Volosozhar and Trankov are in only their second season together and already have one world medal and a European Championship. They have big triple twists and throws and lots of power but show their elegant side in their Black Swan free skate. They just missed out on the gold at the Grand Prix Final and will be looking to move up the podium here. They have the best short program, 2nd best free skate and 2nd best total score of the season.
Savchenko and Szolkowy will be looking to defend their title after taking home two gold medals on the Grand Prix and a gold at the Grand Prix Final. They withdrew from the European Championships due to injury. They've been attempting a throw triple axel this season and have yet to land it successfully. Their free skate set to music from Pina has lots of unique elements and choreography. One of their signature elements is a throw triple right at the end of their free skate. They have the 2nd best short program, best free skate and best total score of the season.
Bazarova and Larionov have stunning lines and beautiful lift positions but lack consistency in the jump elements and often lack an emotional connection with each other in their programs. When they're on, they can be one of the top teams in the world, but one mistake tends to be their unraveling. They tend to perform better in the short program where there are less elements to contend with. They have the 3rd best short program, 5th best free skate and 5th best total score of the season.
Sui and Han have been pulling double duty this season on the junior and senior circuit. They secured their third World Junior title and the Four Continents title earlier this year, breaking 200 points for the first time in their career. They have tons of energy, difficult lifts, throw quads and a quad twist which gives them a huge technical edge, but they are still a young team and lack the polish of some of the top competitors. With big elements also comes big risk, and they've been knocked off the podium when their quad twist has gone awry. They have the 4th best short program, 3rd best free skate and 3rd best total score of the season.
Kavaguti and Smirnov have had a good season with two gold medals on the Grand Prix and a bronze at the Final. They've been struggling with injuries to her shoulders and had to withdraw from Europeans after Smirnov had emergency surgery to remove his appendix. They have some gorgeous lifts and when their Claire de Lune free skate is done right the program is magical. They have the 5th best short program, 4th best free skate and 4th best total score of the season.
Denney and Coughlin are in their first season together and took home the silver medal from Four Continents. They have huge twists and throws and always look like they're enjoying being out on the ice but neither skater is well known for the finesse. They've been working all season to fine tune and tweak their programs as they got more comfortable in the partnership and to maximize the PCS points. They have the 7th best short program, 6th best free skate and 6th best total score of the season.
Marley and Brubaker are in only their second season together and Marley is only in her second year as a pair girl. They won the short program at U.S. Nationals with a clean skate and tons of bubbly energy and Marley showed her toughness when she hung on to her throw jumps after Brubaker made mistakes on the side by side elements. They had a nearly 40 point improvement in their personal best at Four Continents where they won the bronze medal and they are still growing together as a team. They have a great connection on the ice and if they hit everything have the potential to place well. They have the 8th best short program, 9th best free skate and 8th best total score of the season.
Duhamel and Radford had a great debut season last year capped by a 7th place finish at Worlds. They won two bronze medals on the Grand Prix to earn their first trip to the Grand Prix Final. After taking home their first Canadian title, they struggled at Four Continents but were able to pull up in their free skate. After Four Continents, they both vacationed and came back rested and ready to work and have stated their back to their full competitive form and hope to move up the rankings. They have the 9th best short program, 10th best free skate and 10th best total score of the season.
Pang and Tong will be the spoilers at this event, having not competed at all this season. They have an impressive resume and great choreography by Lori Nichols. It took them a long time last season to regain their form and land on the podium at Worlds and they won't have any feedback on their new programs to help guide their levels. The podium is within their reach but only if they are in their peak competitive form.
Also in the mix are NHK Trophy Silver Medalists Takahashi and Tran who have the 10th best short program of the season and Rostelecom Cup Bronze Medalists Berton and Hotarek.
Notable teams not competing here are European Bronze Medalists Stolbova/Klimov, Skate America and Cup of China Silver Medalists Zhang/Zhang, Skate America and Cup of China Bronze Medalists Moore-Towers/Moscovitch.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Volosozhar/Trankov
Silver: Savchenko/Szolkowy
Bronze: Kavaguti/Smirnov
Bios of the competitors:
Martini/Kiefer, AUT: They finished 21st at Worlds last season. They placed 15th at Europeans and 15th at Junior Worlds. They placed 16th at JGP Austria. Their personal best is 112.10. She is 19 and he is 21.
Bakirova/Kamianchuk, BLR: They finished 19th at Worlds last season. They placed 10th at Europeans. Their personal best is 122.25. She is 19 and he is 24.
Makarova/Kenchadze, BUL: They placed 17th at Europeans. She is 17 and he is 25.
Dube/Wolfe, CAN (Direct Entry): They placed 8th at Four Continents. They placed 6th at Skate Canada and 5th at Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 158.44. She is 24 and he is 22.
Duhamel/Radford, CAN (Direct Entry): They placed 7th at Worlds last season. They finished 4th at Four Continents. They won bronze at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th. Their personal best is 181.79. She is 26 and he is 27.
Pang/Tong, CHN (Direct Entry): They are the reigning Worlds Bronze Medalists. They are the 2010 Olympic Silver Medalists; 2006 and 2010 World Champions; 2007 World Silver Medalists; 2004 World Bronze Medalists; 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011 Four Continents Champions; and 2003, 2005 and 2007 Four Continents Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 213.31. She is 32 and he is 32.
Sui/Han, CHN: They are the reigning Four Continents Champions and World Junior Champions. They won silver at Skate Canada and placed 5th at Cup of China. They won gold at JGP Austria and Latvia to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final where they won gold. They are the 2011 and 2010 World Junior Champions. Their personal best is 201.83. She is 16 and he is 19.
Ri/Thae, PRK: She is 16 and he is 24.
James/Cipres, FRA: They finished 6th at Europeans. They placed 8th at Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 151.93. She is 24 and he is 19.
Hausch/Wende, GER (Direct Entry): They finished 12th at Worlds last season. They placed 7th at Europeans. They placed 8th at Skate America. Their personal best is 157.42. She is 23 and he is 27.
Savchenko/Szolkowy, GER (Direct Entry): They are the reigning World Champions. They won gold at Skate America, bronze at NHK Trophy and gold at Rostelecom Cup to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won gold. They are the 2010 Olympic Bronze Medalists; 2008 and 2009 World Champions; 2010 World Silver Medalists; 2007 World Bronze Medalists; 2007, 2008 2009 and 2011 European Champions and 2006 and 2010 European Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 217.85. She is 28 and he is 32.
Vartmann/Van Cleave, GER: They placed 5th at Europeans. Their personal best is 154.99. She is 23 and he is 24.
Kemp/King, GBR: They finished 17th at Worlds last season. They finished 9th at Europeans. Their personal best is 139.94. She is 23 and he is 27.
Montalbano/Krasnopolski, ISR: They finished 20th at Worlds last season. They placed 11th at Europeans. Their personal best is 120.32. She is 23 and he is 23.
Berton/Hotarek, ITA (Direct Entry): They finished 10th at Worlds last season. They placed 4th at Europeans. They placed 4th at NHK Trophy and won bronze at Rostelecom Cup. Their personal best is 168.02. She is 21 and he is 28.
Della Monica/Guarise, ITA: She is 22 and he is 23.
Takahashi/Tran, JPN (Direct Entry): They placed 9th at Worlds last season. They finished 5th at Four Continents. They placed 4th at Skate Canada and won silver at NHK Trophy to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 6th. They are the 2010 World Junior Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 172.09. She is 20 and he is 21.
Bazarova/Larionov, RUS (Direct Entry): They finished 5th at Worlds last season. They are the reigning European Silver Medalists. They placed 5th at Skate America and won silver at Trophee Eric Bompard. They are the 2011 European Bronze Medalists and 2007 World Junior Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 193.79. She is 19 and he is 25.
Kavaguti/Smirnov, RUS (Direct Entry): They finished 4th at Worlds last season. They won gold at Cup of China, gold at NHK Trophy and silver at Rostelecom Cup to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won bronze. They are the 2009 and 2010 World Bronze Medalists, 2010 European Champions, 2009 and 2011 European Silver Medalists and 2008 European Bronze Medalists. Their personal best is 213.15. She is 30 and he is 27.
Volosozhar/Trankov, RUS (Direct Entry): They are the reigning World Silver Medalists and European Champions. They won gold at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they won silver. Their personal best is 212.08. She is 25 and he is 28.
Morand/Leeman, SUI: They finished 14th at Europeans. They placed 13th at JGP Austria. Their personal best is 114.20. She is 18 and he is 20.
Denney/Coughlin, USA (Direct Entry): They are the reigning Four Continents Silver Medalists. They placed 4th at Skate America and 5th at NHK Trophy. Their personal best is 185.42. She is 18 and he is 26.
Marley/Brubaker, USA (Direct Entry): They are the reigning Four Continents Bronze Medalists. They finished 7th at Skate America. Their personal best is 178.69. She is 16 and he is 25.
Showing posts with label marley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marley. Show all posts
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Four Continents: Pairs Free Skate Results
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS = | TES + | PCS + | SS | TR | PE | CH | IN | Ded. - | StN. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN | CHN | 135.08 | 75.54 | 59.54 | 7.46 | 7.04 | 7.79 | 7.46 | 7.46 | 0.00 | #7 | |
| 2 | Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN | USA | 122.07 | 62.82 | 59.25 | 7.43 | 7.00 | 7.57 | 7.46 | 7.57 | 0.00 | #9 | |
| 3 | Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER | USA | 116.47 | 60.91 | 56.56 | 7.04 | 6.89 | 7.14 | 7.25 | 7.04 | 1.00 | #10 | |
| 4 | Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD | CAN | 114.23 | 62.27 | 52.96 | 6.71 | 6.50 | 6.54 | 6.71 | 6.64 | 1.00 | #3 | |
| 5 | Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN | JPN | 109.57 | 55.32 | 55.25 | 6.93 | 6.86 | 6.71 | 7.14 | 6.89 | 1.00 | #8 | |
| 6 | Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG | USA | 107.24 | 54.30 | 53.94 | 6.82 | 6.64 | 6.61 | 6.93 | 6.71 | 1.00 | #6 | |
| 7 | Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS | CAN | 100.69 | 49.99 | 50.70 | 6.57 | 6.36 | 6.04 | 6.43 | 6.29 | 0.00 | #5 | |
| 8 | Jessica DUBE / Sebastien WOLFE | CAN | 97.11 | 49.45 | 49.66 | 6.46 | 6.04 | 6.04 | 6.36 | 6.14 | 2.00 | #4 | |
| 9 | Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG | CHN | 92.20 | 46.77 | 45.43 | 5.75 | 5.43 | 5.71 | 5.82 | 5.68 | 0.00 | #2 | |
| 10 | Huibo DONG / Yiming WU | CHN | 88.39 | 46.37 | 42.02 | 5.54 | 5.00 | 5.36 | 5.25 | 5.11 | 0.00 | #1 |
| FPl. | Name | Nation | Points | SP | FS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN |
| 201.83 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 2 | Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN |
| 185.42 | 2 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER |
| 178.89 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 4 | Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD |
| 171.76 | 8 | 4 | |||
| 5 | Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN |
| 171.11 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 6 | Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG |
| 167.99 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 7 | Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS |
| 158.66 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 8 | Jessica DUBE / Sebastien WOLFE |
| 154.79 | 7 | 8 | |||
| 9 | Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG |
| 140.24 | 10 | 9 | |||
| 10 | Huibo DONG / Yiming WU |
| 137.91 | 9 | 10 |
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Four Continents Pairs Short Program
Denney/Coughlin, USA: 35.55 TES + 27.80 PCS = 63.35
- Huge triple twist with a nice clean catch
- Slightly off on timing on the side by side triple toes
- Nice change of holds through the beginning of this step sequences
- Decent position in the lift with a position change to a platter hold and a toss to fish
- Big throw triple flip and she really fights for the landing and saves it
- Nice death spiral position but very slow at the end
- She could use more stretch through the positions in the pairs spin
- Nice triple twist
- Good steps into their side by side triple loops
- Beautiful position in the lift with nice stretched out legs and good changes of position
- Nice triple lutz throw
- Really good transitions in this program
- Nice positions in the pairs spin and good speed
- Nice death spiral position but she really flattens out toward the end
- Really nice side by side triple toes with great height from both of them
- Really big triple twist with a decently clean landing
- Nice positions from her in the pairs spin with really good speed
- Two foots the throw triple lutz landing
- Nice relationship with each other on the ice in the pairs step sequence
- Needs a little more stretch through her bottom leg in the first position in the lift but nice change of position and a one foot exit
- Really nice death spiral
- Nice triple twist in the air but he catches her a little low
- She was really off in the air on the side by side triple salchow--really impressive that she landed that
- He nearly drops her flat on the ice trying to get her out of the death spiral
- She is sitting back too far in the sit position with her leg in the air in the pairs spin
- Her posture and skating seem a little off today
- Nice position n the lift with a good split and rotating in both directions on that lift
- Hands down on the throw triple flip right at the end of the program
- Decent triple twist but she has to grab on to him for the landing
- She doubles the side by side toes and he steps out and almost hits the board
- Nice fast rotation through through the lift
- Throw triple loop was two footed
- She's really side ways and almost flat on the ice in that death spiral
- Really slow through this step sequence and a little choppy on their edges
- Bit of a bobble getting into the pairs spin and a little slow
- Decent unison on the side by side triple toes
- Huge split triple twist but a little hard on the landing
- Throw double loop and a hand down
- Decent positions in the lift but very slow and a messy exit
- They don't seem to have much connection with each other in this step sequence and it seems very messy
- Really slow and flat death spiral
- Really slow pairs spin
- She falls on the side by side triple salchows
- Nice easy triple twist
- Nice throw triple salchow but a little scratchy on the landing
- Nice positions and speed through the pairs spin
- Nice ease through their lift with good changes of position and nice rotation
- Their choreography is sublime throughout this program
- Really nice somersault into a really pretty death spiral position and a good exit
- I'm not sure these black costumes suit Imagine
- Huge triple twist with a nice clean catch
- Nice side by side triple toes
- They skate with so much speed and presence on the ice
- Nice throw triple
- Good unison in this step sequence
- A little sloppy getting into the pairs spin but good speed and nice stretch through their positions
- She could use a little more stretch in her split in the first position in the lift and a nice position change and a flip exit
- Nice death spiral
- Nice triple twist
- She muscled out the landing on the side by side triple toes
- Nice positions in the pairs spin and decent speed
- Really nice throw triple loop
- Nice one handed hip lift into a hand hold lift and a good exit
- Nice death spiral position but a little tested after the change of hold
- Decent pairs spin but a little bobbly on the exit
- Really crashy on the triple twist and it looked like she was traveling and he had trouble catching up to her
- Nice side by side triple toes
- Really flat death spiral
- She needs to stretch through the bottom leg in the lift a nice interesting drop toward the ice on the exit of the jump but a little difficult getting out of it
- Hand down on the throw triple
- I think this choreography makes them look a little too juniorish and I'd like to see them challenged to perform something more difficult
| Pl. | Name | Nation | TSS = | TES + | PCS + | SS | TR | PE | CH | IN | Ded. - | StN. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN | CHN | 66.75 | 37.31 | 29.44 | 7.11 | 7.07 | 7.61 | 7.43 | 7.57 | 0.00 | #8 | |
| 2 | Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN | USA | 63.35 | 35.55 | 27.80 | 7.04 | 6.64 | 7.11 | 6.96 | 7.00 | 0.00 | #1 | |
| 3 | Mary Beth MARLEY / Rockne BRUBAKER | USA | 62.42 | 34.96 | 27.46 | 6.79 | 6.61 | 6.96 | 6.96 | 7.00 | 0.00 | #3 | |
| 4 | Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN | JPN | 61.54 | 34.74 | 27.80 | 6.96 | 6.79 | 6.89 | 7.07 | 7.04 | 1.00 | #7 | |
| 5 | Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG | USA | 60.75 | 32.47 | 28.28 | 7.00 | 6.93 | 7.18 | 7.21 | 7.04 | 0.00 | #9 | |
| 6 | Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS | CAN | 57.97 | 31.28 | 26.69 | 6.64 | 6.36 | 6.68 | 6.82 | 6.86 | 0.00 | #10 | |
| 7 | Jessica DUBE / Sebastien WOLFE | CAN | 57.68 | 31.28 | 26.40 | 6.61 | 6.29 | 6.82 | 6.64 | 6.64 | 0.00 | #2 | |
| 8 | Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD | CAN | 57.53 | 31.44 | 26.09 | 6.75 | 6.43 | 6.36 | 6.54 | 6.54 | 0.00 | #4 | |
| 9 | Huibo DONG / Yiming WU | CHN | 49.52 | 27.29 | 22.23 | 5.89 | 5.32 | 5.68 | 5.57 | 5.32 | 0.00 | #6 | |
| 10 | Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG | CHN | 48.04 | 24.41 | 23.63 | 6.11 | 5.64 | 5.93 | 6.00 | 5.86 | 0.00 | #5 |
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Four Continents Pairs Preview
Sui and Han are pulling double duty again this season competing at both the junior and senior levels, but are now old enough to compete in their first senior ISU Championship. They have amazingly difficult lifts, quad throws and quad twists which give them a huge technical advantage over the rest of the field. Earlier this season, they looked a little messy, likely due to competing in multiple events and training both junior and senior programs. Their difficult elements can also cause them problems as a messy landing and a fall on the quad twist at Cup of China cost them a medal and a trip to the Grand Prix Final. They have the 10th best short program, 5th best free skate and 6th best total score of the season.
Duhamel and Radford are continuing to show improvement, especially on the triple twist, the element that plagued them all last season. They are strong singles skaters and have a lot of difficulty in their side by side jumps and have a nice look on the ice as a pairs team. They brought home their first national pairs title last month and enter this event as the reigning silver medalists. They have the 6th best short program, 9th best free skate and 8th best total score of the season.
Evora and Ladwig have all the elements to be one of the best pairs teams in the world with good choreography, nice lines, great throw jumps and the best lifts in the world. Their problems come in their side by side elements and they give points away by not landing these jumps. They were noticeably disappointed by their third place finish at nationals that left them off the world team and this will be their final event of the season. They have nothing to lose and no reason to hold back and if they can hit everything they could grace the top of the podium.
Takahashi and Tran are in their first senior only season and their improvements led them to their first Grand Prix Final. They also have lovely lines and nice elements but struggle individually in the side by side jumps. They have the 8th best short program, 10th best free skate and 10th best total scores of the season.
Denney and Coughlin won the U.S. National title in their first season as a team. They seem to really enjoy skating together and being on the ice and have huge throw elements in their programs. They have some nice elements in their lifts including a jaw dropping death drop at the end of their final lift in the free skate but she doesn't always hit the nicest positions in the lifts which leaves the door open as they can lose points on their GOEs. Their programs are well put together to maximize their points and they are gunning for a medal at every event that they enter. Their free skate has been steadily improving all season as their partnership has been developing and they should get better scores here than they saw on the Grand Prix. They have the 8th best free skate and 9th best total scores of the season.
Marley and Brubaker are another fairly new team but she was brand new to pairs when they started a year and a half ago. They put out a sterling short program to lead at U.S. nationals and the only mistakes in their free skate were uncharacteristic errors on the side by side jumps from Rockne. Mary Beth showed that she deserves her place as a top senior pairs lady by fighting for the landing on a difficult throw jump in their free skate and holding the team together after a few mistakes. They also have a great look on the ice with nice chemistry, unison and matching positions. They made their Grand Prix debut earlier this season while Marley was suffering an ankle injury and should see a big boost in their international scores here.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Duhamel/Radford
Silver: Sui/Han
Bronze: Denney/Coughlin
Bios of the competitors:
Dube/Wolfe, CAN: They placed 6th at Skate Canada and 5th at Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 158.44. She is 24 and he is 22.
Duhamel/Radford, CAN: They are the reigning Four Continents Silver Medalists. They placed 7th at Worlds. They won bronze at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th. Their personal best is 181.79. She is 26 and he is 27.
Lawrence/Swiegers, CAN: They are the reigning Four Continents Bronze Medalists. They placed 8th at Skate Canada. Their personal best is 171.73. She is 21 and he is 24.
Dong/Wu, CHN: They finished 10th at Four Continents last season. They placed 14th at Worlds. They placed 6th at Trophee Eric Bompard. They are the 2008 World Junior Bronze Medalists. Their personal best is 147.75. She is 22 and he is 24.
Sui/Han, CHN: They are the reigning World Junior Champions. They won silver at Skate Canada and placed 5th at Cup of China. They won gold at JGP Austria and Latvia to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final where they won gold. They are the 2010 World Junior Champions. Their personal best is 180.82. She is 16 and he is 19.
Zhang/Wang, CHN: They finished 9th at Four Continents last season. They placed 13th at Worlds. Their personal best is 147.38. She is 19 and he is 21.
Takahashi/Tran, JPN: They finished 7th at Four Continents last season. They placed 9th at Worlds and are the reigning World Junior Bronze Medalists. They placed 4th at Skate Canada and won silver at NHK Trophy to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 6th. They are the 2010 World Junior Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 172.09. She is 20 and he is 21.
Denney/Coughlin, USA: They placed 4th at Skate America and 5th at NHK Trophy. Their personal best is 175.40. She is 18 and he is 26.
Evora/Ladwig, USA: They finished 6th at Four Continents last season. They placed 11th at Worlds. They finished 4th at Cup of China and Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 171.92. She is 27 and he is 31.
Marley/Brubaker, USA: They placed 8th at Four Continents last season. They finished 7th at Skate America. Their personal best is 144.80. She is 16 and he is 25.
Duhamel and Radford are continuing to show improvement, especially on the triple twist, the element that plagued them all last season. They are strong singles skaters and have a lot of difficulty in their side by side jumps and have a nice look on the ice as a pairs team. They brought home their first national pairs title last month and enter this event as the reigning silver medalists. They have the 6th best short program, 9th best free skate and 8th best total score of the season.
Evora and Ladwig have all the elements to be one of the best pairs teams in the world with good choreography, nice lines, great throw jumps and the best lifts in the world. Their problems come in their side by side elements and they give points away by not landing these jumps. They were noticeably disappointed by their third place finish at nationals that left them off the world team and this will be their final event of the season. They have nothing to lose and no reason to hold back and if they can hit everything they could grace the top of the podium.
Takahashi and Tran are in their first senior only season and their improvements led them to their first Grand Prix Final. They also have lovely lines and nice elements but struggle individually in the side by side jumps. They have the 8th best short program, 10th best free skate and 10th best total scores of the season.
Denney and Coughlin won the U.S. National title in their first season as a team. They seem to really enjoy skating together and being on the ice and have huge throw elements in their programs. They have some nice elements in their lifts including a jaw dropping death drop at the end of their final lift in the free skate but she doesn't always hit the nicest positions in the lifts which leaves the door open as they can lose points on their GOEs. Their programs are well put together to maximize their points and they are gunning for a medal at every event that they enter. Their free skate has been steadily improving all season as their partnership has been developing and they should get better scores here than they saw on the Grand Prix. They have the 8th best free skate and 9th best total scores of the season.
Marley and Brubaker are another fairly new team but she was brand new to pairs when they started a year and a half ago. They put out a sterling short program to lead at U.S. nationals and the only mistakes in their free skate were uncharacteristic errors on the side by side jumps from Rockne. Mary Beth showed that she deserves her place as a top senior pairs lady by fighting for the landing on a difficult throw jump in their free skate and holding the team together after a few mistakes. They also have a great look on the ice with nice chemistry, unison and matching positions. They made their Grand Prix debut earlier this season while Marley was suffering an ankle injury and should see a big boost in their international scores here.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Duhamel/Radford
Silver: Sui/Han
Bronze: Denney/Coughlin
Bios of the competitors:
Dube/Wolfe, CAN: They placed 6th at Skate Canada and 5th at Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 158.44. She is 24 and he is 22.
Duhamel/Radford, CAN: They are the reigning Four Continents Silver Medalists. They placed 7th at Worlds. They won bronze at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th. Their personal best is 181.79. She is 26 and he is 27.
Lawrence/Swiegers, CAN: They are the reigning Four Continents Bronze Medalists. They placed 8th at Skate Canada. Their personal best is 171.73. She is 21 and he is 24.
Dong/Wu, CHN: They finished 10th at Four Continents last season. They placed 14th at Worlds. They placed 6th at Trophee Eric Bompard. They are the 2008 World Junior Bronze Medalists. Their personal best is 147.75. She is 22 and he is 24.
Sui/Han, CHN: They are the reigning World Junior Champions. They won silver at Skate Canada and placed 5th at Cup of China. They won gold at JGP Austria and Latvia to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final where they won gold. They are the 2010 World Junior Champions. Their personal best is 180.82. She is 16 and he is 19.
Zhang/Wang, CHN: They finished 9th at Four Continents last season. They placed 13th at Worlds. Their personal best is 147.38. She is 19 and he is 21.
Takahashi/Tran, JPN: They finished 7th at Four Continents last season. They placed 9th at Worlds and are the reigning World Junior Bronze Medalists. They placed 4th at Skate Canada and won silver at NHK Trophy to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where they finished 6th. They are the 2010 World Junior Silver Medalists. Their personal best is 172.09. She is 20 and he is 21.
Denney/Coughlin, USA: They placed 4th at Skate America and 5th at NHK Trophy. Their personal best is 175.40. She is 18 and he is 26.
Evora/Ladwig, USA: They finished 6th at Four Continents last season. They placed 11th at Worlds. They finished 4th at Cup of China and Trophee Eric Bompard. Their personal best is 171.92. She is 27 and he is 31.
Marley/Brubaker, USA: They placed 8th at Four Continents last season. They finished 7th at Skate America. Their personal best is 144.80. She is 16 and he is 25.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
U.S. Nationals: Senior Pairs Free Skate
Fehr/Biver: 26.31 TES + 31.37 PCS -4.00 = 53.68 Total: 85.05
- They are skating to Spider Man and are currently in 13th place
- Triple salchow + triple toe sequence with great unison
- Good side by side triple loops
- They probably have good unison on their jumps because he taught her her jumps
- Nice platter lift with her in a catchfoot position
- Really nice throw triple salchow
- Hydroblade into the death spiral but a little sideways
- Hand to hand hold needs some work with her air position and very slow and difficult to get up
- Double twist was completely vertical and scratchy on the landing
- Dance transitional lift with her in a handstand on his boot
- Cartwheel up into a lift with him holding her under her armpits with a bobble on the exit
- Can't control the landing on that throw double toe
- Decent unison on their side by side spins but they are really far apart--looks like she may have forgot one of the positions
- Not a lot of speed through the pairs spin and after the music
- They are skating to Spartacus and are currently in 12th place
- Good double twist with nice height and a clean landing
- Good reach back on their side by side jumps and nice landing
- Nice position for her in the hand to hand lift with a one arm exit
- She didn't pull into the rotation tight enough in the throw triple loop and falls
- Double loop + double toe sequence with good timing
- Really nice first position in the pairs spiral but the second is a little awkward--she doesn't seem to know where to put her head
- Overhead lift into the one hand position in an attitude for her and a flip exit
- Fall on the throw triple lutz but a lot of height
- Good position in the pairs spin with a good change of direction
- Her catchfoot positions are lovely in the air but she could use more stretch thorugh the first positions
- Good speed and unison through the side by side spins
- Not a lot of rotations in the death spiral
- They are skating to Carmen and are currently in 11th place
- Nice easy double twist with a clean catch
- She falls on the side by side triple salchows--you could see the hesitation in the takeoff
- Wow he gives her no throw on the throw double and she two foots it
- Nice air position for her and a good catchfoot position with a one hand exit
- Nice camel positions and good speed and unison through their side by side spins; lose it after the flying variation but get back together by the end
- Nice one armed lift but it looked a little hard coming down in the one armed exit--I don't think they'll get credit for the one armed exit as a feature for level as they used it twice
- She two foots the throw triple
- Nice spiral into the lift but he struggles to get her in the air and it looks like they were early on the set down
- Good pairs spiral but not in a hold
- Nice entry to the death spiral but he loses his edge and travels on the pivot
- She singles the first jump in their three jump combo and it's messy from there with no unison
- Good positions on their pairs spin but not a lot of speed
- They are skating to Legends of the Fall and are currently in 10th place
- Huge triple twist--way to big for them to control and a really hard and crashy landing
- Right into a big throw triple with a step out
- She doubles the side by side triple toes
- Great air position for her in the lifts with a one arm exit
- I'd like to see her skating leg more stretched out in the death spiral and her position is completely collapsed by the end
- She falls on the side by side triple salchows
- Good rotation and nice exit on the second lift
- Throw triple salchow right on the music
- Slow rotation in their side by side spins and loss of unison
- I can't tell if they were struggling to get up into the lift or if she was in an awkward position being held by one hand on her stomach
- I feel like this team lost all the magic they had last season when they made a big splash in their nationals debut
- They are skating to Concierto de Aranjuez and are currently in 9th place
- Good triple twist
- It's interesting that they keep mentioning Felicia's singles career and her novice medal and not that she is a Junior Pairs Champion
- Off on the timing of the side by side triple toes
- Really nice double axel + double axel sequence with great timing
- Nice extension through the star lift and into a platter but the hold is making her position awkward
- Good distance between them, speed, nice positions and good unison through the side by side spins
- Huge throw triple salchow and nicely landed
- Good pairs spiral
- Hand down on the second throw triple
- Nice carry feature in the lift right on the music
- I'd like to see her death spiral lower with her free leg squeezed in
- Good final lift with one arm carry and set down
- Nice speed through the pairs spin with a nice change of direction
- They are skating to Unstoppable and are in 8th place
- Landed over his shoulder on the twist
- He falls and she puts a hand down on their side by side single toes--they did go down in unison and on the same angle though
- Nice throw triple flip
- Nice lasso entry to their lift but not many rotations
- Nice arch in the death spiral but I'd like to see her lower to the ice
- She completely loses her pick in the side by side jumps and almost does a aerial cartwheel instead of a jump--really scary to watch but she seems ok
- Not a fast enough rotation and too tentative in the throw salchow and she falls
- Nice hip hold lift with a good split position for her and a flip exit
- They are skating to Dr. Zhivago and are currently in 7th place
- Great air position in this first lift with nice stretch through her bottom leg and then nice stretch through the carry feature as well
- Really nice triple salchows--he ekes his out
- Double axel + double toe + double toe side by side combo is nicely done
- Good double twist with a clean catch
- Good speed in the side by side spins but a lot of distance between them
- Decent pairs spiral but I'd like to see her hip not hiked up so much in the heel stretch
- Nice landing on the throw triple flip
- Good throw triple salchow
- Nice spiral right up into the hand to hand lift
- And right back up into another lift with a nice change of position and a flip exit--they'll want to work on one handed holds and exits as features to really improve their levels in the future
- Decent death spiral
- Good position in the pairs spin with nice arms from her and a beautiful arabesque line and nice speed throughout
- I have adored this program since they competed it in summer events. They really use their ballet look to it's full advantage
- They are skating to Sleeping Beauty and are currently in 5th place
- Love the opening finger turn into an assisted penche
- Nice fast triple twist--I like that she has a pause for a moment after the toss before she starts rotating
- I believe she doubled their side by side jumps
- Press up into the hip lift with her legs in a 180 degree split and into a nice one arm hold in the hand to hand lift
- Her arabesque line is to die for and so effortless
- She singles the first axel in their side by side combo jumps but they do the triple toes
- A little off on their timing in the side by side spins
- Lasso entry to the lift with one arm hold and a Russian like air position for her and a nice one armed exit
- Huge throw triple loop with tons of ice coverage
- Wonderful death spiral position but not a lot of rotations or a change of hold so they won't get the higher levels
- Really nice positions in the pairs spin
- Another huge throw triple salchow with a wonderful landing
- Nice air position in that catchfoot in the lift with a nice flip exit
- Gorgeous pairs spiral sequence
- Nice split lift into a fish to end the program
- They are currently in 6th place and are skating to Swan Lake
- Good side by side double axels and into the double toes for the sequence
- Such height on that triple twist and I love that she hit the top of the throw before she started rotating
- Difficult entry into that throw triple salchow--hand down
- Good position changes but not as big of split position
- Good unison through the side by side spins but a lot of distance between them
- Interesting and unique pairs spiral
- Nice hop up into a fish position and into the throw triple toe with a hand down and not a lot of ice coverage
- Good positions in the pairs spin and lovely expression from her
- Nice getting up into the lift right on the crescendo of the music and changing holds with a nice exit
- Lasso lift with a good position into the catchfoot
- She seems awfully high on the death spiral and the change hold looked a little labored
- They are currently in 4th place
- She lost an edge on a transition move but kept going
- Nice triple twist but not the cleanest landing
- He falls on the side by side triple toe
- Nice position in the lift with a somersault exit
- Huge height on that throw triple axel and she steps out of it but so close!
- Some of these spin positions need more stretch and they seem a little slow throughout
- Nice pairs spiral with a really nice stretched out position from her
- Nice hip lift variation with her legs above her head
- He falls on the side by side double axel
- She has her shoulders really huched up in some of these positions in the pairs spin and not a lot of speed
- Gorgeous arabesque spiral into a really nice throw triple salchow landed easily and right on the music
- She is completely sideways in that death spiral and no where near the ice
- Really nice split position in the lift with a good carry feature and a one armed rotation
- They are currently in 3rd place
- As a former competitive dancer, I like the rhinestones in her hair, but her eye makeup is a little much for HD tv
- Nice easy triple twist
- Easy throw triple loop
- Side by side triple toes were not perfectly in sync but they did them
- Off on the side by side double axel sequence but did them
- Good unison on the side by side spins
- Lasso lift but not enough split in those positions in the air
- Nice throw triple flip
- Good arch but really high on the death spiral and not a lot of rotations or changes of hold
- She needs a lot more stretch and a bigger split position through the Level 5 lift
- Decent pairs spiral
- The final lift positions are so awkward but a nice death drop exit and ice coverage
- Nice triple twist
- She two foots the side by side triple salchows but hangs on
- She turns out and puts a knee down on the throw triple lutz
- She falls on the side by side combo
- Nice twist around his head into a dance lift
- Change of hold in the death spiral
- Getting into better unison on their side by side spins but they are far apart and the TV crew can't keep them both in the picture
- Nice spiral into the throw triple loop with a nice landing
- Nice reverse entry to that one hand lift with him holding her on her leg and a nice carry feature on one leg with a toss down to the flip exit
- Nice moment for them in the pairs spiral
- Great press up to the lift with a toss at the top and nice positions and a somersault exit
- Decent positions and speed in this pairs spin but you can really feel that the magic is gone from the program
- Nice final lift with a good catchfoot position and a flip exit
- They are currently in 1st place
- He falls on the side by side triple toes and they won't get credit for the combo
- Nice triple twist a little catch around his neck on the landing but solid
- He turns out of the side by side double axels but doesn't put the foot down
- Nice unison on the side by side pins but a little far apart
- Nice death spiral position with a change of hold
- Huge throw triple lutz and she nails it
- Good position for her in the lift through the catch foot and nice one arm exit
- Good pairs spiral with nice matching positions and I love how long she holds the position
- Nice change to the split position in the hold and then reversing her position into an even nicer stretch and him on one foot through the carry feature
- Nice position in the final lift with good one arm position changes
- Hangs on to the throw triple salchow
- Nice stretch through the positions in the pairs spin
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