U.S. Ladies [#4]: Gold or Pyrite?

[victoriaheidi]

I like Ashley Cain a whole lot, and I hope she focuses on singles instead of searching for a partner.

[Jenna]

Yes, me too. I think Ashley shines all by herself. She proved she could complete the jumps in San Jose. All she needs now is consistency.

[jlai]

To continue the US ladies discussion in the "Czisny not to retire" Thread:

One thing in her (Czisny) favor is her soft skating and her edges. Her 2011 Long program exemplified the type of soft, technically sound basic skating that judges wanted to see. Not all the top US ladies have it right now (except Mirai, who we know )

But Alissa's skating could use more speed and power

Any upcomer who wants to be national champ will need to improve their basic skating.
(Cough...Gracie, Courtney and Agnes...cough)

I saw Zawadzki live at 4C's, and I didn't see anything wrong with her basic skating. I've never seen Czisny skate with that speed, flow, and power.

I've never seen Gold live.

Zawadzki's basics has improved this season since moving to Krall. She used to be so slow and laboured.

Czisny is never laboured, but she is slow.

I saw Gold live. She is fast and she moves well.
(Agnes does not have bad basics, but it's not YuNa/Mirai/Mao level. But then I've never seen Agnes live up close)

Anyway...does any of these upcomers (or any of the US top ladies) have fluid edges like Mao or even Sotnikova? Or deep edges? Judging from video I am not sure if any does.

Though I'm not an expert, hence my question.

I've never seen Sotnikova live, but I've seen Asada live starting in 2005. I have mixed feelings about her basic skating: there are times when she seems shaky on her edges, and her speed has fluctuated, depending on the competition. (I only saw the Ladies SP at Vancouver, so I don't know about her FS.)

This year, on TV, she looked more fluid than she had in several years, taking paths along sweeping curves instead of the Tarasova back-and-forth, but I was shocked that at 4C's, skating right before Lacoste, she looked tentative and tepid by comparison. I know that was just a few months after her mother died, but she didn't look strong.

Suzuki, whom I saw in separate competitions than Asada this year, has better edges, flow, and power, IMO.

I think Siraj's edges are v. good and that allows her to do harder choreography. Too bad her jumps are rather small.

[pinky166]

Siraj should do pairs. Her 3t and 2a are very good but the rest of her jumps aren't so solid. Plus she's TINY, very flexible, incredibly musical, and has a great presence out on the ice. And she's good at spins and has nice lines. I think she could really shine at pairs, and no, I'm not just suggesting this because she's tiny and not the strongest jumper, there are a lot of aspects to her skating that would make her well suited for pairs, and she trains at SCOB which has produced some good pairs teams and has a good coaching staff for pairs. I'm sure she'd be a really desirable partner due to her size/weight and her skills as a skater, could find someone very quickly and easily.

[victoriaheidi]

Siraj should do pairs. Her 3t and 2a are very good but the rest of her jumps aren't so solid. Plus she's TINY, very flexible, incredibly musical, and has a great presence out on the ice. And she's good at spins and has nice lines. I think she could really shine at pairs, and no, I'm not just suggesting this because she's tiny and not the strongest jumper, there are a lot of aspects to her skating that would make her well suited for pairs, and she trains at SCOB which has produced some good pairs teams and has a good coaching staff for pairs. I'm sure she'd be a really desirable partner due to her size/weight and her skills as a skater, could find someone very quickly and easily.

Based on the majority of the argument, I would think dance would make more sense, but I agree that she'd be a great pairs skater.

[Sylvia]

Hannah Miller has launched a new official site through FSO: http://www.figureskatersonline.com/hannahmiller/

[carriemarie]

I know it will be called an early estimate, but according to the WTC standings, I am going with "Gold" rather than "Pyrite"

[pinky166]

Based on the majority of the argument, I would think dance would make more sense, but I agree that she'd be a great pairs skater.

She'd probably make a good ice dancer too, but there, her size would be a drawback, whereas in pairs, it would be an asset.

[Sylvia]

Just because Yasmin Siraj is small in size doesn't necessarily mean she has the desire or aptitude for pair skating. She jumps and spins clockwise.

I came across this interesting February 25, 2010 article about Siraj -- she obviously is a high achiever with many different talents and interests beyond skating, as encouraged by her parents: http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplac...b0.556164.html

[pinky166]

Just because Yasmin Siraj is small in size doesn't necessarily mean she has the desire or aptitude for pair skating. She jumps and spins clockwise.

I came across this interesting February 25, 2010 article about Siraj -- she obviously is a high achiever with many different talents and interests beyond skating, as encouraged by her parents: http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplac...b0.556164.html

So does Wesley Campbell, who is actually also from the Boston area. They could team up and become the 2nd coming of Castelli & Shnapir in terms of size difference, lol.

And yes, Yasmin is very accomplished off the ice. She's played a piano solo at Carnegie Hall.

[os168]

I remember being impressed by Yasmin Siraj at the Harvard Charity show. She stood out as a very expressive and musical skater, more sophisticated than many of her contemporary and probably seniors too. I actually thought she remind me of European skaters (Another Liza?)or Asian skaters more than American which was odd at the time.

Now reading this profile, it does make a heck alot of makes sense. I am surprised she is not more high profiled while everyone is going crazy over Agnes (which I don't get) and Gracie (which I sort of do).

[Coco]

Yasmin is wonderful in many ways, but without big jumps, she's a bit limited in terms of international scoring potential.

I think if she competes well she'll score well, but I don't see her contending for a senior podium in the future unless she makes major changes, or the big guns of the day make mistakes.

[victoriaheidi]

I remember being impressed by Yasmin Siraj at the Harvard Charity show. She stood out as a very expressive and musical skater, more sophisticated than many of her contemporary and probably seniors too. I actually thought she remind me of European skaters (Another Liza?)or Asian skaters more than American which was odd at the time.

Now reading this profile, it does make a heck alot of makes sense. I am surprised she is not more high profiled while everyone is going crazy over Agnes (which I don't get) and Gracie (which I sort of do).

Somewhat agree. Yasmin hasn't quite had an exceptional result yet, à la Agnes and Gracie. But I love Yasmin and I'm sorry she hasn't had that exceptional result.

[smarts1]

Her jump technique just isn't strong enough to put her among the top ladies. She could be if they were stronger.

[Stephanie]

Siraj was also injured (or recovering from injury) at this year's nationals. I think a healthy Siraj would have had a very good shot at making the junior world team ahead of Vanessa Lam.

That being said, her jump technique does seem a bit wonky. I love her musicality, though, and hope she comes back strong this season.

[mgobluegirl]

I wouldn't mind seeing Siraj's "Daphnis et Chloe" short program for another season. It was lovely and I'd like to see her skate it clean.

[aftershocks]

I'm happy for Gold, but I think it's a little weird how much hype and push (even from USFS) she's getting compared to what Zawadzki got in 2010. They both won their respective junior titles in similarly convincing fashion and then went on to in silver at World Juniors from relative obscurity (in the international sense). It remains to be seen whether Gold will deliver more than Zawadzki has done in the seasons following her junior title, but to this point, their careers have been quite similar with far more hype for Gold.

Good looks, great name, solid 3/3 (buzz and some indefinable magical potential???) seem to have combined to make Gracie a triple threat? So far, she appears to be handling the over-hype okay. I like her a lot.

Of the rest of the up-and-coming ladies, I was impressed by Nina Jiang at Nationals this year, especially in the sp.

[RD]

Good looks, great name, solid 3/3 (buzz and some indefinable magical potential???) seem to have combined to make Gracie a triple threat? So far, she appears to be handling the over-hype okay. I like her a lot.

Hmm...I'm hearing this a lot from people it seems...about the looks thing.

Anyway, I like what I saw at WTT but I still think the hype to reality ratio is a bit off at this point.

[Jenna]

I think Gracie is really gorgeous, honestly, and so is Wagner!

Two beautiful women

[RD]

nevermind