Figure Skating in Cyprus

[CaroLiza_fan]

Since their Free Skate is not until tomorrow, and I still have to do my predictions for the French round of the Senior GP Series, I will wait until tomorrow to post my reports on the Senior Ladies SP at the Warsaw Cup.

---

Sofia Lapshyna will be competing at Skate Celje in Slovenia this morning.

The Basic Novice II Ladies FS is due to start at 10:37:00 CET (09:37:00 GMT / 11:37:00 EET). So 4 hours from now.

Sofia will be the 19th and last skater to start. So, seventh to go in Group 3.

Unfortunately, no Time Schedule has been provided for the individual segments at Skate Celje. So, I have no idea what time the Group 3 Warm-Up is due to start, or what time Sofia is due to be doing her programme.

But, those times may change if somebody that is due on before them withdraws.

Here is the link for the livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H33dtrxuJpI

No Time Schedule

And here is the live scoring:
http://www.europeancriterium.eu/documents/html/1066/SEG009.HTM

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

SOFIA WON THE BRONZE MEDAL!!!!!!



Skate Celje Basic Novice II Ladies FS: Results; Protocols
Skate Celje Basic Novice II Ladies: Results

No video uploaded yet

Sofia finished 3rd out of 17 in the FS, with a score of 36.36.

Because of concentrating on the Warsaw Cup, I didn't watch the whole segment. I just watched Sofia later on in the day. But, after the girl that was on before her finished her skate, they stayed on the camera looking at the ice, so you could see Sofia doing her final warming up. And seeing what she was doing, I was thinking "ooooh. This looks good!"

And then the drama began.

Sofia was introduced, and she got into position. And then you heard this big tone come across the speakers. So, she went over to the panel, and had a wee chat. After a minute or so, she was introduced again, got into position, and again we just got a tone. So, back over to the panel again. By the third attempt, the announcer was struggling not to laugh at having to say the same thing yet again. And fortunately for her, the music did play this time.

But, boys, it was worth the wait. She was great!!!

Looking at the protocols, her first jump was a Single Axel, and she got points for it. So, I take it they are allowed at Basic Novice level. The only problems were that she was under-rotated on the second parts of both of her combination jumps (the Double Flip-Double Toe, and the Double Lutz-Double Loop). Both of them got minuses from all the judges. But, it wasn't noticeable to me.

Because of the false starts, things were running behind schedule. So, to make up the time, the skaters in the next segment were released to do their Warm-Up before Sofia had even got off the ice! So here she was, leisurely heading to the gate, and all these skaters charging past her! It was scary to watch!

She finished 2.43 points behind the girl in 2nd position, and 0.08 points ahead of the girl in 4th position.

I can tell you something, I am looking forward to seeing how this girl progresses in the years to come. Because I was really impressed with her.

WELL DONE SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Warsaw Cup Senior Ladies SP: Results; Protocols

Emilea Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoRqbX8GkXg

Emilea finished 17th out of 29 in the SP, with a score of 50.30.

Here is what I wrote in the competition thread at the time:

You know, it's a pity that I can't identify jumps. Because I would like to be able to point out whether Emilea is using the same order that she used at the Ice Challenge last week, or whether she has gone back to the order she was using before that.

The skating today looked good to my untrained eye.

Unfortunately, the judges didn't agree. She goes into last place.

Oh, how I wish the livescoring was working. I'd like to know how far behind 3rd position she is. And I can't wind back the stream to check the graphic, because they have disabled the wind back facility.

But, Emilea has a brilliant Free Skate. So, hopefully she can climb up places with it. Over the past couple of seasons, she has had form in climbing up considerably with her Free Skates.

CaroLiza_fan​

Firstly, to answer my own questions, Emilea did keep the same jump order that she used last week in Austria. And she was 0.60 points behind the then-leader, Nathalie WEINZIERL (DEU).

As for this week, she did manage to do the Triple Flip-Double Toe combination. It looked great to me, but according to the protocols, there wasn't a clear edge on the Flip. So, there were a mixture of minuses and zeros from the judges. She didn't have a great landing on her next element, the Triple Lutz, having to resort to a hand down. So, that also produced a mixture of minuses and zeros. And I thought her final jump, the Axel, looked great. But, she actually singled it out, so she got nothing for it.

So, although I thought she only had problems with one jump, she actually had problems with them all.

There are two German skaters directly ahead of Emilea. She is still 0.60 behind Weinzierl, who is now in 16th, and 1.81 points behind Kristina ISAEV, who is in 15th. There is potential to move up some places. Ahead of Isaev, there is a 2 point gap to a group that stretches all the way up to Natasha MCKAY (GBR) in 10th position, who is 6.14 points ahead of Emilea.

Emilea is currently 1.95 points ahead of 18th position, Yelizaveta BABENKO (UKR) The problem is, nearly everybody behind Emilea is in a close group. The girl in penultimate position, Natalia LERKA (POL) is 9.10 points behind Emilea. It could go either way.

So, she will have to put in a good FS to make sure she goes the right direction.

WELL DONE EMILEA!!!


Marilena Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuflHdvoKRA

Marilena finished 12th out of 29 in the SP, with a score of 54.77.

Here is what I wrote in the competition thread at the time:

Such a pit about the fall on the Lutz. Because the rest of it was just exquisite.

I don't know what else I can say. I just love everything about this programme.

9th? NINTH?!

No!

I know she had a fall, but it was better than that!

Even though I'm not a happy bunny with the scoring, Marilena and her coach seemed happy enough.

Now, time to move on and focus on the Free Skate, which I also absolutely love!

WELL DONE MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan​

After writing that, @katymay very kindly replied with the following:

She lost alot of levels on spins and StepSeq (2). Easy enough to punch up next time.​

Looking at the protocols, Marilena only got one minus, and that was from Judge 7 for the Flying Sit Spin. But, katymay is right in that the judges were mostly giving her zeros, ones and twos for these things.

Marilena is currently the second skater in a very close group of 5 skaters. She is 1.67 points ahead of 10th position, Natasha MCKAY (GBR), and 0.79 points behind 11th position, Gabriella IZZO (USA). She is 0.45 points ahead of 13th position, Niki WORIES (NED), and 0.66 points ahead of 14th position, Alina URUSHADZE (GEO). But, this group is part of a larger group that stretches right the way down to penultimate position. It could go either way.

So, she too will have to put in a good FS to make sure she goes the right direction.

WELL DONE MARILENA!!!

---

The Senior Ladies FS is due to start at 13:00:00 CET (07:00:00 EST / 12:00:00 GMT / 14:00:00 EET). So 6 hours from now.

Emilea will be the 13th skater to start. So, second skater to go in Group 3 (and second skater to go after the first resurfacing).

The Group 3 Warm-Up is due to start at 14:45:00 CET (08:45:00 EST / 13:45:00 GMT / 15:45:00 EET). So 7h 45m from now.

Emilea is due to start at 14:58:30 CET (08:58:30 EST / 13:58:30 GMT / 15:58:30 EET). So 7h 58m from now.

Marilena will be the 18th skater to start. So, first skater to go in Group 4.

The Group 4 Warm-Up is due to start at 15:33:30 CET (09:33:30 EST / 14:33:30 GMT / 16:33:30 EET). So 8h 33m from now.

Marilena is due to start at 15:40:00 CET (09:40:00 EST / 14:40:00 GMT / 16:40:00 EET). So 8h 40m from now.

But, those times may change if somebody that is due on before her withdraws.

Here is the link for the livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dy2VFxRV-U

Here is the Time Schedule:
https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2122/CSPOL21/cspol21_Women_FS_TimeSchedule.pdf

And here is the live scoring:
https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2122/CSPOL21/SEG004.HTM

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST EMILEA AND MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Warsaw Cup Senior Ladies FS: Results; Protocols
Warsaw Cup Senior Ladies: Results

Emilea Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9FD1dewsRE

Emilea finished 13th out of 29 in the FS, with a score of 101.87. This meant that she climbed to 14th place overall, with a score of 152.17.

Here is what I wrote in the competition thread at the time:

Mmmm. What can I say?

There were a few very obvious mistakes. And two of them on the one element! In the combination with three parts early on in the programme, she had a stumble before the Half Loop AND after it. Then later on, she had a hand down on one of her individual jumps and shortly afterwards on one of her combination jumps.

But the rest of it was just beautiful.

She goes into 2nd in the FS, but hangs onto the overall lead.

WELL DONE EMILEA!!!

CaroLiza_fan​

Looking at the protocols, she was actually only called on one of the stumbles I was talking about in the Triple Flip-Half Loop-Double Salchow combination. The one before the Half Loop. And I got the two times she had a hand down the wrong way around. The first was on the Triple Lutz-Double Toe combination, and the second was on the Triple Flip.

It was funny when they came back from the highlights. We had a bit of musical chairs! There were 4 chairs, and Emilea and her coach were sitting on the two chairs on their left / our right. When they saw they were on air, Emilea did a double wave, and her coach waved with his left hand. But, because of where they were sitting, the coach 's arm was outside the camera shot. So, they both got up and moved to the middle 2 chairs, so as to be centre screen.

I was expecting them to wave again, but they didn't. What they did do was laugh and joke with each other. Which was refreshing to see.

Emilea really is the expert when it comes to coming back in the Free Skate after being down the order in the Short Programme.

Emilea finished the Free Skate sandwiched between two Skating Club Of Boston skaters. She was 0.48 points behind 12th position, Marilena KITROMILIS (CYP), and 1.65 ahead of 14th position, Gabriella IZZO (USA). Izzo was actually at the back of a close group of 5 skaters covered by 3.56 points, which stretched up to Natasha MCKAY (GBR) in 10th position, who was 1.91 points ahead of Emilea.

Emilea and Gabriella also occupied the same positions in the overall results, but the other way around. Emilea finished 3.61 points behind 13th position, Gabriella, and 2.37 points ahead of 15th position, Kristina SHKULETA-GROMOVA (EST).

WELL DONE EMILEA!!!

---

Marilena Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv-wXdqp9AI

Marilena finished 12th out of 29 in the FS, with a score of 102.35. This meant that she remained in 12th place overall, with a score of 157.12.

Here is what I wrote in the competition thread at the time:

GAAAH!!!! The stream started buffering in the middle of Marilena!!!!

Not the best of skates from Marilena today, unfortunately.

When things are so close around her, the two falls and the other mistakes are going to be costly.

And she doesn't even have anybody to comfort her, because Gabriella Izzo is also from the Skating Club Of Boston and the coach is with her.

Nevertheless, Marilena goes into 3rd in the FS, and 2nd overall.

A lot better than I thought it would be. I'm delighted!

WELL DONE MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan​

Report on how Marilena got on to be edited in later.

WELL DONE MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

We have a busy week coming up for fans of the Cypriot skaters. Because there are 2 event this week that feature skaters from Cyprus.

First up, we have the Santa Claus Cup in Budapest, Hungary. The competitions start on Monday, but we have to wait until Wednesday before we see the first of the Cypriot skaters.

Also on Wednesday, we have the start of the final round of the Challenger Series, the Golden Spin Of Zagreb, which will take place in Sisak, Croatia.

With skaters at two different events, the clearest way to keep track of who is skating when is probably a table:

Skater​	Event​	Location​	Segment​	Day​	Segment Start Time (Local)​	Segment Start Time (Me)​	Segment Start Time (Cyprus)​
Stefania Yakovleva​	Santa Claus Cup​	Budapest, Hungary​	Junior Ladies SP​	Wednesday 8th​	14:18 CET​	13:18 GMT​	15:18 EET​
Marilena Kitromilis​	Golden Spin Of Zagreb​	Sisak, Croatia​	Senior Ladies SP​	Thursday 9th​	09:00 CET​	08:00 GMT​	10:00 EET​
Stefania Yakovleva​	Santa Claus Cup​	Budapest, Hungary​	Junior Ladies FS​	Thursday 9th​	13:54 CET​	12:54 GMT​	14:54 EET​
Marilena Kitromilis​	Golden Spin Of Zagreb​	Sisak, Croatia​	Senior Ladies FS​	Friday 10th​	12:30 CET​	11:30 GMT​	13:30 EET​
Sofia Lapshyna​	Santa Claus Cup​	Budapest, Hungary​	Basic Novice Ladies FS​	Sunday 12th​	11:14 CET​	10:14 GMT​	12:14 EET​

Note: Angelina and Ilia were on the Provisional Entry List for the Junior Ice Dance at the Santa Claus Cup, but they are not on the updated list.

This table is only an overview. As ever, I will be posting reminders on the morning of the competitions, which will include all the links and more detailed times, including the times in the skater's home town.

Hope this helps

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

After a month's break over the Christmas and New Year period, we are now entering a very busy couple of weeks for the Cypriot team.

As you all probably know by now, Marilena Kitromilis has the honour of becoming the first skater to represent Cyprus at the European Championships this week. But, hot on the heels of this, the Junior skaters from Cyprus will be in action in Oberstdorf next week at the Bavarian Open.

• Stefania Yakovleva will be competing in Junior Ladies.
• Angelina Kudryavtseva / Ilia Karankevich will be competing in Junior Ice Dance.
• Sofía Val / Nikita Vitryanyuk will be competing in Junior Ice Dance (albeit representing Spain).

Getting back to Europeans, and the Senior Ladies SP is due to start at 11:52:00 EET (04:52:00 EST / 09:52:00 GMT). So 4 hours from now.

Marilena will be the 12th skater to start. So, sixth and last skater in Group 2 (and last skater to go before the first ice resurfacing).

The Group 2 Warm-Up is due to start at 12:37:30 EET (05:37:30 EST / 10:37:30 GMT). So 4h 45m from now.

Marilena is due to start at 13:16:40 EET (06:16:40 EST / 11:16:40 GMT). So 5h 24m from now.

But, those times may change if somebody that is due on before her withdraws.

Here is the link for the ISU livestream on the ISU YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUTtZvdfdk

No coverage of the Ladies SP on British Eurosport 2

Here is the link for the World Feed coverage on the Eurosport Player:
https://www.eurosportplayer.com/videos/eurosport/european-championships-2133265

Here is the Time Schedule:
http://www.isuresults.com/results/s...----------QUAL000100--_StartListwithTimes.pdf

And here is the live scoring:
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2122/ec2022/SEG003.htm

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I've already posted about this in two other threads, but felt that it should be posted here too.

Well, it turns out the rumours were true after all.

Sofía Val and Nikita Vitryanyuk have split.

Here is Sofía's announcement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZUzqcBoG2d/

Nikita hasn't posted anything on Instagram yet. Although, to be fair, he doesn't post often anyway.

Oh, well. It was nice while it lasted.

As their adoptive father, I am proud of everything they achieved in the short time they were together.

I suppose all I can say now is all the best to both of them for the future.

---

But now, from some bad news involving one Sofia, we go to some good news involving another Sofia.

The newest member of my "family", Sofia Lapshyna, will be in action this coming week at her namesake competition, the Sofia Trophy in Bulgaria.

The Entries / Results Page is not up yet. But, according to the Time Schedule PDF for the event, all the Basic Novice competitions are being held on Thursday. So, I'll post more information on that morning.

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The first figure skating competitions at the Olympics may be starting tonight, but before that one of our skaters from Cyprus will be in action.

Sofia Lapshyna will be taking part in the second of the Basic Novice competitions to be held today at the appropriately named Sofia Trophy in Bulgaria.

The Basic Novice II Ladies SP is due to start at 11:25:00 EET (09:25:00 GMT). So 4 hours from now.

Sofia will be the 7th skater to start. So, seventh and last skater in Group 1.

She is due to start at 11:55:00 EET (09:55:00 GMT). So 4h 30m from now.

But, those times may change if somebody that is due on before her withdraws.

Here is the link for the livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qFsiIzDozw

Here is the Time Schedule:
http://sofia-trophy.clubdenkovastav...I.GIRLS1.7.2009andyounger_FS_TimeSchedule.pdf

And here is the live scoring:
http://sofia-trophy.clubdenkovastaviski.com/2022/NonISU/index.html?page=SEG005.HTM

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Sofia Trophy Basic Novice II Ladies FS: Results; Protocols
Sofia Trophy Basic Novice II Ladies: Results

No video uploaded yet

Sofia finished 10th out of 27 in the FS, with a score of 36.29.

First of all, I would like to apologise. I decided to wait a few days before writing this, in the hope that a fan video would appear. But, alas, it has not.

You see, there is not much that I can say about Sofia's programme, for the simple reason that I didn't see it. The organisers were having a lot of technical issues with the stream that morning, and unfortunately, Sofia was skating during one of the times when it was off air.

So, all I can really do is to copy in what I wrote in the competition thread at the time, and then examine the protocols.

Here is what I wrote before she was due to start:

Post in thread '2022 Sofia Trophy'

Feb 3, 2022

Well, Sofia is the next to skate, but it looks like we won't be seeing her.

So angry. I have been looking forward to this for weeks.

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

• CaroLiza_fan

And here is what I wrote after her scores appeared in the results table (which, thankfully, was working):

Post in thread '2022 Sofia Trophy'

Feb 3, 2022

Well, my worst fears confirmed. We didn't get to see Sofia.



From the results table, it looks like she may have had a fall, as she had a half point deduction. But, she still went into 3rd position, with a score of 36.29.

Apart from her TES score (which would have been affected by the fall), all her scores were the second highest of the 7 skaters that have skated so far.

She currently has a roughly 2 point gap on either side of her. She is 2.17 points behind 2nd position, Ada DEMIR (TUR), and 1.92 points ahead of 4th position, Eva SOVIČ (HRV).

WELL DONE...

• CaroLiza_fan

Looking at the protocols confirms that Sofia did have a fall, on the Double Lutz. She did a Double Flip - Double Toe combination before it, and the Double Toe part was under-rotated. These two elements were the only ones that got minus GOE and minus marks from the Judges. All the other Judges marks were either positive or neutral.

Sofia finished 1.67 points behind 9th position, Gergana YORDANOVA (BUL), and 1.92 points ahead of 11th position, Eva SOVIČ. However, in an indication of how close the field was ahead of her, Natalia RUNCANU (ROU) in 5th position was only 3.09 points ahead of Sofia. (Ada DEMIR, who I mentioned as being directly ahead of Sofia at the time she got her scores, finished in 6th).

Although Sofia's score was lower than the absolute PB she scored in the Cubs competition at this event in 2020, her next best score is only 0.68 higher than she scored this weekend. In fact, Sofia is very consistent in scoring in the 36's. But, those programmes were all clean. So, if she is still scoring in that range with a fall and an under-rotation, it's a good sign.

Looking forward to hopefully being able to actually see her at her next competition.

WELL DONE SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Sofia is due to be competing again this week at the Bellu Memorial in Bucharest, Romania. But, given what has been happening in the country she was born in, plans may change.

I was looking at the website for the European Criterium yesterday, and I didn't realise that the events were being held as part of a series, with points being given that count towards an overall category ranking.

Going into the Bellu Memorial, Sofia is lying joint 9th in the Basic Novice II Rankings, with 13 points. She got 10 points for finishing 3rd at Round 1, Skate Celje, and got 3 points for finishing 10th at Round 3, the Sofia Trophy. She did not compete at Round 2, Skate Helena.

Sofia is currently level with a girl from Bulgaria who has competed in all three rounds so far, and who is also competing in Bucharest today. In fact, she will be the first to skate in the segment. So, I hope Sofia takes notice of how she gets on.

That said, Sofia has been well ahead of her in both of the rounds where they both competed. The Bulgarian got most of her points at the competition that Sofia didn't compete at.

The Turkish girl that is 3 points ahead of them in 8th position is not entered for the Bellu Memorial. However, the girls in 6th (a Slovenian with 20 points) and 7th (a Bulgarian with 18 points) are. Both of these girls have finished ahead of Sofia once and behind Sofia once. They are going back-to-back in the group after Sofia. So Sofia will just have to hope that what she does is good enough to get ahead of them.

This having an overall championship is exciting! It adds a whole new dimension to the competition.

The Basic Novice II Ladies SP is due to start at 11:15:00 EET (09:15:00 GMT). So 3 hours from now.

Sofia will be the 7th skater to start. So, seventh and last skater in Group 1.

Unfortuantely, there is no Time Schedule. But, Sofia has the same starting number that she did at the Sofia Trophy, and today's segment starts 10 minutes earlier than it did in Hungary. So, if we assume that Sofia will also be starting 10 minutes earlier today, she will be due to start at 11:45:00 EET (09:45:00 GMT). So 3h 30m from now.

But, those times may change if somebody that is due on before her withdraws.

Here is the link for the livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6I2J48aPRk

No Time Schedule

And here is the live scoring:
https://frponline.ro/BELLU/SEG009.htm

Hope this helps

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Sofia did withdraw. Hardly surprising, given the circumstances.

So that they are in this thread, I am going to copy in a few relevant comments that I posted in the competition thread.

Here is what I wrote at the end of the Basic Novice III Ladies Free Skate, the segment that preceeded Sofia's segment:

Post in thread '2022 Bellu Memorial'

Feb 24, 2022

Lots of cheers when the Ukrainian girl that finished off the segment entered the ice. And cheers for every element, even when she fell.

Now I'm wondering if we had the same with the other Ukrainian skater, who was second to go.

EDIT: Just wound back to check and, yes, she did! I didn't notice because her music was so loud that it was hard to make out the audience during the programme! ​

She slots into 10th position, 3 places behind her team-mate.

Although she is representing Cyprus, I hope that the audience are knowledgable enough to know that my kid Sofia Lapshyna is...

• CaroLiza_fan

• 

Fast forwarding to the Basic Novice II Ladies FS, here is what I wrote when Sofia was due to come out:

Post in thread '2022 Bellu Memorial'

Feb 24, 2022

Right, time for Sofia.

The priority for Sofia right now is to finish ahead of the skater that kicked off this segment, as they are level on 13 points in the overall European Criterium Basic Novice II Ladies rankings. But, because the livescoring isn't working at the moment, I don't know where Yordanova is in this segment's standings.

ALL THE BEST SOFIA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

• CaroLiza_fan

(For the record, she finished in 6th position, earning 7 points to move up to 20 points altogether. The other Bulgarian girl I mentioned in my previous post actually won the competition, so earns 15 points to move up to 33 points. And the Slovenian girl I mentioned finished in 4th position, earning 9 points to move up to 29 points. But, the rankings page hasn't been updated yet, so I don't know what position any of them is in now).

And here is what I wrote just after that:

Post in thread '2022 Bellu Memorial'

Feb 24, 2022

OK, massive confusion.

When skater #6 finished, all the skaters from Group 2 came out onto the ice. The announcer came on over the tannoy and asked "Is Sofia Lapshyna here?" And then repeated it a couple more times. And then, getting frustrated that the other skaters were on the ice, she said to them "Sofia Lapshyna is next to skate. Is she here?"

I think by this stage we all knew that the "Sofia Lapshyna has withdrawn" announcement would be coming.

To be honest, I am not surprised, given what is happening in the country she was born in. I was expecting all the Ukrainian skaters to...

• CaroLiza_fan

• 

And I want to re-iterate that final sentiment:

I hope all is well with Sofia and all her family, and I am sending them my best wishes.



CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The Junior World Championship are being held this week, and Cyprus will be represented in two categories.

Angelina and Ilia will be competing in Ice Dance, which starts today in 6 hours from now. More details about times and links are in the following post over in their own thread:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/2973454

And Stefania will be competing in Ladies Singles, which starts tomorrow. The Time Schedule has not been released yet, but I'll let you know all the details nearer the time. Probably first thing tomorrow morning.

ALL THE BEST!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

There has been a major development since I posted about it being Ekaterina's birthday yesterday. And it may actually turn out to be relevant to her.

Last month, Emilea started a fundraiser to help the family of her Ukrainian friend and club-mate, the Ice Dancer Vadym Kolesnik. Vadym has been representing America since 2016, partnering Avonley Nguyễn from then until 2020. In their final competition together, they became Junior World Champions. Since splitting, Avonley has found a new partner, but Vadym had not.

Well, yesterday Emilea announced that she would be switching to Ice Dance to become Vadym's new partner. Unfortunately, it looks like they will represent America.

There is a whole conversation about it in the Splits & Partner Changes thread, starting with the following post:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/2981436

As I said over in that thread, I am sad that Emilea will no longer be competing in Singles skating for Cyprus. But, I am looking forward to seeing her and Vadym.

With Emilea no longer competing in Singles skating, it could lead to some shuffling around of the skaters. Ekaterina Luneva will probably do the Junior GP Series, but after that we might see her starting to do some Senior competitions.

I would have suggested that Sofia Lapshyna could have moved up to Juniors to provide some competition to club-mate Stefania Yakovleva once Katya moves up to Seniors. However, you have to be 13 on 1st July to be eligible for Juniors, and Sofia doesn't turn 13 until September. So, she is officially too young to compete in Juniors this coming season.

I don't know if there is anybody else that might join Stefania in Juniors. The last time we saw the Afxentiou sisters was at the Sofia Trophy in February 2020, so I don't know if they are still competing. At that competition, Christiana was competing at Junior level (her first Junior competition), while Maria-Nelly was competing at Basic Novice level. But, that was over 2 years ago. They might both be age-eligible now. I know Christiana turns 16 in September, but I don't actually know what age Maria-Nelly is. She came through the ranks with Sofia, so she is probably a similar age. It's just a question of when exactly her 13th birthday is.

Whatever happens, I wish the skaters that do compete this coming season all the best!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

After yesterday's shock, we are returning to normal service today with the second of this week's birthdays.

Today is Danai Hadjimitsi's birthday!!!

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY DANAI!!!



I hope she has had a really enjoyable day, and that the coming year is a good one for her.

It's been 5 years since we last saw Danai in competition, so I think it's safe to say that she is now retired. But, I hope that she is as successful with what she is doing now as she was when she was skating.

And she did have success. Danai will always be able to say that she was a National Champion at the first two editions of the Cypriot Championships. And of the three skaters that are able to say that, Danai is the only one that actually had opposition in her competitions.

It is such a shame that she never got to compete in a Junior GP. She was just unfortunate to reach Junior level at a time when there were a lot of skaters competing at Junior level in Cyprus.

But, I will always smile when I remember the time I watched Danai in real life at the ice rink at MyMall many moons ago (before I even knew who she was!)

Anyway, I hope she had a great birthday.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I don't know if there is anybody else that might join Stefania in Juniors. The last time we saw the Afxentiou sisters was at the Sofia Trophy in February 2020, so I don't know if they are still competing. At that competition, Christiana was competing at Junior level (her first Junior competition), while Maria-Nelly was competing at Basic Novice level. But, that was over 2 years ago. They might both be age-eligible now. I know Christiana turns 16 in September, but I don't actually know what age Maria-Nelly is. She came through the ranks with Sofia, so she is probably a similar age. It's just a question of when exactly her 13th birthday is.

I'm an idiot. I can't count. Christiana turns 18 in September, not 16.

(To be fair, after the past couple of years, it is easy to forget that it is now 2022! )

The reason I'm pointing out my mistake rather than just editing the post and hoping that nobody notices is that it gives me the opportunity to tell you that I have been hunting around trying to find some indication as to whether the Afxentiou sisters are still skating. And in doing so, I found a video that was posted at the start of March by the Amathusia Figure Skating Club (the club in Limassol that is run by Christiana and Maria-Nelly's mother, Irina).

The video is a montage consisting of still images of the club's skaters. Maria-Nelly is the first skater to be shown, so she is still active. Christiana is not included in the video, so I'd say that is probably a good indication that she has retired.

Because there are very young kids in the montage, I'm not linking to the video in case it breaks the child protection rules. But, I will talk about it instead.

The thing I found most interesting was the sheer number of skaters on their books. By my counting, there were 24 skaters in the video. Including 3 boys.

(I should add, when looking through the club's older videos, I realised that one of the boys has a younger sister that also skates. But she wasn't in the 2022 montage. So, there may be even more skaters coming through than the two dozen in the video. )

Admittedly, a lot of the skaters were very young, so if they do stick with it, it will be a good few years before we see them competing internationally. But, about a third of the skaters shown look old enough to be progressing to international competitions at Novice or Junior level in the near future.

One thing that made me smile was that two of the younger girls are obviously twins. And they were wearing identical dresses. And I was thinking "oh, no. That must be a nightmare telling them apart!" But then I noticed that one was wearing white boots and the other was wearing black boots. That's clever! I wonder if Alexe and Piper Gilles ever did that...

All in all, seeing this video is very encouraging. Even if only a fraction of these skaters come through, the future is looking bright!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

A year ago today, on the 61st anniversary of Cyprus' independence from the UK, I posted profiles at the start of this thread for the four skaters that were representing Cyprus internationally at Junior and Senior levels at the time:

1. Emilea Zingas (Senior Ladies)
2. Ekaterina Luneva (Junior Ladies)
3. Marilena Kitromilis (Senior Ladies)
4. Stefania Yakovleva (Junior Ladies)

However, over the past year, there has been a lot more interest in them than I anticipated. And I have been regretting not creating separate threads for each of them.

This morning, to mark the 62nd anniversary of the island's independence, I put that right. I moved the existing profiles out into new threads. I suppose you could say that the skaters in question have gained independence from the Team thread!

In addition, I have also created a thread for Emilea's new Ice Dance partnership with Vadym Kolesnik.

Here are the links to all the new threads:

Emilia ZINGAS
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/92884

Ekaterina LUNEVA
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/92885

Marilena KITROMILIS
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/92886

Stefania YAKOVLEVA
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/92887

Emilia ZINGAS & Vadym KOLESNIK
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/92888


All the best to them all for this coming season!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The 2022 Junior Grand Prix Series starts this week, and it was confirmed about an hour ago that the Cypriot skaters will start their campaign in 4 weeks time.

Stefania, along with Angelina and Ilia, are entered in the fourth Junior Grand Prix, the Armenian Cup.

There are no substitutes for either. Which may be an indication that Ekaterina will not be competing in Juniors this season. (She is due to age out of Juniors at the end of this season). With Emilea no longer competing in Singles, it would be a good idea for Ekaterina to move to Seniors now to give Marilena some opposition. Especially since Ekaterina is actually older than Marilena.

Incidentally, I would expect that the next Junior GP that we will see Cypriot skaters participating in to be Round 6, the Baltic Cup (i.e. the second of the two events in Poland). Because that is the only event left where Cyprus is pencilled in for Ladies and Ice Dance.

For the record, here is what Cyprus was down for:

Category​	Entry Criteria​	Rd. 1: FRA​	Rd. 2: CZE​	Rd. 3: LAT​	Rd. 4: ARM​	Rd. 5: POL (1)​	Rd. 6: POL (2)​	Rd. 7: ITA​
Ladies	1 entry in 3 events	​	​	CYP​	CYP​	​	CYP​	​
Men	1 entry in 2 events	​	​	​	CYP​	​	CYP​	​
Pairs	1 entry in 3 events	​	CYP​	​	​	CYP​	CYP​	​
Dance	1 entry in 7 events	CYP​	CYP​	CYP​	CYP​	CYP​	CYP​	CYP​

Source: https://isu.org/docman-documents-li...es-53/28999-general-announcement-2022-23/file

Can't wait to see them in action!!!

ALL THE BEST!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

First and foremost, we have double birthday celebrations in the Cypriot team today.

2018 and 2017 Basic Novice A National Champion Zea Maria Antoniou turns 20 today.

HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY ZEA MARIA!!!

And 6-times National Champion (2019 & 2018 Advanced Novice; 2017 & 2016 Basic Novice A; 2015 Cubs; and 2014 Chicks) Christiana Afxentiou turns 18 today.

HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY CHRISTIANA!!!



I hope both girls have an enjoyable day, and that the coming year is a good one for them.

Incidentally, I would expect that the next Junior GP that we will see Cypriot skaters participating in to be Round 6, the Baltic Cup (i.e. the second of the two events in Poland). Because that is the only event left where Cyprus is pencilled in for Ladies and Ice Dance.

My prediction proved to be only partially correct. Stefania is indeed entered for the Baltic Cup. However Angelina and Ilia are not going to Gdańsk. Instead, they are heading to the final Junior GP of the season, in Egna / Neumarkt, Italy.

But, we will still see them all in action at next week's Junior GP, the Armenian Cup.

Incidentally, here is a series of lovely videos that Angelina posted of her and Stefania on the ice in Dubai:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfQu4JCoP7h/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CgBYTL8IaWK/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CglXUoQI6fG/
https://www.instagram.com/p/ChJ5YZfoNgu/

Ilia doesn't appear. But, I like to imagine that he was maybe doing the filming!

---

Meanwhile, ahead of making her Senior GP debut at her home rink in Skate America, Marilena will be competing at the US Classic in Lake Placid tonight.

More details in the following post over in her own fan fest thread:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/3007027

ALL THE BEST MARILENA!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

As you may have noticed, I have not been posting about Stefania, Angelina and Ilia competing at this week's Junior GP, the Armenian Cup in Yerevan. The reason is that the event got cancelled, due to safety concerns after over 200 people were killed in fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces at the border.

I decided to hold off posting here until we found out what was happening with the skaters affected by the cancellation.

There were attempts made to re-schedule the event at a later date. However, due to how packed the calendar is at this time of year, with there being no weeks without Grands Prix (be they Junior or Senior) between now and December, this option was not possible.

Consequently, the skaters that were due to compete in Yerevan have instead been re-allocated to the remaining 3 Junior GP's. Which is going to lead to very big fields, very long segments, and very long days.

Stefania had been due to represent Cyprus on her own at the second of the Polish events, the Baltic Cup. But now, she will have Angelina and Ilia joining her.

Similarly, Angelina and Ilia had been due to represent Cyprus on their own at the final Junior GP in Egna-Neumarkt. But now, they will have Stefania joining them.

To be honest, I was surprised that they weren't all allocated to the same events in the first place. As I said in a previous post, I fully expected them all to be going to the Baltic Cup. So, in a way, this unfortunate situation has rectified that.

For us fans, it means we have to wait a couple more weeks to see their season debuts. But, for the skaters, it means a couple more weeks of training and preparing. And hopefully that will pay off.

ALL THE BEST!!!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Now that this season's Junior GP allocations have been sorted out, it is time to turn our attention to a skater who will probably be challenging for a Junior GP slot in the not-too distant future. Because today is Sofia Lapshyna's 13th birthday.

З ДНЕМ НАРОДЖЕННЯ СОФІЯ!!!



I hope she has an enjoyable day, and that the coming year is a good one for her.

And, of course, I hope she and all her family and friends are safe and well, and able to celebrate her birthday.

---

As Sofia is now 13, it means that I am now able to upload a profile for her to the start of this thread.

Sofia LAPSHYNA
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/3014301

By the way, Sofia is not the only skater who has been added to the start of this thread. Maria Nelly Afxentiou (Christiana's wee sister) also has a profile now. Her profile has actually been sitting prepared for a few years, but could not be uploaded before now because I did not know when exactly she turned 13. All I knew was that she is older than Sofia.

Maria Nelly AFXENTIOU
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/3014299

Hope you like the new additions to the thread.

CaroLiza_fan