Dutch Figure Skating 2022-2023

[ladyjane]

And here I am, but after a good night's sleep. In jr pairs Gulia Papa/Grigory Kornienko were 12th and last after the SP. Too far behind to climb higher (only if the others do bad, and I don't wish any of them to falter). A good experience to get an international competition under their belts.

The Sr pairs competition is a different kettle of fish. Daria and Michel are in first place after the SP with a great score: 66 points. I hope they will be able to keep that up in the FS. They, together with the nrs. 2 who are close behind, have quite a lead. I'll cheer them on this evening (even if I won't watch)!

 

[ladyjane]

At the 2023 Dragon Trophy from the 9-12th of February in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 3 Dutch Advanced novice girls are scheduled to compete: Roos Harkema, Jazlynn Hoppener, and Nijne van Erp.

Our other ID couple, Hanna Jakucs and Alessio Galli will also be competing soon: at the Egna Dance Trophy 2023 9-12th February, an ID only event. They train in Italy with Barbara Fusar-Poli on the coaching team, so travelling wise that's an easy one!

 

[ladyjane]

Hurrah for Jolanda Vos! In 4th yesterday, but after the the final she was second in her junior group at the Bavarian Open. Wonderfully done!

Placements of the other Dutch Jr women (out of a group of 19 young women):
Isabella Smit 6th
Imke Yagersma 13th
Tessel Clercx 17th
Lois Libregts 18th

 

[ladyjane]

Bavarian Open Report:

Daria and Michel ended in second with more than 100 points for their Free (even with a 2 point deduction). Sure, they lost their first place, but I'm still very proud of them. It's a silver medal! Yay!

Giulia and Gregory remained in last place, but their skate was much better compared to the rest than their SP. I hope they won't give up! A little cheer is certainly deserved.

 

[ladyjane]

My BO report today.

Chelsea and Sherim are in 8th place after the RD with 54.76 points (and missed the minimum TES for Worlds by a whisker: 32.89 vs 33). I hope they do well tomorrow!

 

[ladyjane]

Last report from BO: Chelsea and Sherim remained in 8th place with a total of 136.65 points. The didn't manage to get the minimum TES for the FD for Worlds there either. But also very close: 47.53 (and it must be 49). Still, they did well and can use a bit of cheer. Hurrah!

They're still listed for the Ephesus cup. I hope that one goes even better!

 

[ladyjane]

The Ephesus cup seems to have been cancelled (and rightly so as skating while there's been a major tragedy in the country seems hurtful).

 

[ladyjane]

It is with pleasure that I can announce that Julia van Dijk has been selected to take part in the Junior World Championships this year.

Regrettably no other participants from our country. Our jr pair has too low scores altogether (no minimum TES), and there are no men and ID teams.

 

[ladyjane]

There's a lot to tell about the Dutchies at Challenge Cup which also counts as the Nationals.

In senior Pairs we have two couples who both did rather well at their last outings:
Nika Osipova and Dmitry Epstein were 8th at Euros, Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba were second at the Bavarian open. Both will qualify for Worlds, so it really is just the honour which couple with be Dutch champions.

In senior ID we also have two couples:
Chelsea Verhaegh and Sherim van Geffen missed their last outing because of the tragedy in Turkey. They have not achieved the minimums yet for worlds, but they are close. Hanna Jakucs and Alessio Galli were 19th at euros but got the minimums for both RD and FD (FD at Egna Dance Trophy)

There is only one senior woman: Lindsay van Zundert, so we know who will be Dutch Champion in the category.

There is even a Dutch man (Iwan van Hulst) in seniors although I believe he's not close to the minimum TES. Still it's nice to have all disciplines covered in seniors!

In juniors there are only women: Nerea Mur, Isabella Smit, Emilia Soloukhin, Nazomi van Bergen Bravenboer, and Jolanda Vos. Julia van Dijk won't be there as she is preparing for junior worlds.

Because the Nationals is also an international competition, they can work on getting the minimums.

 

[ladyjane]

It's not often I can do so, but elucidating on a Dutch man is a real joy. The Dutch guy who will be competing at Challenge Cup, was interviewed for the Dutch Skating site:
https://www.schaatsen.nl/nieuws/2023/februari/via-challenge-cup-naar-cruises-in-de-caribbean/.

Summary translation: Iwan had hoped to compete in CC last year, but he acquired the minimums too late (the Dutch Skating Federation has their own minimum TES for that. LJ), so he stayed on a year longer and got them this year. He is looking forward to it. After that he is going professional, and already has a contract with a Caribbean Cruise ship. He has no sponsors but his parents and is very grateful to them. His coach calls him a hard worker as well as a funny guy. In the meantime he has studied at university.

 

[ladyjane]

Whenever it's Challenge Cup time, the Dutch Skating website has a lot of info about Figure Skating and background articles about the Dutch participants. Usually it's speed and short track skating that gets all the attention, so I'm really happy about the temporary change. I found one about our two pairs:

Challenge Cup & NK goede generale voor kunstrijparen | Schaatsen.nl

'We hebben momenteel hetzelfde niveau. Het wordt een interessante wedstrijd'

www.schaatsen.nl

Summary translation: There might be some rivalry between the two couples, Daria Danilova/Michel Tsiba and Nika Osipova/Dmitry Epstein, but they also adhere to sportmanship and friendship (although they both want to be the best when they compete). The women both originally are from Russia. Daria and Michel still partly train in Sochi (Russia) but also in Heerenveen where there is the National Training Centre. They are still with their Russian coaching team, they are grateful to them. Michel can also relativize to a certain extent, as his father orginally is Russian and his mother Ukranian. They will fly to the Netherlands (for the Challenge Cup) via Turkey. They were sorry to miss Euros (the other couple had won the selection through competitions and there was only one spot) but pleased to ride a National Record in points for the SP and total at the Bavarian Open.
The other couple has its base in The Hague (so Dmitry regrets the move of the CC to Tilburg) and Euros was a very emotional game changing moment for them, as Dmitry had suffered from lung-COVID but he is finally training satisfactorily without breathing problems. He found Nika on IcePartnersearch.com in the midst of the pandemic after having two other partners before (his twin sister Rachel and Liubov Efimenko) and they clicked as a team. That the women in the couples both are Russian created a bond. Both are looking forward to Worlds (there are two spots there).
Each couple thinks to come in the higher placement at CC (and therefore National Champion).

 

[ladyjane]

I am pleased to note that Chelsea and Sherim got the minimum TES Worlds for the SP at Challenge Cup. May the FS this evening also be succesfull. I wish both couples, Hanna and Alessio, Chelsea and Sherim a successful FD this evening!

 

[ladyjane]

I am staying pleased, because Chelsea and Sherim got their minimums last night! I couldn't look it up until this morning (when I arrived home out of Tilburg it was late) but I had already guessed since the couple showed sheer joyfulness with their scores! Women SP, Men FS and pairs SP at Challenge Cup tomorrow.

 

[ladyjane]

It's going to be exciting which couple will go to Worlds. Both have the required minimums. Until tonight whenever they both competed Hanna and Alessio came out on top (though usually quite close) but now it was Chelsea and Sherim. Hanna and Alessio already went to Euros, Chelsea and Sherim to Worlds? I would expect so, but you never know with a federation that is more into speed skating than figure skating! I am sure the official announcement will be soon.

 

[ladyjane]

Report from Challenge Cup
I enjoyed the sr mens event a lot, cacti or not, and Iwan was, as predicted, last. Not that anyone expected him to suddenly get more technical stuff. He still delivered because there is nothing wrong with the performance skills! And National champion!
Lindsay van Zundert placed 8th after the SP. Good luck tomorrow with the FS!

There was only one entree in basic novice boys, a Dutch boy called Leon Lo. He obviously won. The basic Novice girls competition was won by Kahlan Gooijer. The silver went to Summer Wijkhuizen. The 4th place was also for a Dutch girl: Eliza-Rose Mera. In total there were 15 girls from 6 countries (including South Afrika)
In advanced novice girls Angel Delavaque got the silver, while Naomi Wessels was 6th. The were 23 girls from 15 countries. There were no Dutch boys in advanced novice boys.
No Dutch participant in jr Ice Dance either
In jr women the first Dutchie can be found in 10th place (Jolanda Vos).

 

[ladyjane]

Final report of Challenge Cup (though I've not been able to watch anything today).
Sr Women: Lindsay van Zundert ended in 5th place with a pb of 176.84. Well done Lindsay. She also became Dutch champion, but she was the only woman competing for NL, so that's not so strange.
Jr women: Jolanda Vos was 13th, Emilia Soloukhin 14th, Nazomi van Bergenbravenboer 16th, Isabella Smit 17th, and Nerea Mur 19th. The first three also became 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Dutch championships. Excellent.
Nika Osipova and Dmitry Epstein were 3rd in the sr pairs competition, and got the bronze medal. They also consequently became the new Dutch champions, as Daria Danilova and Michel Tsiba were 5th. Both pairs are going to be at Worlds as The Netherlands has 2 spots.

 

[ladyjane]

The Dutch Ice skating federation hasn't announced anything but on the entrees list of worlds it says the Dutch team will consist of:

Women: Lindsay van Zundert
Pairs: Daria Danilova/Michel Tsiba & Nika Osipova/Dmitry Epstein
ID: Chelsea Verhaegh/Sherim van Geffen

Only ID has a substitute: Hanna Jakucs/Alessio Galli

 

[ladyjane]

Our only skater at Jr worlds, Julia van Dijk, was 23rd in the SP and therefore will skate the FS. Hurrah for Julia!

 

[ladyjane]

Julia van Dijk finished in 24th place at Jr Worlds. That result doesn't look too good, but considering that 23 woman skaters didn't even reach the FS, I would say Kudos anyway!

 

[ladyjane]

At the 2023 Coupe du Printemps (17-19 march) in Luxembourg, 4 Dutch jr women will compete: Ymke Jagersma, Tessel Clercx, Sharon Luit and Josefine Boer (source: Sportity app, screenshots as of 6th of March)