2023 World Figure Skating Championships Pairs Short Program

[moonvine]

I don't understand why she is being allowed to commentate. No denying her knowledge, but Chris Howarth is a fountain of knowledge but he has exactly the right approach to commentating. A nice voice, enthusiastic and a fair critic, who knows only to add the occasional comment during a program without being distracting. He can pinpoint things you might miss but he seldom does the 'Figure Skating for Dummies' thing, which Noonan seems to do constantly.

One great thing about ALL the Canadian commentators which I have heard (Duhamel, Wilkes, Reynolds) - they ALL remain completely silent during the programmes, saving their comments until afterwards.

I'm so thankful I switched to Eurosport - great to 'hear' you there, Chris!

Why is the ISU allowing this very poor commentator on the Worlds YouTube stream? It spoils the viewing enjoyment.

She only commentated the pairs short. Mark is commentating everything else. I guess it was some sort of scheduling conflict. I would have preferred Ted but what can you do.

 

[moonvine]

??? But somehow Chris Howarth and Mark Hanretty do it correctly. Don't they realise??

I think it’s just Worlds they are told to do that?

 

[4everchan]

Can I have her? I think you have Maxime?

if Maxime allows it You can have Deeanna

 

[skatedreamer]

I preferred it because she is a Queen.

Coming back to skating at age 39 after 18 years and all those injuries — Deanna is my new hero!

 

[Skater Boy]

Coming back to skating at age 39 after 18 years and all those injuries — Deanna is my new hero!

I kind of think the judges treated the Queen like she was Meghan Markles a bit. Underscored I was impressed they held it together. I admit Alexa and Brandon do have some great qualities but they had a fall. I honestly don't feel the top two teams have the charisma, polish, amplitude and difficulty of Sui and Han and the Russians. Not sure this would get 80 pts if those teams were here. If you look at the pcs you see that Deanna and Maxime are not highly respected as they scored behind Chan and Howe both at Four Continents and here as well as the Italians who were so thrilled to have a small bronze. That bronze is going to be a huge battle but I think the judges like the Italians. I was impressed with Chan and Howe but I am rooting for the feel good story if Deanna and Maxime can win bronze.

 

[skylark]

I could easily see this team moving quickly to Canada's #1 (if Deanna decides to retire....). Some really strong elements here.

I wouldn't count on Deanna retiring. JMO but also her stated plan ...

 

[skylark]

oh.. it's the terrible "if i was you" wrong grammar song...

I just finished a 6-book series in which the author got that wrong repeatedly ... a British author, no less. Also she kept getting who vs. whom wrong, but not consistently.

Drove me crazy.

 

[Skater Boy]

Would it require a meltdown to lose the gold though? What if they have one fall (on throw or SBS) and K/F goes clean?

 

[Jumping_Bean]

??? But somehow Chris Howarth and Mark Hanretty do it correctly. Don't they realise??

Chris did talk during the programs at 4CC, and Mark hasn't commented any (?) senior competitions this season (rules for the broadcast of junior competitions seem to allow more wiggle room for commentators)

 

[Demandred]

Belinda talks a lot more than Chris during the programs though. He mostly says stuff like "Great 3 Lutz, clean as a whistle" and is silent till the next element, while she talks all the time.

 

[skatedreamer]

Belinda talks a lot more than Chris during the programs though. He mostly says stuff like "Great 3 Lutz, clean as a whistle" and is silent till the next element, while she talks all the time.

Last night was my first experience with the ISU feed. I agree that Belinda does talk a lot but still appreciated when she pointed out technical details that I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. Her commentary is more serious and informative than what we're used to in the US. It was a welcome change for me...even though she could definitely do with some lessons in the fine art of self-editing.

I also liked the camera work on the ISU feed and the comparisons of height & distance for the throw jumps.

 

[yuumagical]

Impressions from the arena yesterday:

Hocke/Kunkel's twist was enormous!

Sad to see Frazier mess up on the salchow in the same way that he did in the morning practice session.

Camille Kovalev and Riku Miura both messed up on spins during the morning practice session, but were thankfully fine during the competition.

Speaking of Rikuryu, there's a booth selling Rikuryu merchandise at the arena. I bought a keychain and a banner and used the banner to cheer for them. I thought Ryuichi may have stumbled a little on one of his steps, but maybe that's just me being a nervous fangirl. Otherwise, I really really enjoyed watching them yesterday. (And am I the only one who likes their music choices this season?)

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Their coach, Ondřej Hotárek, is Czech.

He pulled a few strings.

He's pulled a few heartstrings in his time too...

Ah ha. Guess I need to add in the Czech political factor. It looks like Hotarek is coaching a lot of pairs teams, if he's that bearded guy who popped up in the kiss 'n cry so often.

I too wondered about Simoli/ Zarbo (as they are Italian and not Czech). Italy only had one spot. If they'd had two spots, Ghilardi/ Ambrosini would be competing. When did Simoli/ Zarbo switch?

It's not new for there to be switching around of country affiliation, especially in Europe. There have been other Italian-born skaters who represented other countries. There are a lot of Russian skaters representing other countries too, especially recently.

The Italian, Marco Zandron, was successfully partnered with Laura Barquero, representing Spain. I wonder whether they are still training together and planning to come back after her doping suspension is over?

Hocke/ Kunkel started out well this season, and they are trained by the Grande Dame of Italian fs coaches, which I suppose can help politically. H/K took bronze at Euros, but a mistake by Hocke here has them further down in the standings than they'd like to be.

 

[yesterday]

I just finished a 6-book series in which the author got that wrong repeatedly ... a British author, no less. Also she kept getting who vs. whom wrong, but not consistently.

Drove me crazy.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I think it's a bit much to obsess over what happens in practice sessions. Scrutinizing practice sessions and warm-ups are not always an indicator of what will happen in competition. Who could have predicted that the Ukrainian team (Sierova/ Khobta) would make that disastrous misstep on the 3- twist in the sp, which took them completely out of the competition. I would have bet that Gamez/ Korovin would have been one of the teams missing the cut. It's nice to see G/ K step-up and do better than they have been this season. Having Marina Zoueva in their corner has surely been helpful.

There are a lot of tight scores in different groupings, so how it pans out will be interesting. I think it's clear politically who TPTB want to win, and who they want in third place.

M/K skated well (aside from a bit of dismount contact on the 3-twist), but that 80+ score in sp says it all. That's why Miura was jumping up and down giddily before the sp score even came up on the tv screens. She knows they've practically won already. Even before Alexa and Brandon skated their sp. Alexa & Brandon know it too. And they are staying as focused as they can on the task in front of them, while continuing to pull for Todd in their hearts. I totally respect A&B for coming back this season. It's been a difficult season dealing with a lot of real life off-the-ice, while attending to business on the ice. It's meant a lot to their fans and to the U.S. discipline that they came back.

No matter what this year's outcome, Alexa/ Brandon are not diminished in any way. They will always be World champions! It also means a lot, and I give A&B huge credit, for how they won Worlds last year, under tremendous pressure. Not many athletes could have competed like that after what happened just before they went on the ice. So kudos to Alexa & Brandon 2022 World Champs! And perennial champions in my heart.

Good luck in the fp to all those teams who really need it!

 

[skylark]

this deserves MORE than one laughing emoji. I can totally relate with the crossing out!

 

[gold12345]

I kind of think the judges treated the Queen like she was Meghan Markles a bit. Underscored I was impressed they held it together. I admit Alexa and Brandon do have some great qualities but they had a fall. I honestly don't feel the top two teams have the charisma, polish, amplitude and difficulty of Sui and Han and the Russians. Not sure this would get 80 pts if those teams were here. If you look at the pcs you see that Deanna and Maxime are not highly respected as they scored behind Chan and Howe both at Four Continents and here as well as the Italians who were so thrilled to have a small bronze. That bronze is going to be a huge battle but I think the judges like the Italians. I was impressed with Chan and Howe but I am rooting for the feel good story if Deanna and Maxime can win bronze.

I think Stellato/Deschamps should have had higher PCS than Chan/Howe, but they were practically tied in PCS. I'm guessing C/H may have gotten the very slight edge because they placed ahead of S/D at 4CC, which I don't think should have mattered here. S/D had the better performance.

There's no point in comparing these current pairs to Sui/Han who aren't here. It would be like telling the men they need to have 5 quads because that's what Nathan Chen used to have, and then knocking them when they don't. It has no relevancy, you just have to outscore the pairs who are here. I'll take Alexa's "charisma" over Evgenia Tarasova's any day (love her great qualities but charismatic she is not). Alexa's great in the amplitude department too, she can fly as well on a throw as any Russian. K/F's triple twist in the SP was bigger than Sui/Han's.

Miura/Kihara are no slouch either, they're a quality pair. Was the 80 a bit much, yes--- a twist caught on the man's shoulder shouldn't get +4s, and their throw isn't big enough for all those +4s either-- but the entire event scored slightly on the high side I would say, so I was mostly okay with it.

Knierim/Frazier were able to place 2nd with the 2nd highest TES because they maximized their points on the rest of the scoresheet aside from the fall. They did one of their best throw 3Fs and twist ever, excellent synced spins, great lift exit, death spiral, they were at their best aside from the fall. Stellato/Deschamps were great but they didn't do a great throw or SBS spins, so that was two elements with lower GOE. The top 2 also do more difficult throws than anyone else in the top 6 (and they do them well), and the judges know that. It's not just who falls and who doesn't.

 

[viennaskater]

She only commentated the pairs short. Mark is commentating everything else. I guess it was some sort of scheduling conflict. I would have preferred Ted but what can you do.

What you CAN do is pay a small sum of EUR 4 to subscribe to Eurosport Player (or rather, Discovery Plus). That way you have complete control over watching live streams or replays, with good commentary from Chris Howarth! *sigh of relief that he is commentating*.

Of course I am almost as happy with Mark but Chris is my favourite!

 

[iluvtodd]

We're staying "unspoiled" for the free skate, but can anyone tell me who was in the K&C with Alexa & Brandon?

Riku in the K&C - priceless reaction!

 

[Jeanie19]

We're staying "unspoiled" for the free skate, but can anyone tell me who was in the K&C with Alexa & Brandon?

Riku in the K&C - priceless reaction!

I believe its Shae Lynne Bourne