2022-2024 Team China Update

[otisgear]

The China club league was kicked off a few weeks ago.

Surprisingly we saw a few new young pairs with great potential, especially in Coach Luan Bo’s team

the pairs to watch:

1) Jiaxuan Zhang/ Yihang Huang ️️️️ （the new partnership is less than a year, but looks quite mature. SBS triple jumps all clean)
2) Yuchen Wang/ Lei Zhu ️️️ (Beautiful body line, solo jumps look good so far, Wang is too tall for pair skating, will see how they develop)
3) Siyang Zhang/ Yongchao Yang ️️️
4) YoumeI Sun/ Zeen Li ️️️️️ ( Sun is still very young, very easy qual twist. 3T and 3S solo jumps but throw jumps are not there yet. )

Gotta agree Luan Bo's got quite a few exciting baby pairs, especially the two that can already do FoDs!! The girls are only like 11 years old so I hope they continue to develop well and get those triple throws soon.

On the other hand I don't share the same sentiment regarding Sun/Li. This "pair" has been highly controversial since their coach Zhang Tianci posted a video of them doing a (horrifying) quint twist last year. The girl is 10 and the guy is 23 (!!!). Everyone initially thought that he was just a training partner/coach but they've been entering competitions together so I guess they're a somewhat established partnership?? Honestly I don't find any of their quad/quint twists impressive because it's obviously just a grown man yeeting a tiny girl into the air. This team has no future in terms of international competition because of the age gap. Also, based on what she's posted on douyin, Sun's mom sounds like a crazier pairs version of An Xiangyi's mom and has her heart set on grooming her daughter into a top pairs girl. Even if Li is just intended to be a stepping stone there's no guarantee that Sun can still do quad twists with a guy that's more age compatible with her. This "team" just makes no sense and a lot of what Zhang Tianci posts seem like pure attention grab with minimal regard for the girl's safety.

 

[yqs100]

Gotta agree Luan Bo's got quite a few exciting baby pairs, especially the two that can already do FoDs!! The girls are only like 11 years old so I hope they continue to develop well and get those triple throws soon.

On the other hand I don't share the same sentiment regarding Sun/Li. This "pair" has been highly controversial since their coach Zhang Tianci posted a video of them doing a (horrifying) quint twist last year. The girl is 10 and the guy is 23 (!!!). Everyone initially thought that he was just a training partner/coach but they've been entering competitions together so I guess they're a somewhat established partnership?? Honestly I don't find any of their quad/quint twists impressive because it's obviously just a grown man yeeting a tiny girl into the air. This team has no future in terms of international competition because of the age gap. Also, based on what she's posted on douyin, Sun's mom sounds like a crazier pairs version of An Xiangyi's mom and has her heart set on grooming her daughter into a top pairs girl. Even if Li is just intended to be a stepping stone there's no guarantee that Sun can still do quad twists with a guy that's more age compatible with her. This "team" just makes no sense and a lot of what Zhang Tianci posts seem like pure attention grab with minimal regard for the girl's safety.

well... she got the potential and its great she got skills before she finds the right partner. by then, she has the bargain power to choose her partner rather than waiting for being picked up. if she had a 13-year partner, im sure she can reach the level she is now... imo.

as we can see from the video, the team is not hurry to push everything to the limits yet. the first thing is to get the solo jumps ready, i think the twist is just a bonus, if they have the capacity and capability, no harm to try it, but the most important thing is to protect her, and avoid big injuries. really dont want to see what happened to Sui happens again...

 

[otisgear]

well... she got the potential and its great she got skills before she finds the right partner. by then, she has the bargain power to choose her partner rather than waiting for being picked up. if she had a 13-year partner, im sure she can reach the level she is now... imo.

as we can see from the video, the team is not hurry to push everything to the limits yet. the first thing is to get the solo jumps ready, i think the twist is just a bonus, if they have the capacity and capability, no harm to try it, but the most important thing is to protect her, and avoid big injuries. really dont want to see what happened to Sui happens again...

Really? How are they protecting her by letting her train a quint twist when so many experienced pair girls that have trained quad twists have come forward to talk about the stress that it puts on their bodies due to the extreme torque required to pull off the move. Spinning at such high speeds pose a high risk to the brain and can cause concussions. Not to mention it's completely unnecessary for Sun to be training this at the moment because 1) it doesn't have a BV so they can't use it, 2) they can't compete in international competitions anyway, 3) she's not going to be able to do this with an age appropriate partner, and 4) there are other things that are probably more important to train right now if she wants to be a top pairs girl i.e. throws.

I think she's got great potential in terms of solo jumps, but currently not looking particularly promising in throws. They were doing throw singles in competition last year and are still doing throw singles in this latest competition, and she doesn't look very comfortable landing them. In comparison, Luan Bo's baby pairs where the girls are 11 and boys are 14/15 have very solid throw doubles already. There's no way training throw doubles is dangerous for someone who's already doing solo triples. Throws don't have to be crazy huge. The thing that damaged Sui's ankles more than anything else was training throw quads, not training throw doubles.

Imo, her entire coaching team and parents are being extremely reckless and focusing on the wrong things. Doing quint twists when you're only landing throw singles just screams questionable coaching decisions, kinda like Bruno Massot's French junior pair attempting a throw quad when they were only doing a double twist. As a pairs fan I'm thrilled that there are young talent choosing the pairs discipline, but just looking at Sun's strengths maybe she should consider switching back to singles. Having 3T and 3S at age 10 would make her very competitive in the Chinese singles' scene.

Also idk if you've seen her mom's comments on douyin. When netizens questioned about whether their crazy training methods puts the girl at higher risk of injury, her reply was "which elite athlete is without major injury?". Tbh though this is true it's probably premature to put the same preconceptions of a top athlete on a 10 year old girl. She's also outright said that elite athletes should all be willing to sacrifice their personal health in order to achieve results. Nothing that she's said has hinted that they're trying to protect her or prevent big injuries.

 

[yqs100]

Really? How are they protecting her by letting her train a quint twist when so many experienced pair girls that have trained quad twists have come forward to talk about the stress that it puts on their bodies due to the extreme torque required to pull off the move. Spinning at such high speeds pose a high risk to the brain and can cause concussions. Not to mention it's completely unnecessary for Sun to be training this at the moment because 1) it doesn't have a BV so they can't use it, 2) they can't compete in international competitions anyway, 3) she's not going to be able to do this with an age appropriate partner, and 4) there are other things that are probably more important to train right now if she wants to be a top pairs girl i.e. throws.

I think she's got great potential in terms of solo jumps, but currently not looking particularly promising in throws. They were doing throw singles in competition last year and are still doing throw singles in this latest competition, and she doesn't look very comfortable landing them. In comparison, Luan Bo's baby pairs where the girls are 11 and boys are 14/15 have very solid throw doubles already. There's no way training throw doubles is dangerous for someone who's already doing solo triples. Throws don't have to be crazy huge. The thing that damaged Sui's ankles more than anything else was training throw quads, not training throw doubles.

Imo, her entire coaching team and parents are being extremely reckless and focusing on the wrong things. Doing quint twists when you're only landing throw singles just screams questionable coaching decisions, kinda like Bruno Massot's French junior pair attempting a throw quad when they were only doing a double twist. As a pairs fan I'm thrilled that there are young talent choosing the pairs discipline, but just looking at Sun's strengths maybe she should consider switching back to singles. Having 3T and 3S at age 10 would make her very competitive in the Chinese singles' scene.

Also idk if you've seen her mom's comments on douyin. When netizens questioned about whether their crazy training methods puts the girl at higher risk of injury, her reply was "which elite athlete is without major injury?". Tbh though this is true it's probably premature to put the same preconceptions of a top athlete on a 10 year old girl. She's also outright said that elite athletes should all be willing to sacrifice their personal health in order to achieve results. Nothing that she's said has hinted that they're trying to protect her or prevent big injuries.

talking about injuries, dont forget sui, how she became so fragile is all because the crazy training under luan bo when they were young.

if you think 10 yrs old handles 3T and 3S well, then should switch back to single,, maybe thats a bit too naive. at least their goal is not to participate at international competition but to compete for ogm.

anyway, its the athlete and parents' choice to work with whoever they like. and i'm very happy to see the diversity of the developing pairs in china now.

 

[icybear]

65.4 junior debut score is pretty decent for Xiangyi. That's higher than Li Zijun personal best as a senior and all of the recent senior Chinese ladies. With the Russians out, the ultra c element craze will not be as rapid and the pcs has been a lot less biased towards the big feds like prev years. This season will a good to clement her reputation.

 

[brakes]

Wow. I sense superstar quality in this girl!

 

[elbkup]

She has worked hard…
She deserves it!!
Best of luck in the free!!!

 

[GarthAqua]

Zhu Yi has withdrawn from SA due to injury.
So maybe there will be no Chinese lady in GPs this season.

 

[yuumagical]

I heard a rumor about why Peng/Jin withdrew from the GP series while I was at Skate Canada. The rumor was that they had actually intended to retire, but the Chinese fed wouldn't let them retire. So they cited a medical reason for withdrawing instead of actually being able to retire. If this is the case, I'm heartbroken, not only because they want to retire, but also because they can't do so on their own terms. Again, this is a rumor. If any of you have any information as to the veracity of this rumor, please let me know.

 

[otisgear]

I heard a rumor about why Peng/Jin withdrew from the GP series while I was at Skate Canada. The rumor was that they had actually intended to retire, but the Chinese fed wouldn't let them retire. So they cited a medical reason for withdrawing instead of actually being able to retire. If this is the case, I'm heartbroken, not only because they want to retire, but also because they can't do so on their own terms. Again, this is a rumor. If any of you have any information as to the veracity of this rumor, please let me know.

Oh wow I don't have any solid information but this isn't the first time I've read about P/J wanting to retire. Previously there was (also completely unsubstantiated) rumours on Chinese forums that P/J's original plan was to go to Worlds after the Olympics to try and get a Worlds medal and then retire after that I think Jin Yang in particular was pretty keen on retiring soon, he's said in earlier interviews something like his career "is in countdown". Although after the Olympics they've also publicly said that they want to continue and push for Milano??? Wonder if the fed talked them into sticking around (or forced them perhaps?). I've also heard rumours that the fed also won't allow S/H to officially retire.

I don't think the withdrawal was planned so much in advanced though, they were training for the GP in sep/oct. Although who knows if there were plans to actually let them go to the GPs because the fed is in such a mess. Not to mention the biggest mystery that Zhao Hongbo has been basically missing since the Olympics ended and wasn't seen training with P/J (only Guan Jinlin was with them). The craziest rumour that no one is talking about is that Zhao has allegedly quit. We don't even know who the official coaches are at this point.

 

[surimi]

Although who knows if there were plans to actually let them go to the GPs because the fed is in such a mess. Not to mention the biggest mystery that Zhao Hongbo has been basically missing since the Olympics ended and wasn't seen training with P/J (only Guan Jinlin was with them). The craziest rumour that no one is talking about is that Zhao has allegedly quit. We don't even know who the official coaches are at this point.

If true, I'm sad about it. Just when the graceful Xiangyi An enters juniors and Chinese FS could use some more new faces to attract more fans, especially in pairs.

 

[otisgear]

Some interesting "official" news. CFSA just released a full list of people set to attend an online judges training course:
http://www.cfsa.com.cn/cfsa_portal/html/new1.html?newsId=1654229&newsTypeId=5

Sui/Han and Peng/Jin are both on the list. Not that surprised about S/H but P/J?? The course runs from 4-10 November so did they suddenly sign up for this after withdrawing from the GPs? Bizarre Cfed shenanigans continue to pile on...

Also this list is such a random mix of people there's like three generations of skaters here. From Shen Xue (????) to Dai Dawei (currently active junior men???) and so many former skaters that have disappeared for so long like Song Nan, Wang Xuehan, Gao Yumeng...

 

[yqs100]

1. Peng Cheng now teams up with Wang Lei who skated with Wang Xuehan and retired in early 2019. Looks like Jin Yang is retired….

The new team Peng/Wang is expected to debut in the coming GP ..

2. Zhao Hongbo is not coaching any team at the moment after Sui/Han won the OGG.

3. Jin Boyang will go back Canada in July. He will keep his free program from last season and get a new SP.

 

[yqs100]

sui/han are back on ice and working on new program...

not sure if its for show only or competition

 

[yqs100]

Jin Yang is not retired yet. He is looking for a new partner….

 

[dorispulaski]

Cup of China is happening this year!


There are TBA listings for 3 pairs, men & women! There are two listings for ice dance.

Which Chinese skaters and teams might fill these places?

 

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

Cup of China is happening this year!


There are TBA listings for 3 pairs, men & women! There are two listings for ice dance.

Which Chinese skaters and teams might fill these places?

Jin, An, Peng/Wang, and Liu/Wang are obvious spots, and I'm honestly a bit confused as to why China didn't name them automatically.

As for the other two men's posts, Chen Yudong definitely gets one - another I'm surprised wasn't named automatically. For Pairs, I would also put Zhang / Yang in this category, too. I'm not completely sure about the others, though. I would assume medalists from last year's Nationals would be contention.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Jin, An, Peng/Wang, and Liu/Wang are obvious spots, and I'm honestly a bit confused as to why China didn't name them automatically.

As for the other two men's posts, Chen Yudong definitely gets one - another I'm surprised wasn't named automatically. For Pairs, I would also put Zhang / Yang in this category, too. I'm not completely sure about the others, though. I would assume medalists from last year's Nationals would be contention.

Yudong is reportedly doing the JGP so he's not an option.

However, two host spots were already decided, if not announced to the ISU it seems - Boyang Jin and Wang/Liu (as they are in the top 50 of World Standing, which is one of the internal selection criteria for Cup of China). The other ones are supposed to be decided in early August based on domestic competitions.

 

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

Yudong is reportedly doing the JGP so he's not an option.

However, two host spots were already decided, if not announced to the ISU it seems - Boyang Jin and Wang/Liu (as they are in the top 50 of World Standing, which is one of the internal selection criteria for Cup of China). The other ones are supposed to be decided in early August based on domestic competitions.

Thanks for the update. I didn't know Yudong was doing JGP, and good to know that Jin and Wang/Liu are already decided.

 

[labgoat]

Take an early look at what the Chinese skaters are doing here

https://www.youtube.com/@tikezhang/videos