2017 World Ladies FS

[silverfoxes]

I think if Gracie starts to skate again, judges will inflate the hell of her scores to put her on top just what they did this season with Kaetlyn: big marks coming out from nowhere instead of a small new PB by 1 or 2 points.

Gracie, Kaetlyn, Adelina are the type of skaters judges really like.

Kaetlyn and Adelina are great performers with artistry & musicality...I don't see that in Gracie at all.

 

[chuckm]

Ashley declined 4CC in order to prepare for Worlds. So WHAT THE HECK WAS SHE DOING SINCE NATIONALS? She sure wasn't working on those URs or practicing her FS, because what she put out on the ice today wasn't a competitive freeskate.

Her "body of work" has declined drastically since Worlds 2016, and that isn't going to help her when it comes to selecting the 2018 Olympic team. This coming season, unless Kostner declines to participate in the GP, Ashley won't even be seeded in the GP, and if her skating doesn't improve, she might miss the GPF again. And let's face it: it is hard to improve when you're 26, an age when many skaters contemplate retiring.

OTOH, reigning US Champion Karen Chen will be seeded in the GP and her recent body of work looks just great, as her 4th place finish at Worlds 2017 was critical in saving those 3 spots for the Olympics.

I'm looking forward to the return of Gracie Gold and hoping she's got back her mojo.

 

[MaiKatze]

[/B] Ohh, come on?!! Are you joking? That wasn't theatrics, she was in pain, real pain. She was crashed .

Exactly. Look, I understand if she's not your favourite, but how could you ever wish for a disaster like this to happen to anyone? Even your biggest enemy or rival? Her dreams were crushed tonight. The pressure must've been unbearable. I wouldn't be so quick to judge. She's been declared done and over with before. This season is kind of the opposite to last season for her. She had a great start and won her two GP's only to get slightly more prone to messiness later. I think she was very tired and exhausted after such a long season. It's no excuse, but I think Anna blames herself most of all.

 

[OS]

If you skate in the first group apparently you get low PCS no matter what in ladies figure skating. I've noticed it in the past already. (I think Park So Youn last year at worlds is a good example)
But i like her way more than Mai *crossover* Mihara.

She is another skater get criminaly undermarked. Personally I think this is only an excuse if it suit the panel. If it is a trend, then the system is broken and need to be fixed. COP is suppose to work for all skaters not just the federation #1s #2s and the final flight.

I'm no paranoid person but something must have been going on behind the scenes - fed politicking or Zijun accidentally punching cinquata or whatever - that has to be the reason why Zijun's PCS dropped so low even in the sp, after it was stable for years (!) that now the second Chinese lady (xiangning li) received 6 points higher PCS than Zijun ???!!
I don't know what makes me sadder. Zijun or Pogorilaya...

Yeah I am rather curious myself. The massive discreptency over one competition is too hard not to notice. These were not poor performances by any standard.

 

[chuckm]

I'm no paranoid person but something must have been going on behind the scenes - fed politicking or Zijun accidentally punching cinquata or whatever - that has to be the reason why Zijun's PCS dropped so low even in the sp, after it was stable for years (!) that now the second Chinese lady (xiangning li) received 6 points higher PCS than Zijun ???!!
I don't know what makes me sadder. Zijun or Pogorilaya...

Zijun's FS was the most lifeless program I have ever seen---she had zero energy throughout. This was not the Zijun I remember from several seasons ago. Something has happened to suck the life out of her. It's very sad.

 

[MaiKatze]

She reminds me of Uno, in some ways. I think both will be a part of the future of Japanese figure skating. Mai though is like Satoko. Consistent except on rare occasions. Hard to deny a skater like that short of giving them lower PCS.

If you could somehow fuse Mai's great jumps with Satoko's artistry that skater would be unstoppable. I think it's the perfect example of two skaters who lack the one thing the other skater possesses.

 

[Bcash]

When I went on youtube to checkout the videos I saw the Pogorilaya one with the cover showing her kneeing on the ice burying her head in her laps and I thought, wow did she have an amazing skate and was having an emotional celebration?

I clicked on the vid and after the first two jumping passes I just closed it. (Not an avid fan of ladies skating these days so if the performance is poor I simply stop watching.)

No need to bash her over this though because some people are just less competitors when it comes to competitive sports. I played tennis in college and even though I had good techniques I was quite bad at winning matches. And this is world class competition. In the end, just let the results speak for themselves. I do feel that if she wants to compete at the highest level, and knows that she's not good with the mental game, she needs to take the responsibility to seek out professional help. Otherwise why torture yourself with disappointment after disappointment.

 

[Mango]

In all this Canadian ladies and Wakaba talk I forgot some congrats I wanted to give.

To Elizabet and Dabin Choi for placing top 10. Two spots for their countries for the Olympics. What a thrill! Especially for Dabin! Last year I had hoped this would happen and I'm so glad to see it did. I think that Yuna-copy dress gave a psychological boost to Lil Bet. It was great to see her skate with confidence and not make the kind of errors she did at Rostelecom Cup.

And Mai as well. What a comeback! 15th in the SP to 4th in the FS and 5th over all. I think if the US ladies weren't in a tight spot then she may have even been higher... It's a pity that Japan lost their 3rd spot but it's definitely not any of the girls' fault and I know they'll get it back next year.

Also many hugs to Anna. Despite the jarring nature of the falls she managed to make it through that program. Finland is just not her place to skate, it seems. Come back stronger next season girl.

 

[Nika09]

Evgenia get gold - expected, rooftop PCS - expected, WR - expected. And so boring! Agree with ladies skating is dying or dead already. Please just don't do this to men's!
2th and 3th places - also +\- expected. I liked and enjoyed Gabby's skating and routine. Hope she or someone else at least will have chance for gold next season.
And what a performance from Mai Mihara!! She was like wind just whistled over the ice, enormous speed! It gonna be interesting to watch her in new season.
So sorry for Anna. It was nightmare for every athlete, poor girl. Just will keep in mind her beautiful smile after SP.
Anyway congratulations to all ladies!

In comparison with Ladies competition I liked Pairs much more tough. Let's see what's gonna happen tomorrow in Men's. Warning: inducing heart attack!

 

[Eclair]

Zijun's FS was the most lifeless program I have ever seen---she had zero energy throughout. This was not the Zijun I remember from several seasons ago. Something has happened to suck the life out of her. It's very sad.

the thing is that her PCS were stable for years and this season! But then there was that ruckus with her not being on the world team list for whatever reason and now her PCS are lower than that of the second Chinese skater ? Her performance was not livelier or less livelier than throughout the whole season!

 

[MaiKatze]

When I went on youtube to checkout the videos I saw the Pogorilaya one with the cover showing her kneeing on the ice burying her head in her laps and I thought, wow did she have an amazing skate and was having an emotional celebration?

I clicked on the vid and after the first two jumping passes I just closed it. (Not an avid fan of ladies skating these days so if the performance is poor I simply stop watching.)

No need to bash her over this though because some people are just less competitors when it comes to competitive sports. I played tennis in college and even though I had good techniques I was quite bad at winning matches. And this is world class competition. In the end, just let the results speak for themselves. I do feel that if she wants to compete at the highest level, and knows that she's not good with the mental game, she needs to take the responsibility to seek out professional help. Otherwise why torture yourself with disappointment after disappointment.

Have you watched her this season? Because she is not always like that. She has been very consistent. After she messed up the triple-triple combination, I think her head was getting to her. She was probably starting to think too much and it was all going crazy in her head. She became so afraid of bombing, she started to bomb big time. I respect her to skate to the end. I've said it before, she must learn to overcome a mistake. She kind of did in Europeans, but I think she was just too exhausted here. Heavy falls take the breath out of you.

 

[snd]

zijun lacked energy but i wouldn't call her fs performance lifeless. it was slow (but most ladies were slow and a good number were LABORED and placed above zijun who wasn't labored), calm, very elaborate, light... she skated with lots of attention to detail. the performance was like fine lace. i liked it very much.

wakaba's skating skills are much better than any other lady's bar carolina maybe. only mao is better than wakaba currently. her musicality is as good as satoko's at the very least, too. i lol'd at the talk in this thread about her 'lack of talent' and how she's domestically overscored (no, she's internationally criminally underscored). thank god for the ignore list option.

 

[Vili67]

Oh, please don't let Javi take a cold tomorrow! The day after would be soon enough ...

SCNR

BIG LOL

 

[OS]

zijun lacked energy but i wouldn't call her fs performance lifeless. it was slow (but most ladies were slow and a good number were LABORED and placed above zijun who wasn't labored), calm, very elaborate, light... she skated with lots of attention to detail. the performance was like fine lace. i liked it very much.

Unfortunately, her program is about a woman in her last dying breath reminiscing about her past, lost love, regrets, what could have been etc.. longing, repressive memories, forlorn moments similar to the theme of Madam butterfly, totally depressing. So it is not like she can suddenly show energy when she is about to die right at the end (why she used to bow down dead at the end but in a pose submission to the emperor). I thought it is a perfectly eloquent elegant sophisticated type of program for the right audience to show growing maturity, but perhaps just not for this panel or some audiences who demand entertainment and easier to digest performances.

Only if she had picked something empowering and more obivous like Mononoke Hime, or churpier like a disney musical, or even Lala land, it could have made a difference?

 

[icybear]

the thing is that her PCS were stable for years and this season! But then there was that ruckus with her not being on the world team list for whatever reason and now her PCS are lower than that of the second Chinese skater ? Her performance was not livelier or less livelier than throughout the whole season!

i think it was because of being underscored by the judges in sp and going into the fs 20th and going first as well had a huge impact

 

[Arriba627]

A few thoughts on the ladies:
Carolina - first time I've ever seen her live. Gorgeous skater although she seemed a tad slow tonight. The audience was totally in love with her.
Wakaba - love her and love her musicality. I can't help but think of Midori Ito when I look at her. Hope she can continue to train the 3A. Good job for her first Worlds.
Ashley - loved her Exogenesis, but this has certainly not been her year. Just didn't seem like she could get any momentum going for the whole year, and it looked like tonight her heart just wasn't in it.
Gabby - Those jumps! Wow! Saw her skate this FS at Sk Amer in October, and she has really put some fire in it since then. Good job.
Mai - glad she could redeem herself in the FS. Shame about the 3 spots. Look forward to watching her grow and hope she doesn't have any health issues.
Kaetlyn - this delightful young lady knows the power of performance. Unlike most, I loved both of her programs. So happy she could deliver, even with the pressure of being favored to medal. Big jumps, a real spiral and Russian splits, facial expression without being "over the top". Wow!
Karen Chen - Kudos to her for coming out and holding it together and getting the 3 spots. Close to the podium, but not quite.
Anna - My dear Queen Anna, my sentimental favorite. We tried so hard to lift you up and carry you on our shoulders with our cheers and our applause. But it wasn't meant to be. Such a disappointment. That one fall on her knee looked so painful. Please cheer up, heal, and come back fighting.

 

[snd]

Unfortunately, her program is about a woman in her last dying breath reminiscing about her past, lost love, regrets, what could have been etc.. longing, repressive memories, forlorn moments similar to the theme of Madam butterfly, totally depressing. So it is not like she can suddenly show energy when she is about to die right at the end (why she used to bow down dead at the end but in a pose submission to the emperor). I thought it is a perfectly eloquent elegant sophisticated type of program for the right audience to show growing maturity, but perhaps just not for this panel or some audiences who demand entertainment and easier to digest performances.

Only if she had picked something empowering and more obivous like Mononoke Hime, or churpier like a disney musical, or even Lala land, it could have made a difference?

and the program was well-picked. she DOESN'T have energy. she'd be overpowered and dwarfed by, say, rhapsody in blue or carmina burana. but this sort of languid, sophisticated swan-song type of a program suits her skills very well and, indeed, her performance was appropriate and beautiful. more energy would have clashed with the theme, perhaps - but it's a moot point since energy is not at zijun's disposal at the moment. she did well with what she has. she wasn't scored appropriately, though...

edit: her clair de lune program was excellent for the same reasons. it was elegant, beautiful and skated with great attention to detail without needing any OOMPH. she's good at this sort of stuff like liza is good at dramatic dark queen type programs. beats me why her pcs (not counting speed) is so low...

 

[karne]

I left the ISU site up on my phone so that as soon as I woke up I could catch the result. Here is how this went:

- search for the Aussie flag. Oh, poor Kailani, what happened? :sad21:

- wait, does this mean no Olympic spot?

- search for who won - OH YEAH KICK ALL OF THE BOOTY MY MOON QUEEN

- oh. two Canadian ladies on the podium. joy.

- ugh, Kostner too high.

- OH MY GOD CHEN BEAT WAGNER AND THE US LADIES KEPT THREE SPOTS HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA this is gonna piss the Mirai fans off so much

- wth happened with the rest of the results

- good thing i didn't get up this looks like it was a trainwreck at some point


But mostly I am just sad about the Olympic spot. I guess that's what Nebelhorn is for, but I had been hoping to avoid that for the ladies. Oh, and happy that my Queen is still the Queen, even knowing she'll be getting mercilessly trashed because HOW DARE EVIL RUSSIAN WIN.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Lil Bet's StSeq is amazing! I just started to watch some of the videos of the performances and chose her first

Seriously...that StSeq! I think the judges were a bit lenient on her TES a tad but I don't think they value her PCS enough. The scores are what the scores are so I really try to avoid discussing specifics of PCS because it's pretty pointless so I'll just say I hope they start to trend up with her. IMO she deserves them but the judges are who they are and they can't break my enjoyment of watching her skate.

I'd say she delivered this year and if I were playing the music in the KnC for her no doubt I'd cue up DMX "Rough Riders". I feel like she's the one handling her Mom

 

[matmuh]

Lil Bet's StSeq is amazing! I just started to watch some of the videos of the performances and chose her first

Seriously...that StSeq! I think the judges were a bit lenient on her TES a tad but I don't think they value her PCS enough. The scores are what the scores are so I really try to avoid discussing specifics of PCS because it's pretty pointless so I'll just say I hope they start to trend up with her. IMO she deserves them but the judges are who they are and they can't break my enjoyment of watching her skate.

I'd say she delivered this year and if I were playing the music in the KnC for her no doubt I'd cue up DMX "Rough Riders". I feel like she's the one handling her Mom

agree with everything!! (not a surprise though since i am biased ) go check her instagram story, she is teasing her mom