I’ll be out of town for the next couple of days, but in the meantime I’ve got something for you that I haven’t had in a while: skating news that has little to do with JGP results!
EXCEPT FOR THIS PART: Courtney Hicks, last year’s U.S. junior ladies’ champ who won gold early in the JGP season but was forced to withdraw from last week’s event, has now been sidelined for the entire season. Apparently a piece of bone detached from her right tibia when she launched into her triple flip at the JGP Milan free skate last week… or, something could have started going awry when she took those two bad falls in the SP in Milan, as I reported a few days ago. In any case, this article from Philip Hersh includes quotes from John Nicks (Hicks’ coach) which confirm that she has already had surgery, is back in the States, and is expected to be off the ice for at least 4 months (read: in time to miss everything important, including U.S. Nationals). Godspeed to Hicks; at age 15 she seemingly has plenty of time to recover and reassert herself, but it obviously has to be a traumatic and frustrating time for her.
TV SCHEDULING: This might be redundant with a post I made a couple months back, but since the press release came out last week I’ll go ahead and give you this link to the USFS announcement of the “finalized” schedule for broadcasting ISU GP events on NBC, as well as the extended coverage offered on Universal Sports. I think the coverage is similar to last year, and like last year, one event appears to be getting “hosed” (aka no coverage provided) from the NBC side of things… this year the unlucky event is Cup of China. I tend to think this is because NBC has one weekend in early November that is already booked solid with other sports. (Maybe this year I’ll pay attention and try to figure out what those other sports are.) The link/press release also mentions the broadcast team for the various events to be similar to last year; it includes Terry Gannon, Andrea Joyce, Scott Hamilton (I’m guessing Skate America and MAYBE the GP Final only), Tanith Belbin, Peter Carruthers, Michael Weiss, and Tracy Wilson. First up is Skate America, airing live a week from this Saturday…
AND FINALLY, if you have a minute or two to give for the sake of reading an article that can renew your love for figure skating (or pump it up if you’re already in a happy relationship with it) do me a favor and read Ryan Jahnke’s new piece. You won’t be disappointed!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Three More U.S. Medals at JGP Milan; Finlandia Showcases Ice Dance
Yes, the name at the top of the Men’s JGP list is the same as last week… but this time, the location was Milan:
MEN
GOLD: Han Yan, CHN
SILVER: Jason Brown, USA
BRONZE: June-Hyoung Lee, KOR
Han Yan—remember that name; he may well become China’s biggest name in singles skating since the Lu Chen days. Save for one fall near the end of his free skate, Brown didn’t any trouble… it’s simply impossible for him to compete with Yan when Brown still skates without a 3axel. Korea’s Lee had a few sloppy moments in his Mozart free skate, but seems fairly promising… USA’s Jay Yostanto wound up 5th.
LADIES
GOLD: Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
SILVER: Anna Shershak, RUS
BRONZE: Hannah Miller, USA
Lipnitskaia, who I have previously described as “Gumby-diculous” with regards to her flexibility, remained as limber as ever in claiming her second gold of the series. Miller, skating to “Masquerade Waltz,” didn’t have the best of free skates but hung in for a bronze nonetheless. Her teammate, Courtney Hicks (who won gold a few weeks ago) took two hard falls in the SP, then injured her leg on the opening jump sequence of her FS and withdrew from the event.
DANCE
GOLD: Stepanova/Bukin, RUS
SILVER: Zenkova/Sinitsin, RUS
BRONZE: Bonocorsi/Mager, USA
Stepanova/Bukin won a second gold for the season with their “Live & Let Die” FD; Bonacorsi/Mager looked strong & elegant using what I like to call a “Popera” (classically sung modern/popular music) piece.
FINLANDIA TROPHY
As with the Nepala Memorial last week, only a few “known” skaters were in attendance—in this case, they were mostly ice dancers giving us a peek at their new programs. Reigning OGMs Virtue/Moir turned up, and easily won the event with an FD that feels fresh and inspired at first glance, even though the music (which includes Fred Astaire’s “Funny Face”) is quite retro. Current world bronze medalists The Shibutanis took silver, and appeared to be in fine form… but I have to admit that their “new” program (which includes “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo”) feels a lot like a sequel to last year’s FD… making me wish they’d gone in a different direction. On the other hand, the new team of Madison Chock/Evan Bates intrigued me right away with a Chopin FD that saunters through a few different tempos… good stuff, even though I was unsure how I’d feel about seeing Evan without Emily (Samuelson). Another notable finish was Douglas Razzano—10th at U.S.Nationals last January—who won the silver medal here in men's singles behind Japan’s Takahito Mura, but ahead of Sweden’s Adrian Schultheiss…
Several other senior programs are making pre-GP appearances in these final weeks before Skate America; I hope to recap them plus other “briefs” in skating news next time…
MEN
GOLD: Han Yan, CHN
SILVER: Jason Brown, USA
BRONZE: June-Hyoung Lee, KOR
Han Yan—remember that name; he may well become China’s biggest name in singles skating since the Lu Chen days. Save for one fall near the end of his free skate, Brown didn’t any trouble… it’s simply impossible for him to compete with Yan when Brown still skates without a 3axel. Korea’s Lee had a few sloppy moments in his Mozart free skate, but seems fairly promising… USA’s Jay Yostanto wound up 5th.
LADIES
GOLD: Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
SILVER: Anna Shershak, RUS
BRONZE: Hannah Miller, USA
Lipnitskaia, who I have previously described as “Gumby-diculous” with regards to her flexibility, remained as limber as ever in claiming her second gold of the series. Miller, skating to “Masquerade Waltz,” didn’t have the best of free skates but hung in for a bronze nonetheless. Her teammate, Courtney Hicks (who won gold a few weeks ago) took two hard falls in the SP, then injured her leg on the opening jump sequence of her FS and withdrew from the event.
DANCE
GOLD: Stepanova/Bukin, RUS
SILVER: Zenkova/Sinitsin, RUS
BRONZE: Bonocorsi/Mager, USA
Stepanova/Bukin won a second gold for the season with their “Live & Let Die” FD; Bonacorsi/Mager looked strong & elegant using what I like to call a “Popera” (classically sung modern/popular music) piece.
FINLANDIA TROPHY
As with the Nepala Memorial last week, only a few “known” skaters were in attendance—in this case, they were mostly ice dancers giving us a peek at their new programs. Reigning OGMs Virtue/Moir turned up, and easily won the event with an FD that feels fresh and inspired at first glance, even though the music (which includes Fred Astaire’s “Funny Face”) is quite retro. Current world bronze medalists The Shibutanis took silver, and appeared to be in fine form… but I have to admit that their “new” program (which includes “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo”) feels a lot like a sequel to last year’s FD… making me wish they’d gone in a different direction. On the other hand, the new team of Madison Chock/Evan Bates intrigued me right away with a Chopin FD that saunters through a few different tempos… good stuff, even though I was unsure how I’d feel about seeing Evan without Emily (Samuelson). Another notable finish was Douglas Razzano—10th at U.S.Nationals last January—who won the silver medal here in men's singles behind Japan’s Takahito Mura, but ahead of Sweden’s Adrian Schultheiss…
Several other senior programs are making pre-GP appearances in these final weeks before Skate America; I hope to recap them plus other “briefs” in skating news next time…
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Another Gold, Another Silver For USA in the Junior Grand Prix
SPECIAL NOTE: If you read this link from Variety Magazine you'll learn a little bit of a man named Joe Aceti, who passed away on October 5 at age 76. You may not be familiar with the name, but if you're a skating fan you've probably seen his work through the years. He was one of my interview sources for Skating on Air, so I had the privilege of spending a couple hours on the phone with him 2 years ago. I'll share more about him in a future post.
**
The Junior GP’ers of the skating world are hitting the homestretch of their 7-week tour rather quickly, with Skate America starting up just 6 days after JGP ends (save for the JGP Final, which of course doesn’t happen until December). Last week took them to Innsbruck; here are the highlights as I saw them…
MEN
GOLD: Han Yan, CHN
SILVER: Gordei Gorshkov, RUS
BRONZE: Keiji Tanaka, JPN
Americans Timothy Dolensky (finishing 4th)and Philip Warren (6th) were no match for Yan, Gorshkov, and Tanaka—the latter of which was free skating to the Untouchables soundtrack, if I’m not mistaken.
LADIES
GOLD: Vanessa Lam, USA
SILVER: Zijun Li, CHN
BRONZE: Polina Agafonova, RUS
Lam pulled up from a 4th place SP to eke out a win over Li when Agafonova (yes, one of the THREE “Polinas”) could only free skate well enough to put her in the bronze medal range. I liked Li’s pacing better—Lam seems to rush through a lot of her choreography, though ironically she finished several seconds ahead of her music—but I suspect Lam had a few more difficult elements, since as I recall both ladies skated clean. American Katarina Kulgeyko did well in the FS as well, pulling her up to a 5th place finish.
PAIRS
GOLD: Sui/Han, CHN
SILVER: Yu/Jin, CHN
BRONZE: Petaikina/Kurduykov, RUS
Sui/Han are senior-level jumpers and junior-level everything else, so especially in a JGP event, the jumping takes ‘em far. Yu/Jin chose Requiem for a Dream (ugh) but otherwise seem like very promising skaters. Further down in the standings were Duarte/Grafton (in 6th), Denney/Frazier (in 7th), and Oltmanns/Zantillan (in 11th), all from the USA.
DANCE
GOLD: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
SILVER: Aldridge/Eaton, USA
BRONZE: Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR
If these medalists’ names sound familiar to you, it’s because this the second time to the podium for some/all of them: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin and their Davis/White-esque Phantom of the Opera free dance won gold in Gdansk, Irish step-dancing Aldridge/Eaton won bronze won bronze in Latvia, and Nosulia/Kholoniuk won gold at that same event.
As for the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, held in Bratislava at the same time as JGP Austria, the quality of skating ranged widely from discipline to discipline. For the men, Japan’s Daisuke Murakami (aka “the other Dice-K”) edged out veteran Kevin Van der Perren for the win, with Samuel Contesti coming from a 6th place SP to a 1st place FS and overall bronze (and good news… Contesti’s new FS bears closer resemblance to the kind of program he had in 2009 (his “breakout year”) than the panpipe-a-licious routine he’s used ever since. Jonathan Cassar (of the U.S.) finished 4th; Grant Hochstein (also of the U.S) unfortunately blew a 2nd place finish in the SP with a 7th-place FS; he finished in 5th.
In pairs, Volosozhar/Trankov were the main attraction for sure, racking up a win with nearly 27 points over silver medalists Berton/Hotarek… who were just ahead of Iliusheckina/Maisuradze, with a catchy FS to A Chorus Line this season… and way back in 4th were Castelli/Shnapir, the Americans who continue to try for a throw 3axel in competition (but haven’t succeeded yet to my knowledge… it’s very close though!)
The other two disciplines attracted lesser-knowns only; Zhiganshina/Gazsi (GER) proved to be the best in ice dance, while France’s Mae Berenice Meite won gold for the ladies. The best known lady, Britain’s Jenna McCorkell, finished 5th… U.S. ice dancers Cannuscio/McManus came in 5th as well.
And in case you’re wondering who the heck Ondrej Nepela is, here’s his 1971 World Championship-winning free skate to help you with that.
Up this week… JGP Milan and Finlandia Trophy!
**
The Junior GP’ers of the skating world are hitting the homestretch of their 7-week tour rather quickly, with Skate America starting up just 6 days after JGP ends (save for the JGP Final, which of course doesn’t happen until December). Last week took them to Innsbruck; here are the highlights as I saw them…
MEN
GOLD: Han Yan, CHN
SILVER: Gordei Gorshkov, RUS
BRONZE: Keiji Tanaka, JPN
Americans Timothy Dolensky (finishing 4th)and Philip Warren (6th) were no match for Yan, Gorshkov, and Tanaka—the latter of which was free skating to the Untouchables soundtrack, if I’m not mistaken.
LADIES
GOLD: Vanessa Lam, USA
SILVER: Zijun Li, CHN
BRONZE: Polina Agafonova, RUS
Lam pulled up from a 4th place SP to eke out a win over Li when Agafonova (yes, one of the THREE “Polinas”) could only free skate well enough to put her in the bronze medal range. I liked Li’s pacing better—Lam seems to rush through a lot of her choreography, though ironically she finished several seconds ahead of her music—but I suspect Lam had a few more difficult elements, since as I recall both ladies skated clean. American Katarina Kulgeyko did well in the FS as well, pulling her up to a 5th place finish.
PAIRS
GOLD: Sui/Han, CHN
SILVER: Yu/Jin, CHN
BRONZE: Petaikina/Kurduykov, RUS
Sui/Han are senior-level jumpers and junior-level everything else, so especially in a JGP event, the jumping takes ‘em far. Yu/Jin chose Requiem for a Dream (ugh) but otherwise seem like very promising skaters. Further down in the standings were Duarte/Grafton (in 6th), Denney/Frazier (in 7th), and Oltmanns/Zantillan (in 11th), all from the USA.
DANCE
GOLD: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
SILVER: Aldridge/Eaton, USA
BRONZE: Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR
If these medalists’ names sound familiar to you, it’s because this the second time to the podium for some/all of them: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin and their Davis/White-esque Phantom of the Opera free dance won gold in Gdansk, Irish step-dancing Aldridge/Eaton won bronze won bronze in Latvia, and Nosulia/Kholoniuk won gold at that same event.
As for the Ondrej Nepela Memorial, held in Bratislava at the same time as JGP Austria, the quality of skating ranged widely from discipline to discipline. For the men, Japan’s Daisuke Murakami (aka “the other Dice-K”) edged out veteran Kevin Van der Perren for the win, with Samuel Contesti coming from a 6th place SP to a 1st place FS and overall bronze (and good news… Contesti’s new FS bears closer resemblance to the kind of program he had in 2009 (his “breakout year”) than the panpipe-a-licious routine he’s used ever since. Jonathan Cassar (of the U.S.) finished 4th; Grant Hochstein (also of the U.S) unfortunately blew a 2nd place finish in the SP with a 7th-place FS; he finished in 5th.
In pairs, Volosozhar/Trankov were the main attraction for sure, racking up a win with nearly 27 points over silver medalists Berton/Hotarek… who were just ahead of Iliusheckina/Maisuradze, with a catchy FS to A Chorus Line this season… and way back in 4th were Castelli/Shnapir, the Americans who continue to try for a throw 3axel in competition (but haven’t succeeded yet to my knowledge… it’s very close though!)
The other two disciplines attracted lesser-knowns only; Zhiganshina/Gazsi (GER) proved to be the best in ice dance, while France’s Mae Berenice Meite won gold for the ladies. The best known lady, Britain’s Jenna McCorkell, finished 5th… U.S. ice dancers Cannuscio/McManus came in 5th as well.
And in case you’re wondering who the heck Ondrej Nepela is, here’s his 1971 World Championship-winning free skate to help you with that.
Up this week… JGP Milan and Finlandia Trophy!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Better-Late-Than-Never Club Presents... Last Week's JGP and Nebelhorn Numbers and Notes
Yikes—all these “pre-season” events are getting tough to keep up with! Sorry for the delays, but I’m trying to catch as many medal and/or U.S. performances as I can… this past week, with two events in play, that added up to over two dozen. In any case, I’m trying to get back to at least 2 posts a week ASAP, especially since I’ll want to be up to around 4 a week by the time the Senior GP starts.
Speaking of Grand Prix events, here are some results and notes from last week’s junior entry in Brasov, Romania (Nebelhorn Trophy follows further down):
MEN
GOLD- Maxim Kovtun, RUS
SILVER- Ryuju Hino, JPN
BRONZE- Nam Nguyen, CAN
Kovtun gets Russia its first men’s gold medal of the JGP, while Hino (who won in Latvia a few weeks ago) settled for silver here. Nguyen, the reigning Canadian Junior champ, is all of 13 years old, and all of 4’11” to boot… get ready, he might be around for a good long time. For the U.S., Shotaro Omori came in 4th, while Harrison Choate finished 6th.
LADIES
GOLD- Polina Shelepen, RUS
SILVER- Polina Korobeynikova, RUS
BRONZE- Hae-Jin Kim, KOR
So apparently the name “Polina” became as popular in Russia in the mid-90s as “Madison” and “Hannah” have become in the U.S. these days. Shelepen you may have seen before; she was the JGP Final silver medalist last year and now has two gold medals from this season. Korobeynikova is the third “Polina” to medal on the JGP circuit this season; unfortunately I’ll remember her for using Otonal for her FS more than anything else. (Sorry; not a fan of Otonal.) Ashley Cain, who came in 6th for the U.S. in Latvia, managed 4th place here, while international newcomer McKinzie Daniels (who I had the pleasure of seeing perform live way back in 2006) finished 10th.
DANCE
GOLD- Stepanova/Bukin, RUS
SILVER- Galyeta/Shumski, UKR
BRONZE- Bent/MacKeen, CAN
Stepanova/Bukin, frankly, had me at the opening notes of their FD (a string version of Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Live and Let Die,” which I’ve long thought to be one of the best pop songs a skater could use). It’s worth a mention too that Canada’s Bent/MacKeen dance to music from South Pacific, which I thought to be a unique (and good) choice. In 4th place was Hawayek/Bramante of the U.S.; didn’t recognize their music but they had interesting and creative lifts, good speed on their dance spin, and an overall nice “dance quality” (must use the quotes since I’m no expert).
Next up for the JGP: Innsbruck! In fact, it’s already underway…Vanessa Lam is in 4th after the SP, and one of the Polinas is in 1st. There, something timely for once!
As for the Nebelhorn Trophy…
Men
GOLD- Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN
SILVER- Michal Brezina, CZE
BRONZE- Stephen Carriere, USA
Hanyu, who I still think of as the Johnny Weir of Japan, got the victory solidly over Brezina (unrecognizable with brown hair and no argyle vest, now that he’s finally retired the American in Paris program), and a surprisingly strong Carriere (particularly regarding a very nice "La Vie en Rose/Mack The Knife" SP). Max Aaron, representing the U.S. and attempting a quad salchow in his FS, finished 5th.
Ladies
GOLD- Mirai Nagasu, USA
SILVER- Elene Gedevanishvili, GEO
BRONZE- Joshi Helgesson, SWE
Nagasu’s using Spartacus for the FS—good news is that although she blew her first jumping pass (3Lo/2Lo), she stood up the rest of the performance and retained a substantial lead after dominating the SP. Bad news is that she’s got a ways to go before she really seems to connect w/the music. (Her poker face doesn’t help.)
Gedevanishvili is back to being a brunette, and she’s back to landing triple lutzes for the first time in a long while. Her Phantom of the Opera program brought her silver. Joshi Helgesson outskated her sister Viktoria with a Romeo & Juliet-themed free skate. Joelle Forte of the U.S. finished 7th.
Pairs
GOLD- Volosozhar/Trankov, RUS
SILVER- Bazarova/Larionov, RUS
BRONZE- Denney/Coughlin, USA
Volosozhar/Trankov won this easily and looked good doing it, for the most part (though they did have a rare miscue on a lift in their Swan Lake FS). Bazarova/Larionov snatched second away from the new team of Denney/Coughlin; a big splat from Denney on a throw triple loop surely didn’t help much. Vise/Baldwin of the U.S. finished 7th.
Dance
GOLD- Hubbell/Donohue, USA
SILVER- Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER
BRONZE- Ralph/Hill, CAN
My guess is that Madison Hubbell couldn’t have effectively skated to Joe Cocker growling “I’ve Put a Spell on You” if her brother was still her dance partner… which might be reason enough to applaud her gold medal here with new partner Zach Donohue. Among those coming in behind them were Ralph/Hill (who had a VERY nice set of partially mirrored twizzles in the opening seconds of their FD), and a James Bond-themed Olson/Cowan of the U.S., who finished 6th.
The Ondrej Nepala Memorial is up next for the senior lot!
Speaking of Grand Prix events, here are some results and notes from last week’s junior entry in Brasov, Romania (Nebelhorn Trophy follows further down):
MEN
GOLD- Maxim Kovtun, RUS
SILVER- Ryuju Hino, JPN
BRONZE- Nam Nguyen, CAN
Kovtun gets Russia its first men’s gold medal of the JGP, while Hino (who won in Latvia a few weeks ago) settled for silver here. Nguyen, the reigning Canadian Junior champ, is all of 13 years old, and all of 4’11” to boot… get ready, he might be around for a good long time. For the U.S., Shotaro Omori came in 4th, while Harrison Choate finished 6th.
LADIES
GOLD- Polina Shelepen, RUS
SILVER- Polina Korobeynikova, RUS
BRONZE- Hae-Jin Kim, KOR
So apparently the name “Polina” became as popular in Russia in the mid-90s as “Madison” and “Hannah” have become in the U.S. these days. Shelepen you may have seen before; she was the JGP Final silver medalist last year and now has two gold medals from this season. Korobeynikova is the third “Polina” to medal on the JGP circuit this season; unfortunately I’ll remember her for using Otonal for her FS more than anything else. (Sorry; not a fan of Otonal.) Ashley Cain, who came in 6th for the U.S. in Latvia, managed 4th place here, while international newcomer McKinzie Daniels (who I had the pleasure of seeing perform live way back in 2006) finished 10th.
DANCE
GOLD- Stepanova/Bukin, RUS
SILVER- Galyeta/Shumski, UKR
BRONZE- Bent/MacKeen, CAN
Stepanova/Bukin, frankly, had me at the opening notes of their FD (a string version of Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Live and Let Die,” which I’ve long thought to be one of the best pop songs a skater could use). It’s worth a mention too that Canada’s Bent/MacKeen dance to music from South Pacific, which I thought to be a unique (and good) choice. In 4th place was Hawayek/Bramante of the U.S.; didn’t recognize their music but they had interesting and creative lifts, good speed on their dance spin, and an overall nice “dance quality” (must use the quotes since I’m no expert).
Next up for the JGP: Innsbruck! In fact, it’s already underway…Vanessa Lam is in 4th after the SP, and one of the Polinas is in 1st. There, something timely for once!
As for the Nebelhorn Trophy…
Men
GOLD- Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN
SILVER- Michal Brezina, CZE
BRONZE- Stephen Carriere, USA
Hanyu, who I still think of as the Johnny Weir of Japan, got the victory solidly over Brezina (unrecognizable with brown hair and no argyle vest, now that he’s finally retired the American in Paris program), and a surprisingly strong Carriere (particularly regarding a very nice "La Vie en Rose/Mack The Knife" SP). Max Aaron, representing the U.S. and attempting a quad salchow in his FS, finished 5th.
Ladies
GOLD- Mirai Nagasu, USA
SILVER- Elene Gedevanishvili, GEO
BRONZE- Joshi Helgesson, SWE
Nagasu’s using Spartacus for the FS—good news is that although she blew her first jumping pass (3Lo/2Lo), she stood up the rest of the performance and retained a substantial lead after dominating the SP. Bad news is that she’s got a ways to go before she really seems to connect w/the music. (Her poker face doesn’t help.)
Gedevanishvili is back to being a brunette, and she’s back to landing triple lutzes for the first time in a long while. Her Phantom of the Opera program brought her silver. Joshi Helgesson outskated her sister Viktoria with a Romeo & Juliet-themed free skate. Joelle Forte of the U.S. finished 7th.
Pairs
GOLD- Volosozhar/Trankov, RUS
SILVER- Bazarova/Larionov, RUS
BRONZE- Denney/Coughlin, USA
Volosozhar/Trankov won this easily and looked good doing it, for the most part (though they did have a rare miscue on a lift in their Swan Lake FS). Bazarova/Larionov snatched second away from the new team of Denney/Coughlin; a big splat from Denney on a throw triple loop surely didn’t help much. Vise/Baldwin of the U.S. finished 7th.
Dance
GOLD- Hubbell/Donohue, USA
SILVER- Zhiganshina/Gazsi, GER
BRONZE- Ralph/Hill, CAN
My guess is that Madison Hubbell couldn’t have effectively skated to Joe Cocker growling “I’ve Put a Spell on You” if her brother was still her dance partner… which might be reason enough to applaud her gold medal here with new partner Zach Donohue. Among those coming in behind them were Ralph/Hill (who had a VERY nice set of partially mirrored twizzles in the opening seconds of their FD), and a James Bond-themed Olson/Cowan of the U.S., who finished 6th.
The Ondrej Nepala Memorial is up next for the senior lot!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Another Week on the JGP Circuit, Another Round of U.S. Gold Medals
Gdansk brought more hardware to the U.S. juniors… 2 gold and 1 bronze, to be precise. Here’s a little of how it shook out:
MEN
GOLD: Joshua Farris, USA
SILVER: Artur Dmitriev (Jr.), RUS
BRONZE: Ryuichi Kihara, JPN
If your last image of Farris is of a young man struggling to muscle through his fall-plagued Nationals free skate—only to discover later on that he’d been skating with a fractured ankle—get ready for a much better picture of the 16 year-old. His free skate was far from perfect, and in fact he lost that portion to 19 year-old Artur Dmitriev Jr. (who skated clean but whose style is a little too herky-jerky for my taste). But Farris’ SP still gave him a 5 point edge when all was said and done. 17 year-old David Wang (also from the U.S.) finished a strong 5th, showing some nice style and polish if lacking some of the jump content of the medalists.
LADIES
GOLD:Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
SILVER: Satoko Miyahara, JPN
BRONZE: Samantha Cesario, USA
After watching the then 17 year-old Cesario’s impressive Sectionals performances last year, I was disappointed to learn that a back injury would keep her out of Nationals. But she’s back—in the JGP, anyway—and brought back a bronze medal this time with performances that included a Black Swan free skate—one of many we’ll see this year, I suspect. She was bested by a couple of teens just barely old enough for the JGP circuit—Miyahara, 13, who’s clearly hoping to get an early leg up on the deep pool of homeland talent, and Lipnitskaia, also 13, who may already have the upper hand with her Gumby-diculous flexibility and solid jumping technique. 15 year-old Lauren Dinh of the U.S. managed a 6th place finish.
PAIRS
GOLD: Simpson/Blackmer, USA
SILVER: Bobak/Beharry, CAN
BRONZE: Tudvaseva/Lisiev, RUS
To be fair, Simpson/Blackmer (or at least Simpson) had something of an unfair advantage in that she competed on the senior GP last season with former partner Nathan Miller… but rules are rules, and here they are in juniors. I look forward to their free skate to the Titanic soundtrack in the future. Also there for the U.S. were Calalang/Sidhu (finishing 4th), and Aaron/Settlage (finishing 5th).
DANCE
GOLD: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
SILVER: Galyeta/Shumski, UKR
BRONZE: Yanovskaia/Mozgov, RUS
As you can see, Eastern Europe was well represented in ice dance, led by Sinitsina/Zhiganshin… who brought back some Davis/White cuts from their 2010 Phantom of the Opera free dance. (They hit some really nice positions on their lifts, but as with most of the juniors they need more extension and duration on their moves.) Keep an eye on the Canadian team of Bruser/Lum, who skated only the 8th best SD but presented the 2nd best FD (leaping up to sixth place in the process). Parsons/Parsons and Mancini/Brooks, both of the U.S., finished 9th and 10th respectively.
An even fuller plate awaits over the next few days for skating fans, as both Nebelhorn Trophy and JGP Romania will take place over the next several days! Stay tuned… we’re one month away from Skate America now and the pace keeps on a-quickening…
MEN
GOLD: Joshua Farris, USA
SILVER: Artur Dmitriev (Jr.), RUS
BRONZE: Ryuichi Kihara, JPN
If your last image of Farris is of a young man struggling to muscle through his fall-plagued Nationals free skate—only to discover later on that he’d been skating with a fractured ankle—get ready for a much better picture of the 16 year-old. His free skate was far from perfect, and in fact he lost that portion to 19 year-old Artur Dmitriev Jr. (who skated clean but whose style is a little too herky-jerky for my taste). But Farris’ SP still gave him a 5 point edge when all was said and done. 17 year-old David Wang (also from the U.S.) finished a strong 5th, showing some nice style and polish if lacking some of the jump content of the medalists.
LADIES
GOLD:Julia Lipnitskaia, RUS
SILVER: Satoko Miyahara, JPN
BRONZE: Samantha Cesario, USA
After watching the then 17 year-old Cesario’s impressive Sectionals performances last year, I was disappointed to learn that a back injury would keep her out of Nationals. But she’s back—in the JGP, anyway—and brought back a bronze medal this time with performances that included a Black Swan free skate—one of many we’ll see this year, I suspect. She was bested by a couple of teens just barely old enough for the JGP circuit—Miyahara, 13, who’s clearly hoping to get an early leg up on the deep pool of homeland talent, and Lipnitskaia, also 13, who may already have the upper hand with her Gumby-diculous flexibility and solid jumping technique. 15 year-old Lauren Dinh of the U.S. managed a 6th place finish.
PAIRS
GOLD: Simpson/Blackmer, USA
SILVER: Bobak/Beharry, CAN
BRONZE: Tudvaseva/Lisiev, RUS
To be fair, Simpson/Blackmer (or at least Simpson) had something of an unfair advantage in that she competed on the senior GP last season with former partner Nathan Miller… but rules are rules, and here they are in juniors. I look forward to their free skate to the Titanic soundtrack in the future. Also there for the U.S. were Calalang/Sidhu (finishing 4th), and Aaron/Settlage (finishing 5th).
DANCE
GOLD: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS
SILVER: Galyeta/Shumski, UKR
BRONZE: Yanovskaia/Mozgov, RUS
As you can see, Eastern Europe was well represented in ice dance, led by Sinitsina/Zhiganshin… who brought back some Davis/White cuts from their 2010 Phantom of the Opera free dance. (They hit some really nice positions on their lifts, but as with most of the juniors they need more extension and duration on their moves.) Keep an eye on the Canadian team of Bruser/Lum, who skated only the 8th best SD but presented the 2nd best FD (leaping up to sixth place in the process). Parsons/Parsons and Mancini/Brooks, both of the U.S., finished 9th and 10th respectively.
An even fuller plate awaits over the next few days for skating fans, as both Nebelhorn Trophy and JGP Romania will take place over the next several days! Stay tuned… we’re one month away from Skate America now and the pace keeps on a-quickening…
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Brisbane Comes Up Golden (and Silver, and Bronze) For U.S. Juniors
If you’re a U.S. elite figure skater in search of a “favorite” place to compete… might I suggest Australia?
It worked out pretty well for this weekend’s batch of American competitors… that’s all I’m sayin’.
Well, actually I’ll say a little more. But not without including some of the results:
MEN
GOLD: Jason Brown, USA
SILVER: Keiji Tanaka, JPN
BRONZE: Liam Firus, CAN
16 year-old Chicagoland native Brown—aka The Guy With The Ponytail—returns to the JGP this season while competing at the senior level domestically, and won handily… despite a couple of falters (but no falls) in his free skate, and without a triple axel to his name. I continue to be impressed as Brown (who finished a solid 9th at 2011 Nats) skates beyond his years in every way possible… except, maybe, for that triple axel he still seeks to possess. Tanaka, also 16, has one—had room for two in his program; the fact that he popped the second one might have given Brown the upper hand. Canada’s Firus might be one to watch as well…no triple axel, but there was something about his presence on the ice that echoed—dare I say it??—a little Toller Cranston to me. 18 year-old Philip Warren of the US finished in 6th place.
LADIES
GOLD: Courtney Hicks, USA
SILVER: Risa Shoji, JPN
BRONZE: Vanessa Lam, USA
Not one but TWO U.S. medalists in this case, as up-and-coming powerhouse athlete Hicks, age 15, captured gold despite two falls in the free skate (overnight/SP leader Kim Hae-Jin inadvertently helped Hicks’ cause by falling FOUR times, taking her out of the medals completely). Lam, a strong 7th at Senior Nationals last January, held down bronze despite a fall of her own on a triple lutz—the kind of nasty fall where their face smacks the ice and you can feel your own chin split open in sympathy (sorry if that’s too graphic). But I must admit, 15 year-old Shoji almost stole the show for me with fine jumps (no falls!) and an impressive amount of elegance for such a young skater. Am I crazy to say I saw pale shades of Chen Lu in that performance? (You can see her free skate here.)
DANCE
GOLD: Orford/Williams, CAN
SILVER: Bonacorsi/Mager, USA
BRONZE: Zenkova/Sinitsin, RUS
Orford/Williams were pretty captivating with their Gone with the Wind free dance—it seemed a little rushed, but I think the goods are there for the developing. Heritage/Fast (of the U.S.) finished 5th.
Next on the JGP Schedule: Poland!
It worked out pretty well for this weekend’s batch of American competitors… that’s all I’m sayin’.
Well, actually I’ll say a little more. But not without including some of the results:
MEN
GOLD: Jason Brown, USA
SILVER: Keiji Tanaka, JPN
BRONZE: Liam Firus, CAN
16 year-old Chicagoland native Brown—aka The Guy With The Ponytail—returns to the JGP this season while competing at the senior level domestically, and won handily… despite a couple of falters (but no falls) in his free skate, and without a triple axel to his name. I continue to be impressed as Brown (who finished a solid 9th at 2011 Nats) skates beyond his years in every way possible… except, maybe, for that triple axel he still seeks to possess. Tanaka, also 16, has one—had room for two in his program; the fact that he popped the second one might have given Brown the upper hand. Canada’s Firus might be one to watch as well…no triple axel, but there was something about his presence on the ice that echoed—dare I say it??—a little Toller Cranston to me. 18 year-old Philip Warren of the US finished in 6th place.
LADIES
GOLD: Courtney Hicks, USA
SILVER: Risa Shoji, JPN
BRONZE: Vanessa Lam, USA
Not one but TWO U.S. medalists in this case, as up-and-coming powerhouse athlete Hicks, age 15, captured gold despite two falls in the free skate (overnight/SP leader Kim Hae-Jin inadvertently helped Hicks’ cause by falling FOUR times, taking her out of the medals completely). Lam, a strong 7th at Senior Nationals last January, held down bronze despite a fall of her own on a triple lutz—the kind of nasty fall where their face smacks the ice and you can feel your own chin split open in sympathy (sorry if that’s too graphic). But I must admit, 15 year-old Shoji almost stole the show for me with fine jumps (no falls!) and an impressive amount of elegance for such a young skater. Am I crazy to say I saw pale shades of Chen Lu in that performance? (You can see her free skate here.)
DANCE
GOLD: Orford/Williams, CAN
SILVER: Bonacorsi/Mager, USA
BRONZE: Zenkova/Sinitsin, RUS
Orford/Williams were pretty captivating with their Gone with the Wind free dance—it seemed a little rushed, but I think the goods are there for the developing. Heritage/Fast (of the U.S.) finished 5th.
Next on the JGP Schedule: Poland!
Monday, September 5, 2011
From Latvia with Love: JGP Results (and a little commentary) From Week 1
One down already?
In the case of the ISU Junior Grand Prix… yes! Here’s a summary of the best and/or U.S. finishes in JGP Latvia:
MEN
GOLD: Ryuju Hino, JPN
SILVER: He Zhang, CHN
BRONZE: Timothy Dolensky, USA
Hino (age 15) won on the strength of his jumps (including a triple axel and a triple axel/triple toe), but the one who got more of my attention was Zhang, also 15… no triple axel yet, but a lot of strength and flow and very watchable! Similar words can be said for Dolensky— might be due to his age (he’s 19), but in a season where many of the U.S. junior men are hoping to break out the way Ricky Dornbush did last year, I say his performance here couldn’t have hurt that effort. U.S.’s Emmanuel Savary finished further back, in 14th.
LADIES
GOLD: Polina Shelepen, RUS
SILVER: Zijun Li, CHN
BRONZE: Polina Agofonova, RUS
In similar fashion, the gold here went to she with the triple/triples—no triple axels, but in this case the other combos served 16 year-old Shelepen well. The other Polina (age 15) had a spottier outing in the FS but possesses some lovely spins, including one that emulates (if not duplicates?) Caroline Zhang’s “pearl” spin. Yasmin Siraj (age 15) and Ashley Cain (age 16), both of the U.S., finished 5th and 6th, respectively.
PAIRS
GOLD: Sui/Han, CHN
SILVER: Yu/Jin, CHN
BRONZE: Purdy/Marinaro, CAN
Although Sui/Han turned a lot of heads last year (and surely will again this year) as the Chinese Team of the Future, this wasn’t their best effort… several mistakes in the free skate and yet they still won handily. Which, sadly, doesn’t speak all that well for the rest of the competitors… including Oltmanns/Santillan, Denney/Frazier, and Duarte/Grafton, all of the U.S. (finishing 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively).
DANCE
GOLD: Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR
SILVER: Kosigina/Moroshkin, RUS
BRONZE: Aldridge/Eaton, USA
I must point out that Nosulia/Kholoniuk had me at “Bust Your Windows,” a great R&B song by Jazmine Sullivan (and also found on one of the Glee soundtracks) that they used for their short dance. And Aldridge/Eaton pulled up to medal contention with a free dance that brought back the Riverdance trend of about 10-12 years ago… one of two U.S. medals earned this time out. Gamelin/Gamelin, also of the US, came in 17th (!) in the SD and 7th (!!) in the FD to finish out in 9th overall.
How did I see all this, you might ask? Why, via the brand-new ISU channel on YouTube. Say what?? Yes, it’s true. We’ll talk about that a little more next time.
In the case of the ISU Junior Grand Prix… yes! Here’s a summary of the best and/or U.S. finishes in JGP Latvia:
MEN
GOLD: Ryuju Hino, JPN
SILVER: He Zhang, CHN
BRONZE: Timothy Dolensky, USA
Hino (age 15) won on the strength of his jumps (including a triple axel and a triple axel/triple toe), but the one who got more of my attention was Zhang, also 15… no triple axel yet, but a lot of strength and flow and very watchable! Similar words can be said for Dolensky— might be due to his age (he’s 19), but in a season where many of the U.S. junior men are hoping to break out the way Ricky Dornbush did last year, I say his performance here couldn’t have hurt that effort. U.S.’s Emmanuel Savary finished further back, in 14th.
LADIES
GOLD: Polina Shelepen, RUS
SILVER: Zijun Li, CHN
BRONZE: Polina Agofonova, RUS
In similar fashion, the gold here went to she with the triple/triples—no triple axels, but in this case the other combos served 16 year-old Shelepen well. The other Polina (age 15) had a spottier outing in the FS but possesses some lovely spins, including one that emulates (if not duplicates?) Caroline Zhang’s “pearl” spin. Yasmin Siraj (age 15) and Ashley Cain (age 16), both of the U.S., finished 5th and 6th, respectively.
PAIRS
GOLD: Sui/Han, CHN
SILVER: Yu/Jin, CHN
BRONZE: Purdy/Marinaro, CAN
Although Sui/Han turned a lot of heads last year (and surely will again this year) as the Chinese Team of the Future, this wasn’t their best effort… several mistakes in the free skate and yet they still won handily. Which, sadly, doesn’t speak all that well for the rest of the competitors… including Oltmanns/Santillan, Denney/Frazier, and Duarte/Grafton, all of the U.S. (finishing 7th, 8th, and 9th respectively).
DANCE
GOLD: Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR
SILVER: Kosigina/Moroshkin, RUS
BRONZE: Aldridge/Eaton, USA
I must point out that Nosulia/Kholoniuk had me at “Bust Your Windows,” a great R&B song by Jazmine Sullivan (and also found on one of the Glee soundtracks) that they used for their short dance. And Aldridge/Eaton pulled up to medal contention with a free dance that brought back the Riverdance trend of about 10-12 years ago… one of two U.S. medals earned this time out. Gamelin/Gamelin, also of the US, came in 17th (!) in the SD and 7th (!!) in the FD to finish out in 9th overall.
How did I see all this, you might ask? Why, via the brand-new ISU channel on YouTube. Say what?? Yes, it’s true. We’ll talk about that a little more next time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
