2022 World Figure Skating Championships: Women's Short Program

[discodisco]

I don't see how Alysa was overmarked. She skated clean with a 3-3 in the second half. Her PCS of about 32 was nothing to write home about. And Karen is pretty much out of it, barring some disasters, so her scores are kind of irrelevant.

Yes, Alysa was mildly overmarked. The problem is, some skaters are worse less than the sum of their parts - does that make sense? Ie, technically, Alysa's combo was fully rotated... but it was small, covered little ice, had little flow in and out. She can evidently spin fast enough to squeak out the rotation where a couple others can't. But her skating skills are nowhere near the others. Edges aren't nearly as clean. Posture not in the same universe. In other words, to the naked eye, she gets it done and looks like. But look a little deeper, and it's not hard to find the flaws.

That said, I think that Sakomoto, while clearly the best, had pretty weak spins tonight. Certainly not worth generous GOEs. I also felt that Young whom I normally love, was weaker than normal in (eg) spins, extension, etc. Just looked a little rougher than normal. Didn't convince me as she has in the past. Also deserved the rotation calls.

I'm not a huge Karen Chen fan, but I wouldn't put her and Alysa close in terms of PCS. Karen at least has good edgework and basics, plus good coverage and speed.

 

[discodisco]

Under rotations are a part of the scoring process.

Yep. People don't see to realize the simple power of strong basics and good edges. Some skaters have 'em, some don't. Sakomoto does. Higuchi a little less. You usually does, although if you watch her SP closely, she was tighter, not as great in terms of extension, spins were weaker, and she just didn't have the flow she normally does. Liu... not so much. Fun program, and to be honest, really good job of covering up her weaknesses. Hendrixx... I'm torn. Have to say, of all the hands over heads, I like hers best. Basics are certainly solid, if not Sakomoto level. But Sakomoto's spins were reaaallly weak today.

Anyhoo, yep, rotations are important. As are basics

 

[discodisco]

Wretched sight.
Like watching a competition from 8 years ago.

Yes, perhaps. I distinctly DIDN'T miss seeing three predictably choreographed programs by skaters who have weak edges, and sketchy technique, but who can like tops on pre-rotated jumps with sketchy technique. And I'm not talking about three specific skaters, because it varies from year-to-year, based on who's the latest cookie-cutter prepubescent to enter for her two years of glory before retirement due to injury.

Some of us yearn for a program where a skater holds a strong edge for more than 0.5 of a second before a leg kick or extension, or irrelevant 1 second gumby spiral that has no relation to the music. Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the skill it takes to do that, but it's SKATING, and not rhythmic gymnastics. Edge depth and control should be the most important thing. I personally love how it all came together with Valieva, and I'm sad how all that turned out... but really, it's more enjoyable to have a competition where skaters present different programs that are unique, rather than all looking the same. Yes quads are amazing, and the programs are packed. But they're too algorhythmic, and the skaters often skate like robots who're impeccably prepared, but strangely non-human.

Anyhoo, yes, the Russian skaters add a certain rotational excitement to competitions, and I can't knock their talent. Just not my type, I guess, and to be fair, yes, it does kind of make a competition boring when you know that regardless of program or skater quality, as long as they land a couple quads, they're going to have a huge buffer over the other skaters.

?

 

[whatif]

Sakomoto would need to withdraw from this competition to lose this title.
I am happy for her. A very deserved world champion in this field. An amazing career end.

 

[synesthesia]

Sakomoto would need to withdraw from this competition to lose this title.
I am happy for her. A very deserved world champion in this field. An amazing career end.

IIRC she said after Beijing that she wants to compete for another quad.

 

[cohkaix]

Two things were obvious. The US Fed has way more clout than Korea, and Higuchi needs to find a different country to skate for.

No, what Wakaba needs to do (as now she has 3A in her bags, almost...) are:
- be consistent with 3A
- working on the lip problem and rotations
- staying healthy without injury

And she can easily build on the consistency for the next one or two years.

On the other hand, for Koari, since she's already reaching the ceiling of GOE for 2A (I'm not talking about other jumps here), there's no where else to go forward, other than training for 3A. And it really depends on if she could overcome the fear due to past experience (injured because of training for 3A during her Jr. years).

I'm glad both are inspired to continue after their Olympic experiences.

 

[ffloweer]

I just finished watching the event, beautiful skates by the top competitors.
I had to come and share some love to Nicole Schott! I love her short program so so much, I think it's my favorite tango since Yuna's Adios Nonino. And her performance today was fantastic, really enjoyed watching her (I wish her component scores were higher, but still a very deserved seasons best).
And Kaori! Breaking 80 points! So incredible! I do hope she is our next world champion.
And Loena, I was so scared when I learnt she was coming to worlds injured, but she skated like that! I hope she can keep it up on the free skate, but today was magical anyway.

 

[Joekaz]

No, what Wakaba needs to do (as now she has 3A in her bags, almost...) are:
- be consistent with 3A
- working on the lip problem and rotations
- staying healthy without injury

And she can easily build on the consistency for the next one or two years.

On the other hand, for Koari, since she's already reaching the ceiling of GOE for 2A (I'm not talking about other jumps here), there's no where else to go forward, other than training for 3A. And it really depends on if she could overcome the fear due to past experience (injured because of training for 3A during her Jr. years).

I'm glad both are inspired to continue after their Olympic experiences.

Without Fed support, those things don't matter much. Just add up the points she lost from mistakes and the judges are saying she isnt close. Worse PCS than Liu? If she does a perfect 2A barely better than Schott? Worse than Liu and Bell. Lol. I don't think so.

 

[auser]

The Brit announcer on Peacock said the decision was made to take out the 3A cause of her hitting percentage lately and it was the right decision. She is so wonderful to see live.....

Oooh, Peacock had world feed commentary? Good to know. Thanks CoyoteChris!

 

[chz]

Looking forward for the robo to finally replace all these judges for the tech and Pcs as well. BTW why are all the judges old? Are there no young judges anymore?

 

[auser]

I just finished watching the event, beautiful skates by the top competitors.
I had to come and share some love to Nicole Schott! I love her short program so so much, I think it's my favorite tango since Yuna's Adios Nonino. And her performance today was fantastic, really enjoyed watching her (I wish her component scores were higher, but still a very deserved seasons best).
And Kaori! Breaking 80 points! So incredible! I do hope she is our next world champion.
And Loena, I was so scared when I learnt she was coming to worlds injured, but she skated like that! I hope she can keep it up on the free skate, but today was magical anyway.

Such a great skate to perform at Worlds. I love her interpretation of "Gladiator" much better than I enjoyed the film. She redefines gladiator here!

 

[Sai Bon]

Yup, that's Dai – always worrying about others before himself. He said he thinks he'll get used to the hard ice, but wondered if the singles skaters will be ok. (The expression he used apparently was シングルの子 – according to DeepL that does indeed translate to "single(s) child(ren)". Can someone, who speaks/reads Japanese confirm? Here's the original source. )

I hadn't read though that he ran into Yuma in the cafeteria. Thanks for the info! Can you point me to the source?

Yep,シングルの子 in this context means "the kids competing in singles." Dai is being Uncle Dai! Bless...

 

[TT_Fin]

Looking forward for the robo to finally replace all these judges for the tech and Pcs as well. BTW why are all the judges old? Are there no young judges anymore?

It is volunteer job, they don't get salary, Mika Saarelainen has told that often when he ha been commenting. I don't know how it is in the rest of world, but here in Finland all volunteering in all sectors people are old and young people are not interested. Also to get accepted as a judge to international competition, a judge needs a lot of national experience according to an article in Finland's federation's website.

 

[skaket023]

Lovely short program! Really enjoyed it.

Very happy for Mariah that she got her 3-3 around even UR. She really had to do it here. She had no choice.

I think Korea may rue the day they ever sent YOU to Tammy Gambill. Just like with Karen Chen, the judges are just waiting for those UR's!

YOU's expression was tight and she didn't have her normal sparkle. I think that's why Mariah, who skated full of joy, edged her out. (Edged, get it? Ha). I think Hamada makes her nervous. (She would make ME nervous too!)

I think Madelaine was underscored also.

I enjoyed the announcers on Peacock, because one was not familiar with the Women and had a background in ice dancing. So, it was fascinating to get his take on each skater.

I'm excited to see how it all shuffles out.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

In case it hasn't been posted, here's a link to Women's sp small medal ceremony and press conference:

Small Medals & Press Conference: Women Short Program | Montpellier 2022 | #WorldFigure

To license ISU footage: https://bit.ly/3M7bcaF SUBSCRIBE to our channel:https://www.youtube.com/SkatingISU?sub_confirmation=1LIKE us on Facebook:https://www....

www.youtube.com

 

[synesthesia]

Yep,シングルの子 in this context means "the kids competing in singles." Dai is being Uncle Dai! Bless...

Thank you so much!

 

[McBibus]

With the current TES scoring all potentially winning programs would have the same structure.
You will divide ultra-c and combos between the start (fresh skater) and the 2 minutes mark.
Before the 2 minutes mark you need 20/30 seconds where the skater can recover (Choreo/Step)
Same after the second big effort before finishing up with the remaining elements.

The absence of ultra C allows for more variety, but basically you will always want the more difficult elements to be with a fresh skater or to get a bonus.

 

[DonnaR]

Maddie's coach tested positive after arriving in France, so Manon has stepped in to help out.

 

[psychotropek]

I have not watched a full women's short program in any event in years, so I haven't seen any programs done by many of these skaters. I was pleasantly surprised that a lot of them aren't doing the same classical music anymore. I especially enjoyed the different styles of programs done by Taljegard, Grm, and McKay. And I'm only halfway through the replay.

Extra respect to Dasa Grm for doing triple-triples at age thirty!

 

[Ares]

She got 2 Q calls and, yes, she deserved them.
Wakaba always gets robbed. She deserves the 37 PCS but never gets anything close.

I do think Young's score was correct because both her 3F and combo were UR on replay and she got Q's which was generous. Mariah's combo was also under and also got a q. Similar URs and similar generous calls. Seems fair enough to me.

Yeah, You jumped a flip with a clearly wrong wrong on the take-off (did a lip) - the judging/scoring was fair.