Skate DownUnder 2013: Aug 20-22 [Sydney, NSW, Australia]

Must...go...to...sleep...and...not...bounce...all...night...with...excitement...

karne said:

Must...go...to...sleep...and...not...bounce...all...night...with...excitement...

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Am very relieved to see karne's avator says 'offline'. Should be deep in her sweet dream by now.

To karne, GF2445 and those who plan to go and watch Skate DownUnder 2013 this week:
Have a great time there! :yay: And we, all the rest of skating fans who can't go there this time unfortunately, are patiently waiting to hear from you guys for some report!
If it's your first time to watch a competition live, you are gonna love it, I assure you! :yes: There is nothing like watching competitions LIVE. Don't miss even 6min warm-ups. You will be amaged how fast these elite skaters can skate. You will be fascinated how effortlessly they can change directions on the ice, how complicatedly their feet can do steps, or just hearing the beautiful sound of their baldes. You will be just blown away by the distance and height of their jumps. And at the end of 6min warm-ups, you will come to respect all these skaters more, regardless you like them or not, or whom you root for the most, and get addicted with this sport more than ever, I assure you! Enjoy!

I won't be livetweeting, but I will be taking notes, which I will post here at the end of the day!

deedee1...I did get to sleep...eventually!

aussie_SKATES said:

Thanks for these. It looks like they have a Twitter account set up for the event as well. I wonder if that means there will be a play by play.

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karne said:

I won't be livetweeting, but I will be taking notes, which I will post here at the end of the day!

deedee1...I did get to sleep...eventually!

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Yes, @IceSkatingAus is tweeting live updates. :yes:

karne, have a great time. (Love deedee's send-off message for you.)

karne is going to run a nice hot bath and defrost, and then post her notes.

Okay. Now karne has had a nice soak, it's notes time.

I missed notes on the Novice ladies because I was too excited and forgot and also too busy keeping an eye on the Novice lady I know.

So!

Novice Men

1st James Thompson (AUS) - 2F, 2A+, CSSp, StSq, CCoSp nice, 2Lz+, 29.93

2nd James Min (AUS) - faaabulous, reminds me of Jason Brown. 2Lz-2T(tano), 2A< 2ft, CSSp (fall), StSq wonderful, 2F<, CCoSp GREAT! 29.76

3rd William Badaoui (AUS) - 2Lz-2T, 1A, CCoSp wobbly, 2F, CSSp, StSq nice, 24.58

4th Guiseppe Triulcio (AUS) - 2F(tano) stepout, 2A 2ft, CCoSp, StSq, 2Lz-2T, CSSp

Junior Men

1st Charlton Doherty (AUS) - 2A, CCoSp, 2Lz-2T, FSSp, StSq, 2Lo, very tidy, 37.48

2nd Michael Durham (NZL) - 2Lz-2T, 2A 2ft (overrotated lol), CCoSp wobbly 2nd foot, 2Lo, StSq, FSSp nice, CCSp wobbly 2nd foot, much improved, 26.09

Disclaimer: I know very little about Dance and not very much about pairs, so what comes next is more a collection of feelings and impressions than any real technical insight, haha!

Junior Dance

1st Rhiarna Lagoutaris/Thomas Masters (AUS) - "No Speak Americano", fun, showy, lots of energy, but very sloppy, not great connection, 27.38

2nd Matilda Friend/Patrick Adderley (AUS) - Boppy, fun, good connection, fanTAStic twizzles, but quite slow, almost hesitant, 26.46

Junior Pairs

1st Marin Ono/Hon Lam To (HKG) - split 2Twist, SBS 2A very nice, good rotational hand-to-hand lift, Th2T, PCoSp, StSq, forward death sprial very nice, great program, very polished, 36.36

2nd Eliza Smyth/Jordan Dodds (AUS) - split 2Twist, she crashed the landing, rotational hand-to-hand life nice (lol Jordan is such a twig how is he doing this), SBS 2Lo she stepped out, backwards death spiral gorgeous, Th2T, StSq, PCoSp, beautiful program, 30.60

Senior Pair

1st Paris Stephens/Matthew Dodds (AUS) - split 2Twist, SBS 2Lz she put a hand down, backwards death spiral YIKES SHE'S LOST IT but he hauls her back, Th1Lo (popped), hand to hand rotational lift good positions, PCoSp nice, StSq, 26.24 and karne now understands why the death spiral is called the death spiral and also has a new appreciation for Matthew Dodds' strength.

Junior Ladies

1st Kailai Craine (AUS) - 3S<-2T, 3Lo<, FSSp WITH AN AMAZING LOOP ENTRY HOWWWWW, StSq, CCoSp, 2A, LSp++!, girl brought it, 41.53

2nd Renee Hambly (AUS) - LADY GAGA! - 2A++ AMAZING!!!!!, 2Lz-turn-2T, LSp just ok, 2Lo, FSSp, CCoSp, StSq, great animation, incredible jumps (lots of power), 35.84

3rd Taylor Dean (AUS) - Once Upon a December, very pretty dress! - 2A<<, FSSp, LSp+, StSq, 2Lz-2T, 2Lo, CCoSp+, lovely program, 34.98

4th Yancey Chan (AUS) - 1A (oops), StSq, 2Lz-2T, CCoSp+, Rippon 2Lo (could have been 3Lo, not sure)+, LSp+, fantastic, 33.00

5th Tiffany Lau (HKG) - FSSp, 1A, LSp nice, StSq, 2Lo+, 2F-1T oops, CCoSp, very polished, lovely, 32.98

6th Marin Ono (HKG) - 2Lo<, 3S<<, FSSp, StSq, CCoSp, 2A<, LSp+, very nice, a bit lacking in power, 32.75

7th Kristen Secola (AUS) - 2A<, 2F-1T, FSSp, 2Lo+, LSp++, StSq, CCoSp+, great spins, 32.07

8th Madelaine Parker (NZL) - 2A fall, FSSp+, 2Lz< fall, 2Lo+, CCoSp erk not so great, StSq, LSp travelling, please don't cry you weren't that bad, 30.14

9th Tracey Danbrook (NZL) - 2Lz-2T<<, LSp+, Axel fall er idk what happened there but she's wiped out, FSSp wobbly, StSq with stumble, uhoh, fullstop, what's happened here? Music's stuffing up. Continue - 2Lo lovely, CCoSp, please don't cry, 28.10

10th Sarah MacGibbon (NZL) - 2Lo, 2F<-turn-2T<, 2A<<, CCoSp very wobbly in Y position, StSq, FSSp, LSp started nice then overbalanced, good fight, 26.31

11th Kirsten Hargreaves (AUS) - 2F< fall, LSp slow, 1A, FSSp, StSq, 2Lo nice, CCoSp, 26.18

12th Tahli Gill (AUS) - CCoSp very nice, 2Lo(tano), StSq, 2A stepout, LSp yuck, 2Lz-2T< fall, another spin I missed, this dress is not good. 25.93

13th Joanna So (HKG) - 3S<-2T<, random fall, 1A<<, FSSp touched down, 2Lo+, StSq, LSp++, CCoSp+, gorgeous spins, shame about the jumps, 25.82

14th Yi Ching NG (SIN) - 2Lz<<, LSp+, 2A<<, CCoSp, StSq, 2Lo (tano), FSSp, good fight, kept fighting for it, 23.82

15th Serena Xu (AUS) - 2A< fall, CCoSp, 2Lz< fall, FSSp+, StSq, 2Lo turn out, LSp all over the place, nice in places, 23.24

Okay. So that's today's competition.

karne said:

Junior Ladies

1st Kailai Craine (AUS) - 3S<-2T, 3Lo<, FSSp WITH AN AMAZING LOOP ENTRY HOWWWWW, StSq, CCoSp, 2A, LSp++!, girl brought it, 41.53

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Protocols say 3S<<+2T< instead of 3S<-2T, see http://isa.org.au/Results/SDU2013/SDU2013_JuniorLadies_SP_Scores.pdf

http://isa.org.au/Results/SDU2013/index.htm
Live (really live) results and protocols.

AlexRus said:

Protocols say 3S<<+2T< instead of 3S<-2T, see http://isa.org.au/Results/SDU2013/SDU2013_JuniorLadies_SP_Scores.pdf

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Thanks, I gave her the benefit of the doubt, but obviously the replay showed otherwise.

These are just notes I made observing, they're not hard-and-fast results.

I saw a quad! I saw a quad! My very first ever live quad!!!!!!!!!!

Once again I didn't get any notes for the Novice Ladies - I was juggling a bit and didn't get much down. Sorry Novice Ladies. The top four were all simply gorgeous. (My favourite was Dilli Kenyon.) Paris Stephens forgot her program partway through which was embarrassing for everyone.

I also didn't get any notes down for the Novice Men, but James Min was simply fabulous. He really reminds me of Jason Brown. Same showmanship, charisma, lovely lines and stretch.

Junior Men:

1st Charlton Doherty (AUS) - 2A-2T, 2Lo, 2Lz, CCoSp, 2F, 2Lo, 2Lz-2T-2T (FAB!), FCSSp, StSq, 2A (2ft), 2Lz-2T, CCoSp, very tidy, very nice.

2nd Michael Durham (NZL) - "In the Mood" - 2Lz-2T, 2A-2T very big, 2Lo, CSSp, 2Lz-2T, 2A fall, FSSp, StSq, 2F, 2Lz hand, 2Lo, great improvement, brilliant.

Junior Pairs

1st Marin Ono/Hon Lam To (HKG) - Split 2Twist, SBS 2A-2T, hand to hand rotational lift verrrrrry nice, Th2S step, SBS CCoSp, SBS 2F, hand to waist rotational lift she's off balance oh she falls but it's controlled, PCCoSp, BO death spiral very cool, very low, great program, good pair, very clean and lovely to watch.

2nd Eliza Smyth/Jordan Dodds (AUS) - Split 1Twist, SBS 2T, hand to hand rotational lift, she crashes on the landing, SBS CCoSp GORGEOUS, BO death spiral, he tries to pull her up but she falls, very nice spirals, goes to lift her in spiral position and eeek they almost go a sixer, Th2T fall, hand to waist rotational lift nice, SBS 2F, StSq, Th2Lz, PCCoSp lovely, a nice looking pair and he's a very nice skater but...

Senior Pair

1st Paris Stephens/Matthew Dodds (AUS) - Split 2Twist SBS 2Lz-2T (she did 1Lz-1T), Th2Lo (2ft), hand to hand rotational lift nice, SBS CCoSp, FO death spiral, SBS 1Lo (they both popped it), hand to hand rotational lift nice, Th2Lz (2ft), hand to waist rotational lift nice, PCCoSp very pretty, she's having an awful day poor thing, Matthew is comforting her as they go off, nice in place but just not quite there yet.

Jr Free Dance

1st Rhiarna Lagoutaris/Thomas Masters (AUS) - Twizzles okay, nice lift, cool steps, PCCoSp good, clever lift, rotational lift very good looking, and a cute lift to end. (Told you I didn't know enough about Ice Dance.) Very nice in places but need to work on execution IMO.

2nd Matilda Friend/Patrick Adderley (AUS) - Twizzles very nice, gorgeous Titanic-style lift, steps, spin very nice, steps, great rotational lift! A lot of promise in this couple.

Senior Dance Short Dance

At this point the TV cameras arrived and more and more people started to come in...

1st Danielle O'Brien/Gregory Merriman (AUS) - AND THE ROOF BLOWS OFF THE RINK! - Finnstep not bad, twizzles super, great steps, gorgeous rotational lift, vastly superior second half of the program and just exuding fun positive energy. Aww, they're hugging the flower girls who are then running off shrieking that they got hugs from them!

2nd Romana Elsener/Florian Roost (SWI) - Finnstep gorgeous, twizzles very nice, steps okay, rotational lift quite nice, superior pattern but fell away a little in the second half. Gorgeous costumes, she in a really ballroomy pink dress and him in a tux.

3rd Ayesha Campbell/Shane Speden (NZL) - Finnstep not bad, twizzles nice, steps good, rotational lift gorgeous I love this one. Hugely improved from the last time I saw them in June.

4th Katherin Firkin/Henri Dupont (AUS) - he's got his head shaved. I don't like it. Also, dull yellow. Bad. - lift to start, Finnstep messy, twizzles not bad, him very stumbly and nervous. Beetlejuice.

Senior Ladies - see below post.

Senior Men (okay by now I was super excited!)

1st Brendan Kerry (AUS) - 4T-3T (AND THE AUDIENCE RAISES THE ROOF), 3A just wonderful!, CCSp gorgeous line, 3Lo effortless, StSq oh no he's fallen on the second rocker, FSSp, CCoSp, FANTASTIC! Great program and if half the audience wasn't standing already everyone would have jumped to their feet!

2nd David Kranjec (AUS) - pretty onesie, reminds me a little of an Adam Rippon/Artur Gachinski hybrid - 2A, 3T-3T (possibly < on second jump), CCSp gorgeous stretch, 3Lo, CCoSp, StSq and this is just beautiful... goes for the flying entry to sit spin and oh no! he's wiped out! Gets up and steps forward into SSp, lovely skater, very elegant.

3rd Mark Webster (AUS) - 3A (and that end of the rink explodes! He looks very pleased with himself), 3T-2T, CSp very nice, 3F, FCSSp, CCoSp GREAT, great program, lots of vigour and verve, he wants it!

4th Julian Yee (MAS) - 2A, 3S-2T, FSSp, StSq, CCSp, 3F, CCoSp, very nice, very tidy and clean, draws the eye, good lines and extensions.

5th Maverick Eguia (HKG) - Skyfall, take a drink! - 2A, 3Lz-2T, FCSp, StSq, CUSp very nice, second guesses himself, flinches, turns once more 2F I don't think he meant to do that, CCoSp, very good skate by a nice little skater.

6th Jordan Dodds - Interview with a Vampire in an absolutely gorgeous dark maroon velvet. Gachinski cut of music - 3F< fall, 3T-2T, CCSp yikes he's lost it nope he saved it, FSSp, StSq, 2A, CCoSp, gorgeous elegant skater, effortless jumps.

7th Andrew Dodds - Pagilacci (sp?) in a strange clown shirt - 2A GORGEOUS, 3F fall, CSSp, 3Lz< fall, FCSp great lines, StSq fall, OMG SPREADEAGLE CAN HE HAVE POINTS FOR THAT, CCoSp fantastic positions, very nice skater, great extensions and body position, spreadeagles inside and out to die for.

8th Harry Lee (HKG) - he's covered in sparkly spiderwebs, why? - 3F< fall, 3S-2T, StSq, CCoSp nice, 1A oops, FCSp, CSSp nice, very tidy skater, promising, but why cobwebs?

9th Kwun Hung Leung (HKG) - 1A, 2T-3T<< fall, CCSp good, FSSp, 2S<< fall, StSq, CCoSp not bad, a lot of potential, moves very nicely, good carriage.

ADDITIONAL:

It may well be that Brendan didn't actually do the quad. My original notes say 3Lz-3T but the guy next to me convinced me that it was a 4T and my eyes just weren't used to the rotations. We'll have to wait for the protocols for that one. The other reason I thought it was 4T was because of the massive score.

Thank you so much, karne, for all your wonderful reports/updates on the competition! :yay::yay::yay:
Sounds you are having GREAT time!

Loving Chantelle! She was so great, I see lots of improvements over last season already! What was her score, must have been 40 something at least. Exciting to have an Australian lady with that kind of ability that actually trains in Australia (no offense to Brooklee, of course).

silverlake22 said:

Loving Chantelle! She was so great, I see lots of improvements over last season already! What was her score, must have been 40 something at least. Exciting to have an Australian lady with that kind of ability that actually trains in Australia (no offense to Brooklee, of course).

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Yes, good for Chantelle.
I don't remember her total score, but remember that TES is more than 28 (28.6 or so). (UPD - 28.94)

What happened to Broklee Han? wasnt she suppose to compete here?

SaraM said:

What happened to Broklee Han? wasnt she suppose to compete here?

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She and Stephanie Zhang both withdrew, which brings the Senior Ladies field to a disappointing total of four. I always thought that they should have just taken the Senior Ladies list from Nationals last year and asked everyone on it - that would have at least made it five now.

Ahh that sucks... thought kerry was lovely though, exited to ser her at jgp thanks for the videos

The videos have now been taken by request and there won't be any more. I was told I wasn't in trouble though it still felt like it.

Exhausted now after having been at the rink a lot longer than bargained for...thanks to an unexpected interruption. Will defrost and write notes.

karne said:

Exhausted now after having been at the rink a lot longer than bargained for...thanks to an unexpected interruption. Will defrost and write notes.

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I can only imagine! Some of my friends were also volunteering and they just looked utterly exhausted... the power outage this afternoon, and the extended delay it caused, did nothing to help. I hope you get some good rest tonight!

I have to say, I was really impressed by the quality of skating! Only got to see the ice dancing yesterday (Danielle and Gregory were really impressive, and I think that the fact they outscored Florian and Romana is a fairly new development, and testament to just how hard they've been working) - and I only got to see the men tonight, in part because of the power outage. I always try to pack too much into one evening and never allow space for delays due to things like power outages.

That said, I really enjoyed what I saw of this competition! With regards to the men, Julian Zhi Jie Yee was very impressive, especially considering he's from Malaysia, which is not a country with a history or a culture of figure skating- a Malaysian coming third, even in a small Senior B comp, is not something I expected to see, but it was quite special to watch. And Brendan Kerry was really very impressive- he landed his first triple flip right on the beat. There was a really nice, smooth quality to his skating. It's super early in the season, too! - I'm really rather excited because this was my first time attending any international skating competition.