Fourth stage of the Grand Prix figure skating in Osaka, quite unexpectedly, it became a triumph for Russian Sergei Voronov, who showed the best performance of his career. But even in the women's tournament there could have been a sensation. But the judges decided otherwise. And there are big questions about their work.
Full of nerves. Medvedeva won on the brink of a foul
Two mistakes and a fall - this has never happened to Evgenia Medvedeva. But she again became the first.
Pros and cons
Grand Prix debutant Russian Polina Tsurskaya showed excellent skating in Osaka. Not a single mistake, not even the slightest failure. Amazing jumping technique, one of the best in the world. So what? In the short program, only one referee, Canadian Sally Rehorik, gave her a “plus 3” for performing an axel in two and a half turns. For the triple lutz - triple toe loop cascade - not a single "three", for the triple loop - not a single "three".
For comparison. The same Rehorik did not throw anything at the Italian Carolina Kostner for the same axel, considering that she jumped him on the “base”. And she remained a black sheep. The rest decided that Costner deserved a plus, and the Italian Walter Toigo generally considered the performance ideal and gave him a “plus 3”.
Well, how can we fight here when the judges are initially focused on ensuring that the deserving one does not lag so far behind the debutante in terms of technique that she cannot even pull off the components?
This way you can analyze each element in detail. Just a fact. The basic score of the Tsurskaya program is 32.24. Costner's basic program score is 30.63. The difference is 1.61 points. For the rental, Polina, with modest advantages, received a technical score of 38.78, Carolina, with good advantages, received 37.32. The difference is 1.46 points! That is, even with better rentals, the difference in technical assessment did not increase as it could have, but decreased.
The same goes for the free program. At the same time, Kostner fell from a triple Salchow in a cascade, did a double toe loop instead of a triple toe loop, and generally went too far with toe loops, making one extra jump. The initial base difference of 11.08 points after the rental grew to only 11.42! Well, how can we fight here when the judges are initially focused on ensuring that the deserving one does not lag so far behind the debutante in terms of technique that she cannot even pull off the components? Give this well-deserved two and three GOE, and the debutante a modest one.
What if we compare Tsurskaya not with Kostner, but with Evgenia Medvedeva? So Medvedeva’s base is almost comparable.
Polina Tsurskaya should have won the free skate. But the judges did not want to see this and put her above Costner in the final protocol of the tournament.Did the judges see the same thing?
Technically, the task is completed. Whatever the initial gap in the database was, that remains the case. Well, components are a thing that you can play with as your heart desires. Here you can simply initially calculate the most basic difference in technology and install such components so that the one who needs it remains ahead. Nobody is saying that Caroline Costner doesn't deserve her ingredients.
Medvedeva lost. But only to myself
In the short program in Japan, the best figure skater in the world received less than in Moscow.
She skates beautifully, she has complex transitions, positions, and a wonderful interpretation of music. But the point is that Polina Tsurskaya’s components were simply squeezed. When in adult skating came, she was still given higher components, and at Skate America 2015 (debut tournament) she beat the host of the tournament, Gracie Gold, with home judging.
Again, two examples from the short and free program. Here the Japanese judge Akira Yoshizawa gave Tsurskaya 3 components in the short program - 8.00, 7.75, 8.25, 8.00, 8.50. In the free program, when he had already seen Polina in the short program, the Japanese referee was the only one who gave her truly champion scores - 9.25, 9.25, 9.50, 9.50, 9.50. These are estimates at the level of Medvedeva and Costner.
It is clear that you can “play” with the components, as well as with the pros and cons of GOE. But when one puts “plus 2” and the other “minus 1” in technique, and then the difference in components between these judges is a point and a half, you get the feeling that they were looking at different skaters. The same can be said about other disciplines.
In fairness, Polina Tsurskaya should have won the free skate. But the judges didn't want to see it. It is clear that in terms of total points, Tsurskaya would still have remained behind Medvedeva, but would have taken the final second place, not third. And her chances of reaching the Grand Prix final would have increased significantly. Perhaps it will be easier for Polina at Skate America 2017. After all, she has already declared herself loudly.
Voronov did not miss his chance
After Yuzuru Hanyu withdrew from the Japanese Grand Prix due to an ankle injury, almost any of the participants could claim victory. And the 30-year-old Russian won, who showed the best performance of his career. He has the highest scores for both the short and free skate, and the total.
After Yuzuru Hanyu withdrew from the Japanese Grand Prix due to an ankle injury, almost any of the participants could claim victory. And the 30-year-old Russian won.The transition to Inna Goncharenko helped Voronov return to high level. And even if this level - the maximum for today - does not reach the points that Hanyu, Nathan Chen or Soma Uno and Javier Fernandez can get. He doesn’t have a quadruple Lutz like Mikhail Kolyada or Alexander Samarin, but Voronov, if he consistently performs what he can, will compete at the Russian Championship.
58 - Internal news page
The Russian figure skating team won silver at the World Team Championships in Japan, despite Evgenia Medvedeva's two new world records.
5:32 24.04.2017
The Russian figure skating team won silver at the world team championship in Tokyo, the capital of Japan, despite two further world records and greatest number earned points brought to the team two-time champion peace in women's single skating Evgenia Medvedeva.
The Russians scored 105 points in total, the Japanese team took first place (109), and the Americans took third (97). Victory in each of the two programs of each type was estimated at 12 points and then in descending order. The total points for both programs were not officially calculated. Medvedeva won the maximum possible 24 points for her team.
Era of Medvedeva
The world champion first set a new world record in the short program, scoring 80.85 points (the previous one - 79.21 - belonged to her and was set at the Grand Prix Final in Marseille). The Russian performed all the elements to perfection, and for the “triple flip - triple toe loop” cascade she received from the judges the absolute maximum “+3” according to the GOE (Grade of execution) system. For the components, the skater did not receive a single recorded score below 9 points on a 10-point system. “Medvedeva’s era is now absolute,” the figure skater’s coach and choreographer Ilya Averbukh responded to what was happening.
Elena Radionova, who has been part of the current season for a long time, did not perform the short starting cascade “Lutz - toe loop”, which failed her at the Russian Championship in Chelyabinsk, but did a separate lutz, and in the second half of the program - a high-quality “rittberger - toe loop”, a more expensive cascade than "lutz - sheepskin coat". The result is 72.21 points, second position and 11 points for the team. The Japanese Mai Mihara took third place, 11 hundredths of a point behind Radionova.
The women's free skate was the culmination of the tournament. By that time, the Russians were in third place with 85 points, three points behind the Japanese and one behind the Americans. Averbukh's words were again confirmed on the ice. Medvedeva received 160.46 points from the judges (154.40 is the previous record, which was set by the same figure skater at the World Championships in Helsinki). If we add up the sum of points, the Russian woman would have recorded another historical achievement, but at team championship the world officially count only each of the programs.
All 12 elements of the winner’s program were rated exclusively “+2” and “+3”; not a single judge dared to give Medvedeva even “+1”. “In the pre-Olympic year, she widens the gap not only technically, but also psychologically. These are very important things,” Honored Trainer of Russia Tatyana Tarasova shared her impressions of Medvedeva’s skating.
Mai Mihara was 14.5 points behind in second, and Wakaba Higuchi was third. Both skaters thereby brought gold to the Japanese team. Radionova coped with the starting “Lutz-toe loop” cascade, but made mistakes during the execution of the triple Lutz and double Axel. The result is fifth place.
A little before the Russian sports couple, bronze medalists last championship world champions Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, became second in the free program, scoring 142.38 points. The first place was taken by the French Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, the third - by the Chinese Peng Cheng/Jin Yang.
A day earlier, the Russians were fourth in the short program, having failed on a parallel triple toe loop and a triple loop throw (66.37 points, 9 points). “It just didn’t work out. It’s clear that it’s the end of the season. But these are more technical errors than just fatigue,” Tarasova explained. James/Cipres won the short program, Peng Cheng/Jin Yang took second place, and Canadians Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro took third place.
“Of course, we had the peak of our form at the World Championships,” shared Tarasova’s partner Morozov. “After Zhenya’s injury (received in Helsinki), upon arrival in Moscow, we did not immediately begin preparation; we did not skate with a full set of elements in the free program, but the free program in Tokyo skated well and scored high points."
The national record didn't really help
Help for the “weaker sex” from singles men looked ridiculous even against the backdrop of the national record in the short by Mikhail Kolyada. No Russian figure skater in history had ever scored 95.37 points in the short program before. The St. Petersburger achieved such a mark due to a cascade of essentially yesterday’s quadruple and triple toe loops, triple Axel and triple Lutz in the second half of the program. But in the company of world stars, the current champion of Russia became fourth.
Having, however, beaten the world champion and Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu, who skated extremely dirty in the tournament debut (7th place). Not even two revolutions came out of the planned quadruple loop... Maxim Kovtun became 11th (64.62 points, 2 points), making a butterfly on a quadruple axel and locking a quadruple toe loop. And the Russian team fell back to second place in the team. The Japanese Soma Uno won the short race and the maximum 12 points, the American Nathan Chen was second, and the Chinese Jin Boyang was third.
The month and a half marathon of Grand Prix stages has almost come to an end. Based on the results of six starts in different parts of the world, all participants in the final competition were determined. The sixth stage took place in Sapporo, and it was this stage that gave some skaters a chance to jump on the bandwagon. There wasn’t much tournament intrigue in Japan, but Russian figure skating fans had something to worry about, although only five athletes from our country made it to Japan.
World Champions vs Olympians
The hottest battle in Sapporo took place in ice dancing. Before the start, thousands of fans around the world, and especially in France and Canada, argued about who would be better at the sixth stage of the Grand Prix:
world champions of the last two years Gabriella Papadakis And Guillaume Cizeron or two-time vice-champions of the Sochi Olympics Tessa Virtue And Scott Moir, returning after a break and starting their run to a medal for the third Games in a row. Both pairs won the home stages of the Grand Prix and met in head-to-head competition for the first time. The Canadians were clearly far from their best condition, but during the long vacation they did not lose their skills and managed to win the first serious test in battle. Moreover, to win with a world record - 195.84 points based on the sum of two dances. The French couple seemed nervous, and this affected their skating. However, Papadakis and Cizeron could not miss second place - they took silver, albeit without polish, ahead of the Italians Capellini and Lanotte by six points.
Participants of the Grand Prix Final: M. Shibutani/A. Shibutani (USA), Virtue/Moir (Canada), Papadakis/Cizeron (France), Bobrova/Soloviev (Russia), Chalk/Bates (USA), Hubbell/Donoghue (USA).
Leaders almost gave way to the Chinese
Competitions in pair skating in Japan they were not very representative, but they still turned out to be interesting and in some ways even sensational. It was expected that two-time world champions Duhamel and Redford would beat their competitors “with one wicket”.
Tessa and Moir were far from their best condition, but during the long vacation they did not lose their skills and managed to win the first serious test in battle.
However, everything was smooth only on paper. There were no ravines at the skating rink in Sapporo, but the Canadians still didn’t skate well. Not only did Peng and Yang unexpectedly lose their short program, and also in the free program they gave their opponents a chance to win. However, the Chinese couple did not take advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Serious mistakes and falls still did not allow the sensation to happen: the Canadian couple remained at the top, and the Chinese became second - both couples will go to Marseille.
There were no Russian participants at the sixth stage of the Grand Prix in pair skating, but in the final you will be able to cheer for Tarasova and Morozov. It will not be easy for them to join the battle for first place, but getting on the podium is a completely doable task.
Participants of the Grand Prix Final: Duhamel/Redford (Canada), Savchenko/Masso (Germany), Xiaoyu/Zhang (China), Peng/Yang (China), Tarasova/Morozov (Russia), Seguin/Belodeau (Canada).
Kolyada tried a quadruple jump
The balance of power in men's skating became almost completely clear after the fifth stage of the Grand Prix. And during the sixth, Hanyu and Chen had to formally secure the right to go to Marseille. Only some kind of terrible skating or even withdrawal from the competition could not allow them to get on the podium - the competitors were too weak.
Kolyada also hoped for a breakthrough, having decided to try a quadruple lutz in Sapporo. The jump didn’t work out and the breakthrough didn’t work out either.
Yuzuru Hanyu traditionally performs successfully at the home stage, and this time was no exception - 301 points and first place. Nathan Chen was more than 30 points behind, but almost the same amount ahead of the third prize-winner, Japanese Tanaka. At the end of six stages, Adam Rippon was among the participants in the Grand Prix, ahead of Jin Boyan, who has been bringing nothing but disappointment to fans this season.
Our men were not included in the Grand Prix finals. The closest to this was Sergei Voronov, who became the second reserve. Kolyada also hoped for a breakthrough, having decided to try a quadruple lutz in Sapporo. The jump didn’t work out and the breakthrough didn’t work out either.
Participants of the Grand Prix Final: Fernandez (Spain), Chan (Canada), Hanyu (Japan), Uno (Japan), Chen (USA), Rippon (USA).
Four Russians for six seats
Finally, let's turn to the most pleasant thing - women's skating. Two Russians flew to Sapporo: and. At the same time, the only strong rival was the mistress of the ice - the 2015 vice world champion Miyahara. These three athletes divided the places on the podium among themselves, without a chance of being ahead of the other participants in the competition.
Most likely, three Russian figure skaters will occupy the entire podium, but who will rise to the top step is still a mystery.
Pogorilaya, who started the season brilliantly, did not skate flawlessly, but even with some blots she took the place. And a stubborn fight unfolded between Satoko and Maria. Perhaps the judges were generous with their scores for the hostess of the competition, placing her in second place, but overall Miyahara and Sotskova skated at the same level. It’s fair that both eventually ended up among the participants in the Grand Prix final.
In Marseille, of the six girls who will fight for victory, four will represent Russia. The battle between Medvedeva, Pogorila and Radionova for victory looks extremely intriguing. Most likely, this trio will take the podium, but who will rise to the top step is still a mystery.
Participants of the Grand Prix Final: Medvedeva (Russia), Pogorilaya (Russia), Radionova (Russia), Osmond (Canada), Sotskova (Russia), Miyahara (Japan).
