Yu/Jin & Peng/Zhang switch partners

[sylvie]

Agreed.

This doesn't make any sense.

Right. You can't just say "oh, we confirmed it", who did they confirm it with?

 

[sylvie]

There's nothing at all about in the Chinese media. The federation itself is still silent.

 

[Hyena]

Yeah, this is reminding me more and more of the Ilinykh/Katsalapov split in 2014. An initial rumor, days of silence from those involved, more and more hints that it was true. I'm thinking we'll see an official confirmation soon.

I'm sad. Yu/Jin seemed to have a lovely on-ice chemistry. They seemed to like skating with each other, which is maybe the biggest quality I look for in a pairs or dance team. Peng just didn't seem to like skating with Zhang to me, and I was also bothered by his behavior this season. For those who don't know what we're talking about, it was during a practice at TEB, when Peng fell and hit her head on a quad attempt (I thought Zhang's behavior was nonchalant, like this happened all the time) and during the SP at Worlds, when he doesn't just leave Peng behind but goes ahead and does his SBS jump when he should have at least looked for her and assumed that she'd try for the jump. Frankly and contrary to the Chinese Fed's thinking, I think Yu deserves better than him and not the other way around.

 

[Violet Bliss]

This thread might be the source of IFS magazine.

eta. This is a not done deal since Xiaoyu is resisting it. One possible scenario may be that Peng wants to quit skating/Zhang so the Fed is trying to patch and retain two of their top Pairs. Zhang and Jin may be OK with the proposal but understandably Yu has the most to object to.

Just a speculation like everything else here.

 

[irriya]

I feel so desperate about this. Y/J is a lovely pair, and I think they match perfectly. While Zhang Hao already ruined Peng Cheng and her former partner's dream, now he's reaching to another pair. How can he be so selfish? I don't care how strong the new pair might be (and I personally very much doubt that). I want see everyone skate happily, not just for medals. I dislike Zhang Hao's attitude towards his partners. He is no gentleman.

 

[karne]

I would be happy for Peng that she would get away from him before he hurt her, but I will be terrified for Yu if she is forced into this.

It is cruel and inhumane to do this. Yu is so brave, knowing that the federation has absolute control over anything. Is there nothing we can do? Could she and Jin run away? I am sure plenty of fans would help with a GoFundMe or something, and it would probably sell well to corporate sponsors too. Can the ISU somehow get involved? Or the Court of Arbitration for Sport? Surely no Court would rule that the federation has the right to force a skater to do something they absolutely don't want to do.

But of course, China wouldn't care, would they? They're probably looking for Yu's family right now.

 

[gravy]

I would be happy for Peng that she would get away from him before he hurt her, but I will be terrified for Yu if she is forced into this.

It is cruel and inhumane to do this. Yu is so brave, knowing that the federation has absolute control over anything. Is there nothing we can do? Could she and Jin run away? I am sure plenty of fans would help with a GoFundMe or something, and it would probably sell well to corporate sponsors too. Can the ISU somehow get involved? Or the Court of Arbitration for Sport? Surely no Court would rule that the federation has the right to force a skater to do something they absolutely don't want to do.

But of course, China wouldn't care, would they? They're probably looking for Yu's family right now.

Gurl, this isn't Russia.

---

Yu should quit in protest. Fight the power! :dev2:

 

[Layback11]

This whole debacle just keeps on getting worse. :hopelessness:

 

[silverfoxes]

Peng just didn't seem to like skating with Zhang to me, and I was also bothered by his behavior this season. For those who don't know what we're talking about, it was during a practice at TEB, when Peng fell and hit her head on a quad attempt (I thought Zhang's behavior was nonchalant, like this happened all the time) and during the SP at Worlds, when he doesn't just leave Peng behind but goes ahead and does his SBS jump when he should have at least looked for her and assumed that she'd try for the jump. Frankly and contrary to the Chinese Fed's thinking, I think Yu deserves better than him and not the other way around.

He also laughed when she fell on the throw 4S at the Rostelecom Cup. Pretty hilarious...:dumb:

What is really troublesome to think about, is if he is that comfortable being so callous at competitions with an audience watching...how much worse it must be in training. And how many more horrible, painful falls she's endured. I shudder to think how many concussions she might have suffered already. I do hope she gets away from him somehow, but it's hard to imagine any positive outcome here, unfortunately.

 

[tinlizzie]

This whole debacle just keeps on getting worse. :hopelessness:

Yes it's horrible news. Yu/Jin are/were such a beautiful partners. This is not looking good

 

[apple123]

I don't understand the Zhang bashing here. All of sudden he's evil. Really? First this might not be his idea. Second, when he and Peng partnered up, Peng was very eager and happy for the opportunity. How did that ruin her dream? And for all these years Zhang is known for a gentle and kind guy. You can't judge him for not stopping the sp when Peng fell this year. It's a freaking competition going on. Skaters are trained to continue whatever happens. I don't think he's in the wrong there.

 

[ruffledgrouse]

Ugh. I'm caught somewhere between this and this. Poor Yu. Poor Jin.

 

[snowday]

I don't understand the Zhang bashing here. All of sudden he's evil. Really? First this might not be his idea. Second, when he and Peng partnered up, Peng was very eager and happy for the opportunity. How did that ruin her dream? And for all these years Zhang is known for a gentle and kind guy. You can't judge him for not stopping the sp when Peng fell this year. It's a freaking competition going on. Skaters are trained to continue whatever happens. I don't think he's in the wrong there.

Peng is very willing, yes. But Yu isn't. Some fans think he should step up and be a man by accepting her refusal. I don't know whether he can or want to do that. I'm not gonna judge when I have no concrete information on him. So far I'm only certain about Yu not wanting to skate with him.

 

[4everchan]

for TEB : he picked her up and held on to her until she got to the boards and saw her coach... He stepped aside, not in a careless way IMHO but to let her recuperate....what else do you want him to do ?

For SP at worlds, what I see is a bit different... He saw her fall, yes... but didn't see her hit the board and crumbled... that's why he looked behind his shoulder and saw that she finally was getting back up and trying to rejoin him... his best bet there, to lose as little points as possible is to do the jump in the hope she does hers too... knowing Peng's difficulties on throws and SBS, the real fault here is to allow for those two elements to be skated so tightly back to back, not Z's work.... Also in competition, with adrenaline, it's difficult to really know what happened in his head.... skaters are trained to keep going.

finally, someone mentioned that he laughs at COR but by looking closely, IMHO, what I see is that he nearly fell down himself.... for an experienced thrower like him, it may be unsettling, like "wow, nothing is working today" kind of mood, hence the smirk.... look at him nearly tripping upon release

I really don't like the hate messages directed at him... it is known that when holding a prejudice against someone, for whatever reason, it is difficult to see good in them.... I am VERY neutral to Chinese pairs since S/Z and P/T retirements. I only follow S/H which I find excellent and exciting... so I have very little bias and looking at these 3 excerpts, I do not see why there is a need to project such ill feelings. Pairs is such a dangerous sport, I don't think he is careless at all... if he were, she'd be in a wheelchair.

Yeah, this is reminding me more and more of the Ilinykh/Katsalapov split in 2014. An initial rumor, days of silence from those involved, more and more hints that it was true. I'm thinking we'll see an official confirmation soon.

I'm sad. Yu/Jin seemed to have a lovely on-ice chemistry. They seemed to like skating with each other, which is maybe the biggest quality I look for in a pairs or dance team. Peng just didn't seem to like skating with Zhang to me, and I was also bothered by his behavior this season. For those who don't know what we're talking about, it was during a practice at TEB, when Peng fell and hit her head on a quad attempt (I thought Zhang's behavior was nonchalant, like this happened all the time) and during the SP at Worlds, when he doesn't just leave Peng behind but goes ahead and does his SBS jump when he should have at least looked for her and assumed that she'd try for the jump. Frankly and contrary to the Chinese Fed's thinking, I think Yu deserves better than him and not the other way around.

 

[Violet Bliss]

for TEB : he picked her up and held on to her until she got to the boards and saw her coach... He stepped aside, not in a careless way IMHO but to let her recuperate....what else do you want him to do ?

For SP at worlds, what I see is a bit different... He saw her fall, yes... but didn't see her hit the board and crumbled... that's why he looked behind his shoulder and saw that she finally was getting back up and trying to rejoin him... his best bet there, to lose as little points as possible is to do the jump in the hope she does hers too... knowing Peng's difficulties on throws and SBS, the real fault here is to allow for those two elements to be skated so tightly back to back, not Z's work.... Also in competition, with adrenaline, it's difficult to really know what happened in his head.... skaters are trained to keep going.

finally, someone mentioned that he laughs at COR but by looking closely, IMHO, what I see is that he nearly fell down himself.... for an experienced thrower like him, it may be unsettling, like "wow, nothing is working today" kind of mood, hence the smirk.... look at him nearly tripping upon release

I really don't like the hate messages directed at him... it is know that when holding a prejudice about someone, for whatever reason, it is difficult to see good in them.... I am VERY neutral to Chinese pairs since S/Z and P/T retirements. I only follow S/H which I find excellent and exciting... so I have very little bias and looking at these 3 excerpts, I do not see why there is a need to project such ill feelings. Pairs is such a dangerous sport, I don't think he is careless at all... if he were, she'd be in a wheelchair.

I concur totally. I have the same observations and thoughts.

There is no need to vilify anyone or entity, especially when so little of the situation is known.

 

[Hyena]

for TEB : he picked her up and held on to her until she got to the boards and saw her coach... He stepped aside, not in a careless way IMHO but to let her recuperate....what else do you want him to do ?

Look concerned?

I really don't like the hate messages directed at him... it is know that when holding a prejudice about someone, for whatever reason, it is difficult to see good in them.... I am VERY neutral to Chinese pairs since S/Z and P/T retirements. I only follow S/H which I find excellent and exciting... so I have very little bias and looking at these 3 excerpts, I do not see why there is a need to project such ill feelings. Pairs is such a dangerous sport, I don't think he is careless at all... if he were, she'd be in a wheelchair.

Yeah, I hear what you're saying. I try to post about the skaters I enjoy and avoid negative posts about the ones I don't. I can understand that others don't see the same things in his behavior that I do - we're all coming from different perspectives - but his behavior towards Peng has seemed off to me this season and it's much harder for me to like him as a skater as a result. I don't think it's a "hate message" to say that.

 

[silverlake22]

If Yu doesn't want to skate with Zhang, which it sounds like is the case, she should just quit and go skate for some other country. Chinese Fed may be bitter for awhile but if they won't let her skate with Jin they'd probably release her eventually like how Lubov was released from Russia and was able to find a new partner in Canada.

This all just sounds awful. Also, there are videos of the test skate here: http://fyeahchinesepairs.tumblr.com/post/141645427867/open-test-skate-videos-323-24 .

Yu/Jin had a great skate, better than P/Z and W/W for sure, yet they are 4th? It all seems very fishy to me and I'm really infuriated by this whole situation. Just let Yu/Jin stay together for pete's sake! They get along and were the real #2 pair team in China this season. If Peng doesn't want to skate with Zhang (which I wouldn't blame her if that's the case) then the fed should just find her a new partner that ISN'T part of a amicable, successful partnership already. It's really not that difficult.

 

[silverfoxes]

Pairs is such a dangerous sport, I don't think he is careless at all... if he were, she'd be in a wheelchair.

Are you kidding me? That's the litmus test for you, and it's all black and white..."careless" means the girl is permanently injured, and if she's not, then he's a good partner? Going back to the stories about the Soviet training system, I'm not aware of any pair girls who ended up in wheelchairs, but that doesn't mean they weren't treated badly and that they didn't suffer.

And Peng, or his next partner, may end up permanently damaged yet...could just be a matter of time. (Or maybe he will treat the next one better because Peng was at fault all along...right?)

 

[Skater Boy]

Can someone tell me are Peng and Zhang splitting? Have they split? Does Zhang have a new partner? I thought we couldn't speculate or do rumours on this board so does this mean I missed something that confirmed the split was, has or is happening? I just hope if there is split it isn't like I and K's mess. The carnage still continues.

 

[snowday]

Can someone tell me are Peng and Zhang splitting? Have they split? Does Zhang have a new partner? I thought we couldn't speculate or do rumours on this board so does this mean I missed something that confirmed the split was, has or is happening? I just hope if there is split it isn't like I and K's mess. The carnage still continues.

IFS Magazine says they receive the confirmation that Zhang is with Yu and Jin is with Peng. That's a reputable magazine, so I would say it's not a rumour.

Yu also hinted at her unwillingness on social media. She clicked the "Like" button more than once on the posts that oppose her split with Jin.