2021 World Team Trophy: Thoughts and observations

[ladyjane]

Im really curious about this comment. can you cite an example where or how they are low balled scores wise?

Im no expert but SS wise i feel like they are not even up par with the italian/Russian. I even feel like they are scored generously most of the time and are simply place holders until the younger teams from USA move up.

Basically I dont see them being USA number 1 when C/B or H/D retires. That is just my observation

It's just that I love this FD, it's really original, I adore Jean-Luc's skating expecially, and I felt they were low balled compared to the Italians - whom I would definitely have in front of them because Charlene and Marco were really good. But 14 points difference? That seemed a bit too much for me, whether you think they're place holders for the up and coming or not. And I've seen this happen before in other competitions. No problem with the placement.

 

[alexocfp]

Japan is always a great host.

Plus I love that they cheer on their countrymen(women) but are so sporting that they are polite and respectful to everyone else too.

 

[jenaj]

Kaori stole the show. Her speed, flow, power and ease. This is what I like in a skater.

Those who are making predictions about the Olympic team event based on WTT need to slow down. Yes, Russia is probably a lock for gold. The USA have an all-around strong team, especially now that they have solved their weakness in pairs... However, the team event has a completely different format at olympics, and some teams will not send their B skaters to it. Italy collected most of their points thanks to dance and pairs, but would lose a lot of these points if Canada (for pairs and dance) China (for pairs) and France (for dance) send their A teams. It will be interesting to see how the season goes, leading to the Olympics to see how things unfold. I believe the race for bronze is wide open to pretty much everyone but the top two teams... Strategy also comes to play at the Olympics while at WTT there is absolutely no strategy ...

Font reduced about the team event at Olympics as really, it's just a second thought... the main event for me here was Kaori.

The Olympic team event is going to be a lot closer, I think. There will only be one skater/pair per country, for one thing. The US didn't send its A team in dance and maybe Alysa Liu will regain her form. France will be stronger with P&C. Japan looks suprisingly strong with its pairs team and hopefully, Rika will recover and be able to compete with the Russians. I still think Russia is the favorite but they have question marks with their men and they will have competition in dance.

 

[ladyjane]

Japan is always a great host.

Plus I love that they cheer on their countrymen(women) but are so sporting that they are polite and respectful to everyone else too.

Not just polite and respectful, they even cheer everyone else on. So many flags from other countries. In every discipline.

 

[Skater Boy]

It is always hard coming back from Worlds so close. Russia did its job and did it well if not unspectacularly. Granted world champ AS was better here with less pressure. Liza showed she is a fighter. SK were not as smoot and our world champ in pairs did their job. USA - wow - Nathan is a beast that we are in an era where Nathan is constntly beating Yuzuru just like Boitan over Orser back in the day. The ladies were perfunctory good not grat. And as usual they flip flopped. Alexa and her partner are looking good and I think have passsed or will passs MTM. Jason's skating skills are the best in the world for men right now - maybe close is Kolyada. Some interesting performnces from France's Aymoz, , solid skting from the Italian dance team, Japan\s singles skating was solid despite Shoma having some issues. I give credit to Rika but she showuld have given up her spot if she is inured. Though the money is big here ad that sadly may be an influecing factor. good on Grassi, and the French beaten the disastrous Candin men. Oh my.. Nam was a hot mess. He my hve earned some money but he my hve lost his shot for the olympics.

 

[apgold]

Overall, I enjoyed WTT. It was a forgone conclusion that Russia was going to win this easily, and they did. I wasn't expecting Japan and USA to be quite as close but the pairs team is really showing promise (Meagan and Bruno should be proud, especially since there was probably limited training time in Canada).

Team France and Italy also had some good showings but poor Team Canada really suffered b/c they had sent most of the B team, and they had limited training time and little competition experience this season. I enjoyed Roman's SP and was hoping he would do well in the long, but that wasn't to be. I really want him to be a consistent competitor because he does have the goods. I'm sure we'll get his thoughts in an upcoming Romsky video on YT. I thought Gabby showed some fight as well, but she has a long way to go if she wants to make the Olympics again.

Stand outs for me were Liza's SP, Kaori's FS, Jason's SP, Roman's SP and Yuzu's SP (with the crazy 3A save). Nathan was also amazing here, given the "watered down" content. I also really like H/B's "Heart of Philip Glass" FD, but the judges don't seem to care for it as much as G/F's Atonement program, which is quite passionate and well skated. I still can't warm up to Viki and Niki (as Renee Roca called them on TSL)'s programs - just too bland.

Also, Team Lambiel continues to underperform - I know Rika is injured and Shoma is, well, Shoma, but I hope these two can recapture their top form for the Olympic season.

It was also a nice opportunity to see some of the lesser known skaters from Italy and France. I like the French ID team and wish I had placed them higher in my predictions.

 

[sailormoon]

Apparently she sustained a pretty bad injury lately so it’s affecting her skating.

Kihira has been fighting a back pain for some time and she thought about withdrawing from the tournament because the pain became more excruciating after the short program. This why she skipped a quad and triple axels in the free program to skate it as clean as possible for the team despite the back pain. I thought there must have been something wrong with her physically in Stockholm, too. But she showed some guts to stay in the game to secure three slots for Japan.

 

[Tavi...]

Bros:

https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1383384663167672324?s=21

 

[Weathergal]

Day 2 thoughts:
Pairs
Thierry / Ferland have such an original, fun SP with the Sofi Tukker song. I've seen them skate it better before, but still glad for them that they got to perform it again and on such a big stage.

Hamon / Strekalin skated well and SOLD the program. I think they pleasantly surprised a lot of people, including themselves! I thought they might have been a tad undermarked here as earlier skaters and relative newcomers perhaps.

Miura / Kihara continue to improve and impress. Also loved how they held up photos of their coaches when they were in the KnC.

Mishina / Galliamov were the class of the field, even with him doubling the SBS salchow.

Dance
Galiyeva / Thauron were outstanding again. So were Guignard / Fabbri. I really like them as skaters even though sometimes I'm not a huge fan of their programs, but I thought this season's program works really well for them, and they showed a more passionate side of themselves. Also notable for both teams was hearing Fusar-Poli cheering them on in the background during their programs. LOL I just love her passion and enthusiasm for her skaters, not to mention she always gets style points in the KnC.

I thought Hawayek / Baker's program this year was very good for them, and I think their skating has improved the past few years. This year in particular they look especially well trained, and it seems like things like lifts look much more comfortable than they have previously.

Sinitsina / Katsalapov skated very well although they did lose some levels here and there. Not their best, but still very good. I just can't connect with this FS for them, even though I understand that it's quite successful.

Men
So sad for Nam and Roman - was hoping for a redemption skate from Nam and a continuation of the wonderful SP from Roman. Roman is SUCH a beautiful skater - he even sells this "Chasing Cars" FS to me, and I REALLY dislike that song. LOL I'm hoping Roman can gain some consistency because he's so talented, and I'd love to see him and Keegan represent Canada at the Olympics (not that I'd dislike Nam getting the call either).

I was skeptical when Russia chose to send Semenko to Worlds over Ignatov, Kondratyuk, or Aliev, but he proved me wrong both at Worlds and here. I enjoyed both his skates, Props to Mishin for having three of the four singles skaters at this competition. Kolyada's FS was breathtaking again. I'm not a big fan of repeat programs, but I have to admit I'm rooting for him to keep that one for the Olympics.

I was so proud of Jason for going for the 4S again - not a bad one and wish the rest of his program would have been cleaner. Not my favorite FS program of his but still pretty darn good. Speaking of Olympics repeats, I'm totally voting for him to use his SP for the Olympics.

I was kind of meh on both Yuzuru and Nathan's FS programs this year, but they've both grown on me, and I really enjoyed both of them this competition. Such amazing skating from both men! It blows my mind that Yuzuru is still a legitimate threat for an Olympic -- possibly gold --- medal even though next year will be his third Olympics. And Nathan continues to evolve as a performer. What a great way to close out the Men's competition!

 

[4everchan]

The Olympic team event is going to be a lot closer, I think. There will only be one skater/pair per country, for one thing. The US didn't send its A team in dance and maybe Alysa Liu will regain her form. France will be stronger with P&C. Japan looks suprisingly strong with its pairs team and hopefully, Rika will recover and be able to compete with the Russians. I still think Russia is the favorite but they have question marks with their men and they will have competition in dance.

it will be a lot closer... 1st, China gets an automatic spot. PC didn't participate when France did have an outside shot at the podium in 2018... not sure they will want to participate with a much lesser chance of a medal...(weak pairs and ladies) Japan's pairs was successful this year. We will have to see if they keep their momentum. Russia is by far the favourite. USA's : one may say that H/B are a B team but in reality, they didn't really lose that much at WTT since H/B only lost 1 point each segment to what they would have earned with H/D or C/B... Canada : we will see what happens with a year closer to normality, if the Covid situation gets better... Canada has just started to hit a 3rd wave, and it is so far the biggest wave of the 3...so big that Ontario is shut down... and actually, even some interprovincial travel is forbidden (Ontario closed its borders to Quebec and Manitoba)... So let's see if Skate Canada manages to prepare a team event properly... One way would be to name the team early and have them in one location for training in some spot where measures are not so intense... but then, it's completely impossible to do that with logistics and coaching etc.. but yeah... as most athletes from the National team train in Ontario, it may be a problem.

 

[Tavi...]

I just rewatched Roman’s SP. It was really gorgeous, one of my favorite programs in the whole comp. His camel position is just beautiful.

 

[rollerblade]

Since Team Italy only had 7 skaters, that does mean each of them actually earned a bigger paycheck than the silver medalists!

 

[moonvine]

Im really curious about this comment. can you cite an example where or how they are low balled scores wise?

Im no expert but SS wise i feel like they are not even up par with the italian/Russian. I even feel like they are scored generously most of the time and are simply place holders until the younger teams from USA move up.

Basically I dont see them being USA number 1 when C/B or H/D retires. That is just my observation

I feel they are almost always low balled. They skated very, very well at US Nationals and came in behind C/B who had an obvious twizzle error. I don’t think they are yet up to H/D level yet, but think they should be slugging it out with C/B for 2nd every year. They are by far my favorite US dance team and I hope I never fall in love with another. I absolutely hate ID judging. It’s the worst.

 

[moonvine]

Anna really needs a new style of programs next season. In Worlds I could get invested in watching til the end of her program because of the competitive value of the jumps. But in a low stake competition where landing the jumps didnt hold much at stake, I really couldnt bother watching through that entire dull program. And her skating skills always looks worst in the fs. Despite how much Russian girls are pushing the boundaries of figure skating recently, its really only in the jumping. Choreo and artistry wise they are very mediocre, not as astronomically better than the rest of the world as their huge pcs would suggest. Some are very mid ranking (trusova and elizaveta). Okay maybe Alena and Kamila can say they are somewhat at the top.

I haven’t even watched the ladies portion of the comp yet. It’s dull as dishwater.

 

[moonvine]

Japan is always a great host.

Plus I love that they cheer on their countrymen(women) but are so sporting that they are polite and respectful to everyone else too.

I was thinking the audience had to have been stuffed with sedatives. It was difficult to distinguish them from the cardboard cutouts. I’m sure they were told no stuffies because of Covid, but were they told they couldn’t cheer or stand or move? I’ve never seen a comp in Japan with Hanyu skating where every single spectator didn’t have their phone cameras up to their eyes filming away. The audience (of athletes) at Worlds was more animated.

 

[ice coverage]

... Also, loving the chemistry between Mishina and Galliamov. I think I’m rooting for them for Olympic Gold.

I definitely am rooting for Mishina/Galliamov to make the Olympic podium.

But for gold, I don't want to forget my beloved Sui/Han.

... were they told they couldn’t cheer or stand or move? ...

"No cheering, only clapping" was one of the COVID safety rules for spectators.

 

[anonymoose_au]

but were they told they couldn’t cheer or stand or move?

They were actually. I heard the announcer reminding them at the start of a segment (well they were allowed to move, but no standing or cheering)

They weren't completely cardboard though! The flags often came out

 

[CarolPooh]

I’ve never seen a comp in Japan with Hanyu skating where every single spectator didn’t have their phone cameras up to their eyes filming away.

Really? Which competitions are you talking about? I think filming by the spectators is not allowed in competitions/ice shows in Japan due to broadcasting rights.

 

[moonvine]

Really? Which competitions are you talking about? I think filming by the spectators is not allowed in competitions/ice shows in Japan due to broadcasting rights.

I’m sorry I don’t remember. It possibly wasn’t even in Japan. I do remember all the cell phones though. To be clear he wasn’t competing. He was warming up or practicing

 

[moonvine]

They were actually. I heard the announcer reminding them at the start of a segment (well they were allowed to move, but no standing or cheering)

They weren't completely cardboard though! The flags often came out

That’s so sad. Perhaps I should wait to see what if any restrictions are in place for US Nationals. I would not want to attend with such restrictions in place.