2014 Skate America Pairs FS 10/26

[JayW]

Except for the choreography and interpretation (the later thanks to Smirnov) there is no other element that K&S can beat V&T, and neither S&K of the Olympic, in terms of quality IMO.



Sasha is quite handsome indeed, but that tanning effect on his face is horrible.

I noticed that red face too

 

[cptnhastings]

Well, yeah, I'd say V/T at their best is definitely better than K/S at their best, but I think they don't have much of a shot against V/T even if V/T fell on their butts a few times.

Thank god V/T had a clean skate at the Olympics and S/S didn't since I think V/T still would've won if they fell on something against a clean S/S with a throw 3Axel. But that's all hypothetical I know.

 

[Sandpiper]

Amazing to see both a quad twist and a quad throw in the same competition. Perhaps Aliona Savchenko was right after all--this is the future of pairs skating.

Kavaguti/Smirnov... what can I say? Such passion, such drama, and the elements were all there. That move in the beginning when she seems to fall dead... chilling.

Peng/Zhang... Well, they did salvage it in the second half. Wishing her better luck on the jumps next time; the same mistakes cost them at the Olympics. But that lift where he actually changes direction on the ice while holding her one-handed... wow!

 

[chuckm]

A word about Peng's costume problem. I was in the arena, front row. After she fell for the second time, she must have torn the seat of her tights clean off, which also helped to create the worst wedgie I have ever seen. When they came over to my side of the rink and he had her in a lift, I saw it that the poor girl was literally mooning the audience. At the dismount, Zhang for the first time saw what had happened, and he was stunned (but he had to keep going). Neither one of them could do a thing about it.

After each performance, they showed the highlights on a screen over the KnC. But after Peng/Zhang's first lift, they stopped the replay.