German Skating News 2018/19

[skatingguy]

It's not easy to be a fan of German figure skaters.

Yes, that Olympic gold medal performance in pairs was painful to watch.

 

[text_skate]

German news agency (dpa) piece about what to expect in Minsk, via Süddeutsche: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/sp....urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-190121-99-652443

Dönsdorf: no medals expected
German fed hopes for top 10 in Ladies, Men and Pairs
Fentz says, he's landing his 4T again in training, hopes for 6th place finish (imo possible, if he's landing his jumps, and of course a pair of new pants is needed)

 

[alchemy void]

Yikes. What a mess.

Hopefully Weinzierl will stun everyone this week and put German figure skating back on the map!

 

[text_skate]

Yes, that Olympic gold medal performance in pairs was painful to watch.

It's never been easy to be a fan of Aliona & Co., too : too much of everything, break-ups, horrible programs only for Olympic season, citizenship issues, language tests, 3A-madness ... not to mention last years comp for OGM, Bruno's not jump, announcement of 3A and 4ThS . Only after the fact, it was easy to be a fan of her & Co.

 

[Jeschke]

at seeing the planned jump content of Schott and Weinzierl.
I like the going-all-in-attitude by both.

Only question remains, what we will actually see in the end

Either way, slay girls, hold on to the 2nd spot and may the better one Schott go on to worlds

 

[Newbie]

Hocke/Blommaert are out of Euros. He is sick.

With Blommaerts flu being the third(?) minor health issue to prevent them from showing up, something is in the air, I’m afraid.

Surely skating and especially pairs isn’t all unicorns and rainbows, but as season goes on there is a sense of unease about their partnership that goes beyond the usual up‘s and down‘s. Blommaert often looks like he’s peeved, turning his back on Hocke at K&C, ...

You, @Jeschke, named many aspects upthread, but physique by itself doesn’t bother me too much. It appears he is not the typical build of a pairs guy, but some of today’s top pairs don’t fit the traditional mold either.
I‘m just not sure he’s the type to find satisfaction in pairs where team spirit may play as much of a role as individual qualities and while it takes mutual support, the glamorous role in the script is for the girl.
I think that he has a desire to shine and he is described being very ambitious. It wouldn’t come as a surprise to me if someday it‘s revealed he has some diva qualities.

Though, last season they gave a flavour of what they are capable of and somehow suggested that a more elegant interpretation of the male role is very interesting as well (and why not a more divaish, expressive as well, potentially?)
So they could have sharpened what they consider their strength and could have defined the essence of what attracted people to them and made that their strength.
I think, they have a distinctive look and while they yet have to enrich their programmes‘ character with vibes of unity (or a „pairs feeling“), once polished they can be very exciting.

Also the both of them were very skilled individual skaters.
There is a video of Blommaert competing at JGP and he had very nice position, pirouettes and jumps and performed in a balletic style (twin brother is a former first artist at the Royal Ballet, so hardly surprising) and Hocke, besides her vividness, enthusiasm and authenticity, had a whole set of triples competition ready, including 3lz, 3f, 3lo.

Given the fact that they have been doing the simplest possible SBS jumps, 2A and 3T (lowest BV) there is a lot of potential, even on the technical side (personally I don‘t share opinions about higher BV doesn’t pay off under the new scoring system).

Coach König is known to be good at creating harmony and fostering team spirit, so there is hope that they get it together.

Until then it’s up to Hase/Seegert.

Seasons best scores indicate

1. James/Cipres, FRA (221.81)
2. Tarasova/Morozov, RUS (220.25)
3. Della Monica/Guarise, ITA (203.83)
4. Boikova/Kozlovskii, RUS (196.45)
5. Pavliuchenko/Khodykin, RUS (190.01)
6. Ziegler/Kiefer, AUT (187.01)
7. Hase/Seegert, GER (172.18)
8. Ghilardi/Ambrosini, ITA (163.74)
9. Barquero/Maestu, ESP (159.59)
10. Petranovic/Souza-Kordeiru, CRO (147.21)
11. Jones/Boyadji, GBR (???)

Looks like a tough fight for medals and I hope for many clean performances.

(corrected spelling)

 

[text_skate]

With Blommaerts flu being the third(?) minor health issue to prevent them from showing up, something is in the air, I’m afraid.

This. One minor issue after the other, the most likely explanation is, there are bigger issues somewhere else.

I've enjoyed them last season, and truly hope, that they'll continue.

Somehow I'm glad, that pairs comp is down to 11. So H/S shouldn't feel any pressure to secure two spots. They should only feel the pressure, they build for themselves to reach their own goals, like PB or a flawless performance.

 

[Jeschke]

Great team spirit by Dastich!
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs8wGysH8GQ/
#teamD ??

 

[Jeschke]

Without a wonder or a big-balls skate, the 2nd ladies spot is gone

 

[Sunny231]

Without a wonder or a big-balls skate, the 2nd ladies spot is gone

Yes ! Desaster striking today with Schott's 19th and Weinzierl's 24th place in the SP. But to be honest - this wasn't unexpected after what we have seen from both ladies this season so far

 

[Sunny231]

Great skate from H/S in the SP, too bad that they had this stupid fall in the step sequence which cost them about 5 points overall, they might have gotten even close to Pavliuchenko/Khodykin without that mistake, but all in all still great outing by them today and the 6th place ahead of Ziegler/Kiefer is still a good result! Hopefully they can pull off a strong FS, too!

 

[text_skate]

concise wrap-up by dpa with all necessary FS links (one might need) below the article: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/sp....urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-190123-99-691504

After all tomorrow is another day. Keeping all toes and fingers crossed, particularly for H/S.

 

[Quadjump]

concise wrap-up by dpa with all necessary FS links (one might need) below the article: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/news/sp....urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-190123-99-691504

After all tomorrow is another day. Keeping all toes and fingers crossed, particularly for H/S.

"Sturz bei der Hebung"... Journalism at its best. I have seen the best lift H/S ever done in their career!

H/S were glorious till these stupid falls. I love this SP. The high and long throw got some +4s! The falls were costly. They could have gotten 66 points which could have been the highest German non-Aljona pairs´ score in history.

No comment about our German girls.

 

[text_skate]

"Sturz bei der Hebung"

I missed that. Apparently I stopped after reading the word "Sturz"

 

[clairecloutier]

I really liked Hocke/Blommaert last year, but this is now the second partnership of his in a row that has gotten off to an extremely promising start, then had a sudden decline in the second season. You do start to wonder.

 

[text_skate]

Fentz with new costume, very blue-ish, which I liked on the ice

Somehow Fentz opts on solidarity for Österreich-group and went for a fall in the step sequence. I hope his head is ok. The bump looked painful.

Edit:
He says, he's ok, still feels the bump of his head.
On this photo his head is on the ice in the midst of ice sprinkles: https://www.sportschau.de/wintersport/eiskunstlauf/paul-fentz-122~_v-gseapremiumxl.jpg.

 

[Sabine-Yuna]

As the austrians withdrew from the lp i would predict it will be 6th place for h/s at the end, even if they dont skate clean.

 

[Newbie]

Uh, what is it with german skaters falling during the step sequences?
At least, Fentz qualified easily, he’s even sitting 9th momentarily, but rough start again. 3a landing was a bit so-so, 3t-3t and 3lz looked good. I‘m wondering if music and costume are the ideal coice for him. Nothing against the blue, but the program didn’t draw me in and I imagine him doing well to e.g. Kovtuns short.

Third, @clairecloutier. Prölß, Vartmann, Hocke. That’s what let’s one watch them cautiously. It was him to end all the former partnerships. With Vartmann they had agreed to skate worlds before breaking up, but then he quit some 3 months in advance. We never get to know what’s going on inside fs, but that wasn’t really with the attitude of a team-enthusiast nor gentleman, as from the little facts communicated .
There is a lot of speculation about his allegdly jealous fiancée, but the split-up with Prölß should have been before that time. Anyway, if someone is skating with a professional approach such shouldn’t matter too much and if someone really wants to skate competetively and is ambitious, he gets his private life sorted.
Just hope that they make the most of their potential and if they split-up, we won’t lose Annika Hocke.
But imo it would be a great pity to lose them as a pair as well.

 

[Jeschke]

Great shoutout to Hase/Seegert
Best program/competition ever by them.

They did progress so much this season. No clue what #teamösterreich did ??‍
Did they add some different coaches, new input,...?

This was really great and such a big uplift for #teamD ?? at this event!

Congrats!
Well-deserved!

Winning the FS over RUS#3 (who were not bad at all )

Now Weinzierl and Schott, get it together, 13th/14th are the magic number, you can do that! ??

 

[Sabine-Yuna]

Great shoutout to Hase/Seegert
Best program/competition ever by them.

They did progress so much this season. No clue what #teamösterreich did ??‍
Did they add some different coaches, new input,...?

This was really great and such a big uplift for #teamD ?? at this event!

Congrats!
Well-deserved!

Winning the FS over RUS#3 (who were not bad at all )

Now Weinzierl and Schott, get it together, 13th/14th are the magic number, you can do that! ??

They practise with D. Savin for some time now. Without his help they would probably still do 2Tw. He is in the k&nk with them quite often.

 

[text_skate]

They practise with D. Savin for some time now.

Thanks @Sabine-Yuna for the info. His work pays off, probably even nerve-wise.

Do you know, if Dmitri Savin is working in Berlin? Is he part of team Österreich. I read somewhere, that he worked on the choreography for Thomalla/Kunkel.

I don't know a thing about him. Is he a former figure skater? Do you know by any chance?

 

[Sabine-Yuna]

Thanks @Sabine-Yuna for the info. His work pays off, probably even nerve-wise.

Do you know, if Dmitri Savin is working in Berlin? Is he part of team Österreich. I read somewhere, that he worked on the choreography for Thomalla/Kunkel.

I don't know a thing about him. Is he a former figure skater? Do you know by any chance?

Savin is working with a lot of pairs, he has also worked with Marchei/ Hotarek. Sometimes he is coming up where his pairs are and sometimes they visit him in Moscow. It's probably how Mozer is working with DM/G or Cain/Leduc. He is coaching Thomalla/ Kunkel as well and did their SP Choreo. I have heard that H/S went to Moscow before Euros.

 

[Jeschke]

So Kazimov is now on icepartnersearch, too.
http://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=6447

Well written.
Still a shame. Hope he can find a decent girl.

 

[Newbie]

Poor Nathalie, she tried hard, but jumps weren’t her friends today. Only 2a in the beginning was ok, then a fall on the 3lz, 3lz-2t(?) with hand on the ice, second combination 1a-2t. She scored 134,..
I liked her music and the audience in Minsk was lovely, clapping and helping her through the last minutes of the program. Sorry for her that it didn’t pan out.

Second spot is gone, but there may be other nations indeed deserving it more, momentarily.

Good job from Nicole, her fluency is coming back to her. If she can build a bit more stamina, there is hope for a clean skate at worlds.

 

[Jeschke]

Second spot is gone, but there may be other nations indeed deserving it more, momentarily.
.

I dont't think SVK or CZE do need a 2nd spot more than we do to be honest, but neither do I think we deserve a spot more than them ??

Good job from Nicole, her fluency is coming back to her. If she can build a bit more stamina, there is hope for a clean skate at worlds.

As much as I love her, I disagree.
This was worse than at nationals. Only good thing I see, she was clever this time with the 3s1t2lo avoiding zayaking.
The 3f in 2nd half seems totally hopeless, overall the program is slow as hell, no music highlights, no great choreo.

This is a big stepdown from last season (speaking of the programn and actual skating, not the jumping); a shame, right after she gained some momentum.

She is scheduled to compete in Hungary mid-february, let's see how she will look like there.
According to the commentary, she looked way better and felt better in practice.

---

Weinzierl, I wonder if she goes on and what her goals are.

One thing is for sure; that 2nd spot might be gone for a while now

 

[Sunny231]

As much as I love her, I disagree.
This was worse than at nationals. Only good thing I see, she was clever this time with the 3s1t2lo avoiding zayaking.
The 3f in 2nd half seems totally hopeless, overall the program is slow as hell, no music highlights, no great choreo.

This is a big stepdown from last season (speaking of the programn and actual skating, not the jumping); a shame, right after she gained some momentum.

One thing is for sure; that 2nd spot might be gone for a while now

I agree, Schott's program wasn't good at all. She was awfully slow during the program, almost everything looked like a struggle for her, there was no ease at all. About her jumps, this was also a step back into the wrong direction, not only in the overall skating. She had only 3 different triple jumps, she didn't even try the Loop and there was no triple-triple combo like last season either. The overall technical difficulty wasn't there and even with this much easier program layout she wasn't clean at all. There is a long way to go for her back to the point she was already last season, so sad to see this !

And unfortunatelly yes, the 2nd spot is lost who knows for how long, but surely for a long while

 

[Enchanted]

Didn't Weinzierl collide with another skater at the warm up? Maybe that affected her.

 

[Miezekatze]

You can criticize Daniel, but he is trying hard to make sure that figure skating doesn't disappear completely from the German public service broadcasting channels.

I appreciate what he does for German skating and also how he tries to build direct communication with fans on his Facebook , but as a commentator he really is often just horrible, I thought the men's LP today (only saw the last 8) was really horrible again and then I was wondering whether he lost his mind completely now during Javier Fernandez LP, when the 4-3 combination with a clear step out got a -1.44 GOE and he complained that the GOE was MUCH too bad and "they" obviously don't want him to win Sounded as if he'd have given a +1 if not more

Maybe he could just become a judge and do everything much better.

Watching weak skating competitions like today with him commentating on top of it is coming short of being tortured

If he commentated Dancing on Ice like real skating, he'd have been kicked out of the show after 2 skaters

 

[care bear]

That´s true.
He does not like classical music at all, and every skater, who has choosen classical music, is criticized.

 

[Quadjump]

That´s true.
He does not like classical music at all, and every skater, who has choosen classical music, is criticized.

Except Sinitsina/Katsalapov. He loves them but he did not know about the double fall in the RD.

I think Weiss did a quite good job. He commentated every single event except the RD from the beginning till the end and Trier to focus on facebook too. This should earn respect. Compared to his old commentary he was super this week.

Besides he should avoid talking about his personal preferences so dominantly. The scores were quite fair (especially for a host country like BLR). In addition Weiss should learn more about the GOE. +5 GOE does not mean +5 points!