a bit better with the men's but during the pairs I had to put my ear to my labtop to at least hear some of it. That was a pity.
And now for the skating. I'll start with the men. Sometimes I quite forgot I was looking at Juniors, other times it was pretty obvious. No matter. I am in love with cute, little Samsonov. He may have made a mistake with his axel, but he is absolutely phenomenal to watch. He's musical, he's got skating skills, just everything. Mozalev had a bit of an attack of nerves but pulled through. I've seen him do better, but he's deservedly in first place. But the difference with his teammate is small. Kagiyama fell into the boards (scary) but still managed to pull off a pretty good skate. He can do better too, but all in all, still pretty good. I loved the Canadian guy. I had never heard of Rakic before, but he's got the potential. Beautiful to watch, and I was pleased he had a good score. Cha also had quite a good skate, and is right behind the Canadian. Kokura was the surprise of the day, and in a positive way. I couldn't keep from grinning during his skate. This guy should become an actor one day. Great fun! Memola was the good looking Italian and had a pretty good skate too, while Mrazek from the Czech Republic also had a good showing. Hero of the event was the local guy, Bodenstein. Great performance, and you could see the Lambiel influence there. I felt bad for Levandi who definitely is courageous and knows his choreography. But the jumps didn't really work today.
Only 8 pairs! Panfilova/Rylov were the top of the field and in rather substantial fashion. To me they were the only ones who gave a bit of a senior feel, none of the others managed that. Mukhametzianova/Mironov were second but the distance between them was a lot bigger than I expected it to be beforehand. I loved Butaeva/Birulava from Georgia, expecially him. He's a star, she needs to catch up a little bit. The difference between the numbers 2 and 3 is small though, so it's going to be a fight for the bronze. Good to see a bit of North American rivalry here: the difference between the Americans and the Canadians is small. If McIntosh hadn't fallen, the score would be the other way round. Quite exciting. Wang and Huang looked like the typical Chinese pair - including problems with SBS jumps - but had a real classy showing. Errors cost them a lot of points though. The last two couples - from Ukraine and Germany - were really the kind of couples you generally associate with juniors: trying to do their elements but no real connection. Still quite alright to watch. I didn't get bored at all.
That's it for now. Hoping for other reviews.
First of all, although the live stream in itself was fine, there was a bit of an issue with the sound. Chris could be heard well enough, but the music to which the athletes were skating was really too soft. It was a bit better with the men's but during the pairs I had to put my ear to my labtop to at least hear some of it. That was a pity.
And now for the skating. I'll start with the men. Sometimes I quite forgot I was looking at Juniors, other times it was pretty obvious. No matter. I am in love with cute, little Samsonov. He may have made a mistake with his axel, but he is absolutely phenomenal to watch. He's musical, he's got skating skills, just everything. Mozalev had a bit of an attack of nerves but pulled through. I've seen him do better, but he's deservedly in first place. But the difference with his teammate is small. Kagiyama fell into the boards (scary) but still managed to pull off a pretty good skate. He can do better too, but all in all, still pretty good. I loved the Canadian guy. I had never heard of Rakic before, but he's got the potential. Beautiful to watch, and I was pleased he had a good score. Cha also had quite a good skate, and is right behind the Canadian. Kokura was the surprise of the day, and in a positive way. I couldn't keep from grinning during his skate. This guy should become an actor one day. Great fun! Memola was the good looking Italian and had a pretty good skate too, while Mrazek from the Czech Republic also had a good showing. Hero of the event was the local guy, Bodenstein. Great performance, and you could see the Lambiel influence there. I felt bad for Levandi who definitely is courageous and knows his choreography. But the jumps didn't really work today.
Only 8 pairs! Panfilova/Rylov were the top of the field and in rather substantial fashion. To me they were the only ones who gave a bit of a senior feel, none of the others managed that. Mukhametzianova/Mironov were second but the distance between them was a lot bigger than I expected it to be beforehand. I loved Butaeva/Birulava from Georgia, expecially him. He's a star, she needs to catch up a little bit. The difference between the numbers 2 and 3 is small though, so it's going to be a fight for the bronze. Good to see a bit of North American rivalry here: the difference between the Americans and the Canadians is small. If McIntosh hadn't fallen, the score would be the other way round. Quite exciting. Wang and Huang looked like the typical Chinese pair - including problems with SBS jumps - but had a real classy showing. Errors cost them a lot of points though. The last two couples - from Ukraine and Germany - were really the kind of couples you generally associate with juniors: trying to do their elements but no real connection. Still quite alright to watch. I didn't get bored at all.
That's it for now. Hoping for other reviews.