2018-19 British figure skating

[Bluediamonds09]

A rise on the way? Or the same as before?
Great Britain has talented skaters but they seem to be missing some very important things.
This thread is for them. Hopefully we see a rise soon! Or at least a 60+ sp score!

 

[DSQ]

There have been several at JGP and out of all of them the most impressive was, to me, Anna Litvinenko.

https://youtu.be/5GHrbNi4GOU

Objectively I can see her technical skills need work but I can see she’s going in the right direction by trying difficult moves.

I think the biggest shame in GBR figure skating is, outside of Ice Dance, it seems like skaters aren’t even attempting to get higher technical scores even though that’s where the sport has moved to after the demise of the 6.0 system. Until talented skaters like Natasha McKay really start pushing their boundaries GBR won’t be competitive.

 

[DSQ]

On the 29th of October not one but two (!!) British Ice Dance couples will be competing at Skate America. Fear/Gibson and Tweedale/Buckland have stiff competition but I think if their recent scores mean anything then they could both be in the top six with some luck.

F/G’s Free is just so charming I really think they could hit a total score of 190+ if they really knock it out of the park.

(I know this isn’t strictly ladies skating but considering this thread has lay dormant I think I might be forgiven for expanding it to all GBR skaters?)

 

[La Rhumba]

F/G’s Free is just so charming I really think they could hit a total score of 190+ if they really knock it out of the park.

Where are you getting 190 from?

They've just achieved their highest ISU FD score of 103.31, but their Tango RD needs some improvement, which hopefully they'll have done before SA.

 

[DSQ]

I meant 190 total score! Yeah 190 for just the free would be crazy! Idk it would be a stretch for them but I think by the end of the season if they keep improving it is possible. Difficult for sure considering they’re only sitting at 160+ right now but I see the potential for them to reach it if they really work for it. Crazier things have happened!

I totally agree their Tango RD is their weak link so far, but being based in Montreal hopefully they’re working on it.

 

[litenkyckling]

Really looking forward to seeing both teams at SA - for me though, Fear/Gibson have it for the FD, one of my favourites of all the seniors so far. Their RD isn't quite clicking for me yet though.

 

[DSQ]

This is such a golden opportunity for them to make a mark, I just can’t wait!

I really really hope Eurosport air SA live.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Copying this over from the NHK Trophy Free Dance thread:

FOUR BRITISH SKATERS IN THE TOP FOUR!!!!



1[SUP]st[/SUP] – Jean-Luc Baker
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] – Tiffany Zahorski
4[SUP]th[/SUP] – Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson

And I bet you the BBC don't even pick up on it! :disapp:

Got to say, I loved the rections when Kaitlin and Jean-Luc's scores were being announced. Kaitlin started celebrating when the FS score was announced, and then realised "hang on, that's only the segment score" and then stopped. And then they all sat there waiting and then the overall score was announced, and Kaitlin was the first to realise that they had won, and she went completely mad!!! And then everybody else joined in!!!

As the guys said in commentary, it was so refreshing to see such genuine joy.

Felt so sorry for Tiff and Jon. Like, it shows you how badly things went for Jon when even our favourite uncles were being harsh about his performance. But, everybody has one of those days now and again, so I'm sure things will be much better the next time we see them.

EDIT: Just watched the podium ceremony, and I thought that was a lovely moment when the medallists were all waiting to come out onto the ice, and there was Tiff standing there with a needle and thread sewing Jon's cuff back together!​

And as for the partnership that was actually representing Team GB, I will never tire of that FS programme. Absolutely love it! These two are quickly becoming the most promising young Ice Dance partnership on the circuit.

What a great competition!

And I put the correct four partnerships at the top in my predictions!!! Just a pity I didn't put them in the correct order!!!

WELL DONE EVERYBODY!!!

CaroLiza_fan

Source: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...K-Free-Dance&p=2247106&viewfull=1#post2247106​

 

[tabsy]

Amazing congratulations to Lilah and Lewis on their fabulous showing at NHK hopefully it can give them the momentum they deserve! Just need to keep practicing the RD...

Also, I saw that at the Volvo Open, British Senior Ladies came 2nd (Karly Robertson, behind Ivett Toth), 3rd (Kristen Spours), 4th (Nina Povey), and 6th (Natasha McKay) out of a field of 30, which is a great result. All achieved the minimum SP TES for Europeans, and Karly and Kristen did for Worlds. Only Nina made the FS TES for Worlds. Well done to them for a strong GB showing :thumbsup:

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Amazing congratulations to Lilah and Lewis on their fabulous showing at NHK hopefully it can give them the momentum they deserve! Just need to keep practicing the RD...

Also, I saw that at the Volvo Open, British Senior Ladies came 2nd (Karly Robertson, behind Ivett Toth), 3rd (Kristen Spours), 4th (Nina Povey), and 6th (Natasha McKay) out of a field of 30, which is a great result. All achieved the minimum SP TES for Europeans, and Karly and Kristen did for Worlds. Only Nina made the FS TES for Worlds. Well done to them for a strong GB showing :thumbsup:

And it was good for the younger girls as well, with Alana Pang in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and Lucy Hay in 5[SUP]th[/SUP] in Intermediate Novice Girls!

And the guys didn't do too badly in Riga either - Graham Newberry and Luke Digby were 4[SUP]th[/SUP] in the Senior and Junior Men's competitions respectively! And Jacob Casey was 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] in the Intermediate Novice Boys competition.

A great weekend indeed for British skaters!

I just hope that this run of success will start catching the attention of people, and help to raise the popularity of the sport in these islands. And, in turn, help attract people with big wallets to invest in the sport.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[litenkyckling]

I'm so gutted that I can't make nationals in a couple of weeks - oh to see that disco FD in person! (I wish they were in January instead because weekends off in December are sadly not a thing in retail haha). I really hope this is a solid start of a rise to the top for team GB.

 

[ladyjane]

THat FD was really something. Thoroughly enjoyed watching it. Second Free Dance by the way. Excellent. A pity the RD wasn't that good or they would have medalled!

 

[LandShark]

Fear /Gibson continue to absolutely knock it out the park in the free. So far, it is the free dance of the season. Their character simply explodes out of the routine and drenches audiences with fun and disco frenzy.

Suddenly, they're the couple I look forward to most of all.
However, that RD needs more work. A few more points in this section and suddenly they'd be contenders.

Hopefully that's what the coaching team are looking at.

 

[DSQ]

I couldn’t be more happy for everyone’s success this weekend! Take that UK Sport for cutting all of Skating’s funding!!

At NHK Lilah & Lewis skated better than I could have dreamed~ Now the question is do we think they can break the top 8 at Euros and the top 15 at worlds?

Lick Digby has been doing so well since his move to Lambiel. Hopefully I can find footage of his skate at The Volvo Cup.

Amazing congratulations to Lilah and Lewis on their fabulous showing at NHK hopefully it can give them the momentum they deserve! Just need to keep practicing the RD...

Also, I saw that at the Volvo Open, British Senior Ladies came 2nd (Karly Robertson, behind Ivett Toth), 3rd (Kristen Spours), 4th (Nina Povey), and 6th (Natasha McKay) out of a field of 30, which is a great result. All achieved the minimum SP TES for Europeans, and Karly and Kristen did for Worlds. Only Nina made the FS TES for Worlds. Well done to them for a strong GB showing :thumbsup:

Does this mean Natasha hasn’t made the TES minimum for worlds yet? That’s scary considering that nationals are coming up!

 

[tabsy]

I couldn’t be more happy for everyone’s success this weekend! Take that UK Sport for cutting all of Skating’s funding!! ��

At NHK Lilah & Lewis skated better than I could have dreamed~ Now the question is do we think they can break the top 8 at Euros and the top 15 at worlds?

Lick Digby has been doing so well since his move to Lambiel. Hopefully I can find footage of his skate at The Volvo Cup.



Does this mean Natasha hasn’t made the TES minimum for worlds yet? That’s scary considering that nationals are coming up!

I had a look for Luke's skate at Volvo but couldn't find it....


Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it qualifies as an ISU competition, Natasha made the TES minimum for FS at Golden Bear, but I don't think has made the SP TES yet. Close, but a couple of points out...

 

[SnowWhite]

I couldn’t be more happy for everyone’s success this weekend! Take that UK Sport for cutting all of Skating’s funding!! ��

At NHK Lilah & Lewis skated better than I could have dreamed~ Now the question is do we think they can break the top 8 at Euros and the top 15 at worlds?

Lick Digby has been doing so well since his move to Lambiel. Hopefully I can find footage of his skate at The Volvo Cup.



Does this mean Natasha hasn’t made the TES minimum for worlds yet? That’s scary considering that nationals are coming up!

Looking at SB scores, I'd say yes.

For Euros, we have
1. Papadakis/Cizeron
2. Stepanova/Bukin - 200.78
3. Sinitsina/Katsalapov - 196.42
4. Guignard/Fabbri - 196.29
5. Zagorski/Guerreiro - 183.05
6. Lauriault/Le Gac - 180.32
7. Smart/Diaz - 180.07
8. Fear/Gibson - 177.20
9. Hurtado/Khaliavin - 172.09

For Worlds:
1. Papadakis/Cizeron
2. Hubbell/Donohue - 200.82
3. Stepanova/Bukin - 200.78
4. Weaver/Poje - 197.27
5. Sinitsina/Katsalapov - 196.42
6. Guignard/Fabbri - 196.29
7. Gilles/Poirier - 194.12
8. Hawayek/Baker - 184.63
9. Parsons/Parsons - 180.95
10. Lauriault/Le Gac - 180.32
11. Smart/Diaz - 180.07
12. Fear/Gibson - 177.20
13. Soucisse/Firus - 172.27

The biggest caveats for Worlds are Chock/Bates and Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen. C/B actually shouldn't change things, since all three US teams currently are listed ahead of F/G. FB/S could definitely slot in ahead of them though, whereas Soucisse/Firus are currently behind.

So yeah, I think both of those are doable. Not guaranteed by any means, because there are teams behind them who could improve their scores, and ice is slippery of course.

 

[DSQ]

I had a look for Luke's skate at Volvo but couldn't find it....

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if it qualifies as an ISU competition, Natasha made the TES minimum for FS at Golden Bear, but I don't think has made the SP TES yet. Close, but a couple of points out...

Well she’s at a competition this weekend so fingers crossed! That a shame about Luke but hopefully it’ll turn up soon. That or they’ll have cameras at Nats.

Looking at SB scores, I'd say yes.

For Euros, we have
1. Papadakis/Cizeron
2. Stepanova/Bukin - 200.78
3. Sinitsina/Katsalapov - 196.42
4. Guignard/Fabbri - 196.29
5. Zagorski/Guerreiro - 183.05
6. Lauriault/Le Gac - 180.32
7. Smart/Diaz - 180.07
8. Fear/Gibson - 177.20
9. Hurtado/Khaliavin - 172.09

For Worlds:
1. Papadakis/Cizeron
2. Hubbell/Donohue - 200.82
3. Stepanova/Bukin - 200.78
4. Weaver/Poje - 197.27
5. Sinitsina/Katsalapov - 196.42
6. Guignard/Fabbri - 196.29
7. Gilles/Poirier - 194.12
8. Hawayek/Baker - 184.63
9. Parsons/Parsons - 180.95
10. Lauriault/Le Gac - 180.32
11. Smart/Diaz - 180.07
12. Fear/Gibson - 177.20
13. Soucisse/Firus - 172.27

The biggest caveats for Worlds are Chock/Bates and Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen. C/B actually shouldn't change things, since all three US teams currently are listed ahead of F/G. FB/S could definitely slot in ahead of them though, whereas Soucisse/Firus are currently behind.

So yeah, I think both of those are doable. Not guaranteed by any means, because there are teams behind them who could improve their scores, and ice is slippery of course.

The ice is slippery indeed, it’s part of why I love this sport. It’s the unexpected ones who triumph! That said your list is encouraging (thank you for making it!) while training in Montreal is no guarantee of greatness I at least know that they’ll do the right thing and keep pushing the Rhythm Dance practice.

Perhaps after Nats they’ll head to another CS like Golden Spin?

 

[La Rhumba]

Natasha McKay is in Innsbruck this week to get the TES!

Lilah & Lewis's RD has improved hugely from Nebelhorn to Skate America, and they were underscored at NHK. Lilah had a trip on Twizzles but Jean-Luc Baker had a trip on the Tango Romantica Pattern but the Judges didn't treat them as harshly. And without the 1.00 deduction for an extended lift in the FD they would've won the FD, they were 1st on FD TES anyway! They still deserved to be on the podium, but the medalists inexplicably all got higher PCS. Being in the final group for FD would've increased their PCS probably, but Dance is still judged in a certain way. Anyway they had their best showing for the Tango Romantica with Level 2 and 3 and 5 Ys - better than many of those ranked above them.

Edited to add: Can I just say how annoying it is to read so many people say about L&L "I didn't know them from Adam last year" or "I'd never heard of them before now". It's like you don't exist in Skating unless North Americans are talking about you. Which makes me wonder, what do they watch? L&L competed in 12 events last season, including Challengers, and won medals at some. They won medals at their first ever Challenger - Lombardia Trophy in their first season together. It seems unless you're from the top 5 big nations of Skating you're ignored by North Americans, whereas lower ranked singles skaters from the US/Can get talked about every week on TSL and the forums. I appreciate talent wherever it's from, and whilst I'm glad L&L are getting more attention and praise, some of the comments, as if they've come from nowhere and appeared overnight, make me really curl my lip and wonder what people are watching who claim to love skating? They were at Finlandia last season and made big strides in the FD, and the same at their first Europeans in 2017, climbing 5 places in the FD. They've always had stronger FDs than SDs in terms of technical content...But anyway, glad to get that off my chest!! :2thumbs:

 

[DSQ]

^
It was ever thus. It was the same with Penny & Nick. You have to be the best of the best if you’re not from Japan, North America or Russia to get noticed. Or be really cute. But I can’t complain Figure Skating is just more popular there I guess.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Natasha McKay is in Innsbruck this week to get the TES!

Lilah & Lewis's RD has improved hugely from Nebelhorn to Skate America, and they were underscored at NHK. Lilah had a trip on Twizzles but Jean-Luc Baker had a trip on the Tango Romantica Pattern but the Judges didn't treat them as harshly. And without the 1.00 deduction for an extended lift in the FD they would've won the FD, they were 1st on FD TES anyway! They still deserved to be on the podium, but the medalists inexplicably all got higher PCS. Being in the final group for FD would've increased their PCS probably, but Dance is still judged in a certain way. Anyway they had their best showing for the Tango Romantica with Level 2 and 3 and 5 Ys - better than many of those ranked above them.

Edited to add: Can I just say how annoying it is to read so many people say about L&L "I didn't know them from Adam last year" or "I'd never heard of them before now". It's like you don't exist in Skating unless North Americans are talking about you. Which makes me wonder, what do they watch? L&L competed in 12 events last season, including Challengers, and won medals at some. They won medals at their first ever Challenger - Lombardia Trophy in their first season together. It seems unless you're from the top 5 big nations of Skating you're ignored by North Americans, whereas lower ranked singles skaters from the US/Can get talked about every week on TSL and the forums. I appreciate talent wherever it's from, and whilst I'm glad L&L are getting more attention and praise, some of the comments, as if they've come from nowhere and appeared overnight, make me really curl my lip and wonder what people are watching who claim to love skating? They were at Finlandia last season and made big strides in the FD, and the same at their first Europeans in 2017, climbing 5 places in the FD. They've always had stronger FDs than SDs in terms of technical content...But anyway, glad to get that off my chest!! :2thumbs:

H/B had a level 1 on the first section of TR, with all Ns; a level 2 on the second section with 2Y and 2Ns, and a negative GOE. They were appropriately dinged in the scoring. The tech panel is not playing favorites this year. The other judges...well I'll leave that for you to decide.

I'm thrilled as any Brit fan would be to see a mini-dance Renaissance but please don't imply that H/B got any kind of preferential treatment in the RD. They certainly did not.

As for L/L I don't think that diatribe is warranted, nor the snide North American comment. If you follow all of skating, it is quite easy for a team to fly under your personal radar. Finland's T/V are an excellent example of this. I'm sure I'm not the only one who never had them on my personal radar until this year. L/L is probably a similar case.