2015 Rostelecom Cup Ladies SP

[Sam-Skwantch]

 

[silverlake22]

Guys people need to stop freaking out about Rika! She would have been right up there with Alaine and Evgenia without the UR on her combo which was legit. Plus the points are so tight, she can definitely pull up tomorrow!

Much as I loved to see Polina and Alaine both skate and score well, I'm not sure about their scoring potential in the FS compared to some of the others. Alaine was amazing, but she really is more of a SP skater, I hope she skates well tomorrow, but her FS isn't nearly as good as her SP and that jump technique can be a bit hit or miss (today it was a hit as that lutz was ENORMOUS!). Adelina is also usually stronger in the SP so I'm unsure about her medal chances tomorrow. Her PCS deserve to be high and if she delivers she will deserve a huge score, but after today, I'm not so sure. 3t-3t and 2a are her money jumps, and they were skary.

Lena got the job done today and oddly enough I like the program. Jumps not the best quality and she did really need to grit them out but they were there and cleanly landed so I think her lead is deserved.

Bummed about Zhenya, that fall looked painful! But that 3lo-3t was great and so incredibly gutsy! This program is great. Also, I don't get the complaints about her being too childish, her packaging is great this season and I think she fits in with the senior ladies. I mean, I understand that she is really thin, but she does not have the face or figure of a little girl, and her costuming is mature without being risque. I don't see her having the same problems as Julia, she seems to have a much different demeanor.

 

[Blades of Passion]

LOL, Radionova might actually ride that iceberg to a Grand Prix final spot. Too good, too good.

 

[jkun]

Why did Russia pick their 2nd best skaters for the Cup of Russia (Radionova over Tuk, Pitkeev/Voronov over Kovtun)? Most other federations pick their top skater for their own grand prix event. If someone could explain, I'd be grateful. Are they just that confident in their no.1 m/f skaters doing well in their events elsewhere?

 

[Perdita]

This was the most exciting segment so far this season! Hope it'll be just as exciting tomorrow

I wish Rika scored higher but I think it was understandable. She needs to fix UR and edge on jumps, need to be faster and need to improve spins. I'm pretty surprised that there was no edge call on that lutz. That looked inside edge to me...

Adelina's SS, ice coverage and spins are phenomenal. Hope she'll improve her jump contents!

Alaine was stunning but the music choice... I don't get why someone would dare to choose a very iconic and demanding music like Pina and skate to it like any other music.

Elena made me cry and Kovtun made me roll on the floor laughing. Great competition :agree:

 

[Blades of Passion]

Is Sotnikova's face starting to look a lot like Sasha Cohen's to anyone else? They share some quite similar features.

 

[koatcue]

Why did Russia pick their 2nd best skaters for the Cup of Russia (Radionova over Tuk, Pitkeev/Voronov over Kovtun)? Most other federations pick their top skater for their own grand prix event. If someone could explain, I'd be grateful. Are they just that confident in their no.1 m/f skaters doing well in their events elsewhere?

When did Radio become the 2nd tier skater? All Russian girls are strong, and can hit any day. Who knows, the best might be Anna this year:confused2: You never know with them - that's exciting

 

[Shayuki]

Yeah, that was expected. I hope she didn't get some bs "e" on her lutz or something... 3-3 could have been UR though

Hmm the Finnish broadcast had an international judge(Leena Laaksonen if you want to look her up. Technical controller for 2014 Europe Women and 2015 Skate America Men for example) as a commentator and she said that lutz was definitely e and 3-3 and 2A were UR. Another thing that's nice is for example Polina's sit spin where she said exactly what caused the deductions immediately.


Oh and the competition itself? It's too bad I couldn't catch it live but I really loved Radionova. I still wish for her to always succeed simply because I like her as a person.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

^are you saying you think the tech panels know what they are talking about

Anyway....Go Alaine!!! Winning bronze last year on your senior debut was great but getting a silver this time at Rostelecom would be a welcomed sight :yes:

Never forget!!
https://instagram.com/p/voRFD6P2Yg/

https://instagram.com/p/9_JMFGv2Y9/

 

[Shayuki]

And actually I'm wrong, she said that the lutz wasn't cleanly from the outside edge and will have a ! that will cause reductions in GOE, she didn't say anything about an e. The thing about polinas sit spin was that she didn't stay low enough when "switching the edge", translating terms is such a pain.

Oh I forgot to mention but I'm very happy for Chartrand's performance and it was definitely the biggest shocker. I have found her enjoyable to watch for some time but didn't think she could score so well.

 

[qwerty]

Why did Russia pick their 2nd best skaters for the Cup of Russia (Radionova over Tuk, Pitkeev/Voronov over Kovtun)? Most other federations pick their top skater for their own grand prix event. If someone could explain, I'd be grateful. Are they just that confident in their no.1 m/f skaters doing well in their events elsewhere?

Not sure I would deem Radionova second tier, but anyway. I'd hazard that Kovtun wasn't picked because his last event was TEB and they didn't want him to have to do back-to-back GPs.

Just a guess.

 

[Alex D]

thanks a lot Alex D! You are the one who's always a pleasure to read!

Thank you, glad you liked it.

Is Sotnikova's face starting to look a lot like Sasha Cohen's to anyone else? They share some quite similar features.

Yap, I had the same feeling. So much can happen in a year and a few months - but she looks better than ever. What a woman she has become, amazing.

 

[rain]

Oh I forgot to mention but I'm very happy for Chartrand's performance and it was definitely the biggest shocker. I have found her enjoyable to watch for some time but didn't think she could score so well.

I was really pleased to see her skate the jumps so cleanly, with absolutely no doubt about rotation and no two-footing. She needs to take that same aggressiveness into the LP. I was also pleasantly surprised by how musically sophisticated the choreography was. A real step up, lots of interesting phrasing and movement.

 

[chloepoco]

Rika Hongo will awlays get lower PCS than any of her direct competitors in any given high level competition. For the rest of her life. There I said it.

She needs to nail TES to get that fighting chance. Too butch, too wild, too all over the place, too everything really.

Seriously, some thoughts should just be kept to yourself.

 

[jkun]

When did Radio become the 2nd tier skater? All Russian girls are strong, and can hit any day. Who knows, the best might be Anna this year:confused2: You never know with them - that's exciting

I mean, Liza is the higher ranked Russian lady and is the World Champion. I didn't mean to say Elena is not as great; the two are different, but Liza had a great season to show for it and I think in the minds of most at the Russian federation, she was considered to be their #1 skater.

 

[solani]

I just rewatched the ladies SP's and I must say that I'm not overly happy with the scoring.
As much as I like Elena R., I can't see how she's getting 33+ PCS for this arm flailing engaging performance. Yes, she's fun to watch, but that's also a problem with this choice of music, she's kind of caricaturing the feeling of desperation in the music (She's suffering, but she's enjoying it a lot. So she enjoys suffering). I could live with 31+ PCS. But maybe she gets +2 for looking gorgeous.
When you look at Polina's PCS then it's kind of ... irritating. Polina's skating is slower, but everything else is more sophisticated. And she gets 30+? And Alaine and Rika are giving engaging performances too, the difference between the PCS of those four ladies shouldn't be 3 points in my opinion.

 

[[email protected]]

Elena R's short program is like a cheesy exhibition program from the 1970s, expect for the technical content.

If Elena's program is cheesy, what about Ashley's SP?

 

[Interspectator]

If Elena's program is cheesy, what about Ashley's SP?

Also Cheesy!
Why do people like cheese?
Because it is delicious! :dance2:

 

[[email protected]]

All placements are correct while we can argue about plus minus in pcs. All the Russian girls are not only just good - they improved vs. the last year. Adelina is much more fluid. She is competing with Ashley's samba this season. I prefer hers. And 33 pcs is nothing special when compared with the Americans. May be she was a little higher than deserved in tech, may be. But look at Chan, Hanyu, and Fernandes. They are never penalized the way the less prominent skaters would be penalized for the imperfect programs, even when they totally bomb. Medvedeva is gorgeous and her score is right because she rotated the failed flip and all her jumps got 10% bonus which is about 2 points. And Elena this season is just wow - no longer a sloppy teenager. She just has to be a little more confident with her landings.

Chartrand was great. And she does not complain: they expected about 65 with Orser and both were quite happy to get 67.

Polina is also happy with the score. She was powerful but not much in sync with the music.

Finally Rica. What is the point in being consistent jumper when you UR? I am not pcs discussion master. I just see that she is fast and powerful but nowhere near the Russians here when compared skating quality wise. So she is placed correctly as well.

OK, now I am leaving for Luzniki. To see them all live is so exciting. And if the crowd really turns away from Rika (not only in the minds of over zealous fans) I will report it because it would be shameful. I am going to cheer everyone!

 

[TryMeLater]

Why did Russia pick their 2nd best skaters for the Cup of Russia (Radionova over Tuk, Pitkeev/Voronov over Kovtun)? Most other federations pick their top skater for their own grand prix event. If someone could explain, I'd be grateful. Are they just that confident in their no.1 m/f skaters doing well in their events elsewhere?

They didn't pick-It's a draw.
Tuk and Radionova are seeded skaters as they both finished at the top 6 at the 2015 WC.
This means that their events are chosen by a draw. Also, skaters who finish 1-3 in the same discipline cannot compete in the same GP event.