2023 Challenge Cup & Dutch Nationals, Feb. 23-26, Tilburg NED

[Sylvia]

Top 4 after 1st group:
Mihara 73.55 - clean
Pinzarrone 62.99 - 3Lo, 3Lz+2T, 2A
Gutmann 55.87 planned combo was 3Lo+3Lo (missed seeing it)
Lisko 51.14

 

[Karen-W]

Kaori has a new SP costume that is black and illusion fabric around the midriff and very glittery.

 

[Wyliefan]

Screenshot of Kaori's new costume from Jackie Wong: https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1629512922664693760?t=ie_miBealHbu5lUiSV6YPQ&s=19

 

[Karen-W]

Screenshot of Kaori's new costume from Jackie Wong: https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1629512922664693760?t=ie_miBealHbu5lUiSV6YPQ&s=19

That screenshot does not do justice to the level of glitter/bling on this dress. Kaori's rivaling the best of the Korean women.

 

[Sylvia]

Young You 52.59 (Viktor Pfeifer is with her) - Jackie tweeted that her jumps were 2A, 3Lz(q?turn), 3F(q?fall).

Confident skate by Kaori Sakamoto! Jumps were 2A, 3Lz, 3F+3T - 76.85 1st.

ETA:

Mana Kawabe - 2A, 3Lo fall, 3Lz+2T - 57.10 4th.

 

[lamarenee]

Results page link has changed - https://knsbfigureskatingresults.nl/2022-2023/20230223/

 

[Karen-W]

You know, this is very obnoxious and annoying that they aren't showing the scores on the screen at the moment. We won't know until after the results page is updated whether or not these women get the SP TES mins they're seeking (Kilsand, Taljegard, Hovine, Berge, Seniuk and Ling).

 

[Sylvia]

Current top 10 (unofficial) with 2 groups to go:

Kaori Sakamoto 76.85 (SB but not counted as such by ISU)
Mai Mihara 73.55
Nina Pinzaronne 62.99
Lindsay van Zundert 58.03
Mana Kawabe 57.10
Lara Naki Gutmann 55.87
Young You 52.59
Olivia Lisko 51.14
Linnea Kilsand 49.46
Julia Lang 38.69 later changed to 37.39

 

[Karen-W]

61.01 total score for Josefin - with a score like that she HAS to have earned the SP TES min!

 

[Karen-W]

Well, well, we just got the on-screen graphics back. Maybe we'll see the scores for the rest of the women. Hovine looks thrilled - and she should be with that lovely clean skate. And she did it! 33.25 TES!

 

[Karen-W]

And the Elements box and on-screen graphics seem to have disappeared again... Not that we need it to know that Berge will not be earning any TES mins based on the way she's skating.

 

[Sylvia]

Current top 11 with 6 to go:

Kaori Sakamoto 76.85
Mai Mihara 73.55
Nina Pinzaronne 62.99
Josefin Taljegard 61.01
Jade Hovine 58.26 5th 33.25 TES! (3Lz+2T, 3Lo, 2A & all level 4s in the elements box on screen)
Lindsay van Zundert 58.03
Mana Kawabe 57.10
Lara Naki Gutmann 55.87
Young You 52.59
Nataly Langerbauer 52.21
Olivia Lisko 51.14

 

[Sylvia]

SP top 11 unofficial:

Kaori Sakamoto 76.85
Mai Mihara 73.55
Nina Pinzarrone 62.99
Janna Jyrkinen 62.12
Josefin Taljegard 61.01
Kristina Isaev 60.02
Jade Hovine 58.26
Lindsay van Zundert 58.03
Mana Kawabe 57.10
Lara Naki Gutmann 55.87
Emelie Ling 55.77

ETA: https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1629531650223661059

Josefin Taljegard got 31.82 for her TES in the short, indeed an improvement from last week, but 0.18 short of the Worlds technical minimum
Per @kunstloptilfolk, she got a level 3 for her stepseq, which made the difference between Worlds and no Worlds this year

ETA #2: https://knsbfigureskatingresults.nl/2022-2023/20230223/SEG003.htm

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	CO	PR	SK	Ded. -	StN.
1​	Kaori SAKAMOTO	JPN	76.85​	40.27​		36.58​	9.15​	9.30​	9.05​	0.00​	#7​
2​	Mai MIHARA	JPN	73.55​	40.04​		33.51​	8.40​	8.25​	8.55​	0.00​	#4​
3​	Nina PINZARRONE	BEL	62.99​	34.20​		28.79​	7.25​	7.25​	7.15​	0.00​	#2​
4​	Janna JYRKINEN	FIN	62.12​	35.46​		26.66​	6.85​	6.55​	6.65​	0.00​	#17​
5​	Josefin TALJEGARD	SWE	61.01​	31.82​		29.19​	7.45​	7.70​	6.80​	0.00​	#12​
6​	Kristina ISAEV	GER	60.02​	33.68​		26.34​	6.50​	6.75​	6.55​	0.00​	#18​
7​	Jade HOVINE	BEL	58.26​	33.25​		25.01​	6.35​	6.10​	6.35​	0.00​	#13​
8​	Lindsay van ZUNDERT	NED	58.03​	30.77​		27.26​	6.80​	7.05​	6.65​	0.00​	#10​
9​	Mana KAWABE	JPN	57.10​	27.32​		30.78​	7.65​	7.70​	7.80​	1.00​	#8​
10​	Lara Naki GUTMANN	ITA	55.87​	29.61​		27.26​	7.00​	6.80​	6.70​	1.00​	#3​
11​	Emelie LING	SWE	55.77​	30.03​		25.74​	6.45​	6.55​	6.35​	0.00​	#20​
12​	Kristen SPOURS	GBR	53.69​	29.56​		24.13​	5.95​	6.10​	6.10​	0.00​	#16​
13​	Young YOU	KOR	52.59​	25.00​		28.59​	7.15​	6.95​	7.40​	1.00​	#6​
14​	Nataly LANGERBAUR	EST	52.51​	28.31​		25.20​	6.25​	6.00​	6.70​	1.00​	#14​
15​	Olivia LISKO	FIN	51.14​	26.87​		24.27​	6.30​	6.15​	5.80​	0.00​	#5​
16​	Linnea KILSAND	NOR	49.46​	26.59​		22.87​	5.80​	5.60​	5.80​	0.00​	#9​
17​	Elena AGOSTINELLI	ITA	45.82​	23.74​		22.08​	5.65​	5.35​	5.60​	0.00​	#11​
18​	Mariia SENIUK	ISR	44.60​	25.38​		20.22​	5.05​	4.90​	5.25​	1.00​	#19​
19​	Julia LANG	HUN	37.39​	15.92​		22.47​	5.85​	5.40​	5.65​	1.00​	#1​
20​	Frida Turiddotter BERGE	NOR	32.70​	16.01​		16.69​	4.40​	4.10​	4.05​	0.00​	#15​

 

[Karen-W]

What a bummer for Josefin! So close. Maybe there will be a re-review of her step sequence before the final scores are posted.

ETA - it happened earlier for Julia Lang, so anything is possible.

ETA2 - nope, protocols are up - https://knsbfigureskatingresults.nl...------QUAL000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf

 

[Private Citizen]

I truly do not know what the callers are smoking. Sakamoto's flip(!?!?) got a !, yet both her flutz and Mihara's lip escaped any call. Both of their flagrant edge violations should rule them out of gold medal contention at Worlds even before the free skate, yet the judges continue to ignore them.....

Bummer for Taljegard, but a base value of ~27 (she achieved 26.93 today) is a risky strategy when the minimum is 32. She needed to do whatever she could to get more base value, including putting the combo in the back half of the program.

 

[Sylvia]

Pairs Junior - Short Program Starting Order
StN. Name Nation
Warm-Up Group 1
1 Louise EHRHARD / Matthis PELLEGRIS FRA
2 Giorgia BURIN / Alberto TOMMASI ITA
3 Olivia FLORES / Luke WANG USA - Natalia Mishkutenok posted on her IG that it took 30 hours for them to travel from CO Springs to Tilburg! https://www.instagram.com/p/CpBazblPMsk/
4 Ines MOUDDEN / Alejandro Lazaro GARCIA ESP
Warm-Up Group 2
5 Josephine LOSSIUS / Artem ROTAR GER
6 Giorgia GHEDINI / Luc MAIERHOFER AUT
7 Linda de NARDIN / Patrizio Romano ROSSI LOPEZ ESP
8 Katalin Janne SALATZKI / Lukas ROESELER GER

 

[Karen-W]

Junior Pairs group 1 are on the ice warming up! Go Olivia & Luke!!!

ETA - they might very well be the highlight of this competition unless some of these pairs teams have improved a lot since the fall.

 

[Sylvia]

Excerpt re. Isabella Flores choreographing for younger sister Olivia & Luke in their debut season together: https://figureskatersonline.com/news/2023/02/20/a-family-affair/

Now those dance parties have morphed into choreography sessions. This season, Bella choreographed both programs for her little sister and Luke.
“Liv and Luke were new to pairs at the beginning of the season, so their coaches approached me to choreograph the programs so that they would have more time to work on pair skills together,” she explained.
So Isabella choreographed their “Once Upon a December” by Christy Altomare short program and “Chronicles of Narnia” by Harry Gregson-Williams free skate. She said that she pretty much just shaped the programs, then Meekins, Olivia and Luke modified the programs throughout the season.
“It was really cool to choreograph a program that was performed at a national level,” Bella said. “It’s always easy coaching/choreographing Liv. I’ve been “coaching” her since we were young and she could barely do a crossover, and since she’s my sister I can put her in her place when she’s not listening. But that’s pretty rare. Liv and Luke are both super eager to learn, and it made choreographing their programs really fun.” she added.

 

[Karen-W]

Looks like Ehrhard/Pellegris FRA withdrew as we're starting off with Burin/Tommasi.

 

[Karen-W]

First time seeing Burin/Tommasi - they have some potential, I think. They're slow and definitely need to improve their speed, but there's some decent basics there for a team as new as they are.

 

[Kateri]

Oh no, I love Flores and Wang, help, I'm getting attached to junior pairs, noooo someone stop me!

 

[Karen-W]

Flores/Wang - nice 2tw to open! Beautiful throw! Bit clunky on their lift exit. Nice SBS 2As! They need to work on their synchronicity for the first position on their SBS spins. And a beautiful death spiral to end - really played to their strengths there!

 

[Karen-W]

Moudden/Garcia ESP - much more security in their lift since the JGP! Nice 2tw! Decent SBS 2Lo. He muscled out that base level death spiral. Conga! It's like we're watching a senior RD in slow motion! Really nice throw 2f! Those SBS spins are crap. What are these choreographers thinking, ending on less than impressive element?

 

[Karen-W]

First time seeing Lossius/Rotar GER - they are very tall for a junior team. They're not continuing the tradition of decent German pairs skating... That's about all I have to say about them.

 

[Karen-W]

Ghedini/Maierhofer AUT - let's see how much energy he has left in the tank after the senior Men's FS earlier today. Crashy AF 2tw to open. Messy SBS 2A from her. I really like how secure he is in their lift though! Yikes, fall from her on the throw. Yup, energy's gone as he completely biffs it on the death spiral pivot. Meh ending with their step sequence.

 

[Sylvia]

Oh no, I love Flores and Wang, help, I'm getting attached to junior pairs, noooo someone stop me!

Link to their Team USA profile: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/.../roster/-nbsp-olivia-flores-and-luke-wang/770

Flores/Wang - nice 2tw to open! Beautiful throw! <snip>

This was their first throw 3F attempt in competition and the landing was so nice!

51.01 & 28.92 TES in their international debut together (23 TES is the Jr. Worlds SP minimum score, for reference).

 

[Stephanie]

Wow, a throw 3F is pretty darn impressive for a junior pair these days, especially for such a new team. Looking forward to watching their progress!

 

[Karen-W]

de Nardin/Rossi ESP - solid throw to open, then SBS 2lo - did we know they're a mirror team??? Interestingly they do a nice death spiral next, and a really strong lift. Nice SBS spins to end, which is even harder with a mirror team!

 

[Karen-W]

Link to their Team USA profile: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/.../roster/-nbsp-olivia-flores-and-luke-wang/770

This was their first throw 3F attempt in competition and the landing was so nice!

51.01 & 28.92 TES in their international debut together (23 TES is the Jr. Worlds SP minimum score, for reference).

I thought it was a triple, but wasn't sure if my eyes were deceiving me and there wasn't an element box for their skate, lol. It was really nice!

 

[Karen-W]

Salatzki/Roeseler - Fever from a junior team... Crashy twist, and SBS 2As that were not even close to being well-timed, lol. Slowest, scariest lift of the juniors, IMO. Nice death spiral. This step sequence and these SBS spins are soooo slow and it just doesn't work with a song like Fever that has a very clear, obvious beat they aren't matching.