Pairs' Free | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Pairs' Free

Shaba22

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 191.33 1 1 :clap:
2 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS 180.14 2 2
3 Keauna MCLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER USA 160.55 3 5
4 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 156.28 4 3
5 Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON ITA 150.86 5 6
6 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN 148.43 7 4
7 Anastasia MARTIUSHEVA / Alexei ROGONOV RUS 138.17 6 7
8 Maria SERGEJEVA / Ilja GLEBOV EST 128.62 8 8
 

life684

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 8, 2007
Congrats to Qing PANG / Jian TONG! :clap:

They deserve it :clap::thumbsup:

first of three chinese pairs delivers, can't wait to see how Shen and Zhao will perform. They were doing such wonderful throw jumps and seems ok during their Sbs 2a's in their practice videos.
 

gold12345

Medalist
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
M/B got bronze but lost by 30 pts ouch

Yeah, it was a rough skate, but the bright side is that they have a lot they can improve on. They didn't look quite comfortable with the program yet, parts were slow. It was their first competition... They didn't get to do any summer competitions like they usually do, and maybe that affected them. Their throws seemed off. The first throw looked like it had too much rotation and the second throw looked like it didn't have enough. They can figure that out. They have a while until SA.
 

ae9177

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Huge congratulations to Pang and Tong! :clap: The pairs competition is getting more and more excited this season, with the door wide open to multiple couples. Can't wait to see Shen and Zhao next week!
 

MissIzzy

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 26, 2006
Tweet from Keuna:" Woooww rough skate- Rock was my rock. Now back to the drawing board.."
 

Medusa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Alright, my impressions of the Top Five after watching them on the big screen.

Nicole DELLA MONICA / Yannick KOCON
Great and secure sbs jumps, that was really impressive, the Triple Salchow was big, with fantastic flow. The throw jumps have slightly above average quality, good flow, but not much height.
Both seem to have good skating skills, lots of speed and power and they kept moving throughout the program.
But the lifts and the twist are seriously scary. He needs to beef up and pronto, please!
And why is France selling all their good male skaters to Italy, is that a deal with Speedy - two good skaters in exchange for icedance-gold?

Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV
She has had a year without competitions and those sbs jumps kind of got worse during that time? She wasn't even close to landing anything clean or fully rotated. And give her something to eat.
They had zero connection to the music.
Apart from that, good Russian pair qualities, nice throws and twist - sublime unison on the sbs spins.

Keauna MCLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER
I hope she gets her act together, I like them very much as a pair. But worst case scenario: is there somewhere in the US a small female pair skater who could skate with him, in case she doesn't get her act together?
They have great style, good speed (though somewhat frantic stroking), there is something lively about them that I often miss with younger Russian or Chinese pairs. His jumps look big and solid - hers unfortunately don't. Their lifts seem to have somehow regressed since last season, but that could very well be explained as early-in-the-season-problems.

Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV
I adore them. One of my sentimental favourites. And they did a decent job today, some weaknesses here and there, a bit sloppy at times. The interpretation was good, too.
My problem is the program. Not the music, I like that too. But all the elements in the program are recycled from last season's program.
And yes, everybody does that. But since this is Moskvina, it's just really noticeable. They have all these unique lifts - but unfortunately the uniqueness gets old after 3 seasons with the same unique lifts.
The structure is also not good. All those lifts towards the end, all the throw elements are done in the first half. I want more creativity.

Qing PANG / Jian TONG
Also sentimental favourites. And they have gorgeous costumes. I still can't believe it. How did that happen? Hers is especially beautiful.
The skate was good, I enjoy the music, the structure of the program is good. Nothing overly spectacular, but a good first outing.
I just hope they can keep this form till February. The last two seasons they were always great throughout the season, until and including 4CC - and then they tanked at Worlds. Since the Olympics is about at the same time as 4CC was during the last years - they might actually be a gold medal threat at the Olympics.
 
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lakeshore

Match Penalty
Joined
Sep 13, 2009
Keauna MCLAUGHLIN / Rockne BRUBAKER
Both SP and LP have great potential. I like the music cut and the choreography. Love love their speed & ice coverage, spins and lifts. IMHO, they're the fastest pair out there.


Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV
Qing PANG / Jian TONG

Both teams are very sloooow and have the ugliest lift positions.

To be honest, which of Yuko/Alexander's big trick elements is of high quality? I can't find any. I don't know why there's not any downgrade on 3twist. This team and D/D are no where near to get 3 rotations in air.:bow:
 
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