2021 Skate Canada (Women) Thoughts and Comments?

[gsk8]

Russia's Kamila Valieva wins gold at Skate Canada in debut

Kamila Valieva of Russia dominated the Women’s event, taking the gold at in her Grand Prix debut at 2021 Skate Canada on Saturday night. In what turned out to be […]

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Congrats to Valieva! I'm super proud of Mihara and Kawabe

What are your thoughts on the women's event?

 

[readernick]

Agree with the placements ( for the most part) but not the scores. However congratulations to all the medalist!

I love Wakaba! That's all

 

[Matthew]

Was Wakaba's style a bit more "female", ice-princesslike than in the past? What happened?

 

[lariko]

I thought it was glorious, though am too lazy to look up what Liu was dinged for. At a guess, they << her 3A. I love that girl. Glad to see Kostornaya and Mihara gaining form and Tuktamysheva being on top of her game. And, heh, Valieva dispelling the artificially created suspense (Simon was particularly obnoxious during the women’s event, I think).

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

I thought it was glorious, though am too lazy to look up what Liu was dinged for. At a guess, they << her 3A. I love that girl. Glad to see Kostornaya and Mihara gaining form and Tuktamysheva being on top of her game. And, heh, Valieva dispelling the artificially created suspense (Simon was particularly obnoxious during the women’s event, I think).

Liu got << on the 3A, < on the 3F in the euler combo, < on the 3T in the 3Lz+3T and q on the 3F+2A sequence.
A shame, because I really like her free skate, I think the Tchaikovsky really suits her.

 

[yume]

TP and judges were harsh with Wakaba.

We are reaching new heights with Valieva. 180 is a score that most men now struggle to get even with their PCS advantage. This is definitely a different era. The level of difficulty is way above the one in the last quad. If all olympic medalists are quadsters, i can see ISU allow quads in SP for ladies the next season. The PCS factoring won't necessarily change imo.

 

[[email protected]]

It was a very good event. It was adequate judging meaning that the placements are correct. The highlight is Kamila. I don't have adjectives to describe her skating. The biggest positive surprise was Mai Mihara. I hope that she gets a spot in the team. The rest were as I expected them, maybe Karen disappointed more than I would imagine.

 

[readernick]

Was Wakaba's style a bit more "female", ice-princesslike than in the past? What happened?

I don't think Wakaba's skating could have ever been described as ice-princess like...

 

[lariko]

Liu got << on the 3A, < on the 3F in the euler combo, < on the 3T in the 3Lz+3T and q on the 3F+2A sequence.
A shame, because I really like her free skate, I think the Tchaikovsky really suits her.

Yeah, it’s too bad, visually both programs were fantastic. Hopefully she will clean it up as the season progresses.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Kamila is AMAZING!!! So much age appropriate sass! I love it! I love the quads but the highlight for me is the last lutz with the diving move right after. I always get a thrill when she finishes that move. Of course it doesn't hurt that the quads are so decisive looking! She's a phenomenal talent. Beautiful, effortless skating. Effortless jumps. Also nice to see that you can "make money" on spins!!! She gets such great GOEs on her spins (well deserved)!

Ok so I don't usually watch Liza because she's not to my taste but because a few people were raging about her I just had to watch to see what all the raging was about. She was freaking awesome!!!! She was entertaining, engaging, lively and really MOVED with the program imo. Please please please do not change a thing because it was the perfect program for her. She looked sensational and her performance was fantastic!!! This is a classic case of playing to your strengths and maximising your best qualities!

ETA: Must mention Mai whose skate was just gorgeous!!!

 

[Thrashergurl]

I think the scoring for the top 2 was inflated. Thought Alena got lucky this time.
Kamila- was predicted to win Olympics long before she stepped foot on senior ice and her scores show this will happen. I just wish she had a better program, better packaging, showed more personality- and less leg kicks.

 

[mrrice]

I was thrilled to see Tuk finish with the Silver. This season in huge as she fights to get on the Olympic Team in Russia. Not an easy task.

 

[YuBluByMe]

A very good event overall. The biggest surprise to me was Mai Mihara. I thought she had the best free of the day and I’m definitely not a Mihara fan. I find her boring, but she was light as a feather and hit some beautiful musical accents last night.

Valieva: The second biggest surprise for me. I once said that watching her skate is like listening to Christina Aguilera: a recognized talent that still manages to suck the soul out everything she does. Not at this competition, though. I still don’t like her free skate, but she was performing it much better than she was last year. I thought she had the best SP too. She’s finally listening to her music and seems to have a newfound confidence.

Kostornaia: She sleptwalked through both her programs, especially her free. I’ve always said (even two years ago) that she’s not musical and skates through her music, but it’s all the more jarring when the elements aren’t working. Sub-70 PCS is deserved.

Liu: I didn’t expect for her to podium, but I am surprised she finished under Mihara and barely beat Higuchi. I liked her short at Nebelhorn, but I didn’t like either of her programs here. She’s made noticeable improvements in speed, but she’s still juniorish. In Nebelhorn, she was the big fish in a small pond. In Canada, the pond was bigger.

Kawabe: I’m a little annoyed she finished under Schizas, but that’s her own fault. I’m glad she was able to rally back in the free and finally land a 3A in international competition. It was a long time coming! If Rika withdraws from NHK, I expect to see her there and increase her PB.

I had other things to say about a few other skaters but then realized it’s more appropriate in the ladies ranking thread.

 

[Ali81]

Valieva was outstanding . I do hope she sticks around after the Olympics and competes for a few years. As her musicality matures and her interpretation gets more sophisticated she may produce some astounding performances .Tuktamysheva was also great . It’s crazy that a skater of her calibre is on the borderline of making the Olympics. She may well go down as one of the best skaters to never make an Olympic appearance. Mai Mihara was excellent ,recapturing some of the magic she evinced in her Mission program . She could have made the podium actually.

 

[apgold]

The Women's event was certainly the highlight event here. There were so many 3As attempted and or landed that I could not keep up with the count.

The top 3 came out the same as with Finlandia - 3 Russians. Kamila will be hard to beat for OGM. I believe Liza has solidified her place on the team with this competition. Aliona is coming back but her program switching is doing her no favors and her 3A isn't as stable as it was two years ago. I can't see her making the team at this point but we shall see.

Mai Mihara was the big surprise here - I put her in 6th place in my predictions but she really gave the skate of her life to move up to 4th. Alysa proved she is the US #1 Woman right now and is improving all the time, even if her 3A isn't solid. I wanted Wakaba to score higher - but she popped the combo in the free. But good for her for landing the 3A in the free, she ought to put in the SP when she feels more secure - it will really make the case to put her on the team.

So disappointed for Karen - she needs to step it up at her next GP if she wants to make the case for the team. The Canadian women performed as expected with Maddie leading the way. And good for Mana - landing her 3A as the first skater out was exciting.

 

[soccerjc77]

My favorite part of the event : https://youtu.be/2bCUmlpLvT0?t=250
Oh my god's imagine this epic part in the Olympic, Let's go Liza !

 

[chuckm]

Mai Mihara made the event for me. I would have loved to see her on the podium instead of Kostornaia, who was just plain dull.

Yes, Valieva can skate, but for how long? The whole issue of quads in the ladies SP may be affected if the leading quadsters start suffering injury. Right now, Trusova has had to cut back on the quads due to injury.

 

[Sweet Dream]

Russians will very likely sweep the Olympic Women podium in 2022, given the uncertainty over Rika's physical conditions. I think their Olympic team is already taking shape: Valieva + Tuktamysheva + Shcherbakova/Khromykh. Trusova's Olympic prospect is quite gloomy, considering the stress fracture in her foot. We will see.

I have to give a big thumb-up to Tuktamysheva and her coach for never giving up in this fierce fight for her illusive place on the team!

 

[Dawn825]

Mana starting the competition with that beautiful 3A was sensational, standings aside she should be very proud of herself for that FS and I look forward to seeing her compete in future years.
I really like Haein's music and choreography, I think that program could have been really impactful if she gave more facial expressions for the big moments.
Wakaba was the highlight of both segments for me, the 3A was amazing though the pop was extremely frustrating. The Lion King was initially a baffling music choice to me, but she's completely changed my mind on it, the cut is so exciting and Olympic and I'm rooting for her so hard.
I love Alysa's FS program, unfortunately her jump issues were a little obvious, as was the deficit in her SS compared to those around her. Shes still a great performer, and handled the pressure of a huge event admirably.
Aliona's hard to talk about, I was rooting so hard for her and her 3A is getting there. But losing again to Liza, and even Mai in the free, rlly hurts her chances. She showed up here with another set of lukewarm programs, so its just getting harder to see any reason why she would be sent to the Olympics over others.
I know Liza has weak SS and maybe the program has a taste issue. But theres no denying that no one else in the ladies field could perform that program. She's bring an adult, confident energy and attitude to the sport that none of the aidel little girls around her are, and I'm just enjoying it.
Two clean skates for Kamila should do wonders for her confidence. From my perspective, if she's going to end up as the Olympic champion regardless, I would much rather see her become more dominant and confident with every competition, rather than be a nervous wreck who looks ready to cry every time she skates - as she did before the short. She is impressive in the free, but not beautiful. The movements are abrupt and disjointed without any flow or elegance. Gymnastics on ice, as they say.

 

[ruga]

Don't know why you guys keep counting Sasha out, with 1 quad she got almost the same score as nearly perfect Liza. For me she is second most likely to get on the team for now. There's still time to heal injuries.