2021 GP Italy - Women: Thoughts and Comments?

[gsk8]

Shcherbakova snags Gran Premio d'Italia title

Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova rose from third to snag the Women’s gold at the 2021 Gran Premio d’Italia (Grand Prix of Italy) in Torino, Italy, on Saturday. Teammate Maiia Khromykh pocketed the […]

www.goldenskate.com

What are your thoughts on the Women's event?

I'm so very proud of Hendrickx! First woman from Belgium to get a GP medal!

Khromykh did so well in her debut and I'm very excited for her!

Also very proud of Mihara

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Very happy for Loena. You could tell in the K&C how much this medal meant to her.

 

[lariko]

Beautiful! Honestly, those top groups of women are always so fun to watch. I was only sad for the Korean women, but other than that, no surprises, really, and yay for Scherbakova landing that 4F

 

[Lzbee]

It's great to see a small fed skater get a GP medal, seeing Loena's reaction was the highlight of my night. And it was well deserved as both of her skates were great.

It was never in doubt but Anna redeemed herself in the FP and the speed going into the 3Lz-3Lo was the best I've seen from her.

Maiia did well but it was clear there were some nerves going into it. She is making a statement to RusFed to not underestimate her by landing two quads though.

And the curse of Mai Mihara continues. Another 4th place but her scores are improving. Her reaction was also very sweet.

I feel so bad for Eunsoo, she has so much potential but the start of the FP went really badly. It was very gutsy how she pulled herself together after the 3rd jumping pass.

I'm sad that Yelim is inconsistent, she has the biggest jumps and they are so satisfying to watch when she lands them.

As for the judging, the tech panel was asleep for both the SP and FP, there were so many uncalled URs and edges. I'm disappointed tbh since previous GPs were looking like we'd get proper judging this season.

 

[RatedPG]

Beautiful! Honestly, those top groups of women are always so fun to watch. I was only sad for the Korean women, but other than that, no surprises, really, and yay for Scherbakova landing that 4Lz.

She actually landed a 4F

 

[lariko]

She actually landed a 4F

Right you are, Flip it was. Good one nonetheless.

 

[flanker]

Anna landed the 4Lz in the warm-up so we can agree on "she landed 4Lz"

In fact she said she wanted to add the 4Lz into her program beside the 4F but her team persuaded her to focus on the clean 4F now and add it later. Anna with both of her quads back is a clear gold medal contender anywhere. Never rule her out.

Maiia did also very well. Nervous, but who would not be. For a very long time she was no one's favourite and many doubt she will be ever able to land a clean quad. And now she stands among the top world skaters and despite her nerves she is realizing she can medal at a top competition. Clear black horse of the fight for the olympic spot.

Loena Hendrickx - good that Europe finally has a strong skater after Carolina's retirement. I originally thought that Europe will have such skater in Viveca Lindfors, but her injuries prevented her to make it.

Mai Mihara - I'm sad she has finished 4th again (personally I would put her 3rd, but that's purely subjective), but she's still increasing her performance. If nothing more she should be a medal contender at 4CC if Japan will send her.

 

[flanker]

Press conference:



Edit: Youtube version:

 

[skylark]

Anna Shcherbakova proved today why she is the World Champion. In a sport meant to be equally sport and artistry, Anna excels in both athleticism and artistry. And what a competitor. She channels her competitive spirit into both sides, tech and presentation. She doesn't let her head or a shaky past result put her off her pure intention: to skate her best, earning her tech points and her presentation points. To excel in performing and jumping, and to always look purely gorgeous as to positions and as to facial expressions, musical sensitivity and movement, she can wow me every time. She has a magical quality and great ice presence. Oh, and she has charisma by the barrelful.

Loena Hendrickx winning the bronze medal was also a historic moment - first time a Belgium woman won a Grand Prix medal. But that wasn't even what made Loena's K&C moment so wonderful and so touching. Her skating has everything: beautiful ice presence, performance, jumps, and a certain indescribable something. And her emotional reaction to her scores was something to see.

One thing: I don't know why so many folks decry skaters using 'Roxanne" from 'Moulin Rouge.' It gives skaters (both Maiia and Eun-soo, in this event) opportunities to show their dramatic talent, some sass, some flirtation, some smoothness and dance-ability. It gives them strong beats to showcase moments in the program that they want to showcase. There's a reason skaters keep choosing war-horse music. IT Works!

 

[yume]

The last group was really pleasing to watch. 5 clean-ish skates in a row.

I wonder if Loena isn't comfortable with euler combos. She's doing 6 triples program while she can do a 7 one while still repeating both. Lutz and flip. Even with two 3Ts she can have Mais BV which is higher by 3pts. If she delivers that she will be close to 150. She's up right there for the battle of 4th place which can become 3rd or higher if a Russian falters at olys.

Shcherbakova is getting the best GOEs so far (+19). Even more than Valieva (+20) if we take into account the level of difficulty thus the difference of GOE factoring. 92 TES is really big with just one quad .

 

[anonymoose_au]

One thing: I don't know why so many folks decry skaters using 'Roxanne" from 'Moulin Rouge.'

I love that version of Roxanne it's the cover with the croaking lady that kills me,I mean it's just awful.

But I love Maii's program, it wasn't her best interpretation today, but I think she skates in superbly.

Also I'm happy for Sofia S! She looked much happier today and weren't her 2As lovely? She was skating noticeably faster today and I think it really helped her! She's a fighter and I hope she can keep improving

 

[alexocfp]

Besides the usual Anna doing Anna things, a mention has to be given to the shoddy camera work. It bordered on film student amateur bad at times.

Those camera fade/jump cuts alone would have been scorn worthy, but they decided to get even more incompetent by missing jumps. There is one skater on ice, it’s not hard to follow her.

Can only image if they had to shoot ice hockey.

 

[Thrashergurl]

I’m in the minority I really wanted Leona to pull off the ultimate upset today. The results are getting too predictable, and predictable starts to get boring. Can anyone beat these Russian girls? Why do they continue inflating the scores? The usual, predictable outcomes. Figure skating needs someone to shake these events up a little bit and shock everyone.
That said- kudos to Anna for continually staying under the radar but getting it done on the ice.

 

[Colonel Green]

I wonder if Loena isn't comfortable with euler combos. She's doing 6 triples program while she can do a 7 one while still repeating both.

No, six triples is the maximum you can do if (as is her case) you don't have a triple loop. Loena only has four different triples (toe loop, Salchow, flip, Lutz).

 

[Bluediamonds09]

I just don't find anything superb in anna's free skate, but I appreciate her facial expressions and obvious talent. I just found loena's spins superior , satoko's choreography more detailed, maiia's music edits better. I think anna is better than what she was given, even though she is clearly weaker in several areas.

 

[gsk8]

I’m in the minority I really wanted Leona to pull off the ultimate upset today. The results are getting too predictable, and predictable starts to get boring. Can anyone beat these Russian girls? Why do they continue inflating the scores? The usual, predictable outcomes. Figure skating needs someone to shake these events up a little bit and shock everyone.
That said- kudos to Anna for continually staying under the radar but getting it done on the ice.

Hendrickx has an amazing short program and as long as she keeps it consistent, is doing well with that. The reality is that for an "upset" to happen, 1) the Russians have to fall on the quad(s) or 2) Hendrickx (and others) need to add a quad to their FS.

I don't wish to see either happen. I don't like seeing women doing quads as I think it makes the program too tense and mechanical. I'd rather see some amazing PCS with solid triples

 

[Mawwerg]

I love that version of Roxanne it's the cover with the croaking lady that kills me,I mean it's just awful.

But I love Maii's program, it wasn't her best interpretation today, but I think she skates in superbly.

Also I'm happy for Sofia S! She looked much happier today and weren't her 2As lovely? She was skating noticeably faster today and I think it really helped her! She's a fighter and I hope she can keep improving

2As were not lovely.

 

[Azikin]

#NeverUnderestimateAnna

 

[anonymoose_au]

2As were not lovely.

Well they were bigger than when she does them with the tanos.

Anyway I enjoyed her skate and it was lovely to see her smile. Is that OK with you?

 

[yume]

No, six triples is the maximum you can do if (as is her case) you don't have a triple loop. Loena only has four different triples (toe loop, Salchow, flip, Lutz).

Oh i didn't know. Never noticed she wasn't attempting 3lo.
A bit weird at this level but others toe jumpers struggled with 3lo. Like Osmond early in her career and Yuna Kim her whole career (yeah i know, the injury, but since her junior days it's a jump she was rarely doing cleanly and she was frequently attempting 6 triples since then).

She's competitive with 6 triples thanks to GOEs but it would be better if she could add a 7th.
I searched videos of 2016-2017 jgp season because the 3lo was mandatory in SP (to see if she attempted to rotate it or jumped a 2lo). But seems like she only did challengers and B competitions that season, not even junior worlds. While she went to jgp the next season.