Ladies - Short Program | Page 30 | Golden Skate

Ladies - Short Program

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Miki could have easily cruised to another World title. That girl is super consistent. 2 titles prior to the Olympics would have set her up nicely for an Olympic medal. They aren't gonna dump her in 2014 for what she did.
Mao is hopeless. 3A is not going to happen, so go for a 2A + GOE. She could have gained at least 4 more points on the TES side. So stubborn, so stupid.
Kanako is robbed. If Alena got 9 for SS, Kanako should have gotten 10. Her program is so nice, real choreography, real skating.
Carolina should have gotten higher. She messed up her combo, and solo jump at the 2009 SP, and still scored 63+, Messed up in the SP at the Olympics and still scored 62-63. She wasn't even a real threat those years. This year, she has the triple triple, good choreography, improved her SS, improved everything. I was expecting 62-63 for her. In a sense, Carolina is robbed of her overscoring ability. They actually marked her accordingly. So strange. :)
Akiko, at the prime old age of 40, put out another triple triple. Good for her. Her PCS is too low compare to Alena.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
HOW CAN PHIL HERSH DEFEND CZISNY?!?!?! I just don't get it! She was off the mark all season long, SHE was the one who chose to go to the Netherlands...SHE was the one who couldn't rise to the occasion today despite the skaters before her (save Leonova) leaving the door wide open...what excuse does she have? Sorry- USFS can be criticized for many things, but NOT this.

How can you defend someone who showed absolutely no fight, no resolve, and gave up as soon as she made her first mistake? My. God.

ITA. Hersch needs to pick his battles better b/c defending Alissa by saying this is the USFS's fault is nothing but a 100% cop out that fully takes responsibility off of Alissa and that is just wrong. Alissa had nothing to gain by going to 4CC after the way she performed at nationals; she didn't earn that silver medal and she knows it BUT b/c she had the favor of the judges and would score better than most even with mistakes, she was gifted that silver and sent to worlds. The USFS did the right thing by investing in its future by giving Agnes (a young skater with massive potential) and Caroline (a re-emerging star who has proven herself in the past) a chance to earn some recognition.

Alissa is responsible for the way she skates. Mentally, she's been off all season long so I don't get where this "USFS has effed with her head and screwed her up" is coming from. His defense of her looks really cheap and childish and if I were Alissa I'd be embarrassed to have him "stand up" for me like that. I seriously doubt she'll say not going to 4CC is why she tanked at Challenge cup and here too...

Phil looks like a total and complete a$$ right now...
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Gold is out of reach for her I'm afraid. A bronze may not be TOTALLY out of the question if crazy things occur, but 4th-6th is most likely for her IMHO
I agree.
Gold is between Mao and Carolina.
A Bronze is between her, Kanako, and Alena. Kanako, Alena both have been good in the SP, but can falter in the LP. Their cushion isn't enough to keep Carolina down. Mao, if clean, will also over take them even without the 3A.
I'm surprised people think Ashley is that good. This judging panel will nitpick all of her jumps, which should have gotten -1 or -2 across the board at Nationals. Top 10 would be a good showing, and top 5 is miraculous at this event.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Phil Hersh is totally in Egypt. Alissa was held up in both the SP and FS at Nationals----that's how she got to go to Worlds. She has now had 5 bad skates in a row: GPF, Club sendoff, Nationals, Challenge Cup, Worlds. Nationals was the 3rd one in a row, yet USFS went right ahead and boosted her marks so she would go to Worlds again.

LAST year's Alissa was worthy of going to Worlds. THIS year's Alissa is a basket case. If she couldn't hold it together in the Netherlands where there was no pressure, then how could she possibly have been expected to do so in Nice? I was surprised that she even qualified for the FS.

I agree with the poster who said Flatt would have done better than Alissa did. Last year, with an injury, Flatt earned 57.12 in the SP (8th) and 97.39 in the FS (14th), and 12th overall. Alissa goes into the FS with 48.31 and 16th place.
 

Lucky Star

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 27, 2009
I'm not a big fan of Alena, but today she was on and her scores were well deserved. Jumps were huge and solid, spins and steps were solid too, and she is such a natural performer :)
I also really liked Murakami, she has very nice program and skated very well. And Ksenia too, her SP is beautiful and well choreographed, hope she will keep it for one more season.
Others didn't skate their best, Czisny's skate was a total disaster, but it's hardly a surprise, with that technique jumps will never be consistent and she was off almost whole season. Ashley could do better than that, but I don't think she has what it takes to be a World champion or even a solid medal contender. Caro didn't skate her best as well, but I think she will most likely win the title.
Mao needs a good technical coach the sooner the better. Her jumps are nowhere near the level they used to be. And I don't like her program.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
If this doesn't tell USFS to STOP basing the World team solely on Nationals, I don't know what will. They need to send to Worlds those who are skating well NOW, not those who skated well (or were held up!) TWO whole months ago. It seems to work well for gymnastics. Zhang has never gotten her due domestically; she historically scores better internationally. USFS needs to get a clue. Zhang's bronze at 4CC combined with Czisny's all out bomb at a no-pressure Challenge Cup should have been the cue to send Zhang to Worlds. Zhang is hitting a TRIPLE LOOP TRIPLE LOOP in the SHORT PROGRAM, for pete's sake!

It wouldn't have mattered this year. Even taking the Challenge Cup into consideration, Alissa had the 2nd best international results this year by a mile. Even with the errors she received outstanding PCS. Looking at Polina's PCS, which was a full 8 points lower than Alena's, makes me think Agnes would have gotten slammed in PCS as well, so the alternatives were not that much better. As someone else said, the problem is with US ladies and not just isolated to Alissa.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
My stomach hurts. This was such a distressing short program. From all of your commentary, even the ones who did well were marked down. I'm devastated for Alissa, but at least I hadn't pinned any hopes on her. I just wish she hadn't imploded so dramatically and thoroughly at what is almost certainly her last Worlds and probably even her last competition--because I can't imagine her even at Nationals next season.

But poor Mao! I feel terrible that she has managed to end up so low down, though I maintain hope that she'll skate a lights-out long program and make the podium. I will always hope for Mao, because she's so wonderful and unique.

Consolation: Elene seems to have done superbly except for the axel, Leonova must be feeling on top of the world, and Carolina seems to be in good shape. Did someone say that there's just about five points separating first and fifth place? Then I'm happy for Akiko as well.

My nerves are completely unraveled.
 

StellaCampo

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 19, 2011
Miki could have easily cruised to another World title. That girl is super consistent. ... Mao is hopeless. 3A is not going to happen, so go for a 2A + GOE. She could have gained at least 4 more points on the TES side. So stubborn, so stupid.

I totally agree. I have a feeling that the sort of 3As we see Mao does at competitions others can, and perhaps do, privately, when no one is watching. Mao used to be exceptional, competing with Yunas of this world. She has become just one of many. She is wasting her life with her obsession with 3A. She may have been a 3A jumper in her teens, but, now, judging from her physique, muscle power and her other jumps, it's clear she doesn't
have resources to do 3As. She is not a Midori Ito or a Martina Navratilova.
 

Becki

Medalist
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
I totally agree. I have a feeling that the sort of 3As we see Mao does at competitions others can, and perhaps do, privately, when no one is watching. Mao used to be exceptional, competing with Yunas of this world. She has become just one of many. She is wasting her life with her obsession with 3A. She may have been a 3A jumper in her teens, but, now, judging from her physique, muscle power and her other jumps, it's clear she doesn't
have resources to do 3As. She is not a Midori Ito or a Martina Navratilova.

I seriously hope she will just ditch her 3A....it's obviously not working for her, and she doesn't need it to win. Focus on a solid 3-3 instead.
 

Mao88

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 9, 2011
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used2sk8

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
It is not always a technique issue why the girls mess up. Mental toughness is hard, unless you have been there you cannot imagine it! All the girls have gotten there with decent technique. Every coach that has skaters at that level trys different approaches to bring out the best. It is easy to criticize when mistakes are made that it is their approach and suddenly when someone skates well pronounce their technique great. Ice is slippery, good luck to all the ladies in the long. It would be a wonderful competition to see everyones best!
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
Videos - Ladies Short Program

1. Alena LEONOVA (RUS)
2. Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN)
3. Carolina KOSTNER (ITA)
4. Mao ASADA (JPN)
5. Akiko SUZUKI (JPN)
6. Ksenia MAKAROVA (RUS)
7. Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO)
8. Ashley WAGNER (USA)
9. Kexin ZHANG (CHN)
10. Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE)
11. Valentina MARCHEI (ITA)
12. Jenna MCCORKELL (GBR)
13. Amelie LACOSTE (CAN)
14. Elena GLEBOVA (EST)
15. Yretha SILETE (FRA)
16. Alissa CZISNY (USA)
19. Polina KOROBEYNIKOVA (RUS)


Thanks for those. I stand by my opinion: Alena's jumps were great, her spins were decent, her energy was wonderful...but that is a terrible program. Literally element after element with virtually nothing in between.
 

3T3T

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 1, 2007
Country
Ireland
Found this is a bit of a flat competition to be honest, lots of small mistakes. Alena fully deserves her lead, I am not her biggest fan, but she sold her programme today. Was really hoping the Kostner would nail her performance, she still can win this. Why is Asada so obsessed with the 3A? It was no where near being round and it leave every thing else a bit flat. Disappointed for Suzuiki, she had the chance to have a clear lead but faltered on the Lutz, I really hope she gets a medal.

Makarova was my programme of the day, it was a lovely performance and now the stinker of a long to follow. Was looking forward to seeing Wagner but I didn't like the programme, I thought the music was to big for her. Really enjoyed Zhang, though she was marked a little hard. Dissapointed with Polina K's performance but at least she made it through the free and hopefully will perform better there. I think Clara Peters skated as best she can, she done very well to make it out of the prelimanary round.
 

Mirunna

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
I totally agree. I have a feeling that the sort of 3As we see Mao does at competitions others can, and perhaps do, privately, when no one is watching. Mao used to be exceptional, competing with Yunas of this world. She has become just one of many. She is wasting her life with her obsession with 3A. She may have been a 3A jumper in her teens, but, now, judging from her physique, muscle power and her other jumps, it's clear she doesn't
have resources to do 3As. She is not a Midori Ito or a Martina Navratilova.

She is not just one of many. Yes her technical days are behind her most likely but even if she won't be able to land a double jump she will always be a special skater, ethereal, beautiful, who skates her heart out.
 

FlattFan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Thanks for those. I stand by my opinion: Alena's jumps were great, her spins were decent, her energy was wonderful...but that is a terrible program. Literally element after element with virtually nothing in between.

Compare Alena's 3T3T with Kanako's 3T3T, Alena got higher score on her combo.
Look at the flow and the distance Kanako's combo had over Alena. It's a joke!
Her PCS should be way lower.

Alena's 3F should also get - GOE. There was a huge break before she did her flip. Mao got -GOE for her 3Loop.
 
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skatinginbc

Medalist
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Thanks for those. I stand by my opinion: Alena's jumps were great, her spins were decent, her energy was wonderful...but that is a terrible program. Literally element after element with virtually nothing in between.
The judges apparently saw a lot of things in between. A judge even gave her 8.50 for Transition.
 

hurrah

Medalist
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
The triple axel was her mother's favorite jump. Mao has been really close-mouthed about her loss, even cancelling a publication of her book because the publishing company made some reference to her mother's passing in the advertisement. It would likely have been a best-seller (tens of thousands of copies had already been pre-ordered when it was cancelled). Maybe doing the triple axel is something she wanted to do for her mother?
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
The triple axel was her mother's favorite jump. Mao has been really close-mouthed about her loss, even cancelling a publication of her book because the publishing company made some reference to her mother's passing in the advertisement. It would likely have been a best-seller (tens of thousands of copies had already been pre-ordered when it was cancelled). Maybe doing the triple axel is something she wanted to do for her mother?

Good thing her mother's favorite jump wasn't a quad.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
The judges apparently saw a lot of things in between. A judge even gave her 8.50 for Transition.

That's what I don't get.

She starts at the center of the rink, a few moves, comes around for the 3-3, comes back around for the 3f, and then right to the 2a, spin, shakes her hips and does lots of campy posing and footwork for the next minute, finishes footwork goes right to a spin and then a final spin and ends. There was no "skating" other than the first 30-35 seconds where she set up her jumps.

I appreciate her enthusiasm; I just don't like Alena's skating (too sloppy and unrefined). That program is garbage. Agree or disagree; obviously the judges disagreed...but that's my opinion.
 

Bluebonnet

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 18, 2010
Videos - Ladies Short Program

1. Alena LEONOVA (RUS)
2. Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN)
3. Carolina KOSTNER (ITA)
4. Mao ASADA (JPN)
5. Akiko SUZUKI (JPN)
6. Ksenia MAKAROVA (RUS)
7. Elene GEDEVANISHVILI (GEO)
8. Ashley WAGNER (USA)
9. Kexin ZHANG (CHN)
10. Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE)
11. Valentina MARCHEI (ITA)
12. Jenna MCCORKELL (GBR)
13. Amelie LACOSTE (CAN)
14. Elena GLEBOVA (EST)
15. Yretha SILETE (FRA)
16. Alissa CZISNY (USA)
19. Polina KOROBEYNIKOVA (RUS)

Wow! You beat me!:biggrin: Thanks for the list!
 
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