2014 Cup of China Ladies Free Skate 11/08

[Mirunna]

I did watch Julia and Polina back to back like you suggested. To my eyes, outside of jumps, they were in separate classes as far as PCS aspects are concerned. Busy does not make good skating or program to me. She was so vertical. I didn't notice good edges, fluidity, changes of direction and heights, smooth transitions, nice extension, hand and feet details, completion of movements, obvious musicality, etc. These qualities didn't register with me.

And you found all those qualities on Julia's program from today? Musicality, fluidity, obvious musicality, interpretation to justify PCS of about 8 overall? Smooth transitions between failed elements should not be taken into acount, IMO.
Julia's LP is clearly not ready, she does not connect AT ALL with it so far. I will reserve judgment until I will see this program skater better later on in the season. But PCS is not about the potential of the program (which I honestly fail to see).

We can keep going on and on when we all know the PCS of 61 is a result of her being world silver medalist. It is what it is

 

[Jewels]

wow I can't believe my eyes The result has gone completely different from my prediction lol
Is Yulia's condition just temporarily bad, or is she really having problems? She had looked quite solid yesterday

 

[Mao88]

LADIES FREE SKATE - VIDEOS & RESULT - updated

1. Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA (RUS) - 196.60 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
2. Julia LIPNITSKAYA (RUS) - 173.57 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
3. Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN) - 169.39 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
4. Polina EDMUNDS (USA) - 161.27 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
5. Gabrielle DALEMAN (CAN) - 161.26 Free Skate, 2nd Copy
6. Zijun LI (CHN) - 152.62 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
7. Viktoria HELGESSON (SWE) - 143.95 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
8. Hae Jin KIM (KOR) - 137.62 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
9. Christina GAO (USA) - 125.04 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy
10. Ashley CAIN (USA) - 124.81 Free Skate, 2nd Copy
11. Anne Line GJERSEM (NOR) - 122.78 Free Skate, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

wow I can't believe my eyes The result has gone completely different from my prediction lol
Is Yulia's condition just temporarily bad, or is she really having problems? She had looked quite solid yesterday

This program is underprepared at best.

 

[Mao88]

This article from the 25th August 2014 about Julia's preparation for the season is illuminating. It reads:-

“We started the season much later than usual because this time we had a long rest – almost one and a half months,” admitted Julia. “After performances in various shows I didn’t have a normal training. Also, I was busy with passing my school exams. After that we went on vacation where my sporting shape probably dropped to zero. But I needed it. The Olympic season was very difficult.” she continued.

The skater notes that it was a very long and hard process to restore her conditions back to normal after the Sochi Olympics and that psychologically she was completely exhausted in that period.

“I now understand why some athletes decide to end their careers after Olympics. The Games just suck the lifeblood out of them. I was lucky that right after Sochi I switched to ice shows. In addition, they gave me a lot in terms of contact with music.”

I think that the late start to the season and the need to get back into shape in a limited period of time really showed in Julia's performance today. Nevertheless, she obviously needed the rest and time out for the exams, etc. I think she will improve rapidly as the season progresses. Julia struggled during the 2012/13 season due to a combination of growth issues and injury, yet came back strongly last season. She looks a little taller this season and has some growing to do. Nevertheless, just as she has overcome the same problems previously, I have no doubt she will do the same again once she adapts to the changes.

 

[juuryokunashi]

Aren't we being too fickle here? Yesterday everyone was crowing how Lipniskaia was unbeatable, a lock for Russian #1, and one bad skate later people are saying she's never had staying power due to her jumps, puberty is getting in her way, she's done for, etc. Come on guys.

Possibly because the people posting yesterday were those that thought so (Julia unbeatable, etc), and now the people posting are those that didn't post/barely posted yesterday?

 

[Barb]

I understand the judges and ISU a little, figure skating is not popular and now, without Mao, Yuna and Carolina, Yulia is the only star in the ladies category, she can get fans, advertising and sell tickets. Yes, it is unfair but I think Mao, Yuna and Carolina obtained those favors sometimes.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I understand the judges and ISU a little, figure skating is not popular and now, without Mao, Yuna and Carolina, Yulia is the only star in the ladies category, she can get fans, advertising and sell tickets. Yes, it is unfair but I think Mao, Yuna and Carolina obtained those favors sometimes.

I don't expect the judges to continue this though if she shows up unprepared again. All I'm concerned for is if Yulia can handle this let down and bounce back. Being a sixteen year old girl can come with a load of extra emotions.

 

[karne]

Been out and away from the internet all evening.

ALL HAIL MY QUEEN! LIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I see some whinging about Lipnitskaya's score (um, yikes, that protocol is a mess). Knew this would happen. Big Bad Evil Russians strike again, but no-one cared when it was precious Mirai wrongly placed over Brooklee at SkAm SP.

 

[Ophelia]

Possibly because the people posting yesterday were those that thought so (Julia unbeatable, etc), and now the people posting are those that didn't post/barely posted yesterday?

I see some familiar names from yesterday. We'll see when everyone wakes up later (3 AM US time), but the tune is 180 from yesterday as of now.

 

[Ophelia]

I don't expect the judges to continue this though if she shows up unprepared again. All I'm concerned for is if Yulia can handle this let down and bounce back. Being a sixteen year old girl can come with a load of extra emotions.

In the long run, it might be good for a young skater to have a really bad skate once so that they can get it out of their system and figure out how to mentally deal with such implosions.

 

[Winnie_20]

can I get a giant "what the...???" from all around?

You get a very late one from me, right now. Just watched it. What The...?!

 

[Totentanz]

Aren't we being too fickle here? Yesterday everyone was crowing how Lipniskaia was unbeatable, a lock for Russian #1, and one bad skate later people are saying she's never had staying power due to her jumps, puberty is getting in her way, she's done for, etc. Come on guys.

:agree: Drama never stops...

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I see some familiar names from yesterday. We'll see when everyone wakes up later (3 AM US time), but the tune is 180 from yesterday as of now.

I've been freaking out in Yulia's fan thread for months over the lack of preparation. I'm not giving up on her though. Her SP is the highest scoring SP so far this season. She still has strong and unique attributes. Adelina stunk up GPF like no other and bounced back at Russian Nationals,Euros, and Sochi( regardless of the controversy). I am concerned with the Salchow the most and now her mental state. I'm surprised they sent her there so unprepared. That is what shocks me the most.

 

[Winnie_20]

Just to put my mind at ease, and because it's probably buried somewhere in this thread already, but... surely this means Liza has qualified for the GPF, right?

 

[Orange Cat]

With a silver and a gold I'd say she's a lock for the GPF. Which means I'll get to see Elizaveta in December! :yay:

 

[gotoschool]

I think Kanako did enough for bronze. Her program was not a piece of choreographic brilliance and she only really began performing it halfway through, and she popped a few jumps, but she stayed upright and landed most of her jumps and was selling the program by the end, terrible vocals and all.

Edit: After seeing the performances clearly without the frozen screen during the live feed, I do think that Kanako should have gotten the silver. I really think she executed her jumps wonderfully in the middle and towards the end of the program with good power and height and dramatic arm gestures on exit and her speed and power seems better than it did at Worlds and the Olympics. Now, that I watch it again, I am starting to see that she is feeling the music really well, but only in the 2nd half.

The two popped jumps and popped jump did detract from the performance, but I feel she was able to salvage it with her flourish at the finish. The music is a bit discordant, but she relates to it well once she gets into the performance. Despite the mistakes and the discordant music, I liked her LP 2nd best, though Polina deserved a higher score because of Kanako's technical errors. I just felt more expression and connection to Kanako's performance. Polina was pretty good to me, but she didn't really capture my interest despite being clean. To me, it seems she doesn't quite have the deep edges and expressive extensions that Kanako and Liza had. Yulia may have had this as well, but the mistakes overshadowed it. From what I have seen this season, Karen Chen is my favorite American skater, even though she is still a junior, but I hope she can improve her jump consistency.

 

[Orange Cat]

Re the debate as to silver... it's more a matter of whether Julia or Kanako lost it more. Which is a depressing way of looking at things. In any case, the scores should have been closer because Julia's PCS were way, way too high for what she put out there - though I think Kanako's PCS were also bumped a little too high for what she gave today. Both girls seemed so disappointed with their performances, which made me sad.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I see some familiar names from yesterday. We'll see when everyone wakes up later (3 AM US time), but the tune is 180 from yesterday as of now.

That's actually not all that unusual though... I mean, Yuzuru Hanyu was kind of written of by some people after starting Skate Canada pretty slow (while still getting silver). And we know how that ended. There's probably not much you can do about it.

I'm probably part of the majority: I feel sorry for Julia, and I don't think she should have gotten the silver. But IMO, it's mainly a problem with the LP not being ready, and there's no need for all this doom and gloom. We'll have to wait for TEB to see how she deals with it.

 

[gotoschool]

Re the debate as to silver... it's more a matter of whether Julia or Kanako lost it more. Which is a depressing way of looking at things. In any case, the scores should have been closer because Julia's PCS were way, way too high for what she put out there - though I think Kanako's PCS were also bumped a little too high for what she gave today. Both girls seemed so disappointed with their performances, which made me sad.

Now that I look at the PCS scores, I agree that Kanako should have gotten silver, I would have had a higher PCS for Kanako than Yulia as well. But, it's just a fact that reputation based on past performance plays a big role in the scores. I don't like it. But on the other hand, Kanako's step out and 2 popped jumps also make it more difficult for me to whip up a lot of passion to argue for her getting the silver. I have a little but not a lot. I think the PCS numbers (59 and 61) should be switched at the very least. Maybe they are little high, but I think 2 points should be the relative difference and that would give Kanako a 1 point victory. I haven't looked carefully at the tech breakdown yet.