Normally it's not good. But this should not be as bad as under 6.0. I wish S/Z get fair marks even for the early draw.
Normally it's not good. But this should not be as bad as under 6.0. I wish S/Z get fair marks even for the early draw.
Was the draw really completely random? The top pairs are the last ones to skate (except for Xue and Hongbo).
Nope- the draw was seeded. Yao Bin actually predicted that S/Z would probably skate in the first group, if not first! He feels very confident, though, that S/Z will receive fair scores, since they got excellent scores at the GP events.
Pairs teams are grouped into two pools before the drawing according to their world rankings. The ones with lower rankings (10 pairs of the 20) will go first, and the order of these ten is based on the number they drew. This world ranking is based on the competition of the 08 and 09 season, as shen and zhao missed the 08 season they rank only 29, so they are definitely within the first ten to go. SZ being first with SS being last to go is completely random and their own selections.
I love fairy tale endings and would love to see S/Z finally win gold to cap off their brilliant careers. They skate from the heart and always move me.
I would love to see this happen also.I love fairy tale endings and would love to see S/Z finally win gold to cap off their brilliant careers.
I don't find S/Z winning a fairy tale ending for all the rest of the pairs teams who have bothered to compete and risked injury for the last quad. I feel extremely bad for S/S in this situation they've been the team of this quad, and in my opinion are far more innovative than S/Z have ever been in their careers.Originally Posted by RealtorGal
S/Z have been one of the first to perform every event this season due to the fact that they didn't compete for last few years. I'm sure they expect it and are prepared for it. They will set a standard every pair coming after them have to meet and they will be placed well going into the long. I want them to win gold here more than anything I've ever wanted for any skater/s in any skating event in 30 years I've watched the game seriously. That would make this Olympics for me.
Well, all the skaters have to do is skate for it.
I want S/Z to win not for sentimental reasons but because they are the best in the world at this Olympics.
If S/Z win because S/S made mistakes, than I'm cool with S/Z winning. But if both were to go clean S/S should beat S/Z because they have harder elements, better basic skating, and more transitions/harder choregraphy and the better long program. My fear is that all the "sentimental reasons" for S/Z could hurt S/S. Both teams going clean though is unlkely. And there is the Russians who are coming up.
Last edited by bekalc; 02-14-2010 at 01:14 AM.
If both S/S and S/Z are clean, S/Z will win by at least 10 points combined short and long. No pair's program this year compares to S/Z artistically or technically. S/Z's main threat is not S/S but the Russian team who won the Europeans, who got ridiculously over scored, which makes me think Russian Skating Federation is up to something to make sure they keep their legacy of winning Pairs Gold every Olympics since 1964.
They may feel, they owe it to Moskvina.
Still hope the two American Pairs make a good showing.
That's ridiculous. S/S do harder elements like 3toe 3toe sequences and throw 3flips. This is harder than the side by side jumps that S/Z do. Also they have harder choregraphy and transitions. S/S do some very hard transitions going into their elements. So do the Russians. The Chinese not as much as the other two.
As for their long I think the Chinese long program is dreary (hate that music) S/S have a better long artistically but artistically its one of those things that is arguable.
Last edited by bekalc; 02-14-2010 at 08:47 AM.
But that's just it. They've dominated this quad despite NOT skating cleanly. Remember their LP in Sweden? The freak fall in LA? Or their really poor TEB long? Yeah, they might be innovative, and their Skate Canada score proved that the judges will give it to whomever skates best, but I suspect they're the reason that S/Z decided to come back - ie, if that was what the winners were pulling off, why not throw our hat into the ring (Plushenko was the same way).
That's the reason I have a hard time criticizing S/Z for coming back, and certainly have a hard time going with the "well, other teams stayed and competed and risked injury" line of thought. By that definition, the Ukranian pair would be more deserving than S/Z, and I don't believe that. While sentiment is certainly playing a strong role in the huge scores they're getting, is their a competition you felt they didn't deserve to win? Do you think that the Germans or Pang/Tong were better in the GPF?
For what it's worth, after watching both programs from both skaters, I'll agree - S/S long program is better with better choreography. Where S/Z beat them is that on each element, they do things so effortlessly. Even with a lower base value, they can (and should) make up for it in GOE. The Germans are often a little sloppier (again, watch their LP from Worlds 2008)
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