2016 World Championships Mens Short Program

[Fayruza]

Yuzu clapping (did he said gambatte?) for Kovtun and requested audience to silent as Kovtun starts

I think he said 'давай' - 'go'

 

[Mathman]

I just looked at the protocols and noticed this: For Hanyu's skate, every single score given by judges 4 and 7 got thrown out. Judge 4 gave the low mark for each of the seven GOEs and for each of the five components (with some ties), while judge 7 gave the high mark 12 times in a row.

 

[viennaskater]

(re: Kovtun) You can't dance yes we know already, and you zayaked too

I don't know what Kovtun is even doing there - not only is Kolyada streets ahead of him technically and artistically, but there are some other promising Russian guys around now who deserved his place at these Worlds. Pitkeev? Petrov? Gorshkov? I would even mention Voronov and Menshov were it not for the fact that they tend to get passed over these days because they're 'too old'. Still rather watch any of them than Kovtun. And to me Kovtun's skating looks so laboured, like almost everything is an effort for him.

 

[Violet Bliss]

She did not have a lot to say but was complimentary about his presentation overall, but disagreed with her commenting partner about his technical abilities and the level of success he has with 4lz. She was talking about Arutyunian for the most part and gave most credit to him. She absolutely hated everything about Max Aaron, called him walking on the ice and zero skating skills and no presentation also was not too impressed with jumps. So clearly preferred Adam between two US skaters.

For those who interested what else she said:
1. She spent a big chunk of last group puzzled by Fernandez score going as far as saying that tonight she did not see 6 points worth gap between Jin and Javier in PCS. And could not understand why he had such a high TES score as well. Thought that Javier should have been much closer to both Jin and Kolyada.
2. Thought that Umo also should have been behind Jin.
3. Called Jin's judging shameless
4. Was gushing over Chan's PCS abilities and called them unmatched.
5. Was brutally honest about kovtun's skating and was not a fan at all
6. They turned off mics during Yuzu's skate. And only superlatives afterwards going as far as saying that she is happy and proud to be alive to witness this masterpiece.

EDIT:
7. Was kind of confused who Nam Nguyen is and why he ranked so high and is in the penultimate group. LOL. Her partner in the booth reminded her that Nam is the reigning Canada champ and was 5th in the last Worlds that followed with a lot of snark afterwards. But they did speculate that his growth spurt might be the culprit.

Thank you whatif for bringing Tat's comments.

Good to hear these opinions from an authority with the right for such straight talks. :agree:

 

[cruzceleste]

I don't know what Kovtun is even doing there - not only is Kolyada streets ahead of him technically and artistically, but there are some other promising Russian guys around now who deserved his place at these Worlds. Pitkeev? Petrov? Gorshkov? I would even mention Voronov and Menshov were it not for the fact that they tend to get passed over these days because they're 'too old'. Still rather watch any of them than Kovtun. And to me Kovtun's skating looks so laboured, like almost everything is an effort for him.

Awwww, it wasn´t that bad, his score would have been better with out the zayaked jump, but he was putting his heart in the program, maybe my only complain is how slow the last step sequence look, but the music isn´t really a fast one.

 

[silverfoxes]

I don't know what Kovtun is even doing there - not only is Kolyada streets ahead of him technically and artistically, but there are some other promising Russian guys around now who deserved his place at these Worlds. Pitkeev? Petrov? Gorshkov? I would even mention Voronov and Menshov were it not for the fact that they tend to get passed over these days because they're 'too old'. Still rather watch any of them than Kovtun. And to me Kovtun's skating looks so laboured, like almost everything is an effort for him.

Well, it's pretty simple - Kovtun won Russian Nats, so he rightfully earned the spot. Adian was 9th, Sergei was 5th. Petrov and Gorshkov have never shown a quad in competition, so I definitely would not have sent them over Kovtun at this point. Kovtun has 3 planned in his FS so there is opportunity for him to catch up somewhat (he wasn't going to medal anyway, but none of the other Russian guys would have either). While I'm not his big fan or anything, he had rotten luck skating last after Hanyu, and this wasn't the first time.

 

[Shayuki]

Well, it's pretty simple - Kovtun won Russian Nats, so he rightfully earned the spot. Adian was 9th, Sergei was 5th. Petrov and Gorshkov have never shown a quad in competition, so I definitely would not have sent them over Kovtun at this point. Kovtun has 3 planned in his FS so there is opportunity for him to catch up somewhat (he wasn't going to medal anyway, but none of the other Russian guys would have either). While I'm not his big fan or anything, he had rotten luck skating last after Hanyu, and this wasn't the first time.

If you go ahead and watch Kovtun at Russian nationals, I'd say that it's a massive stretch to say he "rightfully" earned it.

 

[silverfoxes]

If you go ahead and watch Kovtun at Russian nationals, I'd say that it's a massive stretch to say he "rightfully" earned it.

According to established protocol, he earned his spot at Worlds. That's all I'm saying. Whether he should have won over Kolyada is debatable; I thought last season was even more of a travesty and Sergei deserved to win then. But even if Kolyada won gold, Kovtun still would have been sent to Worlds. The other guys were either not in their best shape or they simply aren't ready.

 

[OniBan]

It is beyond me that Shamo's PCS was SIX points higher than Jin Boyang's! I am not trashing Shamo, I am just saying the judges are SHAMELESS!

Why not though? personally I thought Shoma's artistry trumps Jin's any day, even if Jin's technically superior in terms of jumps.

 

[viennaskater]

Well, it's pretty simple - Kovtun won Russian Nats, so he rightfully earned the spot. Adian was 9th, Sergei was 5th. Petrov and Gorshkov have never shown a quad in competition, so I definitely would not have sent them over Kovtun at this point. Kovtun has 3 planned in his FS so there is opportunity for him to catch up somewhat (he wasn't going to medal anyway, but none of the other Russian guys would have either). While I'm not his big fan or anything, he had rotten luck skating last after Hanyu, and this wasn't the first time.

Hmm well I remember a few years ago the top three at US Nationals being sent to Worlds and it was a disaster.

 

[gsk8]

Photos of top 24 on GS Twitter and FB Album

 

[Tolstoj]

I don't know what Kovtun is even doing there - not only is Kolyada streets ahead of him technically and artistically, but there are some other promising Russian guys around now who deserved his place at these Worlds. Pitkeev? Petrov? Gorshkov? I would even mention Voronov and Menshov were it not for the fact that they tend to get passed over these days because they're 'too old'. Still rather watch any of them than Kovtun. And to me Kovtun's skating looks so laboured, like almost everything is an effort for him.

I don't know why so many people dislike Kovtun: i respect him as an athlete cause he tries so many quads, but he's not consistent and i think this is an issue of all Buyanova's skaters. (Adelina, Alexandra Proklova, Denis Ten at that time,...). Plus i think here he was even underscored, or at least i would have put him ahead of Denis Ten (technically a messy SP)

Kolyada will be better than Maxim when he will add more quads in his programs: i think he has the best technique on the 3A, i would put that on the 2nd half of the SP because he always makes it so easy, and maybe he should try the quad lutz. Artistically is already ahead and he has some of the best spins in Men figure skating.

 

[el henry]

Hmm well I remember a few years ago the top three at US Nationals being sent to Worlds and it was a disaster.

And last year the top three from US Nationals went and earned three spots.

I am no fan of the Russian men, but I believe those who earned it at Nats should go. Look at the Canadian fed playing games with Liam Firus, or the French fed with just sending Chafik, and how far it got them

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

She still listed as his coach BUT she said that she no longer coaches him and has very little involvement in decision-making such as silly stuff as putting 4T in the programme which he never manages to pull off and gets invalidated.

Kovtun sure pulled it off in his two competitions (Euros & Russian Nats) prior to Worlds.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/ec2016/ec2016_Men_SP_Scores.pdf
http://fsrussia.ru/files/docs/competitons/1516/rusnat1516_protocol.pdf (page 7)

 

[seniorita]

I like Vasiljevs so much, I m a new fan! And Kolyada has the red cheeks of Kulik!:
Hanyu's short, every time the program seems better!!!
I woke up last night for the last two groups, I have missed so much figure skating that I ve decided to wake up every night for worlds

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I don't know why so many people dislike Kovtun: i respect him as an athlete cause he tries so many quads, but he's not consistent and i think this is an issue of all Buyanova's skaters. (Adelina, Alexandra Proklova, Denis Ten at that time,...). Plus i think here he was even underscored, or at least i would have put him ahead of Denis Ten (technically a messy SP)

Kovtun has had bratty comments in the past. He's one of those skaters who I really dislike off the ice, but on the ice, he pushes for technical difficulty, and has had some successes for Russia. His skating isn't the greatest, but then again, none of the Russian men have really been particularly solid in the past decade. I also respect that he was one of the few to go for 5 quads (it was really only him and Reynolds doing that for the longest time). Not to mention, he was pushing that type of content in his first year on the senior scene whereas some guys took several seasons to start attempting multiple types of quads.

I think he's just one of those skaters that some people simply want to see fail. People were over the moon last year when he bombed his SP at Worlds and Voronov was ahead, thinking it was some sort of karmic retribution -- and then Kovtun had an awesome FS and Voronov bombed and their positions reversed essentially -- much to the chagrin of his haters.

I really can't stand when people hate on skaters who are trying to put their best out there, so sometimes I find it hilarious/amazing when these skaters prove their haters wrong and shut them up.

Same happened at Four Continents when the Chanbashers were gleeful that Chan seemingly took himself out of it after the short program, only to storm back in the FS to win. arty:

 

[Sydney Rose]

Just finished listening to TSL's recap of the Men's SP. They discuss the Nam/Liam situation and mock the Canadian Fed's attempts to sell the switch as Liam magnanimously volunteering to give his spot to Nam. And I have to agree with them; it does strain credibility to believe that's what really happened.

What I wonder is whether the smart move by Nam's team would have been to decline the offer, given the unfortunate state of Nam's skating right now. He's young and there's always next year. It seems to me that he did some serious damage to his reputation with that skate last night. And we all know how important reputation is in judging.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

But why shouldn't Max be popular and win over crowds? He's sweet, he works hard, he's classy and sporting, intelligent, funny, polite...there is absolutely zero reason to dislike him personally. Even when he's been robbed blind he still says, "No, I made xyz mistake." He doesn't roll his eyes at the camera, doesn't retweet catty comments about other skaters...but apparently this is more likable?

It's because he's bland by comparison. His athleticism and hard work are laudable and apparent, but if somebody doesn't excite an audience you can't force them to get excited. And frankly I think Adam's ability to project is far superior to Max's, so it makes sense that the audience reciprocates what the skater makes them feel. Max is a great athlete - moreso than Adam IMO - but he simply doesn't exude the charm, panache or star power that Adam has. I think part of the reason is because he's making his skating judge-friendly which is losing what makes him special - programs like Tron excite a crowd because they suit him, programs like Nessun Dorma while artistically pushing himself just doesn't feel like Max. And of course when he misses the element it's hard to feel as excited as when Adam cleanly skates (even if his SP jumps are easier).

 

[lavender]

Wow...Han Yan didn't make the cut. I have to look at his skate.

I didn't understand Ryan's explanation about the Canadian assoc. sending Nam over Kevin because of a low short program. Maybe they should have left that alone since Nam is going through a serious growth spurt that has obviously affected his skating.

I personally don't dislike Max. I feel for him because it is obvious that he's working so hard but it just doesn't feel natural. I was surprised by what I thought was his improved skating but I really just haven't seen that moment since then.

 

[FlattFan]

Did anyone notice the horrendous tattoos that Kovtun is sporting now?