Ladies SP - Cup of China 2013

[sky_fly20]

I don't deny that Russia politiks Adelina (and Tukt) but that's their job.

I do have to say, though, I think you underestimate how much the judges actually LIKE Adelina and have since her junior days. If she could go really clean, she'd be consistently beating everyone but Yuna and Mao, even if everyone else was clean, that is the level of judges love for her IMO. Of course, till now in her career as a senior, she has yet to go clean.

I know the judges love Adelina like she is an upcoming European FS Queen, lol :scowl: but that also included a little fed support how else didn't she got a non e on her lutz, had she not step out of that UR loop a little GOE tweaking would have gotten her a 69+, crazy

 

[FlattFan]

It's hard to describe Caro's short program. I feel if clean, it could be the right vehicle to knock Mao's Nocturne SP down.

1. After the opening pose, you can see her gaining speed so quickly and so effortlessly, amazing flow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QyodCxjuu0o#t=44

2. The mistake on the combo took away a little choreography, and perhaps flow, but her transition after the jump is just LOVE LOVE LOVE, goes right with the note.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QyodCxjuu0o#t=64

3. Transition into the loop, loop jump is perfectly in sync with the music, transition out of the jump. Very pretty. I'm a bit nervous because she doesn't have much speed into the loop, doesn't get as much height as normal on her loop. The choreography doesn't seem to allow any moment to build more speed for this jump.

4. The way she moved her arms right with the music, how graceful she looks. This is brilliant choreography.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QyodCxjuu0o#t=87

5. Spins aren't as crisp as previous. Some choreography after the spins also look interesting and to the music.

6. Almost step out of the 2A. Basically all 3 jumping passes could be improved.

7. steps seq reminded me of the steps she did in 2004, but obviously more control and more difficulty, and obviously less speed. It was also to the music.

At first view, the music sounded a bit like an exhibition piece, like someone said. But after second and third view, I think it's very clever. Looks like Lori wants to guarantee Caro at least a win in SS, CH and IN. Quite a few moments I thought, wow, her skating skills shone through. This is clearly an attempt to improve her PCS, I think it will be huge if she is not making all these mistakes.

Another sneaky move is the red dress. Red dress in red Russia will confuse the judges to hand out Russian boost. Wouldn't surprise me if a memo is floating around, award extra 0.5 points or 1.0 for any skaters wearing red. Caro is hedging her falling habit with the red dress.

Also, i would like to know which juvi girls can follow this program step by step? Just because she made it easy doesn't mean it is. Some girl with less skating skills would be way behind the music, cut out some choreography, looking awkward. Hello, most senior girls look really awkward with their own music. Suddenly juvi girls can top this?

 

[kwanatic]

I don't deny that Russia politiks Adelina (and Tukt) but that's their job.

I do have to say, though, I think you underestimate how much the judges actually LIKE Adelina and have since her junior days. If she could go really clean, she'd be consistently beating everyone but Yuna and Mao, even if everyone else was clean, that is the level of judges love for her IMO. Of course, till now in her career as a senior, she has yet to go clean.

I think that would be fair and justifiable. Adelina's technique does need tweaking (her landings sometimes lack flow and are a little tilted) but she's a natural jumper and gets good spring into the air. Her lines are gorgeous, her spins are very good, her basics are very good, as is her speed and she can max the levels on all of her elements. She's very good at selling a program and connecting with the audience/judges as well. If she could gain consistency I do think she could challenge for the top spot every time out. Her downfall (like so many) is her nerves.

If she does gain some consistency this season I think she and Julia are Russia's best bet for Sochi. I love Liza T but she will never earn the same kind of PCS and GOE that Adelina gets. If Liza T makes a mistake, her scores plummet. Adelina's strong spins and footwork do give her a tiny cushion against mistakes...

 

[FlattFan]

Adelina doesn't even bother to skate to Carmen. IN should be really low for that because there is no IN. PE should be ok. CH should be low, what the hell is all of that. One of the worst Carmen in recent memory. SS is second best here. TR is ok.
I watched it again just to make sure I didn't miss anything, and I didn't miss anything. There is nothing to miss.

 

[kwanatic]

Adelina doesn't even bother to skate to Carmen. IN should be really low for that because there is no IN. PE should be ok. CH should be low, what the hell is all of that. One of the worst Carmen in recent memory. SS is second best here. TR is ok.
I watched it again just to make sure I didn't miss anything, and I didn't miss anything. There is nothing to miss.

Well we all know it's rare for the PCS to actually reflect what's been put on the ice. In most cases it falls directly into reputation scoring...

 

[AlexRus]

i think Edmunds too young?

Edmunds - her birthday 18 May 1998, between Pogorilaya (April) and Lipnitskaia (June).
All three are age eligible for all Senior competitions.

 

[FlattFan]

I'm sorry, I love Caro but I don't know how a judge gives an IN score of 9.75 for any program with a jarring fall. That's virtually a perfect score.

Very happy for Adelina not getting an "e" for her lutz. That is good progress, and her loop looks closer to being rotated that I have ever seen her do it (recently), a generous caller might have given it to her.

IN doesn't account for fall. She interpreted every note of that music beautifully.
Her PE is rightfully lower.

 

[FlattFan]

Well we all know it's rare for the PCS to actually reflect what's been put on the ice. In most cases it falls directly into reputation scoring...

Yes, we know and it sucks. Would be nice if they really decouple the components.

 

[AlexRus]

Beauuutiful performance by Kostner, but always with some big mistake. Why, Caro, why?

I can't remember the competition, where Caro had clean both SP and FS.
Maybe, others know?

Kostner should bring back last seasons short for the olympics.... this dosent excite me as much

I remember her Senior B about two weeks before Worlds 2012. And also Worlds, where she skated much better.
She may become really better in very short term.

 

[tulosai]

Yes, we know and it sucks. Would be nice if they really decouple the components.

Again we agree. How PCS are currently applied is sometimes a downright travesty.

 

[FlattFan]

I can't remember the competition, where Caro had clean both SP and FS.
Maybe, others know?

At Italian Nat 2013. Clean in both SP and LP. Huge score.
But doesn't have the difficulty (haha) she normally put out in real competition.

 

[sapphiresky]

I was looking forward to Humoresque, such a lovely piece of music, but did not like Caro's program.
Yes, she does have the ease of speed and big movements, but the program felt very empty.

It seems like she was trying to portray a character of some sort, or portray a theme, but it didn't stay consistent...:think:
She could have had the same movements to a different piece of music, and it wouldn't have made a difference, actually it may be better with a different piece.

Liked the dress, the butterflies were interesting...but I'm undecided about them.
At least Scheherazade is easier to get into character...

Also- was she planning Level 4 spins? It didn't seem like it for the last one...

 

[snowflake]

I'm happy for Adelina looking so happy with her skate Go Adelina :thumbsup:

 

[hippomoomin]

Really feel bad about Zijun and Kexin's placement, but the scoring is pretty fair.
Sad to see the presentation from Kexin is even worse than what I remember from 2011, and probably she will stay that way. I do think her presentation is only partially related to her personality, the other part is her skating skills. She simply cannot do anything else other than jumping, no upper body movement, no facial expression.

 

[FSGMT]

And, let's remember that Carolina had a minor injury in September that kept her off the ice for some time, so part of why her jumps aren't really stable is probably this

 

[elif]

I love Carolina but this program not interesting or different. Very unlike Kostner.

 

[kwanatic]

Finally caught up on everything...

Adelina was very good. I like that she used a piano version of Carmen and I thought she delivered the program very well. Her scores are well deserved.

Carolina's program is nice and will serve its purpose but I do think after her last few SPs, this one doesn't match up. That said, it's still a good program.

Anna has grown in the last year both in size and in presentation. Last year on the JGP she was very boring but she seems to have developed a little personality since then.

I'm so sad to say but I really didn't care for Kanako's SP. I have adored all of her SPs up until this point, even all the way back from when she was a junior. This one seems like a step backwards from what she did last year and the year before. I'd love to see her go back to her "Chaconne" program or her SP from last season. I don't think this is a good one, especially for an Olympic year.

Haruka was lovely...just gotta get those jumps to work.

Nikol was lovely as well. She doesn't look like the rest of the Russian newbies...there's a decent level of maturity to her. I'm interested to see what she'll do in the FS...

As I said earlier, Agnes was disappointing...

Zijun has definitely grown over the summer. It helps her presentation and presence on the ice. Unfortunately, I did not care for her SP. A tango sans the fire will always fall flat and that tango had zero fire. I'd love to see her return to her SP from two seasons ago...this tango is doing nothing for her.

Kexin was nice but again, so cold and mechanical...it's hard to enjoy her.

I'm sure the standings will shuffle after the SP.

 

[Mao88]

LADIES SHORT PROGRAM - RESULT & VIDEOS (Updated)

1. Adelina SOTNIKOVA (RUS) - 66.03 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy, 5th Copy
2. Carolina KOSTNER (ITA) - 62.75 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy, 5th Copy
3. Anna POGORILAYA (RUS) - 60.24 Short Program, 2nd Copy
4. Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN) - 57.33 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy, 5th Copy
5. Haruka IMAI (JPN) - 54.79 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
6. Nikol GOSVIANI (RUS) - 53.76 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
7. Agnes ZAWADZKI (USA) - 53.73 Short Program, 2nd Copy
8. Zijun LI (CHN) - 53.58 Short Program, 2nd Copy, 3rd Copy, 4th Copy
9. Kexin ZHANG (CHN) - 53.32 Short Program, 2nd Copy
10. Xiaowen GUO (CHN) - 45.32 Short Program

 

[Rikku]

Would be interesting to know what Carolina and Huth were discussing in K&C. Any German speakers here?

I didn't get everything cause there was a lot of background noise, but he basically told her "it's a start, due of the fall the marks are okay", and that she's on the right track with the program and should go relaxed into other competitions.

 

[Icey]

There is no way caro should have gotten a + goe on her double ax.