2019 JGP Egna-Neumarkt: Thoughts and Highlights | Golden Skate

2019 JGP Egna-Neumarkt: Thoughts and Highlights

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
The last of the JGP before the Final!

What are your thoughts on this event?

Quite a few PBs at this competition!

Alessia Tornaghi of Italy really brought it!
 

Colonel Green

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2018
Country
Canada
On a general note, while these rinks with significant natural light are a bit of a filming challenge (Nebelhorn had the same issue), I think of liked the contrast of the skaters moving from the normal-looking part of the rink into the corner with all the sunlight streaming though. It led to some striking visuals at times.

Men
- Going into this, the big drama was whether Daniel Grassl could score the win he needed to make the Final. And indeed, he pulled it off. I'm sad for Artur Danielian getting pushed out, but I'm glad that Italy will have at least one representative at a home Final (we'll see if Rizzo can get there too; Guignard/Fabbri, unfortunately, face stiff odds).
- Gummenik was really getting into that free skate performance.
- It's become a sort of tragicomedy how many expatriate Ukrainian skaters there are these days (at least three JGP medals previous to this went to Ukrainian emigrants this year), so it was nice to see a Ukrainian-born skater win a medal while representing Ukraine. Good job, Shmuratko!
- Also, this is the first ever JGP Final where no North American men qualified (and, across all disciplines, I believe a record low number of North America skaters, alas; bit of an off year).

Ladies
- Kseniia Sinitsyna was the probable winner going in, and boy did she win by a lot, and with a score that indicates she can maybe pull a Kostornaia and duel with the quadsters in the Final.
- The rest of the field was chaotic, especially since, due to withdrawals, we ended up with no Japanese skaters (they were missed, even if there's been more problems than successes for them so far this JGP).
- I was very sad for Yeonjeong Park, whose nerve failed her in the short program (together with her apparent bad habit of getting way too close to the Boards on her Lutz, also in evidence in the free skate). But chin up, a silver medal is a nice way to start your international career.
- Our surprise bronze medalist, Alessia Tornaghi, had the skate of her life at home, which is always nice to see. I would have bet going in that if there was an Italian ladies' medalist it would be Lara Naki Gutmann, who unfortunately struggled more here, but still showed strong performance skill.
- Kiibus is a dynamic performer, and it was a shame to watch the free go awry, especially after she had a good showing at Nebelhorn.
- Kaiya Ruiter! :luv17: Most promising Canadian junior lady in ages.

Ice dance
- I'm not really in love with either of Khudaiberdieva/Filatov's programs (and yes, I will keep harping on the colour of Elizaveta's RD dress), but their talent is undeniable. Little errors kept them from the 100+ score that she clearly wanted, but they're through to the Final and have a few months to work with. If they keep improving at the pace since their partnership, watch out.
- D'Alessandro/Waddell take the silver medal and close out Canadian junior dance's JGP season on a high note, after some major hiccups in the early going. The free dance, especially, still has some kinks to work out (such as that persistently Level 2 combo spin), but on the whole, I'm happy with the result. And they've got their Youth Olympics berth booked, so look for them to contend for a medal there.
- After falling in love with the Browns when I first saw their blues FD last season, it's been a tumultuous ride since, between the mandated program changes, the coach getting arrested, and all the little errors that kept creeping in. But they had a great free dance here, thankfully; it's only too that that Oona's RD twizzles kept them off the podium.
- Yoshida/Nishiyama qualified themselves a Youth Olympics spot here (assuming they want it), despite Shingo's alarming propensity for random falls; at least he isn't falling on elements. From the way these two are being scored, with another nine months of training I expect these to to be contending for medals on the 2019-20 JGP.
- In contrast to the men's and ladies' divisions, it feels like Italian ice dance below Guignard/Fabbri is in a bit of trouble at the moment.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
Loved it that Grassl won, though equally bummed that Danielyan did not make it. By some inconceivable reason, I don’t like Gummenyk, but hey, the kid works hard, that’s completely obvious, and he is in the final. I loved how Smuratko skates, but the music was strongly not my cup of tea.

Sinitzina, yeah. There is nothing Junior about that lady. She was put together last year in the JW, she is a force of nature here. My heart bled for Frolova on principle, b/c she lost her spot in the finals so narrowly, but she seemed to be happy with the silver, so I think it was sweet :) I tuned in about half-way through, and did not mind music/skating in the last couple of flights. The Italians were fun... and, yup, Ruiter is a happy joy to watch.
 

Elucidus

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
At last an event without eyebrows-raising judging and calling - where viewers don't have to feel an itch to see the protocols as soon as the event ended :agree: As it always should be :yes:
Sinitsina was the only skater worthy of viewing for me there, tbh. Godlike SS, she is like quicksilver on ice! Probably she is the only one lady skater in a whole JGP who is doing jumps as they should be done - from running edge to running edge. Even for that only reason she is deserving as many PCS/GOEs as they can give to her and more. That's the real figure skating :)
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
At last an event without eyebrows-raising judging and calling - where viewers don't have to feel an itch to see the protocols as soon as the event ended :agree: As it always should be :yes:
Sinitsina was the only skater worthy of viewing for me there, tbh. Godlike SS, she is like quicksilver on ice! Probably she is the only one lady skater in a whole JGP who is doing jumps as they should be done - from running edge to running edge. Even for that only reason she is deserving as many PCS/GOEs as they can give to her and more. That's the real figure skating :)


She was absolutely the highlight of the event for me, and I can't even remember the last time I said that about a woman skater (hey we all have our personal taste preferences!). Kiibus's short was also ruthlessly memorable. And given some of her facial expressions in it, ruthless is the word. Girlfriend is MADE to do a villianess program, pronto. I'd both cheer it and her on...and watch my back! ;)

I thought the ice dance here overall was the weakest of the three JGP events I've seen, notwithstanding some "sit up and take notice" programs (yes, Browns' FD and D/W's RD, I'm thinking of you).
 

readernick

Medalist
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
At last an event without eyebrows-raising judging and calling - where viewers don't have to feel an itch to see the protocols as soon as the event ended :agree: As it always should be :yes:
Sinitsina was the only skater worthy of viewing for me there, tbh. Godlike SS, she is like quicksilver on ice! Probably she is the only one lady skater in a whole JGP who is doing jumps as they should be done - from running edge to running edge. Even for that only reason she is deserving as many PCS/GOEs as they can give to her and more. That's the real figure skating :)

It think you were the only one shocked by previous scoring. At least based on these thoughts and highlights threads. 🤣🤣 I think the right person won each event this year ,( Samsonov vs Kagiyama is debatable but the actual scores were so close which was correct because they both did amazing) GOE scores in junior competition have gone through the roof but all the top skaters have benefited, not just one.

Now about Ksenia, I love her. The programs are fabulous and so are her SS. Her posture is beautiful.
She hits the notes perfectly. She may not emote facially but her body emotes. She is now on my list of favorite female skaters ( Aliona, Satoko, Rika and now Ksenia)

The ice dance has been interesting this season. Nguyen/Kolesnik are the only team on the jgp whose whose RD and FD are both good. I liked the Georgian's fd last week but none of the other fd have been spectacular. The winners this week are stunning skaters ( I love Elizaveta) but while they're RD is really good the FD isn't special. I am happy the Brown's did well. I love those deep edges and their flexibility is stunning. I hope they make the JW's team and show their best later in the season.

Artur being knocked out of the JGPF made me sad. ( Andrew T. and Artur D.are my favorites) but Daniel Grassl and Petr both did well here. They have both grown so much this year, it is commendable they are able to control their limbs. Daniel's fs was quite impressive technically.
 

IndiaP12

iliabot wakabot gumennikbot team korea stan
Final Flight
Joined
Apr 29, 2018
Country
New-Zealand
Loved it that Grassl won, though equally bummed that Danielyan did not make it. By some inconceivable reason, I don’t like Gummenyk, but hey, the kid works hard, that’s completely obvious, and he is in the final. I loved how Smuratko skates, but the music was strongly not my cup of tea.

Sinitzina, yeah. There is nothing Junior about that lady. She was put together last year in the JW, she is a force of nature here. My heart bled for Frolova on principle, b/c she lost her spot in the finals so narrowly, but she seemed to be happy with the silver, so I think it was sweet :) I tuned in about half-way through, and did not mind music/skating in the last couple of flights. The Italians were fun... and, yup, Ruiter is a happy joy to watch.

How don’t you like Gumennik? [emoji29] (well, he’s my favourite, so I’ll shut up now and stop being overprotective [emoji23]) but I think Daniel was overscored and Petr underscored and if they’d been correct Petr could’ve almost won.
 
Top