2018 Nepela Trophy Ladies Short Program

[Netta]

This day we definitely saw the rebirth of Elizabeth. Eteri prove again and again her training system is best for ladies. Kihira was strong and elegant at the same time, good try of 3A. If she stabilized her axel it could be a claim for leadership this season.

Just two days before I was sure Alina won but now this event is quite intriguing.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

I just watched Elizabet Tursynbaeva. She was amazing !! But where's Mama Tursynbaeva? Why is only Daniil with her in K&C?

I only wanted to see two people at Nepela, and it seems neither of them made it here.

Alina and Mama Tursynbaeva?

 

[hippomoomin]

I agree that Elizabet has improved so much. Not just her jumps look more secure, but her has much stronger presence and command on ice. Good job. Hope this can be her breakthrough season.

Polina, on the other hand, is such a disappointment. If she does not get her jumps consistent, there is no way she can be near the podium.

 

[NoNameFace]

I was too tired yesterday to post some bits live from the arena, here they are...

I think that Rika is just at the beginning of her senior path and there are a bit of blandness and non-showstopper factor to be expected there, and her style seems not lean to be a firecracker anyway in my opinion. That is why I am willing to wait how it will pan out. Yesterday's performance was definitely as clean and good as it gets with a fall - the best thing was that she never let it affect the rest of the program where she was attentive and in control. But this 3A is here, her practice was really solid proof of that, it is a matter od translating it into competition. The program is for me right now made more by the music than a skater, but it is a matter of growth into it, nevertheless she moves with ease, flow, lovely musicality, a 'translucent' one that characterizes Japanese skaters for me, nicely looking Rippon on a solo triple. I think it is a nice vehicle for a senior debut and I hope she will flourish into a great skater and competitor

Stanislava was good, with strong image and purposeful skating. These jumps were a bit of a flight, but she get them done, I wish that choreo was a bit more dance-y and punctuated.

Polina... Lovely skater with such a presence, striking figure, quite expressive from what I saw in the past, but yesterday she looked kinda...lost? Something felt off for me and I felt that this SP suits Sotskova way more than Polina. Polina was for me always more about little, expressive details framed by these huge jumps with height and delayed rotation, not 'big' music and huge sweeps of movement... And that entourage was not help either, she looked more like suited for Marylin Monroe-theme program in these gloves and sparkly pink. I am not jumps expert, but Polina's looked quite not there, there was hesitation in a combo in particular for me.

Elizabet looks like getting her mojo back - and I am all about that regardless of coaching, different styles suit different skaters. She looked confident and in control of her stuff, she may benefit from more speed and extension in some moves, but overall a great skate, I do hope though it will get more polish and character as a performance too, not only a skate.

 

[yume]

Tursunbaeva was a big surprise for me She’s been around for a while, I know, but never caught my attention that much. Here she did... I’m not sure why. Perhaps sharper jumps, lines and spins... better confidence? Some work on presentation and she’ll be in the top. Is she also taller?

I don't really know either, but yes some things have really improved. She has mostly more presence. Maybe it's the packaging. She looks less like a 12yo. I always wanted a better packaging for her. I wanted her to go to someone like Mie Hamada who does a fantastic job with Satoko's packaging.

 

[Dr. Jenn]

I really do not see the improvement in Elizabet that many people are mentioning. She has never been a skater that I have particularly enjoyed, but I tried to watch this performance with an open mind. However, I don't see any big changes. She's all elbows and knees, and she really needs to work on her extension. I find her jump technique rather odd, particularly her arm position. I do think that she looks a bit more mature on the ice though, so that's a positive.

 

[ewdokia]

Polina... Lovely skater with such a presence, striking figure, quite expressive from what I saw in the past, but yesterday she looked kinda...lost? Something felt off for me and I felt that this SP suits Sotskova way more than Polina. Polina was for me always more about little, expressive details framed by these huge jumps with height and delayed rotation, not 'big' music and huge sweeps of movement... And that entourage was not help either, she looked more like suited for Marylin Monroe-theme program in these gloves and sparkly pink. I am not jumps expert, but Polina's looked quite not there, there was hesitation in a combo in particular for me.

I think Polina just needs to regain confidence in competition. She did fine in practice yesterday, not worse than e.g. Tursynbaeva:
https://goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?55076-Polina-Tsurskaya&p=2190310&viewfull=1#post2190310
And today morning jumps were quite good as well. Some errors, but she landed most jumps beautifully and the other skaters also were not flawless (practice started at 7.55 a.m ).

I by the way saw Rika Kihira today morning once landing a 3A-3T as if it was nothing.