2015 Finlandia Trophy Ladies SP and FS

samkrut@mail.ru · Oct 11, 2015

Just saw the videos. Do not understand those who say that Yulia was overscored. This program has 135 - 140+ potential if skated properly: very beautiful. And Yulia was unrivalled here in terms of skating beauty. She was punished properly for her mistakes and Rika was also rewarded properly for her efforts. If she hit the loop her overall score would be 190+ who can complain about that?

As for K&C I think (may be wrongly) that she was upset about the never-ending stream of flowers which does not happen usually. I think flower girls collect toys and flowers but do not bring them to the K&C area and hand out them one by one. I do not see big deal here but agree that Yulia may be impolite. I would hardly approach her for the autograph.

Hope she will fix the programs by SA but sort of unsure now if I should bet on her in the prediction game: she looks very vulnerable at this moment.

Congratulations to Rika!

gotoschool · Oct 11, 2015

I liked So Youn's program the best of the top three freeskates. I thought she was the most fluid in seamlessly incorporating her jumps into the choreography and I liked her smooth entrances, air position and the flair of her arms and body on exit to her jumps. Elegant and dramatic pirouettes and intricate and dramatic dance steps that match the intriguing music. Very nice awareness and control of body position and beautiful use of her arms, with no random flailing. I know she stepped out of the 3f but it was just one hiccup. Still, overall I thought she gave a compelling performance. I really like this dramatic side of her and I have to admit her bright red outfit, appearance and presentation in this program is very photogenic which is helped even more by her grace.

I do not understand why her score is so low especially in PCS, and several others have already mentioned it on her video. It seems to me she is really expanding into new avenues of expression with more nuanced interpretation and complex choreography. I am not into extremely extroverted performance style so her more contained presentation actually draws me in more because it seems more genuine to me. I do wish had a little more speed, deeper edges and greater rink coverage, but none of this bothered me that much in her performance. In fact, I really enjoyed it and look forward to seeing So Youn perform this LP again.

Rika Hongo had nice energy and jumps in her performance and I like her efforts to interpret the wonderful music. Congratulations on her victory!

snowflake · Oct 11, 2015

Way to go Joshi! At last an injury free pre/start of the season. It can only get better! You should have won silver here!

Rika was just the best! So Impressed!

I’m a fan of Lipnitskaya’s skating when she’s on, not so much this time. I’m among the posters that felt awkward on her kiss&cry behavior(which went on for a long time): snatching her gifts from the flower girls and banging them down in a ’dunghill’. Not good for her fans or the sport I think, but mostly a bad thing for her own self spirits.

samkrut@mail.ru · Oct 11, 2015

gotoschool said:
I liked So Youn's program the best of the top three freeskates. I thought she was the most fluid in seamlessly incorporating her jumps into the choreography and I liked her smooth entrances, air position and the flair of her arms and body on exit to her jumps. Elegant and dramatic pirouettes and intricate and dramatic dance steps that match the intriguing music. Very nice awareness and control of body position and beautiful use of her arms, with no random flailing. It seems to me she is really expanding into new avenues of expression with more nuanced interpretation and complex choreography.

Very beautiful words - I wish I could write like that. But I would write it about a different skater who was not there but who I think deserves this rather than what she recently got: "slow and boring" - Zhenya Medvedeva. As for So Youn she received 108.42 for a 5 triple program. What's wrong with that? She is not Adelina yet to get 118 without the full jump content. In fact she would be close to 120 if she did her triple toe loops and would likely have some pcs boost for an almost clean 7 triple program. It's all up to her now.

So Yun has nice delicacy in her skating. I noticed that last season and expected a breakthrough from her which, alas, did not happen. But I did not like this particular program may be because I did not like the music: almost fell asleep by the end.

gotoschool · Oct 11, 2015

[email protected] said:
Very beautiful words - I wish I could write like that. But I would write it about a different skater who was not there but who I think deserves this rather than what she recently got: "slow and boring" - Zhenya Medvedeva. As for So Youn she received 108.42 for a 5 triple program. What's wrong with that? She is not Adelina yet to get 118 without the full jump content. In fact she would be close to 120 if she did her triple toe loops and would likely have some pcs boost for an almost clean 7 triple program. It's all up to her now.

So Yun has nice delicacy in her skating. I noticed that last season and expected a breakthrough from her which, alas, did not happen. But I did not like this particular program may be because I did not like the music: almost fell asleep by the end.

Thanks for the compliment. Actually Evgenia is one of my favorite skaters. I certainly have never said Evgenia was boring, quite the opposite.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?51695-Evgenia-Medvedeva/page2 post number 17 and post number 24

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?51695-Evgenia-Medvedeva/page3 post number 43

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?55879-2015-16-Russian-Test-skates/page57 post number 849

and other posts

I liked So Youn's performance and thought her PCS was too low. I am not saying she is the greatest skater but it is a nice surprise to find someone who is not on most people's radar screen for a world championship who impresses me as much as So Youn did with this performance. Really, sometimes just enjoying a performance means so much more to me that trying to figure out scores.

FSGMT · Oct 11, 2015

Sabrina said:
This is not totally true! The first 2 jumps, 3F and 3Lz were awesome. You can't pull out these jumps like that when you lack proper technique. I doubt she has any problems with the other jumps. I think that's the reason she looks upset. She knows she can do better that that. What scares me is that she seems to loose interest in figure skating. I hope I am wrong.

All her jumps are barely rotated, they do not have height and distance and they are most of the times off-axis. This is not meant as an attack to Julian who's surely an hard worker and who's trying her best as well as her coaches are, but let's just be honest and say things as they are, there is plenty to admire in Julia's skating, but certainly not her jumping technique

samkrut@mail.ru · Oct 11, 2015

gotoschool said:
Thanks for the compliment. Actually Evgenia is one of my favorite skaters. I certainly have never said Evgenia was boring, quite the opposite.

Sorry for misunderstanding - I did not mean you. As far as I can remember your posts are thoughtful and level-headed without emotional labeling.

Sabrina · Oct 11, 2015

FSGMT said:
All her jumps are barely rotated, they do not have height and distance and they are most of the times off-axis. This is not meant as an attack to Julian who's surely an hard worker and who's trying her best as well as her coaches are, but let's just be honest and say things as they are, there is plenty to admire in Julia's skating, but certainly not her jumping technique

That is totally false. The Flip and the Lutz jump today were fully rotated and had nice GOE for them. She had a problem as she was of axes for the Sal, but to say that she always barely rotates...that's not true. Her Touloup jump is also very good. The only jump that does not look perfect is the Axel. But she never UR it. So relax, she also corrected her Lutz edge problem. She is a beautiful skater and hopefully she won't quit figure skating.

MiRé · Oct 11, 2015

Looks like Yulia actually showed up to the medal ceremony this time :rolleye:

samkrut@mail.ru · Oct 11, 2015

Sabrina said:
That is totally false. The Flip and the Lutz jump today were fully rotated and had nice GOE for them. She had a problem as she was of axes for the Sal, but to say that she always barely rotates...that's not true. Her Touloup jump is also very good. The only jump that does not look perfect is the Axel. But she never UR it. So relax, she also corrected her Lutz edge problem. She is a beautiful skater and hopefully she won't quit figure skating.

I think that was a confusion with Satoko who had big UR issues last season. But judging by JO results she overcame them. Yulia was never prone to URs.

hippomoomin · Oct 11, 2015

I think judges' favor of stick figure skaters is one of the reasons why So Youn never gets the PCS she deserves. If you look at all top skaters in recent years, almost all of them fall into the long & lean or short & tiny body type. With a stockier figure, everything else being equal, you look less elegant and slower. I believe So Youn is also not as flexible as most top skaters, so her extension appears less impressive. So Youn needs some WOW factor, either impressive jumps (Liza, Gracie), impressive spins (Julia), super performance abilities (Elena, Adeline) or super consistency.

hippomoomin · Oct 11, 2015

Julia's jumps are not getting better. I don't think it is the techniques, since she didn't jump off axel that much before. Here even in her SP, two jumps were that way. I think it is the overall height of her jumps that is killing her. She also seems to be detached from the music. I love her LP music, and listening to the music alone would leave me in tears, but her performance does not move me. The dress is OK, but Serafima's dress was much better.

jenaj · Oct 11, 2015

hippomoomin said:
I think judges' favor of stick figure skaters is one of the reasons why So Youn never gets the PCS she deserves. If you look at all top skaters in recent years, almost all of them fall into the long & lean or short & tiny body type. With a stockier figure, everything else being equal, you look less elegant and slower. I believe So Youn is also not as flexible as most top skaters, so her extension appears less impressive. So Youn needs some WOW factor, either impressive jumps (Liza, Gracie), impressive spins (Julia), super performance abilities (Elena, Adeline) or super consistency.

I think that is ridiculous. PCS may be used improperly to favor or disfavor some skaters but not because they are or are not stick figures.

koheikun90 · Oct 11, 2015

Exactly, I think people have completely miss the point of my original post about Yulia's behavior. I understand that athletes get frustrated or have a bad day and there is nothing wrong expressing those emotions. However to slam gifts and flowers given by fans, which are gestures of support and appreciation for the skaters as if it doesn't mean anything is downright disrespectful and in poor taste. I can't imagine a coach being supportive of that kind of behavior. Yes, Julia is not obligated to smile and peppy all the time, but she is obligated to show respect to fans who admire her talent and performances. It's a common courtesy and professionalism. Imagine if she did that in Japan where skater gifts are so personalize. i just thought it was inappropriate and certainly something I would not like to see from my athletes or children.

koheikun90 · Oct 11, 2015

ava said:
It is embarrassing but So Youn lp today almost brought me to tears because of how much her posture and movements reminded me of Yuna. And I thought I got over her retirement((

Me as well, she is absolutely stunning and a class act. Love her!

Sam-Skwantch · Oct 11, 2015

koheikun90 said:
Exactly, I think people have completely miss the point of my original post about Yulia's behavior. I understand that athletes get frustrated or have a bad day and there is nothing wrong expressing those emotions. However to slam gifts and flowers given by fans, which are gestures of support and appreciation for the skaters as if it doesn't mean anything is downright disrespectful and in poor taste. I can't imagine a coach being supportive of that kind of behavior. Yes, Julia is not obligated to smile and peppy all the time, but she is obligated to show respect to fans who admire her talent and performances. It's a common courtesy and professionalism. Imagine if she did that in Japan where skater gifts are so personalize. i just thought it was inappropriate and certainly something I would not like to see from my athletes or children.

Girl was just trying to chill and catch her breath and maybe a cold glass of water! Ain't nobody got time for that

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zGxwbhkDjZM

Let's not take this sport too seriously and expect 17 yr old girls who are very clearly going thru the female metamorphosis in front of the entire world to always stay calm and rational.

TBH as cute as those girls were the whole thing was really annoying.

It's not like she goes around being mean to everyone she sees.
https://cs7054.vk.me/c7002/v7002410/d94a/pLNDmSeVOfM.jpg

jg2000 · Oct 11, 2015

koheikun90 said:
Exactly, I think people have completely miss the point of my original post about Yulia's behavior. I understand that athletes get frustrated or have a bad day and there is nothing wrong expressing those emotions. However to slam gifts and flowers given by fans, which are gestures of support and appreciation for the skaters as if it doesn't mean anything is downright disrespectful and in poor taste. I can't imagine a coach being supportive of that kind of behavior. Yes, Julia is not obligated to smile and peppy all the time, but she is obligated to show respect to fans who admire her talent and performances. It's a common courtesy and professionalism. Imagine if she did that in Japan where skater gifts are so personalize. i just thought it was inappropriate and certainly something I would not like to see from my athletes or children.

Gosh, yesterday you criticized Wakaba for daring to cry on the podium (there was literally no action I felt was disrespectful to Marin), and today you have this. There is really no need to scrutinize this deeply. Frankly, I didn't see anything unordinary until it was so specifically pointed out, and even then I didn't see anything horrifying. I thought she'd at least have a glare on her face, and she didn't even have that! (it was kind of disappointing lol)
I'm rather glad I never had a coach or parent like you, then.

Sweet Dream · Oct 11, 2015

Meoima said:
But as an Asian, Wakaba's attitude yesterday was unacceptable. Of course Yulia didn't look as bad, but she could have done better.

Will you tell me what happened to Wakaba, Meoima?

Interspectator · Oct 12, 2015

Sweet Dream said:
Will you tell me what happened to Wakaba, Meoima?

The following gifset lets you judge for yourself. For me, it was a sweet moment for Marin to comfort Wakaba. --Nothing ruined. But each viewer may judge according to their own up-bringing and biases.
http://hondaholmed.tumblr.com/post/130954996751/wakaba-higuchi-marin-honda-diana-pervushkina

Mrs. P · Oct 12, 2015

Yes, it's a shame that so much time spent on fussing at Wakaba and less on praising Marin for being a kind-hearted winner. She showed great compassion for Wakaba. Props to her parents and team for guiding her...this will help her long after she stops skating.

2015 Finlandia Trophy Ladies SP and FS

[email protected]

Medalist

gotoschool

snowflake

I enjoy what I like

[email protected]

Medalist

gotoschool

FSGMT

[email protected]

Medalist

Sabrina

MiRé

Match Penalty

[email protected]

Medalist

hippomoomin

hippomoomin

jenaj

koheikun90

koheikun90

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

jg2000

Sweet Dream

Interspectator

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

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