Yu/Jin & Peng/Zhang switch partners

[yyyskate]

Krunchii the link you provided is NOT working, you has to be a member of that Chinese board to view it
on Chinese social media weibo which is similar to facbook/twitter
Yu/Jin fans are using hashtag #坚决反对YJ拆对# which translated into English is absolutely against splitting Y/J.
to protest, for the slightest hope that Chinese fed may change their mind.
If Y/J's international fans, wanna help could spread this hashtag. maybe...
Chinese weibo hashtag
http://weibo.com/p/10080883599957fedf8a721a64e34e68df9835?k=坚决反对YJ拆对&from=501&_from_=huati_topic

Y/J chinese fanclub weibo
http://weibo.com/u/5754023275?refer_flag=1008085010_&is_hot=1


the info I gathered so far (could be just hearsay) Jin did test training with Peng already, he kinda okay with it. Yu do NOT agree herself, seems she is really the only one fighting at the moment. No voice from other big figures in Chinese Fed including S/Z, P/T and others.

 

[Skater Boy]

THe Chinese Federation is notorious for fudging age. And I don't think that is the issue (age). Realistically with injuries and ability I am not sure why Zhang thinks he will be around in 2022 to compete. I am not going to blame him for everything with his current partnership. And I appreciate his desire if it is in fact his desire to compete in his home country for the Olympics and this has nothing to do with age - I am not sure he is progressing as a skater stylistically let alone technically. I appreciate this is a "new" partnership and he may have a new one but I just don't understand why Zhang is being pushed so much by the Chinese Fed. He is not a legacy skater of say Hongbo or even Tong. He is kind of the third guy. I don't think anyone hates him or his harping on his age or anything but he just has not shown or demonstrated the magic of Pang and Tong or Shen and Zhou.

 

[snowday]

Also, if anyone is going to Team Challenge Cup next week, and suppose there's something like SMC, please please ask questions for us. It's obvious that the skaters and coaches are forbidden from talking about it on their social media. The fans are kept in the dark intentionally. Everything we know so far comes from whistle-blowers. Some people in charge have to take the Wangs to TCC. Please gather some information for us if you can. Thank you in advance!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Although I know nothing about skiing, I can't think the field in Japan can be as deep as China's pair skating.

You could be surprised. Japan is no-where in most ski sports, but in ski jumping they do have a deep field. There is a lot of competition to get into the team for the big events. But, Nori is nearly always the top Japanese jumper.

Admittedly, his younger team mates have been rather disappointing this season. But, in the previous seasons they were all up there, and he was still beating them.

Besides, the man didn't need a partner to participate in competition unlike pair skaters.

Yes, that is a big difference. But, I just wanted to bring Nori into the equation to challenge all the "oh, he's too old to be competitive" arguments. Because, I'm getting fed up with that attitude.

To take a different angle on a famous saying:

"If you're good enough, you're young enough!"​

Young skaters of the new generation aspiring to be Olympians or Olympic medalists wait in line for their turn. Zhang already won a silver at the 2006 Olympics and he is no Hongbo Zhao. The federation needs to think hard about not just the 2018 Olympics, but also the 2022 in their home.

You know, that is what I hate about countries having deep fields in particular categories. Inevitably, they aren't all going to get a chance. The hard part is getting the balance right between letting the established stars continue to shine, and giving the up and coming stars the opportunity to shine.

Yu and Jin are a young couple with a LOT of promise. They are already showing their star quality. So, why split this couple up to provide new partners for Peng and Zhang.

If Peng and Zhang do need to split, then why not look for new partners amongst some of the lower ranked couples. Skaters that maybe aren't living up to expectations in their current partnership, but might work better with a different partner.

I have already mentioned Xie Zhong in this thread. He has been trying out a lot of partners in recent years, and apparantly none of them have been working. So, what about trying some of the partners he has gone through with Zhang Hao? Or Xie Zhong himself with Peng Cheng?

OK, so there would be age differences in both the resultant couples. But, the Chinese Federation didn't seem bothered with that when Peng and Zhang were put together in the first place.

Personally, I wouldn't fancy pairing Zhang Hao up with an even younger skater than Peng Cheng. But, I'm just using that as an example to show that there are other options available than splitting up Yu and Jin.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[snowday]

THe Chinese Federation is notorious for fudging age. And I don't think that is the issue (age). Realistically with injuries and ability I am not sure why Zhang thinks he will be around in 2022 to compete. I am not going to blame him for everything with his current partnership. And I appreciate his desire if it is in fact his desire to compete in his home country for the Olympics and this has nothing to do with age - I am not sure he is progressing as a skater stylistically let alone technically. I appreciate this is a "new" partnership and he may have a new one but I just don't understand why Zhang is being pushed so much by the Chinese Fed. He is not a legacy skater of say Hongbo or even Tong. He is kind of the third guy. I don't think anyone hates him or his harping on his age or anything but he just has not shown or demonstrated the magic of Pang and Tong or Shen and Zhou.

Well, Pang/Tong and Shen/Zhao are no longer around. The third guy becomes the first guy now--that's the reasoning of the Chinese Fed. They think he is better than Jin, so he should deserve a better partner than Jin. It's hard to say who's pushing whom at this point. He says on many occasions that he truly WANTS to compete all the way to 2022. He's either hungry for gold or more medals of whatever color. It's possible that the pushing is the other way around. But we don't know for sure.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

According to the isu page, Zhang Hao is 31years (and not 34) old right now (Born on July 6th 1984), That would mean he will be 37 years in Beijing 2022 Olympics, an age with which Zhao Hongbo became Olympic champion (Most of the leading pair male skaters are in the mid thirties, Robin Szolkowy, Alex Smirnow, Tong Jian, Zhao Hongbo and more). I think Zhang Hao has the goal to compete at the Olympics on home soil, it would be his 6th games (provided he takes part in 2018 as well).

The ages of Zhang Hao and Zhang Dan have long been a subject of contention. There have been a couple of different sets of ages given for them over the years. If you use one set, then she was too young for the senior events they competed at in 2001 - 02. And if you use the other set, he was too old for the junior events they competed at in 2002 - 03.

So, nobody is sure just what age they are.

But I will say this: If Zhang Hao is 31, then I am a Dutchman.

Ik hoop dat dit helpt

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Krunchii]

You know we do want it, please, if you have the time No rush obviously!

Strongly Opposing Splitting Up Team YJ

As the head of YJ's Fan Club, I think at this time it is too late for the Federation to come out and refute rumours, maybe they are deluding themselves. So I have to come out and say something. strongly oppose splitting up YJ!

All this time, Xiaoyu and Jin Yang have attracted many fans from China and abroad, their understanding*, beautiful and strong performances have made us love Figure Skating even more than we already do. From juniors to seniors, they've won Junior Worlds many times, Chinese Winter Games Champions, Chinese National Games Champion, Chinese National Champions, 4CC Bronze Medalists, Grand Prix Medals. Their journey has not been easy, they've been through failures, injuries, illnesses, but we can accept their poor form, and we have never been disappointed by them and they have never left us disappointed. They bring us the most joy at the most critical moments. We hope that they can continue to hold hands and go on as a team, go onto the Beijing Olympics as their unlimited potential is evident.

So once again, I will strongly oppose splitting up team YJ! We will support them forever!

*There's no English equivalent of this word, it's like mutual understanding between two parties, so between Yu/Jin and us as the audience.

Krunchii the link you provided is NOT working, you has to be a member of that Chinese board to view it
on Chinese social media weibo which is similar to facbook/twitter
Yu/Jin fans are using hashtag #坚决反对YJ拆对# which translated into English is absolutely against splitting Y/J.
to protest, for the slightest hope that Chinese fed may change their mind.
If Y/J's international fans, wanna help could spread this hashtag. maybe...
Chinese weibo hashtag
http://weibo.com/p/10080883599957fedf8a721a64e34e68df9835?k=坚决反对YJ拆对&from=501&_from_=huati_topic

Y/J chinese fanclub weibo
http://weibo.com/u/5754023275?refer_flag=1008085010_&is_hot=1


the info I gathered so far (could be just hearsay) Jin did test training with Peng already, he kinda okay with it. Yu do NOT agree herself, seems she is really the only one fighting at the moment. No voice from other big figures in Chinese Fed including S/Z, P/T and others.

This link from Weibo should work, I'm not too familiar with Baidu. I will go use the hashtag on Weibo now.

 

[Lota]

I just... I honesly feel physically nauseous about this. I can't believe they're doing this to the skaters.

And it's so sad for me personally. I like a lot of teams and skaters in general, but rarely do I ever get so incredibly excited about someone as I did with Yu/Jin. They were (ARE!!!) magical on the ice together. I watch videos with with commentators from different countries (yay for understanding several languages!) and all of them - American, Canadian, British, Russian, Italian (...............) commentators, - all of them have spoken about their wonderful chemistry at some point during these 2 years. It's wonderful that they are great technically, but it's very rare for a team to have such a palpable connection and magical quality about them. I just can't really accept the fact that I may never see the two skating together again

 

[cathlen]

2 words - Noriaki Kasai.

Yes, it's a different sport. But, ski jumping is like figure skating in that it is, generally speaking, a young person's sport. Normally, you are past it when you reach 30.

Yet Nori went to Sochi aged 41, and came home with 2 medals: a silver in the big hill individual competition, and a bronze in the big hill team competition.

And since Sochi, he has had 12 more World Cup podiums, and even won 2 of them - one on a big hill, and one on a flying hill.

Before the 2013-14 season, it had been 10 years since he won a World Cup. For the few years before it, he was really struggling. He hadn't been on the podium for 4 years, and had very few Top 10 finishes in that time either. Yet he came back with a bang.

Who is to say that Zhang Hao is not going to do the same? Go through a period of struggles, and then spring back to the top.

I know, it is unlikely. But, it is possible.

CaroLiza_fan

And in Ski Jumping world, everybody love Noriaki, me included. He's also the best in his National Team. And I will totally believe him if he ever say he will stay untill 2022 Olympics. I agree that age isn't the factor that is most importatnt in the length of career. Health is (that's the only reason I think Plushy should retire, too many injuries for him). And the willingness. So I wouldn't write Zhang off. Though I'm strongly against them to change his partners as he/Chinese Fed likes just to lenghten his career. I'm okay with him competing, but not with splitting good, established pairs that have bright future ahead of them.

 

[snowday]

If Peng and Zhang do need to split, then why not look for new partners amongst some of the lower ranked couples. Skaters that maybe aren't living up to expectations in their current partnership, but might work better with a different partner.

I have already mentioned Xie Zhong in this thread. He has been trying out a lot of partners in recent years, and apparantly none of them have been working. So, what about trying some of the partners he has gone through with Zhang Hao? Or Xie Zhong himself with Peng Cheng?

OK, so there would be age differences in both the resultant couples. But, the Chinese Federation didn't seem bothered with that when Peng and Zhang were put together in the first place.

Personally, I wouldn't fancy pairing Zhang Hao up with an even younger skater than Peng Cheng. But, I'm just using that as an example to show that there are other options available than splitting up Yu and Jin.

CaroLiza_fan

Chinese Fed doesn't want A girl for Zhang. They want THE BEST girl for Zhang, because they truly believe Zhang is the best male pair skater in China who should have the best partner (other than Sui, obviously). As far as they can tell, that girl is Yu.

As for Xie Zhong, we need him in the junior rank to hold the fort. We have no decent junior pairs, like at all. His old partners go through puberty and experience drastic body changes, unfortunately, hence the split after split. He's forming a new partnership now and I hope this one works.

As for "lower expectations will set you free", that's exactly what the Chinese Fed is shooting for regarding Peng and Jin. Peng can land jump after jump in practice but crumble in real competitions every time. Jin is closer to her both in age and competition experiences (actually she has years of senior experiences on him). I do see the possibility that she will feel huge weight being lifted off her shoulder and actually nail two programs in competitions.

But none of what I said above justifies splitting Yu and Jin!

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I feel bad for him only for all the hate messages he gets on his social media. Some of them are super mean, like "Get your hands off Yu. You're old. You look creepy. You'll never get the OGG no matter what". That's wrong, no matter how we look at it.

You're right about that of course, messages like that are not okay at all. But I was referring to what happened in this thread, and not maybe on chinese social media, and comments like that weren't here.
That said though, I'd still rather take the hate on social media over being the unnecessary left-over that's to blame, which Peng seems to be in the CSA's eyes.

I can't see why you are saying "He's fully to blame for treating her in an awful way regarding the whole throw-fall-ignoring problems - which in turn of course will make it harder for her to deliver." Will you explain it in details? Personally I see nothing wrong with his attitude towards that girl after the performances at the Worlds.

It's the same things that were talked about in this thread before. He threw her into the boards at the worlds SP and then went on without her (yes, partly the skaters are trained to do that - but no, it made no sense whatsoever to attempt the solo jump without her, he should have waited for her). He generally doesn't seem too concerned but mostly annoyed when she takes falls in practices. There was that harsh fall in TEB. It was the impression I got at GPF in Barcelona. Yeah, he looks nice enough after the skates, but it looks very differently during them.
And when the experienced part of the team seems to not support the 'new' partner and is harsh in the case of mistakes, then it's no wonder a young girl like Peng mentally can't keep up and keeps making mistakes.

 

[Giselle]

the info I gathered so far (could be just hearsay) Jin did test training with Peng already, he kinda okay with it. Yu do NOT agree herself, seems she is really the only one fighting at the moment. No voice from other big figures in Chinese Fed including S/Z, P/T and others.

What a nightmare. Even if a miracle happens and Yu/Jin get to stay together, they can say goodbye to any International assignment .

 

[Pamigena]

People have to understand the Chinese fed is not like other feds. They have near total control over their skaters, literally. They not only pay for (and though also then have complete control over) their training, costumes, and all other figure skating related costs, but also control where they live, what they eat, what they can own, even to some degree (whether intentionally or incidentally) who they can associate with. They even can more or less control when a skater will retire- unlike other feds where (even if they do exercise a lot of control) a skater pretty much always does have the option to just stop if they truly can't take it any more

Do skaters also get a "property of" stamp on their butts or is that just implied? :roll9:

 

[Sorrento]

I just found out and I am shocked. What the hell is wrong with Chinese Federation? Yu-Jin were so delightful this season, they look so different and so delicate and romantic- I've been in love with their LP which happens quite rare with Pairs for me during last few (5 seasons at least). Why on Earth they have decided to split this fantastic pair with a great chemistry? My God, this is just terrible. I understand they want to medal at Olympics but sorry Mr. Zhang is not a Mr. Perfection at all. Honestly each time I see him entering the ice for practice or competition skate I pray for Ms. Peng because it seems that he can't control his power or skill when he throws her. And now I have to pray for Ms. Yu too?:disapp:

 

[solani]

I just found out and I am shocked. What the hell is wrong with Chinese Federation? Yu-Jin were so delightful this season, they look so different and so delicate and romantic- I've been in love with their LP which happens quite rare with Pairs for me during last few (5 seasons at least). Why on Earth they have decided to split this fantastic pair with a great chemistry? My God, this is just terrible. I understand they want to medal at Olympics but sorry Mr. Zhang is not a Mr. Perfection at all. Honestly each time I see him entering the ice for practice or competition skate I pray for Ms. Peng because it seems that he can't control his power or skill when he throws her. And now I have to pray for Ms. Yu too?:disapp:

So you have to either continue to pray for Ms. Peng or start to pray for Ms. Yu. Not satisfying. I just hope that the result will be two pairs who respect and take care of each other.

Although I know nothing about skiing, I can't think the field in Japan can be as deep as China's pair skating. Besides, the man didn't need a partner to participate in competition unlike pair skaters. Young skaters of the new generation aspiring to be Olympians or Olympic medalists wait in line for their turn. Zhang already won a silver at the 2006 Olympics and he is no Hongbo Zhao. The federation needs to think hard about not just the 2018 Olympics, but also the 2022 in their home.

Kasai would be a member of any national team. No nation would be willing to go without him, he's just that good. And every ski jumping fan likes him at least, most love him. He's definitely more popular than Zhang.

 

[Sorrento]

So you have to either continue to pray for Ms. Peng or start to pray for Ms. Yu. Not satisfying. I just hope that the result will be two pairs who respect and take care of each other.

Care- this! I've been reading lots of comments on Mr. Zhang behavior during last 3 seasons and most of them have this hope that he retires before he breaks another partner. I have never seen anything like that since I follow this sport. It's kind of scary.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Care- this! I've been reading lots of comments on Mr. Zhang behavior during last 3 seasons and most of them have this hope that he retires before he breaks another partner. I have never seen anything like that since I follow this sport. It's kind of scary.

But he was the one broken by his previous partner.

 

[Sorrento]

But he was the one broken by his previous partner.

She retired, not him.

 

[solani]

Care- this! I've been reading lots of comments on Mr. Zhang behavior during last 3 seasons and most of them have this hope that he retires before he breaks another partner. I have never seen anything like that since I follow this sport. It's kind of scary.

I think the spot on the ice where they did the throw in the SP was kind of scary. I don't want to put all the blame on Zhang, it only seems that he isn't (wasn't) overly satisfied with Peng. But Peng never looked scared of him and I don't think that she is scared going into the throw. It's actually a beautiful throw when she lands it.
I think the real problem right now is that she struggles with the solo jumps.
There's also the possibility that Zhang said that he doesn't want to continue, because he cannot see future medals ahead of him. Maybe the Chinese Fed suggested a change because they want to keep him competing?

 

[Sorrento]

There's also the possibility that Zhang said that he doesn't want to continue, because he cannot see future medals ahead of him. Maybe the Chinese Fed suggested a change because they want to keep him competing?

Do you find this switch fair for Yu/Jin who were amazing together? I mean- why only Zhang has to benefit from this? I personally do not see him medal with any partner to be honest. Also- does this switch game mean that Sui/Han most probably would not make it to Olympics? We don't have any update on Sui eye problem since what- Four Continents?