Following the Grand Prix event in Canada came the one in Russia: Rostelecom Cup. I am going to start with what turned out to be, for me, a surprise: Russian pair skaters Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander Enbert. Since I had never seen them before and they were a new pair, I wasn’t expecting the way they delivered their programs. In fact, they were first after the short program, and ended second overall after a second place finish in the free program. Their short program was beautiful. Most elements were really well executed (the opening triple twist is something they can still upgrade in quality). This performance sure showed that everyone will have to keep an eye on them in this and further seasons. The free program was quite different from the short. While I liked the short more (I think it suited them more), this was also a really well executed program. The jumps were the clear highlight, particularly the opening combination and the throws. And her dress is stunning.
The gold in pairs went to Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot. In a season where ice dancers are mostly skating to hip hop instead of swing, Savchenko and Massot chose a swing and I absolutely loved it. It is a really entertaining program. The triple twist is as high as always with them. It was unfortunate that they both fell on the individual jump. And what to say about the throw triple axel, which only Duhamel and Radford had also attempted? It is a spectacular element and she held on to it. About the free program? Well, my advice is that you take some minutes and watch it. It is a program that will make you feel something. And if you think it resembles something, then yes, the music is from Patrick Watson, which was also featured in the free dance of Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron last season. They attempted the throw triple axel again (it was counted as a double, due to lack of rotation) and they also went for the throw quad salchow right at the end of the program (which, if you ask me, is quite a risk). She ended up falling, but still, they went for it. Maybe as the season progresses they will be able to land them, which could make them quite unstoppable.
Moving on to the men, the story came down to Japanese Shoma Uno who won silver and whose programs we had seen before in Skate America and the gold medalist, Spanish Javier Fernandez.
The debut of Fernandez’s programs at the Grand Prix happened here. He kept the short program from last season, which for me turned out to be underwhelming. I loved it way more last season, but maybe it is just because he is still beginning the season. However, as we had seen the program before, expectations are a bit higher than usual. He held on to the elements but Shoma Uno’s technical base value was much higher. Nothing was lost until the free was not over. And for Fernandez, it was Elvis Presley. And well, I can see what he has been training for. The focus has been this free and not the short and for now, it worked, earning him the gold. He is quite a performer and when the technique is there as well, it is fantastic. That is mainly the reason he is a two-time world champion. He just needs to be able to deliver the technical elements. I really like Elvis Presley and I believe it was a good music choice for him. This is yet another to-watch program.
Last, but not least, being in Russia surely entails that the Russian ladies were going to deliver and that is was they did, going 1-2-3 in the short and ending up with gold and silver. Let’s start with programs to highlight that were not the best but that caused everyone to talk about them. Firstly, Julia Lipnitskaia’s short program. She has been struggling and end up struggling a lot in the free but not on this program. I want to start by saying that the dress is beautiful and that brown is actually a colour that should be more used. She has matured and this program suits her so so well. The jumps were there but the spins are just absolutely spectacular. You can’t take your eyes off her. She has an incredible talent. And on the free skate, the surprise was Courtney Hicks. To the soundtrack of Maleficent, which suited her like a glove. Absolutely fantastic. This program earned her the bronze medal here. She has room for improvement, of course, but things are looking good for her.
But this event was to be about Anna Pogorilaya and Elena Radionova, with Pogorilaya succeeding over her teammate on both programs. Let’s start with Radionova. The short program was really well executed and left things open for her. She performed throughout, which is the main quality associated with this skater: her interpretation. She is struggling a little on completing her jumps lately and while she did not have such problems in this short program, she does not have the same GOE as Anna on the jumps. But performance-wise, she is one of the best Russian ladies. Her free program was more of a so-called “classic”, which she can deliver but I much rather see her in her short program that here. The dress is lovely and her interpretation was there. But here we could see her jump struggles. Nevertheless, it was a good program.
Lastly, the gold medalist, Anna Pogorilaya, seems so much more confident this season. The bronze last season her worlds seems to have done wonders for her. A tango for the short and I have to say that I really liked it. I usually don’t like her programs at all, but this was quite good. She had attitude throughout and sold the program well. The jumps were all there and that step sequence was really good. The free program was more on what she usually performs so it is not a big surprise that I did not like it very much. Regardless, consistency seems to be her motto now, because the jumps were all there and she gave the intensity to the program that it asked. A well-deserved gold medal for her. Can’t wait to see how this season will work out for her.
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Even though this blog’s focus is on ice dance, there are three other events in figure skating that I can’t leave unnoticed. As a result, every time I consider relevant, I will be making highlights from the ladies, pairs and men events. Here is the one concerning the Progressive Skate America. First of all, let’s start with the best short program of the ladies event. Maybe most of people associate figure skating with classical music. Well, that is not always true, and Ashley Wagner proves that with this program. It is so fresh compared to all the classic tunes and she interprets it so well, which led me to give it the attention it deserves. It is true that the program was not technically perfect (the judges did see that the second jump of the opening combination was underrotated and all her spins and set sequence were given a level 3 instead of the highest, level 4), but she does draw you in the performance.
The surprise performance of this event and, for me, the one I think of when anyone mentions Skate America this season, was the free program of Mariah Bell. She won it, ending up moving from sixth to second place, edging relevant names like Mao Asada, Gracie Gold and newcomer Mai Mihara. In one word, gorgeous, and I would also add delicate. This is a program that I will certainly re-watch several times. She has tremendous potential to make the American World team if she manages to keep up this quality. Moving on to the men’s event, there is little to say about Shoma Uno. He did great and is setting himself up to be a World Medalist after his disappointing seventh place at the last Worlds. Things are looking good for that purpose. I just leave here both his short and free programs, which are a must-watch.
Last but not least, the largest surprise on what concerned the gold medalists here. Maybe it was not such a large surprise if you had watched Seguin and Bilodeau last season. However, this free program was beautiful and clean, which is really hard to accomplish in pairs, particularly if you are relatively new to the senior scene. These two are just amazing to watch and they will likely have a great future ahead of them. |
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