Yu/Jin & Peng/Zhang switch partners

[snowday]

I don't think Kexin Zhang needs to change her citizenship to coach in Taiwan, if that's what she's doing now. I know she was coaching in some clubs in Mainland earlier last year. China's male skater Song Gao is currently coaching a Singaporean girl. I don't know whether he changes his citizenship either.

Kexin Zhang doesn't care for skating. She was forced into the sport by her parents. On her social media she was quite frank about her dislike of skating. She wanted to call it quits long time ago but CSA wouldn't let her. Now she's finally free. No way she wants to be back, especially as a pair skater which she had no experiences of doing ever.

There's a saying (again, according to some insider on Chinese discussion forum. Don't kill the messenger) that Ying Zhao (Zhong Xie's last partner) was considered as a candidate for Zhang's partner. But her personality was considered "not docile" enough.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I don't think Kexin Zhang needs to change her citizenship to coach in Taiwan, if that's what she's doing now. I know she was coaching in some clubs in Mainland earlier last year. China's male skater Song Gao is currently coaching a Singaporean girl. I don't know whether he changes his citizenship either.

Kexin Zhang doesn't care for skating. She was forced into the sport by her parents. On her social media she was quite frank about her dislike of skating. She wanted to call it quits long time ago but CSA wouldn't let her. Now she's finally free. No way she wants to be back, especially as a pair skater which she had no experiences of doing ever.

Very intersting. Thank you for the insight.

I quite liked her, so it is disappointing that she is unlikely to return. But if she didn't like skating, then she has made the right decision. As long as she is happy with what she is doing now, then that is the main thing.

There's a saying (again, according to some insider on Chinese discussion forum. Don't kill the messenger) that Ying Zhao (Zhong Xie's last partner) was considered as a candidate for Zhang's partner. But her personality was considered "not docile" enough.

Oh, thank you!!!! It was her that I was thinking of when I posted this comment, because I was assuming that Zhang Mingyang would be settled in with a new partner by now. But then I saw Zhao's age and thought "Nah, maybe not!"

But, at least they did consider other candidates than just Yu.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Crossover]

It is so interesting that people think alike. I also thought Zhang Kexin would be a good fit for Hao instead of splitting the well established and promising young pair Yu/Jin. If Kexin switches her nationality to Taiwan, Amy Lin who originally competed for USA could face a new challenger.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

It is so interesting that people think alike. I also thought Zhang Kexin would be a good fit for Hao instead of splitting the well established and promising young pair Yu/Jin. If Kexin switches her nationality to Taiwan, Amy Lin who originally competed for USA could face a new challenger.

Nah, it's not going to happen. snowday explained above that Zhang Kexin doesn't actually like skating. It seems that she was there in a coaching capacity, and was asked to take part to make up the numbers.

I was just jumping the gun in thinking that she was making a comeback for a different country.

Sorry.

CaroLiza_fan

P.S. Off topic, but since we are talking about foreign-born skaters competing for Taiwan, I would like to see Melinda Wang coming back...

 

[Crossover]

Nah, it's not going to happen. snowday explained above that Zhang Kexin doesn't actually like skating. It seems that she was there in a coaching capacity, and was asked to take part to make up the numbers.

I was just jumping the gun in thinking that she was making a comeback for a different country.

Sorry.

CaroLiza_fan

P.S. Off topic, but since we are talking about foreign-born skaters competing for Taiwan, I would like to see Melinda Wang coming back...

Yes, that speculation is unlikely to happen, but I was just amused to find out some of the posters here recalled Kexin for Hao's possible partner. Melinda retired quite years ago, so I don't know how she is doing. The national ladies champions of Taiwan in recent years are all born and raised in the United States the same as Amy Lin.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Yes, that speculation is unlikely to happen, but I was just amused to find out some of the posters here recalled Kexin for Hao's possible partner. Melinda retired quite years ago, so I don't know how she is doing. The national ladies champions of Taiwan in recent years are all born and raised in the United States the same as Amy Lin.

Melinda performed during the Opening Ceremony at Four Continents this year, and she looked great. That was what put her back in my mind.

Right, now that we have all the Taiwan stuff sorted out, back to topic.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[skatefan22]

Kexin Zhang doesn't care for skating. She was forced into the sport by her parents. On her social media she was quite frank about her dislike of skating. She wanted to call it quits long time ago but CSA wouldn't let her. Now she's finally free. No way she wants to be back, especially as a pair skater which she had no experiences of doing ever.

I agree that it is unlikely for Kexin to come back but I don't think she dislikes skating. Well, almost every skater used to think about quiting at some stage. That doesn't mean that they don't love skating from the bottom of their heart. For example, Zijun had trouble with her former coach and even wanted to quit 2014 olympics and it was Kexin who encouraged her to stay in the game.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I guess Zhang is trying to beat Plushy's record for most Olympic Games attended by a male figure skater.

Of course he'll never match Plushy's other record of most Olympic medals won by a figure skater. .

FYI, a male ice dancer, Povilas Vanagas (along with Margarita Drobiaszko) has competed in 5 Olympics.

Grafstrom has the medal record with Plu as well... although he did it getting 3 individual golds and 1 individual silver... Instead of 1 individual gold, 2 silvers, and 1 team event gold - and Plu competed in 3 Olympics in the individual competition (whereas Grafstrom and some other skaters, like Shen/Zhao and Pang/Tong have competed 4 times).

But yes, Zhang could attend 5 Olympics (first pairs skater to do so I think?).... Although I don't like the partner swap.

 

[SarahSynchro]

FYI, a male ice dancer, Povilas Vanagas (along with Margarita Drobiaszko) has competed in 5 Olympics.

Grafstrom has the medal record with Plu as well... although he did it getting 3 individual golds and 1 individual silver... Instead of 1 individual gold, 2 silvers, and 1 team event gold - and Plu competed in 3 Olympics in the individual competition (whereas Grafstrom and some other skaters, like Shen/Zhao and Pang/Tong have competed 4 times).

But yes, Zhang could attend 5 Olympics (first pairs skater to do so I think?).... Although I don't like the partner swap.

Someone pointed out the record of Povilas V to me somewhere else in the thread. All good though. It's lost somewhere in these 32 pages. Just when I think I know a lot about figure skating, BAM, it turns out there's plenty I don't know! It's always good to stand corrected and continue learning.

 

[bsfan]

Such a trash, utterly garbage decision on the part of the fed. Meddling at its worst. I'm furious about this. It will be difficult and perhaps impossible for me to root for Yu/Zhang and Peng/Jin, I'll just be thinking about what we are missing out on. And I never ever want to be a fan of Chinese teams again since they can clearly be split totally capriciously no matter how successful and promising they are or what the skaters think. *fumes*

The only team I have ever liked is P/T, although I'm supposed to support all of them. I just can't stand any other than P/T. There are so many game playing, sugar coating ... all the time. When S/Z was dominating after T/M retired, I didn't watch pairs for several years.

 

[snowday]

I don't know whether anyone has shared this before:

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1360343165

This page has two videos of Peng and her former partner Tianci Zhang from the 12th Chinese Winter Games in 2012. The first video is SP and it starts from 1:35 (once you click on "Play", you have to wait for a minute or so before the "ad" disappears). Ironically, the footage before 1:35 is Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang...

The second video is the LP and it actually covers multiple teams. Peng and her partner are the first. The video should start immediately once you click on "Play". Also ironically, Yu/Jin are in this video too, along with Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang, and Sui/Han, and Pang/Tong...

Peng did two almost clean programs here.

 

[yyyskate]

I don't know whether anyone has shared this before:

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1360343165

This page has two videos of Peng and her former partner Tianci Zhang from the 12th Chinese Winter Games in 2012. The first video is SP and it starts from 1:35 (once you click on "Play", you have to wait for a minute or so before the "ad" disappears). Ironically, the footage before 1:35 is Dan Zhang & Hao Zhang...

The second video is the LP and it actually covers multiple teams. Peng and her partner are the first. The video should start immediately once you click on "Play". Also ironically, Yu/Jin are in this video too, along with Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang, and Sui/Han, and Pang/Tong...

Peng did two almost clean programs here.

Peng and Tianci Zhang was so cute together back then. and ZH and ZD also was a very matching couple....
if ZH has a tiny bit of patience and humility, none of this ridicule will happen, Chinese pair will have a tiered selection pool and much more promising youngsters for the future.
A hero is not only about his own result and himself.

this poor boy Tianci Zhang, was persuaded to retired after ZH picked his partner Peng Cheng....

 

[daylily]

I try to understand which of the coaches could have made such a decision based simply on the theory and hope of pairing up two strongest athletes to make the strongest team. Yao and Zhao both understand extremely well the importance of a (very) long term partnership, as does Zhang who still misses his connection with his old partner. When he talked about his injury that required a three week rest last year, he mentioned that with a well connected long time partner (Zhang Dan) they could pick it up easily after a month or more of not training together but a three week break from training with Peng was a big setback. Are they simply giving up on P/Z being able to form a tight partnership? Could any of them really believe a new union with a supposedly stronger partner would bring a quick success?

By tradition of the very successful Chinese Pairs program, choice of a partner is largely the responsibility of the coach but a Pair is usually formed when both partners are very young and they don't split unless one of them quits one way or another, e.g. what happened with Zhao and Tong who both lost their early partners and they both went through very disappointing experiences initially with their ultimate partners, yet they persevered in their partnerships. Zhang Hao losing his partner of 14 years was a really unusual and difficult case. Maybe all involved are disappointed in the inadequate connection between Peng and Zhang and decided to make drastic change since their paring was already unconventional.

It must be discouraging and embarrassing for Peng and Jin to be clearly considered the weaker ones. I hope it motivates them to prove the shot callers wrong. OTOH, it must be an extreme pressure on Yu and Zhang to have to gel ultra quickly and to make top 6 at next Worlds per expectation. It is almost mission impossible.

Going back to the Chinese report re the regrouping, 期待 is also a stronger verb phrase than 希望 (hope), it is more like an anticipation, an expectation. So per Mr. Ren, no matter the unacceptance by the skaters, he looks forward to Y/Z new partnership gelling quickly and a top six Worlds finish in less than a year.

I'm still puzzled at the decision, which seems to be made by someone without understanding of Pairs skating at all as well as the history of the extremely successful Chinese Pairs.

Pages ago there was accusation that everything against Zhang Hao on this post was but speculation. Now this is a perfect example of speculation pointing to the other direction. The poster argues that Yao Bin, Zhao Hongbo and Zhang Hao must dislike the idea of switch based on his own "reasoning." However, to date facts only show that Yu Xiaoyu is (or was?) reluctant about the switch, because she showed her attitude on social media.

 

[annesigin]

ZHANG Hao said ZHANG Dan was too high to be thrown several years ago. Then with Zhang Dan retiring saying 'retirement has nothing to do with my height', ZHANG Hao with coach YAO Bin began to choose a partner all over China. They picked up 5 girls at first and asked the girls to go to Beijing try practicing with ZHANG Hao. After practicing they chose two girls for next round of selection. One was PENG Cheng, the other was DONG Huibo.
DONG Huibo, 2008 WJC bronze medalist, was born in1989. Before ZHANG Hao's selection, She and her partner had been in a dilemma for a long time. Here is a video of DONG in 2011 WC. http://list.video.baidu.com/z/new/s...y=http://v.ku6.com/show/-8Rs0SoX1-qj-lXj.html Since DONG had been 23 in 2012, maybe her body wouldn't change quickly and her jump technic would be more likely to be stable. The most important thing was, DONG was just 4.5 years younger than ZHANG Hao. Just like CaroLiza_fan said, ZHANG Hao looks odd beside too young girl. Was it possible that DONG would be more suitable for ZHANG? We would never know the answer since ZHANG and coach YAO chose PENG Cheng.
PENG Cheng, as you all konw, was short, tiny, lighter than DONG and so young that she can skate till 2022 Olympics. She had been paired up with ZHANG Tianci for only one year, as you saw in former videos. Coach YAO Bin was asked why he chose PENG Cheng in an interview in 2012. He said:' It is not as optimistic as we think to count for reserved pair skaters of team China. We couln't find others except PENG Cheng at that time. Foreign skaters usually group 'strong combination', just like the regroup of German and Russian pairs. It is hard to find a partner for ZHANG Hao because most junior pairs have been too mature to split. PENG Cheng has the single jump technic and has been practicing as pairs for one year. So there is no one but her. It is not us who want to do this. We are just in a dilemma and have no way.'
After that test in Beijing, PENG Cheng paired up with ZHANG Hao. ZHANG Tianci did not look for other partner and retired directly. DONG Huibo later split with her original partner but could not find another suitable partner. After a period of hopeless searching, she retired either. Now four years passed, ZHANG Tianci, DONG Huibo and DONG's original partner, have all been coaches in different places of China. DONG even had a baby daughter last year. PENG Cheng was given up by ZHANG Hao after they attended Sochi Olympics and four WCs, then will pair up with JIN Yang. ZHANG Hao planned another selection in the spring of 2016, just like four years ago. But this time he did not need five girls to test, but only YU Xiaoyu directly.

 

[Krunchii]

I can't believe this is real, this is dumbest thing ever and I feel sorry for Xiaoyu the most, knowing that she opposed the partnership really affects my enjoyment of Chinese pairs now. Just so disappointed.

I hope whoever came up with this horrendous idea steps on a lego piece with their bare feet every morning for the rest of his/her life!!!

 

[4everchan]

I can't believe this is real, this is dumbest thing ever and I feel sorry for Xiaoyu the most, knowing that she opposed the partnership really affects my enjoyment of Chinese pairs now. Just so disappointed.

I hope whoever came up with this horrendous idea steps on a lego piece with their bare feet every morning for the rest of his/her life!!!

 

[turgon97]

Who knows... maybe Peng will perform better with a mellower partner that's close to her age.
Im against the split, and have always though Yu/Jin were the future of chinese skating, but I think we'll just have to make the best of this unfortunate situation.

Peng has lovely jumps, and I do feel that her falls are due to the intense pressure she feels from Zhao and Hao.
As a competitive tenns player, I can sort of relate. The times my league has forced me to play doubles with aggressive partners have been the most trying and frustrating. I found it hard to execute shots that are well within my capabilities due to anxiety over my partners' reactions should I miss. It's not a good feeling. Other people deal with negative or demanding situations and people better, but I think Peng would enjoy a more encouraging environment. If you watch her Kiss and Cry reaction after her FS at world's, you can kinda see how over she is with the people around her.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Pages ago there was accusation that everything against Zhang Hao on this post was but speculation. Now this is a perfect example of speculation pointing to the other direction. The poster argues that Yao Bin, Zhao Hongbo and Zhang Hao must dislike the idea of switch based on his own "reasoning." However, to date facts only show that Yu Xiaoyu is (or was?) reluctant about the switch, because she showed her attitude on social media.

Go read zhaojin's summery of events in the new thread and know that's how information should be presented.

I tried to separate out the allegations with no supporting facts and do analysis and deductions based only on real information available, instead of personal emotions, opinions, conjectures and baseless speculations presented as facts, especially to an audience without more direct sources to the information. I especially find it unnecessary and malicious to vilify and slander someone in the name of supporting another.

 

[metatron]

I agree that it is unlikely for Kexin to come back but I don't think she dislikes skating. Well, almost every skater used to think about quiting at some stage.

She doesn't like it and that's what she said on her social media. She dislike it so much that she cannot even smile on ice. And by skating, I mean figure skating. She also said she could be a lot better if she was trained as a speed skater at the first time.

 

[Crossover]

She doesn't like it and that's what she said on her social media. She dislike it so much that she cannot even smile on ice. And by skating, I mean figure skating. She also said she could be a lot better if she was trained as a speed skater at the first time.

I can feel her deep agony and frustration over not only the forceed splitting, but also the sport.