GPF: Pairs' SP - Thoughts and Highlights

gsk8 · Dec 8, 2018

China’s Cheng Peng and Yang Jin were the surprise winners of the Pairs Short Program at the 2018-19 Grand Prix Final in Vancouver, Canada. The team’s performance to “Ophelia” showed personality and clean elements including steady side-by-side triple toes, throw triple twist and throw triple loop. All other elements received level 4 grading. The double-silver medalists on the Grand Prix series scored a season’s best of 75.69 for their effort.

“Tonight we did it and we are happy,” Jin said of the team which struggled this season to deliver clean programs. “First time we went to the Final, we didn’t do very well since we made some mistakes. This time, we made sure that we could do our best.”

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Share your thoughts on the Pairs' SP at the 2018-19 Grand Prix Final!

bobbob · Dec 8, 2018

Peng and Jin were the stars of the show, and deservedly so! What a nice program, perfect elements, and very playful. I hope they keep it up in the free, and longer term, when the other two great Chinese pairs return.

Z/E were definitely over-scored, both in terms of GOE and moreso in PCS. Their throw 3Lo, while nice, was not as smooth and large as Peng/Jin or Tarasova/Morosov's, yet they got higher GOE. And their PCS was tied for the highest of the night for a boring program without the skating skills of Tarasova and Morosov.

Tarasova and Morosov obviously had a fall, but the quality of the other elements was better than before, and they impressed me. Twist, throw, and death spiral were the best respective ones (out of all pairs) I've seen all season. SBS spins were very fast and a marked improvement for them. Program was still just okay, not bad, overall score was about right.

James and Cipres were quite sloppy. When they make mistakes, especially in the short, it really seems to damage the entire program. The short also does not seem to fit their style as well.

Interspectator · Dec 8, 2018

I don't watch many Pairs events and this was actually the first time for me to see some of these pairs.
What a great segment!

Peng and Jin stood out as having the best chemistry, program and execution. I'm not up on the finer points of pairs judging but I was glad that they were in first. I smiled the whole way through their performance!
They did look a little more labored across the ice than Tarasova and Morosov, so there's something to work on still.

Monty Python's Holy Grail couple were so surprising. Do I love it? Do I hate it? I still do not know. But I'm glad this program exists in the world. It made an impact, that's for sure! :biggrin:

Tarasova and Morosov have amazing unison and skating skills. They have a lot of effortlessness and grace that I think is not well suited to a jazz routine. -How about something from the Nutcracker suite instead? Just a thought.

James and Cipres are my favorites. But they really struggled today. They were not in the moment and the program lacked it's usual impact. But there is still tomorrow!

lavoix · Dec 8, 2018

Come on James and Cipres this season is yours to lose and you're in bloody 4th place!!! Why do they always have to be in 4th???

GoneWithTheWind · Dec 8, 2018

This is my first ever post, so hope it works! Pairs is my favourite discipline so I couldn't resist commenting.

I've been rooting for Della Monica and Guarise this season, and I'm glad they performed quite well here. It was a shame the throw wasn't great, because I love the spread-eagle she usually does coming out of it. Their sbs spins were amazing though!

Zabiiako and Enbert's program is growing on me. I feel like they can pull off the intense music, especially when they skate well, as they did here. Their throw looked huge!

Peng and Jin really looked like they were enjoying their program. At the start of the season I wasn't totally convinced by it, but I thought they really sold it here.

Good luck to all the pairs for the free skate!

Interspectator · Dec 8, 2018

GoneWithTheWind said:
This is my first ever post, so hope it works! Pairs is my favourite discipline so I couldn't resist commenting.

I've been rooting for Della Monica and Guarise this season, and I'm glad they performed quite well here. It was a shame the throw wasn't great, because I love the spread-eagle she usually does coming out of it. Their sbs spins were amazing though!

Zabiiako and Enbert's program is growing on me. I feel like they can pull off the intense music, especially when they skate well, as they did here. Their throw looked huge!

Peng and Jin really looked like they were enjoying their program. At the start of the season I wasn't totally convinced by it, but I thought they really sold it here.

Good luck to all the pairs for the free skate!

Welcome, and congrats on your first post! :points:

Colonel Green · Dec 8, 2018

Peng and Jin walked away with this, in my opinion, and should probably be further ahead of the rest of the pack than they are.

Iconoclast that I am, I actually like Zabiyako and Enbert's Alexander Nevsky program. It helps, I guess, that I've now seen the movie; is one of them a cinephile?

Tarasova and Morozov's "I Feel Good" is nowhere near as poor a fit as "Candyman" (a program whose shadow they seemed doomed to never escape), but Morozov still cannot sell a 'fun' program to save his life, however much Tarasova tries. Still, their elements (other than the side-by-side jumps) are the class of the field here.

James and Cipres, as always they bring the smoulder, but Vanessa was really struggling.

Della Monica and Guarise, solid, but unremarkable.

Pavliuchenko and Khodykin look very much like skaters who just came up from juniors -- which they are, so that's fine.

ssminnow · Dec 8, 2018

Tarasova/Morosov have great basic skating skills and beautiful lines. That said, I don't get why they keep skating to music and choreography that don't suit them, and why judges keep propping them up in interpretation and performance.

TryMeLater · Dec 8, 2018

lavoix said:
Come on James and Cipres this season is yours to lose and you're in bloody 4th place!!! Why do they always have to be in 4th???

They haven't learnt how to win yet (and be favourites).
Hopefully they can learn to win by the end of the season.

ancientpeas · Dec 8, 2018

I thought P/J were fabulous! I was very, very pleased to see them rewarded with good marks.

I was sad for Vanessa and Morgan because I love their programs.

The Russian teams showed that they have incredible skills and are probably the most proficient at the elements of pair skating.

anonymoose_au · Dec 8, 2018

My thoughts: T/M epitomize that quote I've seen all over the place. "I came here to have a good time and I'm feeling so attacked right now."

Peng/Jin were epic and adorable, I love their SP so much! Great to see them doing so well this season!

Sad for Vanessa and Morgan, they gave the 'it' factor for sure.

Natalia and Alexander have some interesting costumes and choreography, but man they're commited to it!

GPF: Pairs' SP - Thoughts and Highlights

gsk8

bobbob

Interspectator

lavoix

Match Penalty

GoneWithTheWind

Interspectator

Colonel Green

ssminnow

TryMeLater

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW

anonymoose_au

Insert weird opinion here

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