2016 World Championships Mens Short Program

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

It's because he's bland by comparison. His athleticism and hard work are laudable and apparent, but if somebody doesn't excite an audience you can't force them to get excited. And frankly I think Adam's ability to project is far superior to Max's, so it makes sense that the audience reciprocates what the skater makes them feel. Max is a great athlete - moreso than Adam IMO - but he simply doesn't exude the charm, panache or star power that Adam has. I think part of the reason is because he's making his skating judge-friendly which is losing what makes him special - programs like Tron excite a crowd because they suit him, programs like Nessun Dorma while artistically pushing himself just doesn't feel like Max. And of course when he misses the element it's hard to feel as excited as when Adam cleanly skates (even if his SP jumps are easier).

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Muse Exogenesis FS wasn't really a judge-friendly program, in fact he received underscored PCS most of the time to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2GpQtiXj0Q

Even the commentators (apart for British Eurosport and of course TAT) from NBC, CBC and TDP always criticized this program.

Sydney Rose said:

Just finished listening to TSL's recap of the Men's SP. They discuss the Nam/Liam situation and mock the Canadian Fed's attempts to sell the switch as Liam magnanimously volunteering to give his spot to Nam. And I have to agree with them; it does strain credibility to believe that's what really happened.

What I wonder is whether the smart move by Nam's team would have been to decline the offer, given the unfortunate state of Nam's skating right now. He's young and there's always next year. It seems to me that he did some serious damage to his reputation with that skate last night. And we all know how important reputation is in judging.

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Silly of them to mock. Nam has skated 70+ SPs internationally all season until Worlds. Liam on the other hand hasn't skated any SP that would have qualified for the World's FS. After seeing Nam bomb in retrospect it makes sense to send Liam with Nam not fulfilling his purpose of helping maintain spots, but on paper Nam was still the less risky choice.

lavender said:

I didn't understand Ryan's explanation about the Canadian assoc. sending Nam over Kevin because of a low short program. Maybe they should have left that alone since Nam is going through a serious growth spurt that has obviously affected his skating.

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There's a required TES that a skater has to reach in the SP in order to compete at worlds. Kevin didn't attain that, so he could not be put on the world team.

ramurphy2005 said:

There's a required TES that a skater has to reach in the SP in order to compete at worlds. Kevin didn't attain that, so he could not be put on the world team.

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Thanks..

FlattFan said:

Did anyone notice the horrendous tattoos that Kovtun is sporting now?

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I follow him on IG. You should see what he's got going on his back. The arm is nothing.

I'm not a fan of his skating. The choreography and skating skills are going nowhere. Even the setup for the jumps takes so long you stop caring when it finally happens.

But what can I say, I am a big fan of that pretty face.

whatif said:

She did not have a lot to say but was complimentary about his presentation overall, but disagreed with her commenting partner about his technical abilities and the level of success he has with 4lz. She was talking about Arutyunian for the most part and gave most credit to him. She absolutely hated everything about Max Aaron, called him walking on the ice and zero skating skills and no presentation also was not too impressed with jumps. So clearly preferred Adam between two US skaters.

For those who interested what else she said:
1. She spent a big chunk of last group puzzled by Fernandez score going as far as saying that tonight she did not see 6 points worth gap between Jin and Javier in PCS. And could not understand why he had such a high TES score as well. Thought that Javier should have been much closer to both Jin and Kolyada.
2. Thought that Umo also should have been behind Jin.
3. Called Jin's judging shameless
4. Was gushing over Chan's PCS abilities and called them unmatched.
5. Was brutally honest about kovtun's skating and was not a fan at all
6. They turned off mics during Yuzu's skate. And only superlatives afterwards going as far as saying that she is happy and proud to be alive to witness this masterpiece.

EDIT:
7. Was kind of confused who Nam Nguyen is and why he ranked so high and is in the penultimate group. LOL. Her partner in the booth reminded her that Nam is the reigning Canada champ and was 5th in the last Worlds that followed with a lot of snark afterwards. But they did speculate that his growth spurt might be the culprit.

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I Tarasova's comments about Boyang Jin. Judges use PCS and GOE(?) for their desired placement. Boyang needs to be very consistent in the future and keep improving PCS-wise so that the judges can not shamelessly hold him down.

qwertyskates said:

You seem to ONLY single out Boyang Jin in almost every one of your posts, is there something particularly personal?
He was scored very low PCS, even when he did put in a visible, appreciable effort in his steps, spins, transitions, etc., and let's not forget it is a very difficult, taxing and challenging SP. He kept up his energy, fight and presentation throughout, he was no slacker.

I was shocked how Shoma was scored such high PCS, at least 6 points clear of Jin's PCS, for a flawed, technically inferior and tentative performance that is very much short of his usual fire, and the same goes for Fernandez. Jin's PCS at 37 were lower than Max's, Brezina, and a good many others in the top tier with flawed skates and falls, so what's the problem here?

Maybe Mathman can help here, but Jin's ratio of PCS:Technical Elements is surely an outlier among the top tier.

Jin's high-ish scores were based almost entirely on his BV and execution of the technical elements, he wasn't gifted anything, he earned every point fairly.

Yet I don't see you up in arms about those scores where PCS:Technical Elements >1, clearly a sign that judges are rewarding skaters for outstanding presentation/skating skills/choreography, etc., over skaters' jumps, but in post after post, you only talked about Jin.

Otoh, I agree judging was really unfair to Julian, Chafik, and a few others...(the Armenian skater?) who didn't have powerful coaches or fed backing, but glad that Vasiliev got his scores right. No doubt the standing ovation helps!

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:agree:

It seems to me when the judges had given high PCS to Shoma's technical-flawed SP, they inevitably had to give Javier even higher PCS because of his better technical elements
than Shoma's although a fall and his reputation.

CanadianSkaterGuy said:

Kovtun has had bratty comments in the past. He's one of those skaters who I really dislike off the ice, but on the ice, he pushes for technical difficulty, and has had some successes for Russia. His skating isn't the greatest, but then again, none of the Russian men have really been particularly solid in the past decade. I also respect that he was one of the few to go for 5 quads (it was really only him and Reynolds doing that for the longest time). Not to mention, he was pushing that type of content in his first year on the senior scene whereas some guys took several seasons to start attempting multiple types of quads.

I think he's just one of those skaters that some people simply want to see fail.

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He's not a natural skater and it shows. And he too often has that pained expression.:sad46:

Han Yan?

viennaskater said:

He's not a natural skater and it shows. And he too often has that pained expression.:sad46:

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What happened?

sk8addict said:

What happened?

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How long is it since Han Yan became Russian?

kirkyo said:

I follow him on IG. You should see what he's got going on his back. The arm is nothing.
But what can I say, I am a big fan of that pretty face.

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Don't tell me he got that Ben Affleck's monstrosity back tattoo. Icky.

Mrs.'s P delayed live SP report.

Confession: I skipped the first group. I decided to have a beer with a bunch of GS folks. Since beer cost $10 --and not even for craft, MACROBREW PEOPLE-- in the arena, it was smart for me to enjoy two microbrew beers for about the same price at Boston Beer Works across the street. It was delicious, though I'm sad I missed out on Kolayda's awesome SP.

Okay in group 2, Javier Raya's disco-themed SP was entertaining, but unfortunately he made errors and that cost him the chance to go to the FS. Jorik Hendrixx had a very good skate as well, but unfortunately I don't remember much of it now.

Julian Lee definitely got the short-stick in Group #3. It's crazy how close he was to not making the FS. He was quite entertaining and it's awesome to see how he's improved over the years. It was truly a respectable debut. He is definitely like a cat in landing those jumps! Brendan Kerry did a clean program and I was delighted for him and his biggest fan, karne.

Han Yan, the heartbreak of Group #4! I was so shocked to see him do so poorly. That said, he has great skating skills and I could watch him skate all day. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for him to make the FS.
Luckily there were some good highlights in the group: Michael Christian Martinez is fun to watch, especially his spins. His jumps weren't there. Michel Brezina had a very nice Rat Pack-themed skate, but of course he couldn't go fully clean.

Group #5 Misha Ge had a clean program and it was interesting to see him do something completely different form his more bombastic programs. He seemed so sad though. He's had a tough season, I know, but even when he was done he seem down for some reason. It made me sad because the joy of Misha is one of my favorite things to see. Adam Rippon did a clean program which got a standing ovation from the audience. I give him props, but I have to be honest and say that I was not a fan of his edges. Adam definitely has presence, but his step sequence was a bit lacking for me. I just would have like to see him push harder on his edges. Han Yan's edges and Adam Rippon's clean performance would have been a great combo. Max Aaron really fought for his program, which I admired, but he gave away points. The highlight of the group for me was Boyang Jin! HIs 4Z-3T is CRAZY HUGE and I could totally see why he lost control of it. But I think Boyang gets pigeonholed as a jumper only. He actually has pretty good skating skills and decent in-betweens and he performed the program.

Group #6: Shoma Uno was awesome! The error at the end was too bad, but I didn't mind his score -- he has so much charisma and he just attacks everything. He will be a top contender but I do feel that perhaps he is so focused that, ironically, he ends up making silly errors, like the on the combo. Patrick Chan's 4T-3T is pretty amazing as his skating in the program. I could argue 94 was over scored, but I wasn't that bothered by it. Javi's first quad was great as was his Axel and his skating skills have improved --- and of course he has a lot of performance ability -- but I did feel 98 was a bit high given the major splat in the middle of the program. And oh Denis Ten. You get the sense he can offer so much more but it just wasn't his day (or week, I suppose). And Maxim Kovtun -- I knew he was in trouble when his stamina was going downhill just after the first jump. I was amazing how much speed and power he had for the first 45 seconds, and them wham it went down so dramatically, which likely led to the pop/zayak.

Yuzuru deserves his own column. He was the only clean free skate in the group and man it was amazing to witness. He has grown SO much in his presentation since I saw him at 2012 Skate America. Back then, he was wild and passionate, which was great, but it was amazing to see him do a more quiet and controlled piece like Chopin and really interpret the music. His jumps were great, of course, but I remember his performance more than anything else.

Overall I'd say my top 3 performances

1.) Yuzuru Hanyu
2.) Boyang Jin
3.) Shoma Uno

So jealous of those of you who were able to make the trip to Boston! Due to unforeseen circumstances, I am just now getting around to watching the archived IN footage of Worlds. Monday I did dance, Tuesday I did pairs and today I am up to the men. Did anyone else want to jump through their computer and strangle Michael Weiss? Props for the behind the scenes work he does with his foundation but he drove me to drink with his commentary.

Thank you so much for your wonderful report, Mrs. P!!

Mrs. P said:

Yuzuru deserves his own column. He was the only clean free skate in the group and man it was amazing to witness. He has grown SO much in his presentation since I saw him at 2012 Skate America. Back then, he was wild and passionate, which was great, but it was amazing to see him do a more quiet and controlled piece like Chopin and really interpret the music. His jumps were great, of course, but I remember his performance more than anything else.

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I still remember I really enjoyed your report of 2012 Skate America Time flies and Yuzuru grew up so much...:2thumbs: