Lower Ranked Skaters

[PashaFan]

There are lot's of lower ranked skaters I have loved both in the present & past.
Okay, they were lower ranked for a reason. Being inconsistent, slow across the ice, not trying as difficult moves as others & so on.
But I'd really like to find out on this thread who else loved the lower ranked skaters. Who you liked, why you liked them & the programes you remember them doing.
Some of my faves are IDORA HEGEL-The 2004 Worlds Free Skate stands out for me. She seemed like a real character. And I really enjoyed watching her.
ELENA GLEBOVA-I know she's still around but she had so much potential a few years back but seems to have stalled. Her Short at the 2009 Skate America was my fave from her.
TUGBA KARADAMIR-Always a pleasure to watch. A real positive attitude in the kiss & cry. Her Short at the 2008 Europeans was the best I saw her skate.
TEODORA POSTIC-Robin Cousins was always quite critical of this girl when he was on commentary but even though she was very inconsistent I still loved watching her. Her Free Skate at the 2006 Europeans my fave from her.
So please tell me who you liked, not just ladies skaters but all lowere ranked skaters !.

[falling_dance]

Marion Krijgsman (21st at 1991 Worlds): I still love her "Power Cats" SP from the 1991-2 season; she had a nice 3t.
Vanessa Giunchi (2001 Italian Champion, 20th at the 2002 Winter Olympics): She brought emotional intensity and total commitment to the choreography in each of the performances of hers that I've seen. Her Bolero FS: Diva headband + Bejart-influenced choreo = winning at life.
Diane Szmiett (4th at Canadians at least once; topped 100 points in the FS at 2009 Cup of China): Beautiful edges. I find it a shame that she never medaled at Canadians.
Shoko Ishikawa (9th at 2010-1 Japanese Nationals; skated twice at NHK): An elegant skater, though I fear that the high point of her career was her Tchai Violin Concerto FS at last season's Japanese Nats and that she lacks the sheer athleticism to do much more.

[briancoogaert]

I loved Ivana Reitmayerova in her early years.
I'm so disappointed with what she is doing these days and hope she'll be back at her best

[Nomad]

I'll second Giunchi and Reitmayerova and add Paolo Bacchini, Peter Liebers, Armin Mahbanoozadeh, Fleur Maxwell, Elene Gedevanishvili, and Cheltzie Lee.

[briancoogaert]

Fleur Maxwell

[Kasey]

Jamal Othman

[PashaFan]

Marion Krijgsman (21st at 1991 Worlds): I still love her "Power Cats" SP from the 1991-2 season; she had a nice 3t.
Vanessa Giunchi (2001 Italian Champion, 20th at the 2002 Winter Olympics): She brought emotional intensity and total commitment to the choreography in each of the performances of hers that I've seen. Her Bolero FS: Diva headband + Bejart-influenced choreo = winning at life.
Diane Szmiett (4th at Canadians at least once; topped 100 points in the FS at 2009 Cup of China): Beautiful edges. I find it a shame that she never medaled at Canadians.
Shoko Ishikawa (9th at 2010-1 Japanese Nationals; skated twice at NHK): An elegant skater, though I fear that the high point of her career was her Tchai Violin Concerto FS at last season's Japanese Nats and that she lacks the sheer athleticism to do much more.

I'm so glad you said Vanessa Giuinchi. She was a great personality.
I loved her at the 2003 Europeans.
Anyone remember Tatiana Malinina?. I really liked her.
In Ice Dance Wing/Lowe.
Jennifer Robinson?. I thought she was fantastic at the World's in 02,03 & 04.
Her 2002 World's free skate was a fave of mine. A great pro skater too.
Also I was sad to see the Zaretski's retire so soon. They were getting better.

[falling_dance]

In Ice Dance Wing/Lowe.

Seconded.

If skaters who made the top ten at Worlds can count, then I must add Susan Humphreys to my list. Even with numerous errors, her programs during the 1995-6 and 1996-7 seasons (esp. her Acceleration Waltz SP and Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1/Chopin Andante Spianato FS; sorry, neither is on YouTube ) are, for me, eminently rewatchable. Among the virtues of her skating were excellent basics, good spring on the jumps, gorgeous camel and layback spins, and a very fine arabesque spiral for its day (though I just know there'd be some back and forth on FSU about the extension of the free leg). She's my favorite Canadian lady.

[PashaFan]

A few others; Fraser & Lukanin (where did they go?)
I'm not sure how to spell her name-Mikkaline Kiergarrd. She was fantastic.
Galina Maniachenko.
Also in pairs, Scott & Dulhabon. I LOVED their 2000 Worlds & Four Continents Free Skate.

[paskatefan]

Sean Rabbitt, Jonathan Cassar, Joelle Forte, Samantha Caesario

[kukkura]

Duh. Ruh!

[Jot the Dot Dot]

I've always liked Lucinda. Fleur Maxwell, Elena Gedevanishvili, Tuggy, Rory Flack-Burghart, and (this is going back) Josee Chouinard.

[Cherub721]

Mikkeline Kierkegaard (in singles and in pairs with Norman Jeschke)

Suzanna Paurova (Babiakova)

Idora Hegel

Stephanie Rosenthal

Vanessa Giunchi

Anna Rechnio

Diana Poth

Silvio Smalun

Gheorge Chiper

Ivan Dinev

Stanislav Timchenko

Yamato Tamura

Vakhtang Murvanidze

Grebenkina & Azroyan

Handra & Sinek

Kulikova & Novikov

Borzenkova & Chuvaliev

Pla & Bonheur

Berankova & Dlabola

Bestandigova & Bestandig

Lefrancois & Blanchard

Spassova & Todorov

[fenway2]

Mikkeline Kierkegaard (in singles and in pairs with Norman Jeschke)

THIS. I just blogged about her yesterday. Her musicality was

[pinky166]

Anna Ovcharova
Rosa Sheveleva
Yretha Silete
Min-Jeong Kwak
Juulia Turkkilla

Peter Liebers
Jorik Henrick
Chafik Besseigher

Duarte/Grafton
Donlan/Speroff

[paulee]

For mens, I like Viktor Pfeiffer of Austria, and in the past Michael Tyllesen and Sebastien Britten. Their musicality and artistry was very good.

For ladies, I liked Yan Liu and always hoped she had a breakthrough performance to elevate her into the top 10 (came close with 11th at Olympics). Also liked Beatrice Gelmini ('No Business Like Show Business" SP in Calgary was quite good) and Katrien Pauwels of Belgium. Her SP at Calgary set to Spanish music was very musical. (can you tell I just finished watching an old tape of the Ladies event in Calgary). A skater I was happy see make a comeback in the 90s was Yulia Vorobieva. I thought she had good jumps - not sure what happened at the end of her career, as she petered out in the 40th's of rankings.

For pairs, I liked Berankova/ Dlabola and thought they could have made a breakthrough. Same with James/ Bonheur, and I hope they do well with their new partners. I like the current #2 German team, Hausch/ Wende as well.

For ice dance, most of the teams I really liked eventually made it into the top 5; however, when Copely/ Stagniunas did not compete at Vancouver I was disappointed because I really liked what I saw from those 2. Tobias/ Stagniunas hopefully will continue climbing in the ranks. I also like the Czech dance team of Myslivecova/ Novak.

[alchemy void]

17 posts and no mention of Gizmo yet?! Although she might kick my ass to learn she's considered a ''lower ranked" skater. Loved her facial expressions after she skates (usually disgust). She also had a good lutz, great footwork, and is the only skater to void out to "From a Distance"!

Kristina Oblasova, back in the day, had it all. Good skating skills, great jumps, gorgeous, good expression, and slutty. To this day one of my favorite skating interviews is where she went on and on about how much she wanted Joubert. Unfortunately, the patrying and injuries derailed her career quickly, which is too bad because I thought she really had it all and could have been a real star.

Sanna Maija Wiksten of Finland skated to Basic Instinct and had a voidy 3sal-3sal sequence.

Courtney Hicks rocks. Hope she recovers because she has a really attractive recklessness to her skating, which is a quality I love.

[Vagabond]

Aww, c'mon folks! No videos of any programs?

Here are a few:

Anastasia Gimazetdinova 2008 4CC SP (Not really "lower-ranked" , but her voidiness demands her inclusion here. )

Anaïs Ventard 2011 French Nationals FS

Jorik Hendrickx 2011 Europeans FS "Spanish Mix"

Jorik Hendrickx 2011 Europeans SP "Feeling Good"

Misha Ge 2011 Asian Trophy SP "The Dying Swan"

Misha Ge 2011 4CC FS "Requiem for a Tower"

[PashaFan]

So glad Spassova & Todorov were mentioned. I really liked them.
Anyone remember Kulikova/Novikov (I think that's the spelling) they competed at Euro's & World's in 04 & 05. I loved their 05 Free dance.
Agree about Josee Chouinard, she was so amazing. Check out her free skate at the 95 Trophee de France on youtube. I know she made errors but it's one of those programes that has stayed in my memory.
Also Annabelle Langlois was a real talent. A shame she never won a World medal in pairs. Her free skate at the 03 World's, short from the 04 Worlds & short from the Vancouver Olympics were lovely.
Others; Jennifer Kirk, Ilia Klimkin & in ice dance Lang & Tchernyshev.

[sadya]

Some are already mentioned. I'll add Lenko Kulovana who was always lovely to watch as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw5Hr-UDFEw

I liked Gates/Shalom too. Winkler/Lohse weren't bad either, I can't remember if they ever won a medal at Euros and Worlds or not.