GPF: Ladies' FS - Thoughts and Highlights

TunaKeem said:

I'm confused with people who are saying that Tuktamysheva's PCS should have been that low.

PCS = Skating Skills + Transitions + Performance + Composition + Interpretation of Music

Let's say skating skills and transitions are more objective things that can be measured. Performance and interpretation are subjective and I'm not 100% certain what composition is.
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Liza got high 8s in PE , IN and mid 8s for Composition! a few 9s too! i personally think it is fair! i might give her a few more 9s for performance but honestly what dragged her score down is the finish judge obviously not being impressed by her and giving her 6 & 7 for some reason

This is the ladies thread, can we keep discussion of men to the men's thread, please?

Anyway, I would agree with varying degrees of PCS bumps to Liza, Satoko, Sofia, and Kaori over what they got in this competition. Even though Liza's SS and TR aren't as good as the rest of her comp, her PE and INT were great. Satoko perpetually doesn't get enough credit for her components, neither does Kaori, and I thought Sofia exhibited solid skating and performance skills in this competition. I also don't think Alina should have won components here--her performance wasn't the best (it sucks that she got injured) and I thought several skaters outshined her in that regard. Hopefully she can have a better outing next time and a program that works better for her next season.

leoleo said:

Liza got high 8s in PE , IN and mid 8s for Composition! a few 9s too! i personally think it is fair! i might give her a few more 9s for performance but honestly what dragged her score down is the finish judge obviously not being impressed by her and giving her 6 & 7 for some reason

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Good Point! I think I would say she was scored fairly as well but on the other end think Zagitova getting 9+ on PE/CO and IN was overly generous and should have been low 8's, maybe even in the 7s given how laborious her skate seemed to be.

Thoughts on ladies:

Liza - I thought she deserved more marks, her skating skills might not be the best but she really put on a performance today.

Kaori - My favourite of the ladies in terms of flow across the ice, although I think her Helsinki performance was still better (where I had the privileged to watch live - her skating was just exquisite that day). Another one that should have more marks just for her excellent flow. Will definitely continue to keep a lookout for her.

Satoko - I may be one of the minority who to this day still can not see what is so artistic about her, she skates very 'paint by the numbers'.

Rika - like Satoko I actually found her last two performance very paint by the numbers too (i.e. lacks a sense of organic and spontaneous feeling to it - everything is a bit ' my coach say to lift my arm here so I lift my arm here'. However, today after the first 3A mistake, I actually felt she started to come alive more as she fights to stay on top - or maybe I am starting to warm up to her more finally. No question about the gold medal.

Alina - if she is injured I hope she gets it treated quickly. a pity it had to happened on this day and it did affected her performance. Nevertheless good fight.

Shanshani said:

This is the ladies thread, can we keep discussion of men to the men's thread, please?

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Sorry, I did try to pull it back...

Can I say I love Liza's outfits? She has such a uniquely lovely face with that touch of something othertimely - many others are as pretty but not always as interesting to look at for me - and her dresses are always among the most interesting.

Mishin's podium moments with his students is so cute. Glad that Sofia and Liza were able to perform well.
Satoko though... Even after her determined performance, the tech panelist really hammered her down with the UR calls.
I'm a little biased over Kaori's LP. Love it so much! She is very gutsy by going after that 2T, too bad it does not work this time.
Alina... Well, I've been wondering why she grimaced during her performance. Hope she'll recover soon from the injury.
Rika!! My heart jumped up when she touched down during the first 3A and just went down slightly after she landed her 3A combo. She seemed to be able to keep a cool head during her performance, a very deserved win. :agree:

Hope these ladies can bring their A game during their nationals as well, I want to see them at Worlds!

I was rambling away several hours after the event but I caught it on TV and just went with it. Here were my live (no one was listening) thoughts


Sofya
-NBC is showing the ladies FS and Sofya just skated lights out!!! Wow...this girl is awesome and that FS was amazing!! Nice way to lead off


Satoko
-I’ll never tire of the way Satoko and her coach prep her to take the ice. It’s just so much intense love and motivation!!

Satoko is amazing and delivers a very sophisticated performance but is it wrong that I’d like to see her maybe push the envelope a little and try something a little different. I wouldn’t say this is the best program of hers but it gets the job done.

She’s blown me away before but it wasn’t quite on the level I’ve come to expect. Maybe I’m being unfair but that’s my initial reaction

Tremendous respect for her though


Kaori
-Kaori has a very spiritual FS. It’s kind one note from start to finish but has some great moments.

Technically she’s proficient but her jump take offs look like a disaster is about to happen but she goes into the air and everything changes. Nice air position and the landings and extended glide offer up a lot for the judges to reward. I’m not sure I personally connected with it the entire time but good on her for going full send!

Great job Kaori!

Very high marks for her!


Alina
-Alina and Carmen

Well...she almost oof’d right off the bat but she held it together and showed the poise of a seasoned veteran. Or second year senior...same thing right

People undersell this girl so frequently that it’s made me really start to pull for her. The connecting steps and choreography are dazzling and ooze with purpose and tie the program together well, this might be my favorite program from her but I’m a sucker for Carmen. Props to Danil for the music mashup! It’s very well done and not full of earworms.

Not her best effort but very respectable performance by any standard.

Am I the only watching this right now...I mean I know it’s not live but anyone here? I have no shame


Liza
-Liza Time!!

Johnny said Liza skates with a liberated sass this season

She really sells it a bit more with each jump! I’m Not sure if I’m a fan of this program or just of Liza but there is a big smile on my face. She’s a bit of a throwback in some of the worst ways but I think she does enough to out skate those things. The jumps are text book and that’s the most important thing so it puts her in a good position. No idea what this will score but I’m looking forward to the KnC

ETA: I just love Mishin

ETAx2: Ooh...podium


Rika
-Rika Is in the house!!

Yikes...that 3a looked dangerous

This is a very moody program in mostly good ways. No real peaks and valleys but she also seemed a bit tense which may have affected that. Tough girl with an ability to capture and share soft vibes with a packed arena. That’s no small feat!

Her jumps seem noticeably whippy to me which isn’t something I usually take note of but for some reason I felt compelled to see. A little tilted like another skater I follow religiously so maybe I’m just recognizing something familiar. I think her SS will improve over time and really help her establish herself but outside of Satoko no one really blew me away here in that regard so I’m sure it doesn’t affect her scores much here today.

She should be proud of herself this year. She’s bringing it and keeping her fate in her own hands, I said at the beginning of the year that this might be my favorite program of the season. Not there yet but the season isn’t over. Deserved win!

Alina Zagitova did fine. She got the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final. Maybe this was a relative disappointment because she won everything in sight last year, up until worlds. But in fact, only once in the history of figure skating has the ladies Olympic champion come back the next year and won the GP Final. (Yuna Kim in 2006-07.)

Her programs are fine. She got the highest PCSs of the night. Rika Kihira and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva outpointed her on tech only by by landing triple Axels. Not Alina's very best, but IMHO the gloom and doomers are over-reacting. We'll see what happens going forward.

(That said, go Rika! )

Mathman said:

Alina Zagitova did fine. She got the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final. Maybe this was a relative disappointment because she won everything in sight last year, up until worlds. But in fact, only once in the history of figure skating has the ladies Olympic champion come back the next year and won the GP Final. (Yuna Kim in 2006-07.)

Her programs are fine. She got the highest PCSs of the night. Rika Kihira and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva outpointed her on tech only by by handing triple Axels. Not Alina's very best, but IMHO the gloom and doomers are over-reacting. We'll see what happens going forward.

(That said, go Rika! )

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Yuna wasn't age-eligible in 2006 to attend the Olympics, so I believe no woman would have won GPF after Olympics.

lanceupper1114 said:

Calling it ugly, badly-finished, and dreadful is excessive and untrue.

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I'm afraid it's not, it's just my blunt opinion. Go back and watch the FS again, it's the programme which stands out among the six for its unfinished, ill thought out choreography.

Nothing personal against Zagitova, but that girl is simply not being showcased to her best by her team. Extraordinary really when you consider she's the Olympicchampion.

Sam-Skwantch said:

Rika

Her jumps seem noticeably whippy to me which isn’t something I usually take note of but for some reason I felt compelled to see. A little tilted like another skater I follow religiously so maybe I’m just recognizing something familiar.

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Since the JGPs in 2016 I’ve noticed her jumps didn’t have good air position... in her historic 8-triple skate, the jumps didn’t get very good GOEs. Since then, this aspect of her skating has vastly improved (along with all other aspects). She jumps higher now with better air position, and does nice Rippons to earn extra GOE too... but some jumps like the 3Lo still look off axis with the landing feeling “saved” rather than assured. There’s a nagging fear in me that questions whether the jumps as they are now can survive puberty.

LandShark said:

Great entertainment. The finalists skated well. Enjoyed everyone's programme bar Zagitova's, which is truely awful. Ugly, jerky, every movement badly finished, too much hunched over skating instead of standing tall with good posture. Dreadful choreography; surely they can give her better thanthis?

A real shame.

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A poster who posted in the threadif you read it.

ssminnow said:

Tuktamysheva's PCS should be higher.

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No. That's exactly what her programs deserve. It can even be lower.

largeman said:

Since the JGPs in 2016 I’ve noticed her jumps didn’t have good air position... in her historic 8-triple skate, the jumps didn’t get very good GOEs. Since then, this aspect of her skating has vastly improved (along with all other aspects). She jumps higher now with better air position, and does nice Rippons to earn extra GOE too... but some jumps like the 3Lo still look off axis with the landing feeling “saved” rather than assured. There’s a nagging fear in me that questions whether the jumps as they are now can survive puberty.

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I agree. I am not sure if her jumps are done with the best technique, despite being done with correct take offs. Hamada is hardly known for this. She can be so much more powerful of a jumper, and build such a strong skating aesthetic.

Kaori is so fast over the ice. She grows on me every time. What does she need to work on if she wants to Be top lady in Japan?

skateluvr said:

Kaori is so fast over the ice. She grows on me every time. What does she need to work on if she wants to Be top lady in Japan?

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Top lady in Japan?

She will need 3A+quad

gonewiththewind25 said:

Zagitova’s crown has slipped off a little more today and you could argue that it’s even completely slipped off but honestly, I don’t blame Alina at all. You can tell that she’s such a hard worker and is really committed and dedicated but she’s not getting the help she needs. The material this season, as has been said by everyone, is atrocious this season and totally unworthy of an Olympic Champion and a skater of Alina’s caliber. And I don’t know if Eteri is fully able to guide Alina properly now that’s he’s grown taller and hit puberty. It’s actually heartbreaking.

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More than choreo, packaging, etc. I think she needs more to be healthy, and the fed support. I don't know if it's Rusfed who doesn't do much politicking anymore, or if it's Japanese fed who suddendly became great in politicking, but back in previous seasons someone couldn't have the same PCS than Rusfed chosen girl or even be close. No matter how good this person can be and if Rusfed chosen girl makes mistakes.

yume said:

More than choreo, packaging, etc. I think she needs more to be healthy, and the fed support. I don't know if it's Rusfed who doesn't do much politicking anymore, or if it's Japanese fed who suddendly became great in politicking, but back in previous seasons someone couldn't have the same PCS than Rusfed chosen girl or even be close. No matter how good this person can be and if Rusfed chosen girl makes mistakes.

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Politicking can't always survive talent. Yuna Kim was from South Korea after all. IMO, what has simply happened here is that the judges have recognized higher and better technical quality with better packaging.

yume said:

More than choreo, packaging, etc. I think she needs more to be healthy, and the fed support. I don't know if it's Rusfed who doesn't do much politicking anymore, or if it's Japanese fed who suddendly became great in politicking, but back in previous seasons someone couldn't have the same PCS than Rusfed chosen girl or even be close. No matter how good this person can be and if Rusfed chosen girl makes mistakes.

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Well, in the SP, Zagitova, Kihira and Miyahara all had similar-ish PCS.

Also, the Rusfed politicking is still evident from the two judges (Russian and Georgian I believe) that gave Kihira 0.5 less on PCS, uniformly, just not as effective anymore because the other judges aren't buying it.

Would everyone just stop talking about Alina’s silver as if she lost? Alina WON her silver medal. And she’s improved a heck of a lot throughout the GP season and she did amazing having considering to withdraw before