2014 JGP Ljubljana Cup Junior Ladies SP

Sam-Skwantch · Aug 28, 2014

I think Serafima's score was a bit high considering I think she can do that program even better. But in relation to the field....an 8 pt lead is about right. She is more on par with the senior skaters than most Junior skaters and especially the field at hand.

A lot of hype has been made about USA vs Russia in the future for ladies skating. I'm starting to wonder if it will be Russia vs. Japan. The Japanese juniors are very impressive and to me...much more so than the Americans.

sunnystars · Aug 28, 2014

Sam-Skwantch said:
I think Serafima's score was a bit high considering I think she can do that program even better. But in relation to the field....an 8 pt lead is about right. She is more on par with the senior skaters than most Junior skaters and especially the field at hand.

A lot of hype has been made about USA vs Russia in the future for ladies skating. I'm starting to wonder if it will be Russia vs. Japan. The Japanese juniors are very impressive and to me...much more so than the Americans.

US skaters are mostly hyped (deserved or not) whereas the Japanese skaters are treated as confidential matter. :laugh:

I really haven't found any info about these amazing youngster other than from the posts around here and maybe from their poorly translated japanese profiles

YLFan · Aug 28, 2014

The current SR and JR girls from US and Japan I see as not much of a threat. But the Japan novice group shows promise.

malo42 · Aug 28, 2014

I've followed Yuka Nagai's results for a couple of seasons and when she has a good skate she's really good but she's also had a lot of bad skates. I wish her luck in the FS. Hopefully she can finally put two good skates together! I do find it funny though that someone in the thread earlier called her older when she's still only 15 :laugh:

andyjo24 · Aug 28, 2014

[email protected] said:
Then the second girl should have received 53 rather than 58 because her skate was light years behind Serafima's.

I am impressed by Serafima's tanos, but then the height and the flow of her jumps are just not too great. I don't know about you guys, but I completely prefer high and flowing jumps to low jumps with tanos.

andyjo24 · Aug 28, 2014

malo42 said:
I've followed Yuka Nagai's results for a couple of seasons and when she has a good skate she's really good but she's also had a lot of bad skates. I wish her luck in the FS. Hopefully she can finally put two good skates together! I do find it funny though that someone in the thread earlier called her older when she's still only 15

Nagai was great! And she's like one of the very few Japanese skaters who can do a true lutz.

hippomoomin · Aug 28, 2014

First time to watch Yuka and I like her lines much better than other Japanese youngsters.
And I don't understand why Serafima received such a huge score. I even prefer her SP last season better, in which she showed stronger skating skills in my opinion. In this program, I somehow feel she is imitating Julia's style, but miles behind Julia, except her speed. Her jumps have awkward set-up, and She lacks the flexibility to do some spins. Maybe judges just like her more mature look. Basically she received much more inflation even than Jualia last year. Why????

yyyskate · Aug 28, 2014

I feel the same, last season, Serafima is my favorite Russian Baby right after Radionova, and her last season's SP choreo is just absolutely stunning, She showed superb skilling skills, posture and lines. and this new SP, I felt like a generic JuliaLip program (but I would not say she is miles behind JuliaLip, I think Serafima showed better musicality). if Serafima can fix her jump consistency after moving to JuliaLip camp, that would be wonderful, but I hope she will NOT lose her unique quality that distinguish herself... For now, between the 2 Russian Babies competed at JGP, I prefer Medvedeva.

Meoima · Aug 28, 2014

yyyskate said:
I feel the same, last season, Serafima is my favorite Russian Baby right after Radionova, and her last season's SP choreo is just absolutely stunning, She showed superb skilling skills, posture and lines. and this new SP, I felt like a generic JuliaLip program (but I would not say she is miles behind JuliaLip, I think Serafima showed better musicality). if Serafima can fix her jump consistency after moving to JuliaLip camp, that would be wonderful, but I hope she will NOT lose her unique quality that distinguish herself... For now, between the 2 Russian Babies competed at JGP, I prefer Medvedeva.

I have the same feeling.

burntBREAD · Aug 29, 2014

andyjo24 said:
Nagai was great! And she's like one of the very few Japanese skaters who can do a true lutz.

A lot of the Japanese junior girls we've seen so far this season (Higuchi, Honda, Aoki, Nitaya, Nagai -- I'm sure that I have forgotten a few) have true lutzes. So it's definitely improving!

NMURA · Aug 29, 2014

For Nagai, this is her third season on the JGP circuit. Repeating another bad performance would mean the last (ISU) international competition for her. Domestic competitions will be much harder in next season. Her FS are usullay messes but not always. This is the only really good FS in past two years. I hope something close to this. (actually I guess this is the main reason that she was selected for JGP despite overall poor results)

Tokyo regional qualifying competition for inter junior highshool championships (December 2013)
http://www.jsfresults.com/local/2013-2014/fs/13/02/data1505.pdf
1st Nagai, 2nd Higuchi

zamboni step · Aug 29, 2014

Anyone claiming Serafima's SS weren't strong in this program need to look at it again, she has very few crossovers in the program and generates most of her speed through edging alone. I also don't get how her jumps could possibly be considered small, they have very good pop to them. I do question her lutz not receiving a ! call though...

Li'Kitsu · Aug 29, 2014

The height of the jumps is good, but that actually makes the landings even more confusing too me. But the flow is really lacking due to the landings.

Her SS are very strong, but I'd have to agree the previous SP showed them off better. Of course it's still there, but the overall SP somehow doesn't look very smooth to me.

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but I enjoyed Evgenia a lot more last week, and even think she should have beat Serafima in a head-to-head given their respective SPs. Considering how I thought about them last season, this feels really awkward.

gotoschool · Aug 29, 2014

Li'Kitsu said:
The height of the jumps is good, but that actually makes the landings even more confusing too me. But the flow is really lacking due to the landings.

Her SS are very strong, but I'd have to agree the previous SP showed them off better. Of course it's still there, but the overall SP somehow doesn't look very smooth to me.

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but I enjoyed Evgenia a lot more last week, and even think she should have beat Serafima in a head-to-head given their respective SPs. Considering how I thought about them last season, this feels really awkward.

I also preferred Evgenia to Serafima. I thought Evgenia had more flexible spins, especially the Biellmann, and gave a more genuine interpretation of the music. I also liked her tanos better. Evgenia just looks more unique to me and draws my attention more because I think she is soulful skater with balletic grace and whimsical charm. I did like Serafima's flying camel spin, though. Serafima also skated a little faster and did more jumps later in the program, but I don't think she should have scored that high in tech especially. Balance it all out and I would give to Evgenia on interpretation and emotional resonance. I was amazed at how many more likes than dislikes Evgenia got on her SP and LP last week on youtube. She has almost no dislikes at all.

I really liked Yuka Nagai and thought she should have scored closer to Serafima. The height, flow and arm movements in and out of her jumps was impressive and she was quite elegant and emotional in her skating. Good lines as well. If she could improve the flexibility of her spins, she could go a long way. She beat her personal best by 11 points.

supsu · Aug 29, 2014

TMC said:
So many Finnish singles skaters struggle with nerves. I don't get it. They have the arsenal in practice but in competition....Do they have any sports psychology/mental visualisation training?

IIRC Sochi was the 1st time the FOC sent a sports psychologist/psychiarist to support the team. Just the one, for 103 athletes...

I have a soft spot for Jenni because her last name is also my maiden name No relation though, it's like the 12th most common surname in the country

It seems that it is a big big problem in every sport in Finland. Nerves i mean..

But does it seem that she's a bit curvier than last season? Maybe that's affecting her jumps.. Has she had all triples?
I have to say i hate the dress.... it looks like a swim suit to which her mom has added the skirt and some sparkle.. :no:

I wish her all the best, she seems to be Finland's only (almost) hope in the future. :think:

I liked the Japanese girl.

Also, did anyone notice how the Korean girl looked a bit like Yuna? Like body type wise and some lines..?

Figureskaterr · Aug 29, 2014

supsu said:
It seems that it is a big big problem in every sport in Finland. Nerves i mean..

But does it seem that she's a bit curvier than last season? Maybe that's affecting her jumps.. Has she had all triples?
I have to say i hate the dress.... it looks like a swim suit to which her mom has added the skirt and some sparkle.. :no:

I wish her all the best, she seems to be Finland's only (almost) hope in the future. :think:

I liked the Japanese girl.

Also, did anyone notice how the Korean girl looked a bit like Yuna? Like body type wise and some lines..?

The Korean girl skated very nicely but also imitating Yuna's skating style and moves a lot - which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all... She looks a bit like Yuna and they even share the same coach.

About Jenni, I thought the same as you, that her body has changed a bit. She can do all triples. I like the dress!

supsu · Aug 29, 2014

Figureskaterr said:
The Korean girl skated very nicely but also imitating Yuna's skating style and moves a lot - which isn't necessarily a bad thing at all... She looks a bit like Yuna and they even share the same coach.

About Jenni, I thought the same as you, that her body has changed a bit. She can do all triples. I like the dress!

Yes, i suppose it is a common thing in Korea to imitate her. And why not, Yuna looks flawless. :bow:

I like the color in Jenni's dress, i'm looking forward to seeing her long program dress. :laugh:

zamboni step · Aug 29, 2014

Li'Kitsu said:
The height of the jumps is good, but that actually makes the landings even more confusing too me. But the flow is really lacking due to the landings.

Her SS are very strong, but I'd have to agree the previous SP showed them off better. Of course it's still there, but the overall SP somehow doesn't look very smooth to me.

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but I enjoyed Evgenia a lot more last week, and even think she should have beat Serafima in a head-to-head given their respective SPs. Considering how I thought about them last season, this feels really awkward.

I actually think the only jump with an awkward landing was the flip, on the 3T her back was pretty much upright and on the 3Lz she only leans forward after landing the jump as a transition. I prefer this program, although maybe that's because the last one lacked any kind of spirit until the end, this one is slower but I feel the lower amount of crossovers and an increase in transitions make up for that.

I liked Evgenia a lot but I still wouldn't put her above Serafima, her edges are better but her speed still isn't as good as the other Juniors and her CH, TR and PE aren't as strong either. Her layback, flying camel and 2A are considerably better though so they would deserve to be quite close. I feel that the difference in scores is more Evgenia being underscored (receiving an e call instead of a !) rather then Serafima being overscored.

hippomoomin · Aug 29, 2014

Hwi Choi actually caught my eyes 2 seasons ago with her Lord of Dance program https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtXze5y7JSM even though she was falling all over. Looks she has grown a lot since then. I was thinking why not so many skaters skate to Irish music. If Jason could skate to it it would be wonderful.

BounceAround · Aug 30, 2014

I didn't follow this entire competition, but I surprisingly enjoyed Yuka Nagai's "East of Eden" program. I rolled my eyes when I saw what she was skating to, but I think in this case keeping the program simple and letting her speed and music do the work left a good impression. As to how I'd mark that, I don't know. I also liked the music cut for her free program. It was probably the best skating-edit of "Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso" I've heard.

I'm not sure how I feel about the step sequences these days. Most of the skaters seem to struggle with a majority of the footwork elements, and I think the caller needs to be more picky about what counts at the junior level in order to encourage good habits. There were a lot of weak forwards twizzles and a lot of oddly shaped loops. The seniors have the same problem, but the phrase "You can't raise a skater under one system and judge them under another" gives me pause in considering what the caller should do about it.

2014 JGP Ljubljana Cup Junior Ladies SP

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

sunnystars

#teamotherskaters

YLFan

Match Penalty

malo42

andyjo24

andyjo24

hippomoomin

yyyskate

Meoima

Match Penalty

burntBREAD

NMURA

zamboni step

Li'Kitsu

gotoschool

supsu

Figureskaterr

supsu

zamboni step

hippomoomin

BounceAround

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