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Ladies

breeze

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Being about as limber as Kim Yu-Na might help her in the long run. I mean, being very flexible hasn't gotten Czisny and Zhang that far...

Not being very flexible is not a good thing in itself, I think. But I do remember reading something related to the trade-off between good flexibility and solid jump technique. Maybe this depends on each skater but I tend to believe that there actually can be a negative correlation between the two since we've seen many flexible skaters with hammer toe. That being said, I don't think Yuna lacks flexibility too bad. She does bielman spin and has pretty good upper body position for layback. I also wish she could refine her lines a little, but I don't see a big problem now either.

Adelina amazed me especially because she looked very balanced for a junior lady. She has nice stretch, yet her jumps look powerful with very good spring. I agree with Andalusia's whole post including the ickiness of the dress. :biggrin: Maturing with time into a better artist, she'll be great to watch! Hope she doesn't get hit too hard with puberty.

I have one question about her technique, though - does she flutz? Couldn't tell clearly from the youtube video, but seems to me that it was not a deep outside edge.
 
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silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I don't think you really realize how much talent the Russians have right now amongst 11-14 year olds. They have quite easily the most depth of any nation about a dozen girls with talent. Polina A was never the most hyped. Adelina won Russian SENIOR nationals at 12 and just put out the highest debut score short and long ever for a girl. At least one of those kids will make it through. And competitive mettle will be there too because it will be difficult to get through to the international stage.

I wouldn't be surprised if most of them made it through. I mean, Birukova and Zaseeva seem to be a little affected by puberty this season, but the other girls all seem strong despite having gone through big growthspurts recently.
 

Lucky Star

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 27, 2009
Polina is showing all sign of UR in most of her jumps even at this age. I don't even know how she will make it out of Russia. UR isn't easy to fix.

But she can do it ;) Last year Polina also had a lot of URs at the JGP and Senior Nationals, but at Junior Nationals and Junior Worlds she landed and fully rotated every jump, even 3Lz-3T
 

gold12345

Medalist
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Yea, I don't know why people are on Polina's case. She had an inconsistent performance, which is completely normal, especially for someone as young as her. It's too hard to predict the long-term future for anyone, especially a little 13 or 14 year old. She can be very proud of her SP performance here!
 

Meli_Huber

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Yea, I don't know why people are on Polina's case. She had an inconsistent performance, which is completely normal, especially for someone as young as her. It's too hard to predict the long-term future for anyone, especially a little 13 or 14 year old. She can be very proud of her SP performance here!

Absolutly right. I really hope she can do better at her second event and especially later in the season.
Not to forget that she changed to Urmy after Junior Worlds. He can help her with the jumps, where she does not always have the best technique, but that will need some time.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I have one question about her technique, though - does she flutz? Couldn't tell clearly from the youtube video, but seems to me that it was not a deep outside edge.

The video quality isn't very clear but from her nationals videos, I see that it's more borderline. It's not a deep outside edge but it's not an inside edge either. Since we don't have the "!" anymore, I think the only ones that are called now are those that are most noticeable.
 

100yen

You can't explain witchcraft
Medalist
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
I loved reading this thread...
By the time these girls hit senior, I'll already know what the major debates about them are :laugh:
 

samba

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 23, 2008
Everything has its cycle, US was quite dominated many years ago, swept podium in many international events, then Japan with many super talented. Now it's Russian's turn. Russia had no real super star since Irina Slutskaya, this could be their time.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I really like ZiJun Li more and more :love: Everything about her skating is soft and smooth. She kinda reminds me of a young Mao. Both of her programs are also wonderful because they suit her lyrical style.
 

SkateSkates

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I really like ZiJun Li more and more :love: Everything about her skating is soft and smooth. She kinda reminds me of a young Mao. Both of her programs are also wonderful because they suit her lyrical style.

I was just about to say this!
I totally agree, and she even does Mao's one handed beillman :)
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
Yeah, Zijun is wonderful. :love:
She also channels Mao at that age for me. Karen Kwan did a good job with both programs. They suit her style, show off her gracefulness, but also work well because she's a fast skater. It's too bad she had to compete in the toughest JGP so far. In another competition, she might've won gold or silver. But perhaps she still has a chance of making JGPF. :rock:
 

oleada

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
I liked Zijun's style, a lot! I thought she was a bit short changed in PCS compared to Gao - I certainly enjoyed her skate a lot more.

I love that she used the Up soundtrack as her SP.

From the other skaters, I LOVED Monika Simancikova from Slovakia who ended up in 5th place. Lovely balletic style and soft skating. I was so sad when she fell on her final jump. She has a lot of potential. Nice to see girls from more obscure countries do so well at this competition.
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Zijun is defnitely the most promising skater from China we have seen in a while. She still has a lot work to do in terms of line and extension, but I just love how light she is and how she seems to float across the ice. She makes all the transitions and edgework seem so effortless.
 

LeCygne

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
It's too bad she had to compete in the toughest JGP so far. In another competition, she might've won gold or silver. But perhaps she still has a chance of making JGPF. :rock:

I definitely agree, Sotnikova and Gao posted some high scores. But the top 8 make the JGP right? Last year Christina made the final with 2 bronzes and Ellie Kawamura made it with a bronze and a 4th place finish. Of course this season we have so many amazing Russian girls, but I think if she skates as well as she did here, Li Zijun has a great shot with a bronze already.
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Her next JGP is in Czech. Who do you think are her biggest competitors? Shelepen, Kemanai, and who else?
 

Meli_Huber

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Her next JGP is in Czech. Who do you think are her biggest competitors? Shelepen, Kemanai, and who else?

2 girls from USA, 2 from Russia and 2 from Japan.

Of course, Shelepen is the top favourit here ... but we have to wait with US girls will skate in the end.
The Japanese girls can be strong, but only can. So we have to look, because these are juniors, and you never now what will happen. The second Russian girl AFANASYEVA is also a real talented skater and can do really fine!
 

Lucky Star

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 27, 2009
2 girls from USA, 2 from Russia and 2 from Japan.

Of course, Shelepen is the top favourit here ... but we have to wait with US girls will skate in the end.
The Japanese girls can be strong, but only can. So we have to look, because these are juniors, and you never now what will happen. The second Russian girl AFANASYEVA is also a real talented skater and can do really fine!
I doubt Afanasieva will go there, she is just a placeholder... The second girl can be Anna Ovcharova (she has event in Great Britain only a week after Japan, I think it's too hard, so maybe Zaseeva will go to Great Britain instead) or Nikol Gosviani if she does well in Japan (the girl is really strong, with all triples, 2A-3T combo and nice spins and presentation).
 

LeCygne

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
I liked Zijun's style, a lot! I thought she was a bit short changed in PCS compared to Gao - I certainly enjoyed her skate a lot more.

It was hard to tell with the low quality of Christina's LP, but I think she performed better at her summer competitions. I really loved her Yellow River LP at Skate Detroit. I think the senior version of the program is better, more room for breathing and small choreographic moments. I guess experience has helped her PCS - medaling at the JGP Final last year couldn't have hurt her reputation.

As for Zijun, I agree with everyone that her style is a lot like Mao's. She's soft and elegant but really seems to have a big personality on the ice, and her programs highlight that really well. I'm also impressed with her jumps - I remember at Chinese Nationals a year or two ago, she really had no flow out of the lutz and flip. Now she has good technique, nice height, as well as flow. :love:
 

feraina

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2007
It was hard to tell with the low quality of Christina's LP, but I think she performed better at her summer competitions. I really loved her Yellow River LP at Skate Detroit. I think the senior version of the program is better, more room for breathing and small choreographic moments. I guess experience has helped her PCS - medaling at the JGP Final last year couldn't have hurt her reputation.

As for Zijun, I agree with everyone that her style is a lot like Mao's. She's soft and elegant but really seems to have a big personality on the ice, and her programs highlight that really well. I'm also impressed with her jumps - I remember at Chinese Nationals a year or two ago, she really had no flow out of the lutz and flip. Now she has good technique, nice height, as well as flow. :love:

I don't know what justified Christina's much higher PCS than Zijun's. I didn't really see it in their skating. I would've given them comparable PCS, maybe even a slight edge to Zijun. Zijun had better posture, line, flow, and flexibility (and better spins, too). The placements are fine, especially considering their short programs, but I have to disagree with the huge gap in their FS scores. Hopefully, if Zijun keeps on skating clean programs and placing well in her competitions, then she'll build her own reputation in judges' minds. :rock:
 
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