Dance OD

Didn't watch it, but results are up...big score for Domnina/Shabalin, as expected. I think their OD is a lot of fun, though.

1 Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN RUS 63.20 32.70 30.50 7.95 7.80 8.15 8.10 8.15 0.00 #10
2 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT FRA 58.03 30.20 27.83 7.25 7.05 7.35 7.55 7.45 0.00 #9
3 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV RUS 52.44 28.30 24.14 6.40 6.00 6.45 6.50 6.45 0.00 #8
4 Katherine COPELY / Deividas STAGNIUNAS LTU 50.83 28.50 22.33 5.85 5.55 6.00 5.85 6.10 0.00 #5
5 Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO UKR 50.76 28.00 22.76 6.00 5.65 6.15 6.00 6.15 0.00 #6
6 Anastasia GREBENKINA / Vazgen AZROJAN ARM 49.33 27.00 23.33 6.05 5.95 6.25 6.30 6.20 1.00 #7
7 Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER RUS 47.70 26.70 21.00 5.50 5.15 5.60 5.70 5.70 0.00 #3
8 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI GER 45.73 25.50 20.23 5.40 5.05 5.40 5.55 5.30 0.00 #4
9 Kamila HAJKOVA / David VINCOUR CZE 44.50 26.90 17.60 4.65 4.50 4.80 4.75 4.55 0.00 #2
10 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT USA 41.30 25.00 16.30 4.40 4.00 4.50 4.30 4.30 0.00 #1

1 Oksana DOMNINA / Maxim SHABALIN
RUS
103.25 1 1
2 Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT
FRA
92.90 2 2
3 Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV
RUS
82.66 3 3
4 Anna ZADOROZHNIUK / Sergei VERBILLO
UKR
80.04 5 5
5 Anastasia GREBENKINA / Vazgen AZROJAN
ARM
79.37 4 6
6 Katherine COPELY / Deividas STAGNIUNAS
LTU
78.51 6 4
7 Ekaterina RUBLEVA / Ivan SHEFER
RUS
74.40 8 7
8 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI
GER
72.81 7 8
9 Kamila HAJKOVA / David VINCOUR
CZE
67.85 9 9
10 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT
USA
63.33 10 10

I predicted they would score way over 60 on the OD, and they did. They now have the highest AND second highest OD scores so far this season. By Worlds, their OD will be worth 65 or more, just wait and see.

I must admit it sure looks like they are being set up to win worlds and the second Rus team to medal! No way there would not be at least 1 top Rus dance team in the hunt for Gold in 2010. And now it looks like they are building to have 2 in the running!

Sackie said:

I must admit it sure looks like they are being set up to win worlds and the second Rus team to medal! No way there would not be at least 1 top Rus dance team in the hunt for Gold in 2010. And now it looks like they are building to have 2 in the running!

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Ice Dance is their only medal(s) hope, and they are pushing hard for it.

They have NO chance in Ladies or Men (unless a healthy and well-trained Plushenko returns, and that is very doubtful), and very little chance in Pairs.

They are pushing Pairs with two teams. One may not be elligible for the Olys; and the other seems to be in favor with the RF. If S&Z skate they will have to find out how to eliminate this Chinese team :sheesh:

They do have a good Dance team with K&N. Now how can they push them to the forefront?

Joe

chuckm said:

Ice Dance is their only medal(s) hope, and they are pushing hard for it.

They have NO chance in Ladies or Men (unless a healthy and well-trained Plushenko returns, and that is very doubtful), and very little chance in Pairs.

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Can you blame them. It is their only card and they are playing it. The state of Russian skating is already embarassing enough given their rich history (especialy the recent hype of a 4 gold haul in Turin) as it is.

slutskayafan21 said:

Can you blame them. It is their only card and they are playing it. The state of Russian skating is already embarassing enough given their rich history (especialy the recent hype of a 4 gold haul in Turin) as it is.

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Well, I would not be that pessimistic, indeed the state of the skating is horrendous BUT considering all that, they are still producing results. They have never been really strong in Ladies, the men's filed is expectedly weak as Plushenko left but the new crop is coming up slowly. Today, pairs showed that they are ready to fight. Now, Dance always was controversial and will remain the same forever. You may not like Dom/Shabs or K/N but you can not argue that they are ones of the best in the filed and defintely in the medal contention, BOTH.

So just stop looking for cospiracies, please.

I don't think either team is being pushed to win the Olympics or worlds. This competition had mainly Eastern European teams, and the lone "western" team was the very green team of K/S from US. Not to mention, I highly doubt that this same panel will be the panel at Worlds or further down the road, Vancouver. They were probably the best team in that competition, so their scores are justified for THAT competition.

I hope, however, that D/S have improved their free dance and it no longer looks like Rasputin waltzing with a wedding cake.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/domninashabalin/2007-2008/Cup of China/77838844_fjb.jpg

Until they do, they may not win a world championships that is being contested in neutral Sweden (I like the fact that worlds are in a country like Sweden that has almost no contenders), with one strong Canadian, three strong American teams, and two strong French teams.

The other Russian team, while technically brilliant, seem to be utilizing "innovative" ways of moving and lifting for the sake of progress. They don't look like they are dancers, and have taken out the word "dance" from their "ice dance." They look more like pairs who forgot the tricks.

blue dog said:

I hope, however, that D/S have improved their free dance and it no longer looks like Rasputin waltzing with a wedding cake. Until they do, they may not win a world championships that is being contested in neutral Sweden (I like the fact that worlds are in a country like Sweden that has almost no contenders), with one strong Canadian, three strong American teams, and two strong French teams.

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I dont know who you consider the 3rd strong American team but I can tell you only 1 American team is going to be any kind of contender at Worlds this year. Davis/White can improve from their slow start, and already have, but will do well to be in the top 6 this year. The #3 American team wont be in there at all, I just hope Gregory/Petuhkov can make it back to worlds at all, especialy after their misfortune at Skate Canada. The French #2 are on the rise, but like Davis/White are more realistically shooting for top 6, as we see here and at Skate America they arent threats to teams like Domnina/Shabalin and Belbin/Agosto at this point.

The real contenders will be 1, maybe 2 Russian teams, 1 French team, 1 Canadian team, and 1 American team IMHO.

blue dog said:

I hope, however, that D/S have improved their free dance and it no longer looks like Rasputin waltzing with a wedding cake.

http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb86/domninashabalin/2007-2008/Cup of China/77838844_fjb.jpg

Until they do, they may not win a world championships that is being contested in neutral Sweden (I like the fact that worlds are in a country like Sweden that has almost no contenders), with one strong Canadian, three strong American teams, and two strong French teams.

The other Russian team, while technically brilliant, seem to be utilizing "innovative" ways of moving and lifting for the sake of progress. They don't look like they are dancers, and have taken out the word "dance" from their "ice dance." They look more like pairs who forgot the tricks.

Click to expand...

The neutrality of the country where Worlds is taking place has no influence on the outcome of the ice dance competition. What WILL count is that the CD, OD and FD panels are guaranteed to have two Russian judges each, and the FD could have as many as four.

This Dance in COR should have been named The Eastern Eropean Championships.

Joe