So How Was Emanuel Sandhu's Skate?

[Ladskater]

I just tuned into the last three female skaters in the Campbell's competition. I did not note what day it was scheduled for, so missed most of it! Saw, Kwan and the two Japanese girls.

How did Emanuel look? What's his program like?

 

[SusanBeth]

I am so impressed! You can find complete descriptions from more knowledgable people, but I think he should have won. The first jump was popped. He had some glitches and finished off the music. For the first competition, he did a good job technically. Artistically, IMO, he is the only ray of light in a seemingly endless and terrifying ocean of unholy darkness.

He had the fortitude to search the world's meager supply of interesting music and found something that didn't automatically make the audience's eyes roll back in their heads. (Are they trying to kill us with the music this year? )Then, it was amazing! You won't believe it! He skated to the music. He had great edges, good flow, and sweeeet clean lines. There were spirals, footwork, interesting spins. They had a relationship to each other and the music. He had none of what's going around that causes skaters to be terrified of creativity. He was delightful. Why he didn't win or place higher, I don't know.

I'm not sure I'm strong enough to make it through the season!

 

[Doggygirl]

Hi Ladskater!

I hope you have E-man's skate on tape so you can watch it later. Problems on the jumps, but I really enjoyed his program and can't wait to see it develop over the season. As I mentioned on the "Campbell's TV" thread, I hope we all get to see him have a "once in a lifetime" type performance with that program this year. He truly is one of my favorite men skaters to watch.

Of course Wier's Dr. Z brought me to tears last year watching the US National's. So I'm hoping for good things from him too this year in terms of "moving" male skaters. But Johnny didn't do it for me at Cambell's. It's early yet, so my hopes are up for these elegant skaters.

DG

 

[mzheng]

I would've put him in first place.

 

[Lynn226]

I would have also put Emanuel in first or least in second ahead of Joubert.

 

[bleuchick]

Sandhu:

Program - like Susanbeth...I feel like he searched all corners of the world, under the earth and in heaven for music. I really hope COP gives him credit for music selection. Not only did he select unpopular music but he also chose one that highlights his strengths(edges;lines etc). I wish more and more skaters thought like him when it comes to music selection. Yes...he has been over the top in the past but when he choose music ...he never fails to be original.

Dear skategods - please do not let such effort go unrewarded... Otherwise, we are going to keep gettting more and more overused music.

Parts

1st part - a very nice opening and right off...draws you into the program.
middle part - all I am gonna say is WOW...love this part of the program. I believe it is where he does the twizzles and footwork. You gotta see it. Plus, it is in snych with the music.
last part - not much different from what he normally does. Great finish though.

That is my description of the program....

Eman the skater made a mistake in the 1st part - the quad - but he recovered quickly and completed the rest of his jumps....some were shaky but overall no falls. I think for some jumps, Tim had much higher level of difficulty. Maybe that is why he beat him. However, this program is so much better choreographically.

I just feel the 6.0 system did not and could not reward him because this program is designed for the COP system. There, I have said it.


P.S - Am I the only one who thought he was severally penalized for the quad toe.

 

[dlkksk8fan]

I would have put Emanuel in second place ahead of Joubert who had a lackluster skate. Emanuel is interesting to watch, I never know what to expect from his skating. And even though he might miss a jump this guy is a first rate skater, flow, lines, spins foot work, etc, are wonderful to watch one of my favorites.

 

[shine]

As I mentioned on the "Campbell's TV" thread, I hope we all get to see him have a "once in a lifetime" type performance with that program this year. He truly is one of my favorite men skaters to watch.

EXACTLY what I was thinking while I was watching the program for the Nth time. This is the kind of program that I've been waiting, well, forever. It will probably be my favorite program of Sandhu's yet. I just hope that at least once this season he will skate this program not only clean but with total abandon and speed. And it will be an absolute classic. The edging, lines, nuances, musicality and footwork together has the potential to make it bigger than life.

 

[Vash01]

I loved Sandhu's program. With the exception of the popped quad in the beginning, it was a wonderful program. It was not his best, but it had lots of interesting choreography, positions, lines, etc. That's vintage Emanuel. He should have placed higher than Joubert who was lackluster. It was close between Sandhu and Goebel, who was without his trademark quads, but skated reasonably well.

 

[hockeyfan228]

On FSU Tony Wheeler pointed out something that I couldn't put my finger on: Sandhu's telegraphed entrances into his 3A's (http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=334298#post334298). Because he took the entrance at such a sharp angle instead of taking the natural arc of the blade, he reminded me of Dambier. This is not a good thing, IMO and was not what he did at Worlds last year, at least to this extent.

 

[shine]

I don't know. Sandhu's telegraphing on the 3axel has always been pretty bad, especially when he's cautious.

 

[Ladskater]

I don't know. Sandhu's telegraphing on the 3axel has always been pretty bad, especially when he's cautious.

Thanks for the wonderful report folks! I wish I could have seen it or even taped it, but one of those weeks I was not paying attention to the tv schedule. I will look forward to seeing him in upcoming events. I hope he is skating in Skate Canada.

What is the name of the music he is skating to?

As far as the telegraphing of the 3 axel goes - this has always been Emanuels "nemesis" of all his jumps; so naturally he takes a bit of time to set himself up and is a bit on the cautious side. It's good though that he is attempting the jump. Sounds like he is gaining more control of his nerves as well and not letting mistakes undo him. Great!!!

 

[Snowflake3939]

I have been watching Emanuel train a couple of times a week at 8 Rinks for the last seven weeks - I much prefer that he's cautious going into the 3A instead of popping the jump. Now that he curves the axel around and goes into it parallel to the length of the rink instead of parallel to the end boards, it's finally working much better for him. Only problem now, is that he's going into the salchow the same way that he used to go into the axel and he's popping the salchow now instead. Better that's he's cautious and lands the jumps, building the confidence to keep landing them instead of popping them.