2017 Austria Ladies SP

[oleada]

Ugh, some of the comments that the Korean fans left on Tarakanova's videos are gross. I hope she doesn't look the video up.

I think it's a difference in style. Lim is more polished and Tarakanova skates with more abandon. Tarakanova did have more speed (Lim's step sequence slowed down considerably) and better spins. Lim had nice jumps, but so did Tarakanova, and with harder entrances. Let's be real - Lim is charming, and her performance is more to my own personal taste than Tarakanova's but it's not like she's a PCS/musical/expression genius, either. In any case, it was Tarakonva's higher levels that got her the lead, much more so than the 0.6 differential in PCS.

 

[breadstal]

Nastya G. :sad21: She's such a beautiful skater, go clean in free :sad4: Eunsoo deserved the highest PCS of today, she should've scored higher in Performace and Interpretation than Tarankova. Dress was so much better though, I don't like this outfit at all. Shame that she's so close to Yamashita, it shouldn't be that close in components at all and I enjoyed Mako's performance but please :disapp: And wow, Moa is really something. Shame about combo. I'm not feeling Tarankova's short, still I think she was the best overall today but I believe Eunsoo and her should be close to each other in scores.

 

[chloepoco]

Nastya G. :sad21: She's such a beautiful skater, go clean in free :sad4: Eunsoo deserved the highest PCS of today, she should've scored higher in Performace and Interpretation than Tarankova. Dress was so much better though, I don't like this outfit at all. Shame that she's so close to Yamashita, it shouldn't be that close in components at all and I enjoyed Mako's performance but please :disapp: And wow, Moa is really something. Shame about combo. I'm not feeling Tarankova's short, still I think she was the best overall today but I believe Eunsoo and her should be close to each other in scores.

I don't understand all the grumbling about EunSoo and Mako being so close in score; they both performed equally well.

 

[Tolstoj]

Ugh, some of the comments that the Korean fans left on Tarakanova's videos are gross. I hope she doesn't look the video up.

Yes, all the dislikes and the rage comments from Eun soo fans are soo annoying.

The score is very clear, Tarakanova won mostly in the TES where the korean lost levels and points so even comments like "Eun soo should have won the SP, seriously" makes zero sense.

Even for the components we can argue about the composition but Eunsoo's program was juniorish on many levels: the slow steps sequence, the long wait between the jumps, the lack of transitions...

 

[AlexRus]

Radionova was not this good at the same age.

Radionova is of previous generation.
And nobody was not as good at the same age as this generation of Junior Ladies. It is very interesting what will we see when this generation of girls will become Seniors.

 

[ejnsofi]

It's why I try not to read YT comments. Gubanova fat?! :dev2: She is lovely young lady with unmatchable grace and smoothness of movements.

I also really hate war between fans. Why can't Eunsoo's (and Yuna's) fan understand that they really DON'T help skaters with their nasty comments?! Last week was already terrible but now I see open war on YT! Also fans of Russian girls are striking back with unpleasant comments about Eunsoo :noshake: It's really sad but than I remember they are just fans and girls don't wish each other bad (or at least I hope so).

About PCS
SS: Eunsoo got 7.04, Anastasia 6.93. Notice than Anastasia is faster than Eunsoo so it's easier to her to hide flaws in her SS
Transitions: Excuse me but no one is going to convince me that Eunsoo has better transitions. Her combo was magnificent but there was no element before it or right from the exit
Presentation: Quote from ISU "Performance is the physical and emotional involvement of the skater/couple as they deliver the intent of the music and composition". Anastasia was definitely involved in her piece (maybe except for smile at the end). Is Eunsoo better performer? Usually yes. I don't think she showed here 100% of her performance abilities and it isn't only my opinion (my friend said "she looks like somebody used glue to put this smile on her"). But Eunsoo sold me Miss Saigon last year so she can do everything in terms of performance. Just not today.
Composition: Both programs had great composition so I guess Anastasia got 0.14 point more "just because"

 

[Kara]

People are gonna be crappy. It's part of the reason why I wish the ISU would just make all their videos have disabled comments, but I guess it would be a pity to have the positive comments not be given a place for the skaters to easily see them. It's a bit fun to make bingo cards for bad YT comments though and see how easily you get bingo. Highly recommend.

 

[Tulipstar]

Good job for her! And the dress and music were very pretty.

I thought Caya did a great job with the music. She seemed to really feel that.
She also has that clear Dutch accent thing going on when speaking English

 

[invisiblespiral]

Gubanova.

ES and Tarankova.

 

[[email protected]]

Interesting competition...

Poilina Ustimkina was not happy with her score and I can understand her. She was underscored big time same as Galustyan used to.

I know that such comments are not welcome here but my eyes do not deceive me: Loena Hedrickx has gained some weight and lost the magic I saw in her skating just half a year ago. Her 2A and 3Lz were huge, though. Hope, she will impress me during the FS.

Moa Iwano - this girl certainly impressed. She managed to get straight into the Spanish music and stayed with it throughout the program. Big charisma. She joined the club of the Japanese youngsters whose skating I enjoy together with Marin Honda (oops, she is no longer a youngster) and Rika Kihira. I think she was somewhat underscored.

I am very sad about Nastya Gubanova. Skating wise she was in the league of her own - exquisite, mature, stylish. But jumps just were not there starting with the shaky axel. Let's see if she can redeem herself at FS or her second spot will be given to someone else.

I never saw Star Andrews except the famous video and I liked her a lot. This girl can draw attention. And her skating style is very modern with difficult steps and transitions. Kudos! America is not hopeless after all.

Mako Yamashita belongs to the large group of the young Japanese whose skating I simply don't like. In fact she is the embodiment of this style bending her knee at the landing to the same extent as Megan Duhamel while doing the quad throws. I found her program totally forgettable. But she was clean and she has JGP medals, hence, a high score was expected.

I am glad that Eusoon Lim is ahead of Mako because she is not one of many. She is unique in her grace and beauty. It's good that she seems to have found consistency. And I expect her to progress. Her jumps are powerful, her presence is big - a joy to watch. But there are "buts". Spins are the first "but" - they were not that good especially the last one. The bigger "but" is that her overall skating style is somewhat outdated. It's good that she finds inspiration in Yuna Kim and other greats from the past but it is 2017 now. She cannot reach the top now if she prepares a jump the way Maria Butyrskaya used to prepare it: skating 1.5 rinks doing nothing. The best young modern skaters jump out of the blue. Whether she could fix it I don't know but she has to if she aims at big podiums.

Finally, Nastya Tarakanova. I watched her twice - the second time on the big screen in HD. I liked the second time much better. She fully deserves to lead. One can feel a touch of Eteri's school in her choreo but she is still totally unique. Her transitions are no less sophisticated than Trusova's. She emotes like it were no tomorrow. She is the first in long time to do "Sotnikova's" spin. Lovely.

This was much better than Australia so far (as expected). Hope that FS will not disappoint and all the luck to Gubanova.

 

[tars]

This is absurd. Speed, abandon, wilderness? Is it break dance or junior figure skating?
Tarakanova is so unpolished, rough and unesthetic in her skating. Her lines are incomplete, skewed, blade work is often inaccurate or even chaotic, her legs don't keep up with upper body movement, she's gawky and not elegant at all.
Besides, she is 13yo JGP debutant with zero reputation, and they place her above 14yo sophomore with medals and 4th place JW finisher under her belt who skated clean, neat program. You just feel something is not right here. :scowl:

I refuse to comment on Nastia Gubanova's SP, because I can only take one sting into my heart per week (Julia).
Just hoping for her great FS. :hopelessness:

 

[breadstal]

I don't understand all the grumbling about EunSoo and Mako being so close in score; they both performed equally well.

Well, that's your opinion and it's my opinion. I think Mako just smiled through her program and that's it for her interpretation. Performance-wise it was cute but nothing else for me, considering the music choice also. I think she was the best SS-wise though.

Also these comments/ dislikes needs to be stopped. It's not even about Koreans v Russians now, I see so many clean skates having so many dislikes these days. For example on Marin's new programs videos. Like how can you bodyshame or be racist to someone, especially when they're just girls?

 

[vorravorra]

I think Gubanova should wd from her second GP.
There is so many talented juniors out there, and she looks totally out of shape.

Gubanova skated two clean programs just a week ago. Same at the junior test skates. She couldn't possibly have lost her shape that quickly.
Nastya has been known for failing in the SP but rebounding in the FS, but I am not sure if she can rebound enough. Honestly, if we could have Konstantinova skate the SP and Gubanova the LP in competitions they would get fantastic scores.

 

[Atashi]

This is absurd. Speed, abandon, wilderness? Is it break dance or junior figure skating?
Tarakanova is so unpolished, rough and unesthetic in her skating. Her lines are incomplete, skewed, blade work is often inaccurate or even chaotic, her legs don't keep up with upper body movement, she's gawky and not elegant at all.
Besides, she is 13yo JGP debutant with zero reputation, and they place her above 14yo sophomore with medals and 4th place JW finisher under her belt who skated clean, neat program. You just feel something is not right here. :scowl:

I refuse to comment on Nastia Gubanova's SP, because I can only take one sting into my heart per week (Julia).
Just hoping for her great FS. :hopelessness:

Her program is about escaping the madhouse so moves and style makes sense to me.

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[tars]

Her program is about escaping the madhouse so moves and style makes sense to me.

Talk about choreography matching skater's style.

 

[Atashi]

Talk about choreography matching skater's style.

Why not? I think it is a clever way highlight her strength (speed, commitment to her theme, transitions) and hide her weaknesses. I like it, I understand it is not your cup of tea you prefer Gubanova style, but I find her a bit boring. Excellent and beautiful but just not for me. It is of course my subjective opinion.

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[Tulipstar]

There is such oddness to her skating that I absolutely adore!

So much passion, such expression! Weirdness in the best way, I love her! Wonderful Lz.

I agree. I enjoyed Taranakova's program a lot:agree:

 

[Tulipstar]

The winner of the ladies SP had a higher score than the winner of the men's SP. Even with less factoring on the PCS. Wild.

Wow

 

[Yatagarasu]

but I find her a bit boring. Excellent and beautiful but just not for me.

I don't find Gubanova boring but she is very main-stream so I definitely do find Tarakanova refreshing and exciting and seriously, excellent music choice for her. I was just checking her FS and that seems like another good one.
Does anyone know if Daniil did both? He seems to be really hitting it right on the money with these.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I don't find Gubanova boring but she is very main-stream so I definitely do find Tarakanova refreshing and exciting and seriously, excellent music choice for her. I was just checking her FS and that seems like another good one.
Does anyone know if Daniil did both? He seems to be really hitting it right on the money with these.

I think the better word choice here is classic By far my favorite performer and in spite of not usually digging on the classic vibe there is just something about her skating that I find refreshing. I hope she can stabilize those jumps because she fills the void of losing Julia and Mao all in one package.

I loved both Nastya's programs today even though they were so dissimilar. In fact...I appreciate the contrast. Sometimes I think people fall into a trap of thinking that what they personally enjoy should score the most points. That's not always going to happen if we're honest with ourselves and each other.