2021 Skate Canada: Women's Free Skate | Page 28 | Golden Skate

2021 Skate Canada: Women's Free Skate

PaulE

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Country
United-States
I enjoyed reading everyone's comments. Thank you all. And thanks to all the ladies for such fine skates.

It would have been great if there was some way that Mai could have finished third here—she always seems to get stuck in fourth place, just off the podium. It was lovely to see her back on the ice after her medical problems. If I recall correctly she suffers or suffered from juvenile arthritis which can also be called juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which, as someone mentioned earlier, is an autoimmune disease.

I think the subtitle that Peacock put up on Kamila after she was on the podium with her medal was probably misspelled. It said "Winner Women" when it would be more appropriate to have said "Wonder Woman" :rock: :cheer2: !!
 

SNAKSuyun

did it spark joy?
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 23, 2018
Country
China
i got a lot of flack for this when i watched mai live at ACI before the O games. I am afraid to repeat what I said back then but here it is : she was skating very small... she didn't project... Kaetlyn was skating after her and it was night and day... so to me, eventhough Mai is lovely and refined, there is very little as an audience member to grab on when in the arena... on the screen, we see the details, not in the arena... so, i am not too happy that wakaba didn't get rewarded here.
kinda disagree with that based on what I saw yesterday and today in the arena - Mai had some of the biggest standing ovations out of all of the ladies. Definitely wasn't losing to Wakaba or a lot of the other girls. Her live program quality also reminds me of Anna Shcherbakova, which was also compelling to me.
 

4everchan

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 7, 2015
Country
Martinique
kinda disagree with that based on what I saw yesterday and today in the arena - Mai had some of the biggest standing ovations out of all of the ladies. Definitely wasn't losing to Wakaba or a lot of the other girls. Her live program quality also reminds me of Anna Shcherbakova, which was also compelling to me.
I can only base my comment on ACI (must have been 2017?) Mai skated to Gabriel's oboe. Considering how judges responded to her FP, it may be a different kind of skate than the one I saw. It's 4 years ago after all.
 

Lamente Ariane

Skating Skills -5, Fashion +3, Camp +4
Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 5, 2017
Well I started a comment that got eaten by the forum so shorter thoughts:

Mana- excellent in every respect, one to watch.

Canadian girls- Maddie at least made eye contact with the audience, Emily better than Alison, Alison... sorry.

Haein- sublime, I think she made a lot of new fans tonight (my mother among them). Glad she felt the love from the crowd.

Mai- I cried yesterday and today and I’m not ashamed to admit it! Wonderful program, so happy to see her and she just beamed every time anyone in the crowd called to her.

Karen- I like the program much better live than I remember liking it in March. But man that fall n the last 3Lo in particular put a damper on things.

Alysa- fell on the 3a right in front of me after landing it in practice. That said it’s a good program and while in this field it wouldn’t make my top five that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy her.

Aliona- it pains me to say this because I adore her but her team has not done right by her this season in terms of programs. I know she’s capable of better and so does she but what can she do?

Liza- Loved every second, she played so well to the crowd and looked stronger than ever!

Kamila- didn’t really come alive until the jumps were out of the way. She delivered a lot of the choreography with conviction but I’m sorry it’s terrible nonsensical choreography that bears no relationship with the music or anything she’s doing out there. Daniil will pat himself on th back if she gets OGM with this no doubt even though the truth is she deserves better.

Edit: Wakaba!! Also well done!!
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Great skating overall - top six ladies brought it. LIu is looking good. She looks like the traditional American champ. Strong jumps, confident, polished and well presented. Don't be suprised with Russians dealing with puberty, injury and politics within Russia that Liu gets a world or olympic medal other than the team of course. Wakaba and Mai were wonderful. They look so polished and great jumps. Sorry about Chen's melt down. She is a very pretty skater but for jump issues including rotation. I have to say I know a lot of people don't like LIza's skating or her artistry but she is genuine she has personality. THe Koreans, Japanese, Chen and Liu are all very graceful skaters and very pretty type skating . But Liza is Liza and I think she deserves more credit including her jumps which are sharp, powerful and amplitude. I wonder if she was a Canadian - lol because they have produced skaters with big jumps - Osmond, Daleman, Rochette, Chouinard and Manley and their peak. As for Kamil - wow. I am impressed. Something about her free leg nees work and those leggings have to go. THey make her look clunky and really do nothing for the performance. Can they be buried with Gilles and Porier's orange spandex fiascos?
 

EdgeCall

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 31, 2012
Olympic predictions...

1. RUS - Valeva 277pts
2. RUS - Trusova 258pts
3.Tie-RUS Tuktamysheava 250pts
3.Tie KOR Young You 250pts
3.Tie -JPN Rika kihira 250pts
I'd love to see that, particularly on a podium as small as here at SC. The hosts would freak out! :laugh: Unfortunately there is a tiebreaker.
 

Lzbee

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 25, 2016
Congratulations to all the medalists!

I've said it before but I'll say it again, Kamila's 4Ts are incredible, on par with Sasha's. Personally, I'm not a fan of the very needle straight rippons (I prefer Alina style with a bit of roundedness) but if it means I don't have to be nervous when she jumps then so be it. The thing about Kamila's spins is that not only are they flexible but they're also fast, interesting and centered. I don't see how anyone can beat her, if she misses the jumps, the PCS and spins will save her. She'll be competitive for a while yet, even with the juniors coming up.

Liza's FP is such a crowd pleaser that she definitely deserves a good score. I just wish she'd brought this Liza out a few years ago! Brava Empress! :bow:

Aliona... Looked slow and out of it today. She's lucky that Mai was underscored or she would've been in 4th. I think the SP is almost there but the FP needs a lot of work. I really hope they'll get her a sports psychologist without putting stigma on it (Daniil seemed offended when asked about it). Maybe ask Liza for recommendations.

Mai was so good, I can't believe she got another 4th, why is she so unlucky, I can't deal. But JFS can't ignore her when she's scoring 210+ surely?

Alysa's underrotations got her today but she made a nice comeback after the 3A fall. Mai's unexpectedly good placement pushed her down to 5th which means we're probably going to see an all Russian GPF. It's still looking okay for her though, she is still indisputably US number 1 but she will need to work on those underrotations next. I don't think she needs to worry about the low PCS here, everyone except Liza and Kamila were scored fairly low.

I don't understand Mana's supremely low PCS. Wakaba only had one pop and no falls, she's on the right track, keep going girl. Karen had a really bad day, maybe I jinxed her but I hope she does better next time. Haein should be proud of what she achieved here, despite the 8th place it was an incredibly deep field.

Final thoughts:
I see that they're being very strict with underrotations now. It's good they're being called but considering pre-rotation isn't considered, it's made things more unfair at this moment. I hope they will introduce a pre-rotation rule for the new quad. It will destroy a few of the Eteri girls but some older skaters may be able to continue for longer due to good technique.
 

yume

🍉
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Me when i saw Mai's free skate score.
real-housewives.gif

What happened to judges to finally reward her? I'm so used to the 130-135 score for perfect skates that i'm shocked.
Excuse me, we've been in this pandemic for so long that i had forgotten that international judges are not as brutal as the domestic ones.
And girl is at her beloved place again, 4th.
 

Zora

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Kamila is probably the scariest skater ever to compete against. :LOL: She doesn't have any weaknesses. I don't think anyone can beat her, not even Sasha with all her quads. Unless she makes a few mistakes! I thought her Bolero was better today, because there's now confidence in her face from the very beginning, and I noticed it's better to just focus on her hands...

I love Tuktamysheva's free program for her, it's such a weird journey and anything but boring.

Aliona's program starts well, but it kind of fades away in the end, that doesn't leave a lingering impression. I feel sorry for her, because at this point there's nothing she can do really, she has tried everything now, new programs, triple Axel etc. One difference to Maiia though - Maiia messed up the first 4T at the Budapest Trophy, but still went for the second 4T, knowing she has to put it in combination. Aliona skipped the second 3A instead.

Alysa is packaged so well this season and I think it's very brave to put all 3 combinations in the second half. She really loves to skate and perform, that makes it much more enjoyable to watch her.

Wakaba did well, but she slows down noticeably in the middle part of the program. I thought she had stamina issues.

I skipped through most of Karen's and Mai's skating, even though Mai did well, but I just don't enjoy seeing her skate.

Haein Lee's program was a bit disappointing if you compare it to Yuna's program. All of the Korean skaters seem to be scared to compete, which is a bit puzzling, considering how expressive Yuna was.

Mana Kawabe did so well, but I question her packaging. She looks like a junior skater with her hair down, ribbons in her hair, the pink-and-purple dress. So many young Japanese skaters compete like that and I don't think it helps them PCS-wise once they compete in senior levels.
 

yume

🍉
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Congrats to Mana and Wakaba for firsts ratified 3A !!!!! :clap::clap::clap::clap:
I won't talk about Mana's PCS.
Wakaba basically did a copy-paste of Japan open. She has to stop popping that 2nd 3Lz-3T. Maybe it's time to switch to 2A-3T.
 

yelyoh

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Congratulations to all the medalists!

I've said it before but I'll say it again, Kamila's 4Ts are incredible, on par with Sasha's. Personally, I'm not a fan of the very needle straight rippons (I prefer Alina style with a bit of roundedness) but if it means I don't have to be nervous when she jumps then so be it. The thing about Kamila's spins is that not only are they flexible but they're also fast, interesting and centered. I don't see how anyone can beat her, if she misses the jumps, the PCS and spins will save her. She'll be competitive for a while yet, even with the juniors coming up.

Liza's FP is such a crowd pleaser that she definitely deserves a good score. I just wish she'd brought this Liza out a few years ago! Brava Empress! :bow:

Aliona... Looked slow and out of it today. She's lucky that Mai was underscored or she would've been in 4th. I think the SP is almost there but the FP needs a lot of work. I really hope they'll get her a sports psychologist without putting stigma on it (Daniil seemed offended when asked about it). Maybe ask Liza for recommendations.

Mai was so good, I can't believe she got another 4th, why is she so unlucky, I can't deal. But JFS can't ignore her when she's scoring 210+ surely?

Alysa's underrotations got her today but she made a nice comeback after the 3A fall. Mai's unexpectedly good placement pushed her down to 5th which means we're probably going to see an all Russian GPF. It's still looking okay for her though, she is still indisputably US number 1 but she will need to work on those underrotations next. I don't think she needs to worry about the low PCS here, everyone except Liza and Kamila were scored fairly low.

I don't understand Mana's supremely low PCS. Wakaba only had one pop and no falls, she's on the right track, keep going girl. Karen had a really bad day, maybe I jinxed her but I hope she does better next time. Haein should be proud of what she achieved here, despite the 8th place it was an incredibly deep field.

Final thoughts:
I see that they're being very strict with underrotations now. It's good they're being called but considering pre-rotation isn't considered, it's made things more unfair at this moment. I hope they will introduce a pre-rotation rule for the new quad. It will destroy a few of the Eteri girls but some older skaters may be able to continue for longer due to good technique.
Yes on the pre-rotation issue!!!
 

fabienne1996

Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2018
Country
Germany
Impressive Kamila. Even managed to break her own record and becomes first female to break 180. Back to back WR and she's only starting. Hopefully she does not peak too soon. One thing is clear though she is going to the Olympics.
Only if they get her either vaccinated before the olympics or get around the 21 day quarantine. Lets hope rusfed has a plan there
 

brigit66

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 29, 2021
Kamilas program is just terrible. I criticized Alina Zagitovas olympic program 4 years ago but it was a masterpiece next to Kamila's bolero.I am scared what will be in next 4, 8, 12 years. People critize Nathan programs,because he does nothing betweeen jumps but kamilia does the same. And that "habit" of kicking free leg is just irritating after a while.
 

Tolstoj

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 21, 2015
Alyona's PCS has really taken a hit. She is not even considered equal to Tuktamysheva by the judges in this department. Tragic!

Fair call, the program is empty and she is still a bit slow, while Tuktamysheva has slightly improved.

The vivaldi program was not amazing either but at least the music choice was good for her, Lovely with the reused cut from the program she scrapped and said she hated it last season: it's a bit juniorish and she doesn't have (yet?) the same sparkle she had 2 seasons ago.

The team will try to make her ready, so i expect more speed and the 3a ready in the next competitions but the packaging tells you she's not on their radar for the Olympics, which is a bit sad.
 

yume

🍉
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 11, 2016
Final thoughts:
I see that they're being very strict with underrotations now. It's good they're being called but considering pre-rotation isn't considered, it's made things more unfair at this moment. I hope they will introduce a pre-rotation rule for the new quad. It will destroy a few of the Eteri girls but some older skaters may be able to continue for longer due to good technique.
It will destroy 80% of the field.
Even reputed good jumpers as Kaori overly prerotate some jumps.
 
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