2021 Skate Canada: Women's Short Program

[Skater Boy]

Liu had 3Lz-3T< so obvious in real time and was not called. Alena was severely punished, she should be at 78-80.

Okay that's what I thought too. But she is the great American hope, she is their marketing star, she is the great red white and blue hope. They can market her to death with her jumps and improved artistry and her family. She is a marketing gold mine if she plays her cards right. Maybelline, Revlon, McDonalds endorsements are coming her way. She really is tough and has the jumps she could be on that Olympic podium especially with the Russian ladies struggling with technique. I might have had AK higher score wise in this event but it seems she is destined to be off the team. We'll see if Liza and Kamila can skate well enough. Don't count Liu out. She is a star.

 

[rollerblade]

To me, the skater with the quality to challenge the Russians is actually Wakaba but she needs to go for her 3A. If she does that, she should outscore everyone here except Kamila due to her quality.

Wakaba herself thought she would get 65 for her SP. That's crazy! JSF really did a number on her self esteem.

 

[eterialskating]

To me, the skater with the quality to challenge the Russians is actually Wakaba but she needs to go for her 3A. If she does that, she should outscore everyone here except Kamila due to her quality. Alysa is also a great skater but less impressive to me if both are clean.

But, yes, it's good that other skaters are pushing the Russians. I think this is more evident in the junior field. Sofia Akateva ( almost a perfect skater ) is on another level, but the American, Korean and ( probably... Based on some if their novices) Japanese junior women are pretty competitive with the rest of the Russians. It's more exciting when more skaters are competitive.

I see you've gone to Wakabi now after Sakamoto failed to make a dent last week. Anyway I highly doubt the judges would put her above the ethereal Anna Shcherbakova even if their on drugs. I do agree she should score over Tuktamysheva all the time and possibly beat the current version of Kostornaya if she can land her 3A. As usual though it's a question of ifs.

 

[readernick]

I see you've gone to Wakabi now after Sakamoto failed to make a dent last week. Anyway I highly doubt the judges would put her above the ethereal Anna Shcherbakova even if their on drugs. I do agree she should score over Tuktamysheva all the time and possibly beat the current version of Kostornaya if she can land her 3A. As usual though it's a question of ifs.

I don't even like Kaori's skating. What are you talking about?

Anna's not competing here. So, what does that have to do with anything?

 

[MaHa75]

Wached now all the womans and most overscored was Karen Chen!!! OMG with this kind of 3lutz<+ 2T landing in two feet one of the judges put -1? Seriously? And so high 2 marks?
Second one who was overscored was Madelein Schizas...2Lutz+3t and scored 3 points more than in finlandia where she didnt have this kind of error!
Otherwise i agree with the results!
Liu is good...but not yet as good as russian...she looks still like junior!

 

[florin]

In my opinion:
Liza had 3Aq and 3Lz+3T<
Alyona had 3F+3Tq
Kamila was perfect
Alysa, oddly enough, the judges honestly called everything

 

[silveruskate]

This might be controversial but Aliona had the best 3A of the competition.

 

[silveruskate]

In my opinion:
Liza had 3Aq and 3Lz+3T<
Alyona had 3F+3Tq
Kamila was perfect
Alysa, oddly enough, the judges honestly called everything

Hmmmm. Aliona's 3T was rotated more than Alysa. Confused.

 

[florin]

This might be controversial but Aliona had the best 3A of the competition.

It's true. My fault. For some reason I made a mistake and thought that the judges call 3T. Well... they were soft on Alysa too.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Random thoughts from having watched the ladies live (I had watched Liza and Aliona before from the Vancouver GPF. The others I had not seen live before):

- Mai and Wakaba both had great skates. Mai's skate especially was very touching live, and a lot of people gave her a standing ovation after the skate, including myself. I really felt like it deserved to go higher. I definitely also think Wakaba should have gotten 34+ in PCS today.
- Alysa's program still feels decidedly juniorish to me and I don't feel like I buy the argument that it's a good vehicle for her and good choreo / interpretation just because the program "embraces" her youth and exudes joy. I feel like few other skaters have been able to get away with high PCS with that as the rationale. Giving her higher PCS than Wakaba already also just doesn't sit right with me.
- Both Alena and Liza skated well, but can you even imagine if someone told you just a year ago that Liza would get over a point higher than Alena in PCS when both landed their 3As without an obvious UR? I've always thought that Liza deserved a bit more PCS (probably in PE & IN) than what she had been getting over the past few years, but her short today actually felt less inspiring to me than her previous programs. I guess the judges have just decided to push Sasha and Liza now as both have been given PCS rocket chairs despite having had (relatively) low PCS for 2 years coming into this season.
- Kamila was a master class. Her jumps were a little scratchy but her extensions and spins were immaculate. I wish they're not doing to her what they did to Alina (aka, giving her top-tier PCS from her first senior competition, to set her up as a major OGG contender), but if they had to do it to someone I'd rather it be Kamila than anyone else.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Kamila was just outstanding!! She deserves her score, no doubt.

Liza still rocks and goes cleanish once again. I´m fine with her being in second.

Glad Alena got her 3A back. But I don´t like the new SP. And only step sequence 2? A bit overscored on PCS marks I think for this skate. I would have Alysia just above her. But they are very close in score. I´m happy Liza is above Alena. That´s correctly judged, because Alenas program is not better. Liza even got step sequence 4, good for her!

I´m most annoyed about how overscored Karen Chen was. With that combo she should not get that score. She managed to just get in the last group for the FS with that score, and pushed a clean Mai Mihara out of the last group. I´m not fine with that. That should not be possible with such a big mistake.

 

[Zora]

Kamila is just out of this world. She is so muscular, yet flexible, strong and elegant at the same time. No edge issues, no underrotation issues, does a 3A with her arms over the head, hits gorgeous positions, doesn't overexaggerate to show off her flexibility like Lipnitskaya and Shcherbakova did/do. She is probably every choreographer's dream and that makes it so disappointing that she is skating this weird Bolero the second year in a row.

Elizaveta looks so fit and inspired this season. Yes, she isn't as fast and flexible like Kamila, but I thought her spins looked good and her jumps as well and she compensates her PCS by conveying more emotions than Kamila.

Alysa is so cute , but cute rarely gets the highest PCSs points. Like Rika Kihira, she doesn't have much height in her jumps but still she was great to watch! I especially loved her music choice.

Aliona did a good 3A, but she looks so lost these days. I thought this program would suit her well, if only she tried to sell it more, especially in the first half. All her confidence seems to be gone, her spins and steps looked difficult for her. She also looks noticeably less fit than Kamila, I wonder if they do the same off-ice training? But I thought her coaching team looked very patient with her.

I could barely watch Karen Chen, because I can't stand her music choice. Wakaba skated so well, but I'm not interested in pop song programs. I was disappointed for Mana Kawabe.

 

[Tolstoj]

Here's my hot takes:

1) ISU please figure out the geoblocking situation,get your act together: we want to rewatch programs, it helps with the visibility of this sport even, just like JGP they should upload the videos on their youtube channel available for everyone. I can understand live but afterwards? cmon. I can't rewatch any performance cause they keep blocking everything.

2) I thought Mihara and Higuchi were harshly judged in components, they deserved PCS closer to the top skaters here (and i had Mihara in front of Karen Chen)

3) Alysa Liu has improved her skating skills a lot, i'm very impressed. I've never liked Gipsy Dance though.

4) Tuktamysheva is a bit of a hero of our times. A decade of successes in senior figure skating for her.

 

[brigit66]

This. The "!" on Alysa's flip was gratuitous. The edge was clearer than Kamila's flip, which didn't get a call. This has been the predominant Ladies' flip technique for the last five years, and suddenly it starts getting called at Nebelhorn.

Exactly, i am sick of ignoring mistakes of precious skaters from russia

Calling others flips now, and not calling Scherbakova's in future events will be huge hypocrisy from tech panel. We will see what they do.

 

[skatesofgold]

After some reflection overnight, I think it's ridiculous that the Russians (besides Alena apparently?) and Karen Chen always get the benefit of the doubt, while everyone has to be perfect or they'll be slammed by the tech callers.

 

[katymay]

Random thoughts from having watched the ladies live (I had watched Liza and Aliona before from the Vancouver GPF. The others I had not seen live before):

- Mai and Wakaba both had great skates. Mai's skate especially was very touching live, and a lot of people gave her a standing ovation after the skate, including myself. I really felt like it deserved to go higher. I definitely also think Wakaba should have gotten 34+ in PCS today.
- Alysa's program still feels decidedly juniorish to me and I don't feel like I buy the argument that it's a good vehicle for her and good choreo / interpretation just because the program "embraces" her youth and exudes joy. I feel like few other skaters have been able to get away with high PCS with that as the rationale. Giving her higher PCS than Wakaba already also just doesn't sit right with me.
- Both Alena and Liza skated well, but can you even imagine if someone told you just a year ago that Liza would get over a point higher than Alena in PCS when both landed their 3As without an obvious UR? I've always thought that Liza deserved a bit more PCS (probably in PE & IN) than what she had been getting over the past few years, but her short today actually felt less inspiring to me than her previous programs. I guess the judges have just decided to push Sasha and Liza now as both have been given PCS rocket chairs despite having had (relatively) low PCS for 2 years coming into this season.
- Kamila was a master class. Her jumps were a little scratchy but her extensions and spins were immaculate. I wish they're not doing to her what they did to Alina (aka, giving her top-tier PCS from her first senior competition, to set her up as a major OGG contender), but if they had to do it to someone I'd rather it be Kamila than anyone else.

I think the Alysa 'juniorish' thing comes in because parts of her program she stops and does cutesy arms and facial effects. They need to remove that stuff, it is cringy, and doesn't really even go with the music.
-Wakaba was penalized -PCS-because she didn't go for the 3A, AND her program is a bit empty, it needs more transitions and better choreography.
The 3A is EVERYTHING now in the short. If you have one, you better attempt it. If you skate 'safe', PCS will reflect that. Yes, it is Always a risk, but what choice do you really have?

 

[moonvine]

Just thought I’d drop this here. https://twitter.com/iceteapod/status/1454277749137367049?s=21

 

[yume]

Here's my hot takes:

1) ISU please figure out the geoblocking situation,get your act together: we want to rewatch programs, it helps with the visibility of this sport even, just like JGP they should upload the videos on their youtube channel available for everyone. I can understand live but afterwards? cmon. I can't rewatch any performance cause they keep blocking everything.

Me from a country where ISU content is never blocked.

 

[Lutzedge]

Alysa, Wakaba, and Mana with the only edge calls.

 

[Lutzedge]

Another Women's GP with questionable calls and scores.