2021 Skate America: Pairs Free Skate

[labgoat]

Ichat the B/K stan is huddled in a corner crying her eyeballs out and cursing that damn throw flip, unsure whether she'll have the energy to go through the men

Don't cry, Moskvina will hypnotize both Sasha and Dima next time

 

[coldblueeyes]

I really hope this lights a fire under B/K, because I'm just going to say it now: we haven't seen Pavliuchenko/Khodykin yet this year, but if they consistently perform well internationally, Sasha and Dima could be in trouble.

They competed the SP at the Russian cup. It wasn’t anything too special.

 

[Ichatdelune]

Don't cry, Moskvina will hypnotize both Sasha and Dima next time

I wish

 

[labgoat]

The US should be thankful that Japan doesn't have a strong ice dance team because with the emergence of M/K the US would have a fight on their hand for the silver at the Olympics.

Japan answers, but what if we bring out the Zueva choreographed Takahashi 2022!

 

[labgoat]

Thanks for being a fun group. See you in the men's thread.

 

[labgoat]

Alexa and Brandon almost won the TES, which was not even very high. This Grand Prix is just crazy!

This is pairs where anything can happen

 

[coldblueeyes]

It was a decent competition. But there’s still a long way until the Olympics. A lot can happen, so let’s see how things stack up until then.

 

[rollerblade]

I want them to wear any color that isn't gray/black/white/brown

Wow I don't even remember what program this was.

 

[Lutzedge]

This is pairs where anything can happen

Yep. Now we head to the Men! What a wild ride.

 

[kmw227]

They competed the SP at the Russian cup. It wasn’t anything too special.

Well, it doesn't necessarily have to be. If they consistently skate clean programs and Sasha & Dima don't, that third spot could be theirs.

 

[s_parks]

Wow I don't even remember what program this was.

Rach 2? Which was by far their best program and the music cuts were still terrible...

 

[readernick]

Alexa and Brandon almost won the TES, which was not even very high. This Grand Prix is just crazy!

One thing I have to say is that, generally, pairs scoring is rarely as overscored ( competition wise.. Individual pairs are) as the other disciplines. These scores were quite good.

 

[el henry]

 

[Lutzedge]

One thing I have to say is that, generally, pairs scoring is rarely as overscored ( competition were.. Individual pairs are) as the other disciplines. These scores were quite good.

True. They are solid. It is only the first GP.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Wow I don't even remember what program this was.

OMG they look amazing!! It looks like the opening from Bolero.

It would give me life to see these costumes! My favourite T/M programs are the ones with pep, the Electro swing, the Lord of the Dance, Music...

And yes I liked Candyman, I will die on that hill. Obviously they can't bring it back, but there's no reason they can't have strong music and strong costumes like these.

People talk crap about Nina Mozer, but go and watch some of those short programs I mentioned and tell me with a straight face that they were boring.

 

[SnowWhite]

Seasons best? Well, anyway it was a good day for my predictions!

Well, their only other FS this season that counted for SB was at Finlandia, and it wasn't clean.

I really hope this lights a fire under B/K, because I'm just going to say it now: we haven't seen Pavliuchenko/Khodykin yet this year, but if they consistently perform well internationally, Sasha and Dima could be in trouble.

They did their SP at a Russian Cup event. It wasn't amazing, but it was clean.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

Well, their only other FS this season that counted for SB was at Finlandia, and it wasn't clean.

They did their SP at a Russian Cup event. It wasn't amazing, but it was clean.

Ahh, I didn't realize Cranberry didn't count, that explains it.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

So this is the result that was wanted, and decided before the event began (but not in the medal order expected). There were so many obvious scoring glitches. Above all, Knierim/Frazier were robbed of a medal at 2021 Skate America, and I won't forget this anytime soon. It happened on U.S. home turf, and would never have happened in Canada or Russia or Japan, if the situation was reversed. I hope this dismissive result fires and frees up K/F to just be their best. But as I said, this is a perfect demonstration of how U.S. teams have to be completely perfect, just for peanuts, while other teams in political favor get huge mistake handicaps, often by virtue of being over-scored in the sp.

I'm fine with Tarasova/Morosov winning here, but it wasn't exactly exciting. There's also something to be said about getting a season's best score with a mistake in the performance. Maybe it's because T/M's previous competition was not great, and their earlier competitions pre-season don't count in the ISU scoring? Anyway, T/M are gorgeous skaters, but still so angsty and nervous. Why can't they relax and just be who they are, and be freer and happier?

Seriously, C/J deserved to be at about 71+ in the sp with the quality of their overall elements and at least landing their sbs jumps, especially in view of the huge 72+ Miura/Kihara were given in the sp, with the judges ignoring Miura falling onto Kihara's shoulder during the twist dismount, and over-scoring on GOE Miura's less than stellar throw landing. M/K performed the twist dismount better in the fp, but the high GOE they got in the sp for that obvious error, is laughable. As well, Alexa/Brandon only had a slight fallout on the sbs jump in the sp, and the 3-twist was not their best in the sp, but there were no errors, just low GOE. K/F should have received higher quality GOE on what they did well in the sp, and higher PCS on composition and interpretation in the sp. So that skating so well in the fp, and better than three teams in front of them, would have meant being fairly rewarded, instead of robbed.

M/K fans are seemingly fanatical about their team. It's way OTT to act like M/K are better than U.S. teams, when they are not. If anything, M/K are somewhat on a par, but each U.S. team here in their combined partnerships have more veteran experience than M/K, even though two of the U.S. pairings are recent. M/K need to pay more dues, and they need to be scored accurately. If it was a U.S. team who had that kind of crash on a throw landing, we'd never hear the end of it. Here, it's just 'Okay, that happened. Ha ha, we still medal, and the color is SILVER.'

The top teams backed into a medal, except for T/M who only had a minor mistake in the fp. Knierim/Frazier had the fewest total mistakes outside of T/M compared with the teams who medaled. Boikova/Koslovskii were over-scored in the sp, and so were Miura/Kihara, which put them out of reach to be overtaken in a supposed 'fair' competition. M/K have brought back both programs from last season, which is apparently a strategy allowing them to work on their consistency, without having to learn new program patterns. B/K truly were handicapped a bunch of mistakes, which is unforgiveable. A mistake in the sp, with a huge 75+ score gave them a cushion to mess up royally in the fp. This sport really needs to rethink not only their scoring system, but the entire competitive structure. B/K in the kiss 'n cry, were nodding like, yeah we'll take a bronze. All those who medaled must think they are better than U.S. pairs teams. I hope U.S. teams shoot that notion down, by working on strategies of their own.

 

[anonymoose_au]

M/K fans are seemingly fanatical about their team.

Maybe but you seem unreasonably mean to them. Like you didn't feel anything watching them? They were so charming! Alexa and Brandon would have beat them had they not had a bad SP, and it's not M/K's fault they did.

No-one's saying that the US teams at their BEST couldn't beat them, but the US teams weren't at their best. It's not fair to suggest M/K don't deserve their place. They performed here better than the US teams..it could well be the only time they ever do. Cut them some slack.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Maybe but you seem unreasonably mean to them. Like you didn't feel anything watching them? They were so charming! Alexa and Brandon would have beat them had they not had a bad SP, and it's not M/K's fault they did.

No-one's saying that the US teams at their BEST couldn't beat them, but the US teams weren't at their best. It's not fair to suggest M/K don't deserve their place. They performed here better than the US teams..it could well be the only time they ever do. Cut them some slack.

It's not about Miura/Kihara personally. I'm happy for their success, which they deserve. They've worked hard, and I have no problem with them being adequately rewarded for their hard work. I just don't like political scoring and unfairness, which was fairly obvious in a number of aspects in the sp, not just in terms of the sp scoring for M/K either. B/K were over-scored, and it's obvious that a decision was made ahead of time by the judges regarding who deserved to be on the podium (not an unusual occurrence in figure skating). There was a Japanese representative from the ISU handing out awards this evening during the awards ceremony (along with U.S. fed president, Anne Cammett).

All the top teams had room for mistakes in the sp and in the fp, except for the Americans.


BTW, Alexa/Brandon did NOT have a 'bad' sp. It was disappointing, because we all know the U.S. teams absolutely cannot afford to make mistakes. Everyone else who's favored can make mistakes. The error in the sp by Brandon was a fallout on the sbs jump, which can be costly, but it wasn't horrible. And K/F's triple-twist in the sp wasn't their best, but it wasn't any catastrophic error. They just didn't receive as much GOE on that element. Also, K/F were absolutely low-balled on PCS in the sp. Meanwhile, M/K were given high GOE for an obvious shoulder touchdown on the sp 3-twist, and high GOE for a shaky landing that was saved, in their sp. The Canadian team were immediately hit with a huge deduction for a shoulder touchdown on their 3-twist in the fp (I didn't see their twist in the sp), but in any case, the Canadians (Walsh/Micheau) were never in the running here for a number of reasons. W/M looked a little rusty, and of all the teams, they are not that well-matched physically. They can be competitive when they are at their best, but they don't have real weapons with any of their elements.

K/F should have received a bit higher GOE on some elements, along with better PCS in the sp. Both C/J and K/F were kept down in the marks in the sp, in comparison to the huge score for M/K. Yes, M/K are a fun team to watch, but sorry I can't get aboard on unfair scoring because of uber-love for Japan's only pairs team. That was a pretty hard crash, which no American team would have been able to live down. U.S. pairs teams have to continually bite dust, while being generally dismissed and disregarded, despite their high-quality strengths.


P.S.
Strangely, the judges were unaccountably lenient on free leg touchdowns on throw landings. Alexa had a slight, barely visible brush of the ice with her free leg on her first throw, and maybe or maybe not minor free leg contact on the second throw. Alexa's sp throw was ginormous and gorgeous, and should have received better GOE across the board.

Miura, in the fp, definitely touched down hard with her free leg boot on the second throw, but received positive GOE for it.

At least, Liu/O'Shea received better GOE for their obviously top-notch elements that they performed well. Someone must have said something about the low-ball GOE that L/O received for similar elements in the sp.