2021 Skate Canada: Pairs Free Skate

[LadyB]

I'm not as overwhelmed by S/H as I used to be in the past when I thought they are magic.
Now I think they are actually beatable...and I've got a few candidates that I love to see doing exactly that.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Live from the rink—Sui/Han wonderful of course despite awful cover; P/K have a fantastic set of programs and once they practice them a bit more, all Russian pairs should be very afraid. Congrats to CG/LD who did well, though Tim boffed both jump passes. Jones/Boyardi were wonderfully moving, I had something in my eye I think by the end of the skate

I gotta ask what was the reception for J/R...it feels awkward watching them on the stream, were the crowd on their side? Or was it lukewarm?

 

[brigit66]

I'm not as overwhelmed by S/H as I used to be in the past when I thought they are magic.
Now I think they are actually beatable...and I've got a few candidates that I love to see do exactly that.

you are so mean

 

[SNAKSuyun]

General quick thoughts (again from the arena):
Radford/James feel like they are still not gelling well yet - while there were good moments in that program, i couldn’t feel a connection or like a grander style projected by both of them
Ashley and Tim were beautiful! Glad that they did well and I felt like I would have put them second but I haven’t looked at the math
Daria and Denis have a very exciting program and I can see it being a tour de force if they had say, t/m’s element qualities, but I’m not sure they CAN execute everything they want to the level that they want… we’ll see
The German pair were delightful! Wouldn’t mind seeing more of them
M/TM have such a gorgeous program in this and it was so beautiful and tender outside of the two botched lifts… I really want a clean ver of it for my collection
I’m not completely sold on S/H’s music cut and some of their chores, but they have room to experiment and edit as the season goes on so I hope it’ll work out for them in the end like V/M’s moulin rouge. There are still def many places to improve - the 3s, connection to the music, comfort with the program etc - but even as is their individual qualities still shine through and my non-skating friends have told me that they cried at this program. I’m a fan of the general direction - fierceness in the short, tender in the long - so I hope they’ll be able to perfectly showcase their connection and affection for each other by the olys! They are so devoted to both the sport and each other, it’d be breathtaking if they can show that in its full power to the world.

 

[LadyB]

you are so mean

That's my middle name.
But I'm also honest and say it how I feel.

 

[lariko]

It's Simon Reed, who's on the ISU feed. I put both on for a moment, and Peacock is a little behind the ISU feed.

I intensely dislike this commentator. He has the worst timing ever for popping up with completely superfluous comments. I fantasize about something happening to shut him up.

 

[brigit66]

That's my middle name.
But I'm also honest and say it how I feel.

Thats even worse.
It is something terrible wishing bad to someone

 

[gsk8]

Russia's Pavliuchenko/Khodykin #SCI21 FS (123.62/193.08) "Today our fre program was bad and we know this. We know why and what to do and how to work to be better and to skate cleaner."

China's Sui/Han #SCI21 FS (145.11/224.05) "We had a lift and pair spin that needs to improve at the next competition. This is our first GP in Canada, so it's really exciting. We want to say thank you to everyone!"

 

[LadyB]

Thats even worse.
It is something terrible wishing bad to someone

What planet are you on? I don't wish anything bad to anyone. I just support other teams that I want to win. Pretty normal for a fan, don't you think?

 

[rollerblade]

I must be the only person who prefers their 2017 version of Bridge Over Troubled Water? The old program was more far emotionally cohesive, and had so many choreographic details that matched the music better. I remember that program was criticized for being "too simple", but they could add to that, instead of basically having a worse do-over.

While the newer stuff they have here are great, individually, the placement of the elements were kinda all over the map. It was especially jarring when they go into that spectacular final lift while the lyrics goes 'laaaaaaaaay me down'.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Jackie Wong: ‘Sui/Han: During our choreo in 2017, we used this music when Sui had her surgery and I had to wait for her to come back. And I was like the bridge waiting for her to come back. Last year, I had surgery, and Sui was the bridge waiting for me.’

I’m fine I’m not crying I swear

 

[rollerblade]

I was surprised P&K had such problems today, not used to that - hopefully better next time, they are always interesting.

They had a late start to the season because of Khodykin's injury. I think they only started training after test skates(?). Their programs just looked "not ready" to me, but they have a month to polish it up for Rostelecom Cup.

 

[gold12345]

I was surprised Pavliuchenko/Khodykin were ready enough to compete here given the talk about his injury and how delayed they were for the season. They did fine considering.

This was a rough pair event aside from Sui/Han. It felt like teams were backdooring into the medals with scores that wouldn't have come close to medaling at Skate America. I can't think of any instances of an upper tier pair getting 0 points for two lifts in a free skate at any competition. Has it ever happened? That was really a shame for Moore-Towers/Marinaro and turned what was a solid skate into a disaster. They do those two lifts, they would have placed 2nd.

 

[labgoat]

2021 Skate Canada ISU video links in skate order are found in the Grand Prix thread.

REWATCH Grand Prix of Figure Skating IJS 2003-present

2020 Skate America - Oct 23-25, 2020 Las Vegas, NV/USA – Orleans Arena | ISU entries/results | Wikipedia Pairs Short Warm-Up Group 1 1 Alexa SCIMECA KNIERIM / Brandon FRAZIER 2 Emily CHAN / Spencer Akira HOWE 3 Olivia SERAFIN / Mervin TRAN 4 Anna VERNIKOV / Evgeni KRASNOPOLSKI Warm-Up...

www.goldenskate.com

 

[Hyena]

Russia's Pavliuchenko/Khodykin #SCI21 FS (123.62/193.08) "Today our fre program was bad and we know this. We know why and what to do and how to work to be better and to skate cleaner."

China's Sui/Han #SCI21 FS (145.11/224.05) "We had a lift and pair spin that needs to improve at the next competition. This is our first GP in Canada, so it's really exciting. We want to say thank you to everyone!"

First off, thanks for these reports, it's a great real-time glimpse into what the athletes are thinking!

Second of all, wow, I thought Sui/Han's pair spin was stunning and a real highlight in that program. I can't wait to see it "improved".

 

[saturdaysun]

On Wenjing's 3S, I actually think she's been more steady with it than our collective memories would have use believe. She didn't fall on it at the Olympics, it was Han Cong singling one of their 2Ts that kept them from gold (along some level issues on other elements). She also didn't fall on it during their entire Turandot season up to the Olympics or at 2019 or 2021 Worlds so I'm hoping this fall was more of a fluke than anything. They are just spectacular and in a league of their own even with the fall.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

First off, thanks for these reports, it's a great real-time glimpse into what the athletes are thinking!

Second of all, wow, I thought Sui/Han's pair spin was stunning and a real highlight in that program. I can't wait to see it "improved".

I heard that they got a V on it again so that might be it? They keep trying to go for innovative/pretty spins but keep not getting levels for them so...

 

[skylark]

It felt like teams were backdooring into the medals with scores that wouldn't have come close to medaling at Skate America.

That's looking at it the wrong way around. If you're talking about Cain-Gribble/Leduc, the really impressive thing was how beautifully they skated (read the live reports and other remarks from this thread) ... and, in my opinion, how they performed their program the way it deserves to be performed. If they can take this feeling forward and keep skating to do both their gorgeous, complex, unique programs justice, then it's likely that the judges will begin to reward Ashley and Tim for their excellent pairs qualities. If they hadn't skated so early (some say, as a result of being lowballed on their SP) ... Ashley/Tim scores may well have been higher. They gained momentum and excitement at points during the FS.

If you're talking about Daria/Denis, it's also not about the scores. They're planning to fix the problems. I'm not nearly as sold on their programs or their skating as I am on Ashley and Tim's, but acrobatics per se don't thrill me as much as what Ashley and Tim do. That's just a personal preference on my part. And they also have unique opportunities.