2015-16 Grand Prix Final Ladies SP

[NaVi]

I checked Satoko's flip a few times in real time and slow-mo and 0.25 in slow-mo, it was at most a flat edge, probably with a '!', but DEFINITELY NOT an 'e'!

It is an outside edge... it kind of goes flat AFTER the toepick hits the ice as part of the rotation.

 

[koatcue]

Read several pages here, - well...So many sour grapes here. Yeah, keep believing that Evgenia isn't GREAT. For now, imo, she is one of the best 16-year-olds EVER. And she very well could turn out the best one ever She is that good. Her pcs are ok and could get even higher as the season goes.
And those who say that Yulia is done just wait. Her jumps are still there. There is nothing to mock.
And finally, those who think that Satoko should be in 2 after short, be real! Her jumps are URed and super small, her presence isn't that great either

 

[koatcue]

i really hope Mao beats this Medvedeva girl. Earn your keep girl. Overscored indeed. Good, but not 70+ material. Heck, if that's the case, I'd switch her marks with Polina Tsurskaya! Better SS, explosive jumps, not overselling it through flailing arms and over emotive expressions.

YEah, Zhenia should have been closer to minus jump Gracie or mrs UR Satoko, hmmm or ur and fall Mao? Bad-bad Zhenia!:dev2:

 

[koatcue]

In conclusion, all I have to say that it's good to be Russian these days. I know that our girls are good and will deliver

 

[gotoschool]

Watching the event I have to say Mao makes me realize how much I ve missed this kind of skating in ladies, she skates so free and with such honesty,from her music choices to costumes and choreo and interpretation, nothing is over the top,my fav program this year by far.
And that huge 3axel <3

I loved Mao's performance the most too. Her supreme skating skills and steps, the incredible triple axel and triple flip and loop. So beautiful, genuine and magnetic with charming finesse in the way she pulls you into the performance and builds to a powerful climax. But, I wish she would do the triple salchow instead of the triple lutz.

I also thought the double ur call on the triple flip and loop was far too harsh, and that two calls is bogus, especially given urs overlooked on other skaters and that Mao should have definitely scored significantly higher than anyone else on the step sequence.

 

[hurrah]

How on earth does Mao's 3-3 get an under-rotation call? Could someone please explain??

 

[OS]

Urghh totally missed the ladies due to Xmas parties. Got another one this evening so wont able to watch GPF live Oh well thank goodness for youtubing to catch up with the festivities...

The first thing I look at these days before watching the competition is the make up of judging panel. Heh... I know...how sad right! This one is at least fairer than last 2 world championships with 100% European judges even when both events took place in Asia. This one just got 4.5 ish out of 8 European judges (.5 ish being Israel...) LOL at all the Japanese sponsored boards/flags (over 80%?), is this really Spain? I won't comment on the score other than it was overall SOOooooo inflated (Evgenia's 9.5s PCS from Russian judge sticks out like a desperate plea for Xmas Rubles bonus balshoye spasiiba) ... anyway the following are just my initial impressions based on gut reaction.

Oh Ashley, totally owning her program, not holding back. I really enjoy this program and she sold it like some legendary absolutely fabulous character trampled/pushed/hip hip chin chined every single one of those baby ballerina skaters out of the way, those who typically hogs around European judges table eager for their PCS cookies. Ignoring her tech issues aside, it was a fab seasoned performance. I wondered if Ashley had she dialed down her performance attention down a bit, she might be able to focus more on the tech delivery ala Kostner, but sooo glad she didn't. I'd argue her PE and IE should be higher. She was totally in the moment, in tuned with the audience and felt the music as the best samba dancer requires to do, spirited, fun, being fab (jump issues aside, it was gutsy to tag the 3T in the 2nd half). She performed and interpreted the material better than I have seen her all season.


Elena, Je T'aime. Her 100% commitment always overwhelms my cynicism with her infectious enthusiasm. Evolved from last season, maturing still this season. How many inches did she grow? Baby girl has grown up into a soon to be elegant young lady - only if her sophistication (taste, nuanced subtlety and eloquence) can catches up, she will be an fab Russian diva. As for everything else, if juniors are faking it, she must be the best faker ever. She made me want to believe what she is selling.. That just maybe... Leonardo is the greatest actor/singer this sport has ever seen, there's such thing as a good honest judge, the possibility of a good looking straight man, diet pills that works, creams that will make people younger. Oh YES... I will buy it all! Sell it to me Elena! Well done!


Satoko. Microscopic hops. Pasted on expressions. Preppy studious type who over studies too hard and readily exploit exam system with arsenals of tricks/shortcuts (pre rotations). Never a spontaneous moment when I watch her, not what River dance should feel like. Sorry, but I just can't... Move on. The audience are clearly better sport than me, cheering her on with all those Japanese flags.


Mao... the reason for all those Japan sponsors, flags, how ISU is still in the black. Surprised at her placement to be honest and how far she is from Evegenia, especially usually after a great 3A, the rest of her performance will usually go great, so will her score! The 1lz obviously hurt her (surprise she still insist on going for the 3flutz, stubborn, and too honourable to abandon it?) Typical Mao program though, guarded jump drill to start with, then emote comes in at fab step sequence, then 1lz, oops better be a bit cautious, then spin segment finish on a high.. AND not integrated cohesively as a whole as it should. I am not a fan of this music, find it a bit juniorish choice, but it is nice to see her trying something outside her comfort zone and if it bring her joy... why not! It will be interesting to see how the rising of Hanyu may affect her status within JSF and ISU. 69 for this?! (Yuna had 69 for KoVat WC13 urgh.. sorry... I just can't fathom...) Looking at Evgenia 74.58 score, I wonder what would be the monster score if Mao had landed on everything. Well the judges sure tried....


Evgenia. This year's Julia, 16yrs prodigy with one of the best cliched generic ladies packages around. Her program is very clever at disguising 2nd half heavy tech content. This is truly one of the most COP optimised ladies program I have ever seen, and thus it justifies the TES score. The program does nothing for me, but it will be interesting to see how she grow from here (survive puberty and Eteri techniques first). It is just a clever routine for now with not much to say, and artistically still to be matured, seasoned and developed. One of the young talented stars of this sport that can be someone special in the future when she develop her own voice and interpret with genuine feeling, personality and understanding of 'interpretation' vs. someone's instructions. The score is too high, but consider the overall inflation these days post Sochi in both GOEs and PCS, it deserve the lead at this competition but not by that much. And um... is it me, or are the Eurosport boys more drunk than usual these days!?


Gracie... ohh nightmare Gracie. Arghh frustrating Gracie. You could have it all!!! Were you threw off by the incredible 74.58? Okay just for you I will light up another Bonfire... and create a séance for your flip. You need it! So close to the board again. Umm not the fan of the hair. Anyway... pfa pfa pfa papapapthis SP, concentrate on the FS now and be fabulous again!! Hope your Pheonix rises... (bit lucky with the score there.. but you should be theoretically this year's gold contender, come on WC is in US!!! Bring it home honey!)

 

[NaVi]

In conclusion, all I have to say that it's good to be Russian these days. I know that our girls are good and will deliver

As an American fan of the Russian girls, I'm not all that confident... Radionova had a bad practice and is skating after Mao and Sotoko was put close behind... she's kind of positioned like World's last year which isn't good. I am more confident about Medvedeva as I think she has a good head on her shoulders, but she's fell in every competition and is skating last and Mao is in striking distance.

For World's, I think you can expect Mao to either have the 3Lz+3Lo worked out or doing a different set of jumps where she can still score in the high 70s... Gracie will surely switch to the 3Lo by then too.

I'm not even confident about the Juniors... Sotskova has UR problems and Fedichkina is inconsistent... and Tsurskaya isn't a complete jumping robot. With regards to Jr Worlds, Higuchi pushed herself too hard with the unbalance program and also going for the 3Lz+3Lo in the LP which really doesn't grant you much in base value.(it really only helps in the SP). She's making a recovery. Vivian Le is doing all the triples now and is no longer doing a 2Lz so she will be a threat. I'd like Sotskova to get a new SP with the combination in the bonus and for Fedichkina to go back to her LP from last season(her SP and LP are too temperamentally similar IMO)

 

[RABID]

i really hope Mao beats this Medvedeva girl. Earn your keep girl. Overscored indeed. Good, but not 70+ material. Heck, if that's the case, I'd switch her marks with Polina Tsurskaya! Better SS, explosive jumps, not overselling it through flailing arms and over emotive expressions.

One day it will be THE Medvedeva girl.

 

[andyjo24]

One day it will be THE Medvedeva girl.

One day it will be the Medvedeva WOMAN who may not even go to the 2018 Olympics due to the deep field in Russia and puberty.

 

[RABID]

One day it will be the Medvedeva WOMAN who may not even go to the 2018 Olympics due to the deep field in Russia and puberty.

We shall see.... It might turn out puberty will do her in but it also might turn out her natural elegance and technique becomes more refined as well. She certainly has the competitive fire; no reason for that to go away.

 

[koatcue]

One day it will be the Medvedeva WOMAN who may not even go to the 2018 Olympics due to the deep field in Russia and puberty.

Jammers, is that your second account? Same old song with the puberty

 

[andyjo24]

We shall see.... It might turn out puberty will do her in but it also might turn out her natural elegance and technique becomes more refined as well. She certainly has the competitive fire; no reason for that to go away.

Yeah... Who knows? We shall see if her confident eyes will remain or die away.

 

[koatcue]

As an American fan of the Russian girls, I'm not all that confident... Radionova had a bad practice and is skating after Mao and Sotoko was put close behind... she's kind of positioned like World's last year which isn't good. I am more confident about Medvedeva as I think she has a good head on her shoulders, but she's fell in every competition and is skating last and Mao is in striking distance.

For World's, I think you can expect Mao to either have the 3Lz+3Lo worked out or doing a different set of jumps where she can still score in the high 70s... Gracie will surely switch to the 3Lo by then too.

But that will be cool! The more competition, the better

I'm not even confident about the Juniors... Sotskova has UR problems and Fedichkina is inconsistent... and Tsurskaya isn't a complete jumping robot.

Russian junior and not a jumping bean - that's a progress

 

[andyjo24]

Jammers, is that your second account? Same old song with the puberty

Lol. Sorry I'm andyjo24 and I only possess one account. Haha. I'm just stating possibilities that may turn out true. Of course Evgenia may survive, but based on past history, the odds are against her. She will not be able to maintain those thighs and will fill out, which may affect her jumps which are not of good technique.

 

[graciegoldfan17]

I don't understand how can you compare their jumps in this case... Mao had a 3A and Satoko only a double, and the GOE was a half of Mao's; Mao did a 3F+3Lo with both jumps underrotated, while Satoko did a tiny 3Lz+3T, but fully rotated; and Mao popped her last jump pass, which gave Satoko a whole 3F in the bonus to catch up in the score, even if it ended up being "e"

Miyahara pre rotated some of her jumping passes. She pre rotates 1/2 then she rotates in the air with only 2 and 1/2

 

[koatcue]

Lol. Sorry I'm andyjo24 and I only possess one account. Haha. I'm just stating possibilities that may turn out true. Of course Evgenia may survive, but based on past history, the odds are against her. She will not be able to maintain those thighs and will fill out, which may affect her jumps which are not of good technique.

Her axel isn't great, but her other jumps (lutz aside) are wonderful And actually I like that she is jumping with arm aloft - that gives her extra height and makes it more difficult to jump. The stakes are good for her to make it through if she won't fill out that much.

 

[graciegoldfan17]

I was surprised because Gracie beaten Mao on her step sq. I thought only Kostner and Kim and maybe Suzuki(?) can beat Asada in stsq but gosh. Im so proud of you Gracie. She is selling the program and I love the choreography. Nichol done a fabulous job on Gracie and Mao's programs.

 

[Icey]

So many mean-spirited comments about Gracie. Being critical of her performance is fine, but the nonsense about how she has no future in the sport is not only rude, but false. She's known for her inconsistency, so what? So was Adelina Sotnikova until she won Olympic gold.

ETA: And honestly? Gracie's problems have vastly improved since last year. No falls yet this season! She's averaging about one pop per program, hasn't had her combo actually run into the boards this season, and hasn't had any major meltdowns. Yes, when she makes mistakes it's a shame because she's so talented, but to outright dismiss her is silly, and when people say she should retire or that she'll never win a world medal it really just sounds like they're happy when she fails.

Sorry, but Gracie fell on her opening combo in the free program at the 2015 Japan Open.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQC4h4mv8Ug

 

[Barb]

Jammers, is that your second account? Same old song with the puberty

After to watch so many girls in figure skating I think it is ridiculous predict things. Evgenia is good now, not spectacular in my opinion but she is good enough. What puberty will do with her? we don´t know.