2023 World Figure Skating Championships Pairs Short Program

[bigsisjiejie]

Overall, this was a well-skated event. Very enjoyable, even the earlier/less experienced pairs. I hope the other disciplines follow in a similar vein.

 

[rollerblade]

Big Time Hurt. They might stay in second, but probably too far behind M/K to catch up in the FS...unless M/K have a meltdown and that's unlikely. K/F may end up fighting to stay on the podium, the way the Canadians and Italians are skating.

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?

 

[bigsisjiejie]

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?

In that scenario, I think M/K would still win. M/K probably have a two-mistake (major) lead over a clean K/F. Also, M/K aren't prone to making a bunch of small sloppy errors that could chip away at a lead. Do nerves affect M/K? I dunno....so far, doesn't seem so but it could be a wild card. I expect K/F will go for broke and skate aggressively, since they are now in the underdog position.

 

[4everchan]

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?

One fall won't do it... it would require a lot more to lose gold. Pops and aborted lifts are more costly. I hope they win at home !!!! It would be great for the sport too !

 

[rollerblade]

But the difference in the SP was the one fall from Brandon, no? I haven't looked at the protocols.

I want Miura/Kihara to have the historic win too! I feel it's their time.

 

[WAC172]

Alexa and Brandon beat M/K by about 17 points in the free last year, so it’s certainly possible!!

That said, that was an exquisite skate from Riku and Ryuichi, and especially with all the pressure of home ice. They are deservedly in first by a good bit.

 

[skatedreamer]

Brandon's fall...

Otherwise, very well done, especially considering the stress of Todd's heart attack. So glad they managed to hang on to 2nd place, and bravi to Riku & Ryu! I've never been fond of that tune ("Carousel" has always been a bit too schlocky for my taste) but they absolutely made it their own.

Gotta get some sleep; hope to catch the last 2 ladies' groups.

 

[4everchan]

But the difference in the SP was the one fall from Brandon, no? I haven't looked at the protocols.

I want Miura/Kihara to have the historic win too! I feel it's their time.

It is indeed the fall that is making the difference in terms of the GOE and the deduction. However, I believe that one fall in the SP tends to be more costly than in the LP...for many reasons, including PCS factoring (on 80 instead of 40) and the many elements performed. That's why, I think some of us are saying that if KF skated clean, they would need more than just a fall from the Japanese to overtake them.

 

[4everchan]

Alexa and Brandon beat M/K by about 17 points in the free last year, so it’s certainly possible!!

That said, that was an exquisite skate from Riku and Ryuichi, and especially with all the pressure of home ice. They are deservedly in first by a good bit.

well, Alexa and Brandon had the skate of their lives last year while M/K were actually even overscored in the LP (many thought James Radford deserved silver).

We will have to see what SBS game both teams will bring on. Not just landing jumps but also in terms of what they choose to perform. We saw M/K increase their BV with the +2a seq at 4CC. Not sure what KF have planned.

 

[LadyB]

Just finished catching up. Wow, great event! That was worth watching. I might get up a little earlier tomorrow to see the last two groups live.

Riku and Ryuichi are such joy to watch, hope they win it. Excellent!
All teams I wanted to see did well. Okay, D/T were a bit unlucky and I'm hoping for a redemption skate. I thought that Pavlova/Sviatchenko could be a bit higher up the table. I totally enjoy watching them. Here also fingers crossed for a really strong FS for them.
I must admit I didn't know that Dmitri Savin was involved with McIntosh/Mimar - so I add them to the teams I will support.
Glad that Gamez/Korovin made the quali. Hopefully it'll motivate more kids in the Philippines.

It's gonna be a real exciting FS - bring it on!

 

[Skater Boy]

i like the italians too. I am just saying that I prefered Max and Deanna's passionate tango to their refined style of tango.. because, well it's tango

I liked their program and though they were cleaner than others and deserved to be higher. I am not sure I agree Alexa and Brandon with a major error should be second. Its a major error they had and a lot were basically clean including Deanna and Max and the Italians. I know the argument will be the Americans have better other elements but I am not sure enough to make up a fall. But who cares what Ithink. Its the judges. I am fine with Japan leading and winning.

 

[moonvine]

i like the italians too. I am just saying that I prefered Max and Deanna's passionate tango to their refined style of tango.. because, well it's tango

I preferred it because she is a Queen.

 

[4everchan]

I preferred it because she is a Queen.

Twice over. Queen Deanna-Cleopatra

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

What is backstory on this Czech team? Their ISU profile shows they are Italians...or at least both born in Italy.

As Italians they would not have been here.

I get that, but how did they end up representing Czech Republic? Czech parent/ancestry?

Their coach, Ondřej Hotárek, is Czech.

He pulled a few strings.

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

CaroLiza_fan

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Well, I knew that I wasn't going to continue to agree with the scoring. I actually called this a couple of months ago when I said we would see Italian and Japanese politics in the pairs scoring.

There's no way Conti/ Maci deserve that score! When their performance ended, the tech score was at 39+ and it kept creeping upwards till it reached one percentage point higher. That's probably in part to compensate for judging panel tendency to adjust tech scores downward. Thus, it came down from 40.56 to 40.47. That is an overly high tech score for C/M. And the PCS are padded too. But the writing was on the wall at Euros when C/M's scores were also overly high for their skating abilities.

While C/M are decent, competitively gritty skaters, they Do Not have range, speed, or refinement. Maci especially looks a bit awkward and rough. He's not a smooth, skilled pairs guy on the level of other top pairs guys. He just doesn't have the same quality abilities. Conti has some drawbacks as well, with a stiffness and a lack of smooth flow in her execution. I even noticed that C/M in the choreo sequence are attempting to copy some of the movement quality that Deanna/ Max exhibit in their Rhumba sp. C/M know who their direct competition is for the podium. Unfortunately, Deanna getting sick in the fall and their results dropping a bit, especially at GPF, allowed the Italian politics to push C/M onto the World podium.

Honestly, C/M aren't better even than Chan/ Howe at their best. C/H have better speed, flow, refinement, and better programs than C/M. The other political scoring factors I'll discuss in a separate post.

 

[viennaskater]

I'm guessing this has been discussed already but the YouTube stream commentator is actually unbearable

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.

 

[viennaskater]

"Will they stay in the top 4" what? Um, yes!! Come on, Belinda, did they spit in your drink or something?

She's hopeless.

 

[viennaskater]

I wish they'd have a toggle option, commentary on/off, we could shut it off and those that want it could have it. For every event, really... it's sad that I'm like, "at least Belinda is talking about the program, Tara and Johnny would be talking about what they had for lunch and Tara's Nagano experience..."

They had that option on Eurosport during the 2018 Olympics. I used it to gag Belinda *bliss* - although I sometimes put her back on AFTER the skaters had finished because I did sometimes want to hear her opinions.

 

[viennaskater]

I think they're told by the ISU to talk during (Ted confirmed as much on a previous stream)

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

 

[moonvine]

Twice over. Queen Deanna-Cleopatra

Can I have her? I think you have Maxime?