Bavarian Open 2014 Jan 29 to Feb 2

It is extremely frustrating to first see Joshi Helgesson beat her older sister at Europeans and now win this event after skating near clean in the FS. All the while Viktoria Helgesson had a very poor season so far. The wrong Helgesson sister is in Sochi.

Ovcharova did quite well here. I wonder why she didn't do any competitions before Euros in order to make it to Budapest.

It's interesting how 3flip is the only triple jump that Kim Bell is capable of doing. Not what you usually see.

Is their a live streaming, I would like to watch senior ice dancing soon. Thanks for any help, I have looked everywhere.

skateforme said:

Is their a live streaming, I would like to watch senior ice dancing soon. Thanks for any help, I have looked everywhere.

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Sadly there is none. TV stations dont support FS in Germany so that the guys at the events must rent streaming servers themselfs and this is unlikely to happen, as there are hardly any paying vsitors either in Germany.

Current standings Ice Dance Junior after two groups.

1. Polina & Eduard 99.94

In the straight line lift, she actually held him - great, you dont see that often. Twizzle he sadly came out of balance.

2. Christine & Simon 94.71

Loved their twizzle and pair piourettes - no major mistakes me thinks.

3. Ria & Valentin 91.75

Loved the last about 30 seconds, they had a wonderful speed there. Really a nice couple, tiny wobble she had at a step sequence. Great pair, really liked them!

Standings after four groups

1. Florence & Tim 113.04

They are leading after a nice performance - really nice elements in their program.

2. Rebeka & Kirill 111.42

Very talented pair, they make very difficult elements like in the twizzles or lift´s - sadly the execution is still sloppy, their straight line lift had to be aborted and she also was a second stuck at the begin in their opening pose.

3. Katerina & Mateji 105.43

I felt they were really enjoyable, a very elegant pair in my opinion. She could look a tiny bit more up, he is a lot more outgoing there. Still the elements come relatively unexpected at times, thats nice. They way she bends at the straight line lift is really incredible.


Last group in a few minutes.

Alexandra and Ivan have withdrawn sadly, so no Russian swipe today.

Final result after 5 groups:

1. Daria & Mikhail 134.74

He was late in the entry of the first twizzle, however - he recovered and the other two were fine. Loved their eye to eye contact during the program, very sensual and you felt the fire between them. Nice music with the haunting vocals too, I like that.

2. Eva & Igor 131.13

I really enjoyed those two. She looked so painfull, great expression! Loved their speed in the first about 2 minutes, lovely lifts with changing positions as well, too fast to capture a shot

There was a tiny error at the twizzle, but I am currently unsure why their technical is so low. Maybe a lift wrong times or a step sequence badly performed, or I just imagine things - but I felt they should go higher as I didnt see any other mistakes.

3. Olivia & Joseph 126.05

Their twizzle was just perfect in sync, yes not so fast as with russian pairs, but seriously that syncro none of the russians had today for all three twizzles. I liked their straight line lift where she puts her leg sky high! that lift then was followed by a curve lift, really liked that element!

4. Carolina & Adam 118.97

Wonderfull couple, she is so amazing in her way of acting on the ice. Always smiling and they choreographed their whole routine lovely. The elements were always spot on with the music, just a tiny error at the twizzle. Wonderfull.

Ice Dance Review Seniors FD


Full review FD Seniors

1. Justyna & Peter 141.46

As I said yesterday, I really like Peter for the type of guy he is. So friendly and funny, there are not many male skaters who can say this about themselves! Ossi and Peter, rock the mens world in Ice Dance!

They no doubt had the best technical performance today and I think that just like with Henna & Ossi - its a shame that so many people never see them skate, because they just care about the last group and we all know the Fin´s and the Polish, are usually not in that group at big events.

To also give you a few details about their elements, well we all know that they do wonderfull lift´s and their combination at the start based on a rotational and straight line lift is really great! I believe you can wake those two up at 3 AM and they would instantly performe it to near perfection. All except the choreo dance lift at the end, were marked with a level 4 - thats massive I think.

2. Shari & Christian 132.15

I was still so overwhelmed by Henna and Ossi, that I just couldnt focus that much here. However, what I remember is a fantastic curve lift at the end. Wonderful! I am sorry that I cant say more

3. Henna & Ossi 132.11

Wow that was again so beautiful! These two are just so great, my fav. pair of all - they create those magikal moments which make Ice Dance so lovely. All the Russians, Canadian or US cant touch me like these two do. They bring everything to Ice Dance thats needed. Their harmony is amazing, they have beautiful choreographie´s, are lovely to look at and also are very friendly! How often did I see their SD and FD this season live at the rink? Many times and still I have tears in my eyes during their beautiful programs!

I checked the scores and there are actually judges who give a 6 in interpretation or even a 5 in choreo... how is that possible? Its at least a 7 if not an 8 if you ask me

From the first second, until the last those two were telling us a story and not just any story, but one you will never forget! Show me other pairs in Ice Dance who can do that? There are not many!

While the technical scores are understandable, the PC´s is where Henna & Ossi really shine and I think that some of the judges did not recognize this enough.

If we look at those last lift´s, when Henna is "flying" during the straight line (best straight line of the season for me) or when she sits in Ossi´s arms earlier, this is so wonderful and these are just two of many magikal moments in their FD. I saw so many FD´s in my life, but I dont think there was ever such an emotional FD like theirs this season. And its not only about this season, every season they perform wonderful programs. It just all works together, Henna is awesome, Ossi is awesome, the music choosen is, their outfits, the elements - its just perfect!

They deserve more points in my opinion, still its a great third place and as I said yesterday - they were in great shape here at Oberstdorf and I am already totally excited about next season, because I know they will have one of those wonderful skates for us again.

Henna & Ossi won many heart´s here at Oberstdorf. Many people wanted pictures, were clapping and those I spoke to, really enjoyed the finnish couple. Henna and Ossi can be really proud of themselves, they Ice Dance for the heart and this will always be remembered by those who have one May they dance for us many more years!

4 Gabriela KUBOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 131.63 4 2

I believe there was a small issue at their combination spin, looking at the scores, it seems like I was right. Besides that, I did not notice any errors or major balance issues at other elements. Gabriel & Matej had huge lifts in their routine - three level four, especially the rotational at the first minute was really wicked.

5 Valeria ZENKOVA / Valeriy SINITSIN RUS 127.71 5 5

Valeria´s face expression in the first minute, was so scary! She looked like she wanted to kill, wanted to murder someone. WOW! Thats what we need at Ice Dance to get people into the ice arena or at least their TV. Skaters, Dancers who have something to remember. As you know I care more about such things than many of you, but to me its just what makes the difference in sports that is based on a so called B-note.

Their program in general, well I saw a minor issue in the twizzle, besides that no real errors noticable at least for me. Checking the scores I see 4 level 4 lift´s and yes, that pair spin was really great and also received a 4.

You know, whenever you see a Russian pair in Ice Dance, you think they win. They must win. But I am honest with you, their program was more enjoayble than for instance Elena´s and Nikita´s this season. I know I will get a lot of hate now, but I cant change my feelings and I am no Hater of Elena & Nikita either, but the fire and the smile just left their eyes in my opinion.

6 Ramona ELSENER / Florian ROOST SUI 121.71 9 6

I did not notice any errors, what I noticed however is that she even smiles in that tango, while he looked so in pain. Ramona is too nice for such deadly programs *laughs*.
Their step sequences might be their "weaker" part, they only got a two there. However, their lifts especially that one rotational with her leg on his shoulder, this is wow! Their trademark in my opinion.

7 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Neil BROWN CZE 120.08 6 8

She is such a lovely person. Wonderful how much fire she has in her eyes at every skate they do. They do a lift, where Lucie is almost on the ice - I love that one a lot. Sadly she had a tiny balance issue at their twizzle, which only one judge saw - funny!

8 Olesia KARMI / Max LINDHOLM FIN 118.10 11 7

I said it before and I say it once more. Those two are so underscored every time they skate. I dont understand why! These two really rock, they can do slow and emotional, or hard and wild! I did not notice any mistakes today and will just say what I said someone earlier.
They were so beautiful, that words wont be able to describe it.

9 Cecilia TÖRN / Jussiville PARTANEN FIN 114.13 12 9

This finnish Ice Dance couple and also those were something for my heart. While there was a tiny error at the twizzles, they do woderfull lifts (four times level 4) and have a very nice expression in their face´s. I like the finish way of skating as you all know, but really check them out, all three of them. Every second is worth it and you wont regret it. Live however, it is 1 million times more intense - I promise!

10 Yura MIN / Timothy KOLETO KOR 110.21 10 10

I love how he presents Yura, she is sky high in the lifts - looks amazing. I really like her expression, that is not that usual for Asian women, but she got the skills I think. Sadly he let her down a few times like at the Twizzle and some lines like the diagonal step seq where he struggled with the balance.

Thanks for the info, Alex D!

I hope Rebeka/Kirill have better skates at Junior Worlds.

+Why did S/B withdraw from this competition?

Finnstep said:

Thanks for the info, Alex D!

I hope Rebeka/Kirill would have better skates at Junior Worlds.

+Why did S/B withdraw from this competition?

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I sadly cant answer you that question about their withdrawn

Does anyone know why Stanislav Samohin did not do long program? I hope he is well....

Alex D said:

Senior Pairs FS

Julia ANTIPOVA / Nodari MAISURADZE 113.95 - 178.09
Great Choreo, loved the speed in the DS - sadly he fell at the side by side spin. Always crazy however, how high he throws Julia and it was a triple Lutz! Wicked I think. Julia had her hands on the ice at the double Sal - double Toe side by side jump What I liked was how they came back together after the no touch sequence - fit great with the music there. Their lifts were really nice, like the step lasso or hand to hip at the end.

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Double Sal-Double Toe? That's not going to be enough for a Russian pair! Next season, when 5 juniors pairs will move to seniors, Antipova-Maisuradze will be lucky if they got international competition, if they are going to be doing only double Sal-double toe! What's the point being able to do quad twist, if she can't land triple jumps? (yes, I know she can, or at least could a year ago, but she is struggling with them this season). They did doubles even at their GP event. It seems that poor Nodari swapped one girl that couldn't jump for another girl that can't jump!

I finished the review of the FD for the Seniors, I wrote a lot - if the wall of text doesnt scare you check it out. My tip for all of you, watch Henna and Ossi live, if you can go to the ice rink and watch them. For me the most emotional FD skate this season and I saw it many times believe me

Besides that, they are just charming off ice and yes - my soft spot in the Ice Dance, cant help it I have tears in my eyes just thinking about their program.


@ Hanca,

Well, to their defence and the defence of all skaters especially the senior Ladies I must say that we had like no crowd (it was 8 AM, make it 9 AM) I was the only crowd so to speak *laughs*. Well it wasnt totally like that, but we also had the skaters watching that were done already, so we might had 10 or 20 people watching. Its... I think the motivation to do good can be low at some skaters because of that, but as you said she struggles since a while, so thats most likely not a valid excuse and it shouldnt of course. However, Russia has many good skaters - be it pairs or Ladies, you could be right and most likely are, that a double - double isnt enough.

Robin26 said:

Does anyone know why Stanislav Samohin did not do long program? I hope he is well....

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I am not aware of the circumstances there either I am sorry!

Alex D said:

@ Hanca,

Well, to their defence and the defence of all skaters especially the senior Ladies I must say that we had like no crowd (it was 8 AM, make it 9 AM) I was the only crowd so to speak *laughs*. Well it wasnt totally like that, but we also had the skaters watching that were done already, so we might had 10 or 20 people watching. Its... I think the motivation to do good can be low at some skaters because of that. However, Russia has many good skaters - be it pairs or Ladies, you could be right and most likely are, that a double - double isnt enough.

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Alex, Russia has far too many senior pairs. The five current junior pairs (who all got into JGPF) are going to move up from next season because they are aging out from juniors. I would love to see A/M getting to the Europeans/Worlds, and getting two assignments at the GP, but for them to get through even within Russia (to earn the spot at Europeans/worlds etc), they will have to do triples. If they wanted to skate for the UK, they will be fine with doubles, but they are skating for Russia. Even if Kavaguti/Smirnov and Volosozhar/Trankov retired next season (which is not so certain), there is still Bazarova/Larionov and Stolbova/Klimov left. So Antipova/Maisuradze would be fighting for the third spot with teams like Vygalova/Zakroev (who this year are still juniors but managed to beat A/M at the Russian senior nationals), Tarasova/Morozov (who beat A/M in the SP at the senior nationals and have triple Salchow and triple Toe loop). I like now A/M more than a year ago; Antipova has made a huge improvement in presentation, she is projecting more, does not look so frequently down on the ice, they have the wow factor with the quad twist, but for them to get through to some major assignment (Europeans/Worlds), they should establish themselves as the strong pair number three. Otherwise there will be regularly fight for the last spot.

hanca said:

Alex, Russia has far too many senior pairs. The five current junior pairs (who all got into JGPF) are going to move up from next season because they are aging out from juniors. I would love to see A/M getting to the Europeans/Worlds, and getting two assignments at the GP, but for them to get through even within Russia (to earn the spot at Europeans/worlds etc), they will have to do triples. If they wanted to skate for the UK, they will be fine with doubles, but they are skating for Russia. Even if Kavaguti/Smirnov and Volosozhar/Trankov retired next season (which is not so certain), there is still Bazarova/Larionov and Stolbova/Klimov left. So Antipova/Maisuradze would be fighting for the third spot with teams like Vygalova/Zakroev (who this year are still juniors but managed to beat A/M at the Russian senior nationals), Tarasova/Morozov (who beat A/M in the SP at the senior nationals and have triple Salchow and triple Toe loop). I like now A/M more than a year ago; Antipova has made a huge improvement in presentation, she is projecting more, does not look so frequently down on the ice, they have the wow factor with the quad twist, but for them to get through to some major assignment (Europeans/Worlds), they should establish themselves as the strong pair number three. Otherwise there will be regularly fight for the last spot.

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Yes, sadly this is all true! Its as you say, a luxury problem.

It would be awesome if you could keep us here updated about A/M´s progress and if they maybe manage the triple´s. Thank you!

I wonder what happened to Kim/Minov. They've been quite solid competitors to date and here they made big mistakes in both programs.

And I agree with you Alex. I think that Lindholm/Kanervo's FD is really special. They capture the character of the music brilliantly with their movements and their basics have definitely improved since last season. I hope Margaglio doesn't 'defect' to the US after this season. He's done a great work developing the Finnish Ice Dance program.

Alex D said:

Yes, sadly this is all true! Its as you say, a luxury problem.

It would be awesome if you could keep us here updated about A/M´s progress and if they maybe manage the triple´s. Thank you!

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They can do triples 'in theory'. Maisuradze was doing them when skating with Iliushetchkina and very rarely made a mistake on them. I saw some video of Antipova from about 2-3 years ago, when she was still a single skater and she was doing 3T-3T, so she must have had triples before. But from some reason, this last season they were doing side-by-side doubles. It may be that she grew and triples are not stable at this moment, so they decided to go for a clean program with doubles, or she is going through puberty...or one of them may be injured... We will see next season, maybe their triples will be back on. But as it was this season, doing doubles is just not good enough. After the last season (4th in senior nationals) I expected a bit better from them, and they finished again 'only' fourth. Don't get me wrong, fourth is not bad in a country with so much talent and competition as in Russia, but fourth will not earn them a spot at Europeans/Worlds.

Plutowska/Gerber's ascent this season confirms Shpilband's coaching genius. It's only their second season together and they've only competed in Juniors before, without any big or even moderate success. They've improved massively under his tutelage.

Yes. Igor has shown he can make a new, moderately talented team top 10 at Worlds (C&B), make C&L European champions, and get Plutowska&Gerber to Olympics. Clearly, he's good with all levels of dancers.

Alex D said:

Junior Ladies II

1 Maria-Katharina HERCEG GER 139.77 1 1

What can I say, this one is awesome! She got everything, the looks, the attitude, the personality and a great designer! I absolutely loved her dress, I believe she was the only Lady tonight that went for pants and she rocked those!



TBC

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Oh my god, i almost thought you meant she was wearing a dress with pants because that would be just awful. :disapp:

dorispulaski said:

Yes. Igor has shown he can make a new, moderately talented team top 10 at Worlds (C&B), make C&L European champions, and get Plutowska&Gerber to Olympics. Clearly, he's good with all levels of dancers.

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Yes to everything else but sadly P/G were the 2nd alternates for the Olympics. They gave an interview where they said 'they'd rather not comment on the judging at Nebelhorn Trophy' and made some other statements to the effect of 'politics & you need to wait your turn for the judges to recognise you.'

I understand they can feel frustrated but all things considered (them being a new team, Polish Fed having pretty much no 'political power'), I think they've been doing really well this season and are definitely on the right track. I hope they stick with it and challenge for a top 10 placement in 2018.

BTW, Cieplucha was also very unlucky, being first alternate. First Olympics with no Polish skaters in over 20 years.

Alex, so nice to hear your comments about Henna and Ossi! I like this Finnish team a lot, they are the most promising couple of the 3 teams we have. They have improved a great deal from last season and I hope they continue on the same track upwards! Thanks also for all the updates from Bavarian, really appreciate it!!! Maybe you should consider a career as sports commentator