Chinese Skating News, Pt. 3: A long & winding road to Beijing 2022

[Sylvia]

Thanks @SleepyShawn for posting Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang's SP FS video debut in the Pairs general discussion thread and @Gris for identifying their music:

Yu/Zhang

不明觉厉！花滑老将张昊备战第6次冬奥

点击“蓝字”关注我们6届 ✖️4年24年坚持一个爱好对于普通人来讲都不是一件容易的事而张昊作为一名运动员已经

mp.weixin.qq.com

Obviously this looks like they are still in the process of recovery here and there but man this program I just love everything looks so fresh! Just love their skating, especially Yu’s ethereal presence is so wonderful to see. Wondering what this music is. Another contemporary piece? It’ll be interesting to see the battle among them, Wangs, Tang/Yang and the new Chelsea Liu & her partner for the third spot this year

Music for Yu / Zhang's FS are 'Europe, after the Rain' 'November' and 'Last Days' by Max Richter.

Three months ago Zhang had two surgeries due to soft tissue infection in his leg hence they missed the 1st stage of club league last month. They're now set for the 5th stage next week.

ETA: I can't get the 4:35 minute video to play?
ETA #2: Thanks, the link below works.

 

[binbinwinwin]

Thanks @SleepyShawn for posting Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang's SP video debut in the Pairs general discussion thread and @Gris for identifying their music:


ETA: I can't get the 4:35 minute video to play?

Try this one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av63127098

 

[Japanfan]

Thanks @SleepyShawn for posting Xiaoyu Yu/Hao Zhang's SP video debut in the Pairs general discussion thread and @Gris for identifying their music:

Very cool ending pose!

 

[Spun Silver]

Try this one: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av63127098

Yu is stunning! I really like the program.

 

[clairecloutier]

Just came across video of Yu/Zhang’s new FS at this Twitter link: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av63127098

1. It’s a cool program, very interesting. 2. Although they don’t show SBS jumps, they look really good otherwise considering how long they’ve been out of competition, and I would see them being immediately competitive again, that is, if they’re allowed to compete internationally. 3. There’s a point midway through the program where Xiaoyu falls awkwardly on a new transitional element, her head nearing the ice, and Hao is very slow to help her up/get reorientated (shades of him and Peng at Boston Worlds ).

 

[Jeschke]

Program looks awesome!
Can someone recall, do they have any GP‘s still? (Too lazy to check myself as I’m almost half asleep)

 

[Sylvia]

Can someone recall, do they have any GP‘s still? (Too lazy to check myself as I’m almost half asleep)

No, but there's a pairs TBD for Cup of China.

 

[Gris]

5th stage of interclub league, held in Jilin, has already started. Junior and Senior FS/FD will be broadcasted.

Schedule (Junior and Senior competitions only, all time UTC+8)

Aug. 15

11:31 Junior Ice Dance RD
13:12 Junior Ladies SP
18:43 Junior Men SP
21:34 Junior Pairs SP

Aug. 16

13:10 Senior Ice Dance RD
14:51 Senior Ladies SP
18:07 Senior Men SP
21:04 Senior Pairs SP

Aug. 17

11:59 Junior Ice Dance FD
13:55 Junior Ladies FS
17:42 Junior Men FS
21:05 Junior Pairs FS

Aug. 18

11:20 Senior Ice Dance FD
13:30 Senior Ladies FS
17:47 Senior Men FS
21:38 Senior Pairs FS

Notable Participants (Full entry list can be found here in Chinese)

Men

Senior: Luanfeng Li (assigned to JGP Chelyabinsk), Yi Wang, He Zhang
Junior: Yudong Chen (assigned to JGP Courchevel), Shuai Fang

Ladies

Senior: Xiangyi An, Qijing Cao, Hongyi Chen, Xiangning Li, Ashley Lin, Beverly Yi Zhu
Junior: Hengxin Jin (assigned to JGP Courchevel), Yixuan Zhang, Xuhan Zhou

Pairs

Senior: Liu / Xie, Tang / Yang, Wang / Wang, Yu / Zhang
Junior: Liu / Wang (assigned to JGP Chelyabinsk), Wang / Huang, Wang / Jia (both assigned to JGP Lake Placid)

Ice Dance

Senior: Yuzhu Guo / Pengkun Zhao, Tong Liu / Quanshuo Ge, Wanqi Ning / Chao Wang
Junior: Xizi Chen / Jianing Xing (assigned to JGP Courchevel)

 

[Gris]

Senior Ladies SP

1 Xiangyi An Video
(3Lz fall 2A // 3T3T, 34.44+28.4-1=61.84)

2 Ashley Lin Video
(2A 3T3T fall // 3F, 30.67+27-1=56.67)

3 Beverly Yi Zhu Video
(3Lo 3S+Combo // 2A, 24.23+26.44=50.67)

4 Shuhui Kang Video
(3T2T 3S // 2A, 29.6+20.6=50.2)


Senior Pairs SP

1 Tang / Yang Video
(sbs3T Th3S)

2 Yu / Zhang Video
(sbs2T Th3Lo, didn't do spin)

3 Liu / Xie Video
(sbs2S - she did 1S, Th2Lo)

4 Wang / Wang Video
(sbs2T, didn't do throw)

 

[Jeschke]

Wang/Wang's SP looks totally amazing.
It will break my heart if they won't be send anywhere
What is the first music?
I know it was part of 'Les filles du botaniste' movie (as I always wanted someone to skate to it) but am not sure if this is the original.

Another great program for Yu/Zhang.
They have stunning programs this season. I hope they stay healthy and can show them in perfection.

Any word/video from Xiangning Li?

 

[Gris]

Wang/Wang's SP looks totally amazing.
It will break my heart if they won't be send anywhere
What is the first music?
I know it was part of 'Les filles du botaniste' movie (as I always wanted someone to skate to it) but am not sure if this is the original.

Another great program for Yu/Zhang.
They have stunning programs this season. I hope they stay healthy and can show them in perfection.

Any word/video from Xiangning Li?

I think W/W's music is 'Lady Caliph'.

Xiangning is at 6th after SP. She did: 3T2T 3S (with minus GOE) // 2A fall, score: 25.16+23.4-1=47.56. I didn't saw her video posted...

ETA: This Weibo account also posted some videos of Sr Men & Dance SP/RD (may need to log in yourself to view all posts though... )

 

[Jeschke]

I think W/W's music is 'Lady Caliph'.

The 1st part too?
I only knew the latter.
Thanks. Such good music

 

[Gris]

The 1st part too?
I only knew the latter.
Thanks. Such good music

Yes I believe they used the version from Yo-Yo Ma.

Lady Caliph: Dinner

Provided to YouTube by Sony Music Entertainment Lady Caliph: Dinner · Yo-Yo Ma · Ennio Morricone · Roma Sinfonietta Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone ℗ 2004 SON...

www.youtube.com

 

[Sylvia]

I think W/W's [SP] music is 'Lady Caliph'.

Luca Lanotte was in China back in April to choreograph for Wang/Wang and I believe he did both programs (photo of them): https://www.instagram.com/p/BwoAxMWHSCl/
In the programs/choreographers spreadsheet, I've noted "Nuvole Bianche" (with "Experience?) by Ludovico Einaudi as W/W's FS.

Thanks very much for the competition updates, @Gris!

 

[aftershocks]

Very interesting from Yu/Zhang. I love Yu's colorful bodysuit. I love the Chinese-themed flavor of its design and patterns. I must say though, as usual, the phenomenonal influence of James/Cipres and their choreographers continues unabated.

The costuming approach and the movement aesthetic, structure and moves within the program once again emulate what we have seen from James/Cipres. And that's obviously because what J/C and their choreographers have wrought is very exciting, and works so beautifully for pairs skating.

Zhang is surely very fit but he looks ancient. I wonder whether Y/Z's personal on-ice dynamic has progressed substantially? Previously, Yu always looked as if she was just going through the motions and not deeply engaged, but treating it more like a task that must be done.

 

[marie1616]

Very interesting from Yu/Zhang. I love Yu's colorful bodysuit. I love the Chinese-themed flavor of its design and patterns. I must say though, as usual, the phenomenonal influence of James/Cipres and their choreographers continues unabated.

The costuming approach and the movement aesthetic, structure and moves within the program once again emulate what we have seen from James/Cipres. And that's obviously because what J/C and their choreographers have wrought is very exciting, and works so beautifully for pairs skating.

Zhang is surely very fit but he looks ancient. I wonder whether Y/Z's personal on-ice dynamic has progressed substantially? Previously, Yu always looked as if she was just going through the motions and not deeply engaged, but treating it more like a task that must be done.

I like the Programm but I don't think it was influenced by James/Cipres. Actually it was choreographed by Benoit Richaud who also choreographed interesting show pieces for Savchenko/Massot the past years and Aljona went to Beijing this winter to develop these programs further. So I guess the Chinese pairs are a lot more influenced by Savchenko/Massot right now then by anyone else. The music choices are also a lot more S/M then J/C.

 

[SleepyShawn]

I like the Programm but I don't think it was influenced by James/Cipres. Actually it was choreographed by Benoit Richaud who also choreographed interesting show pieces for Savchenko/Massot the past years and Aljona went to Beijing this winter to develop these programs further. So I guess the Chinese pairs are a lot more influenced by Savchenko/Massot right now then by anyone else. The music choices are also a lot more S/M then J/C.

I’d have to agree with you here (except that Savchenko only worked with Yu/Zhang at a private club but not the entire Chinese national team)

To be honest I don’t understand the need to give J/C credit to almost every pair program nowadays. For sure they are a beautiful and unique pair but let’s not pretend that they revolutionized the whole pair skating discipline. There are so many pairs that have their own styles already. I would hate words being put into my mouth like this after spending so much effort to create a work of my own. Perhaps a few teams may have borrowed their ideas of choosing “edgy” or “sexy” music, but even so we would never know whether they were inspired by J/C or they just wanted to choose a different genre of music than last season’s. Plus they are not the first ones to use this type of music anyway.

Costume-wise I don’t see how they made an impact either. I mean Aliona has been rocking that body suit since her pink panther days. Other than the body suits J/C’s costumes seem generic to me.

Choreography-wise I don’t see any distinct similarities either. Yu’s lyrical line makes this program possible for them, and I cannot imagine Vanessa to take on a program like this, and of course vice versa for Yu to take on a “sexy” program. To me their programs just don’t look similar AT ALL.

In fact, of all the pairs participated in the world championship last season, I don’t see that many “J/C inspired” programs. The only ones that come close are Jones/Boyadji’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and Hase/Seegert’s “Say Something”, but that’s pretty much it (and as said before we don’t know if this is an inspired program or just a personal choice/experiment).

Would appreciate if we could allow all pairs to explore and develop their own styles freely without putting a stamp on them.

 

[marie1616]

I completely agree. And even Hase/Seegert's 'say something' wasn't J/C inspired because they skated this program already in 17/18. But back then no one cared for it because they were only the third ranked German team and injured for the second half of the season. It's kind of sad for them that they debuted the program at the same time as J/C and now everyone says they are inspired by the French or even copying them when they actually created it themselves.

 

[Sylvia]

My computer doesn't like the weibo video links in post #699 so if anyone finds alternate links please post them, thanks!

 

[Gris]

My computer doesn't like the weibo video links in post #699 so if anyone finds alternate links please post them, thanks!

Please try these on Bilibili:

Playlist for Sr Pairs SP, in the order of: T/Y, Y/Z, L/X, W/W

Playlist for Ladies SP, in the order of: An, Lin, Zhu, Kang, Xiangning Li, Qijing Cao and Angel Li (Jr).

 

[Sylvia]

Figure skating veteran Zhang Hao back on ice - Xinhua | English.news.cn

After 16 months out of competition, China's veteran figure skater Zhang Hao took part in the Chinese Figure Skating Club League in Changchun, northeast China, on Sunday, with the event also serving as a qualifier for the National Winter Games next year.
35-year-old Zhang, together with his partner Yu Xiaoyu, finished second in the pairs. It was no easy feat for Zhang, who underwent two leg operations and had been sidelined from training for three months.
"We only started training 19 days before the competition," Zhang told Xinhua on Tuesday. "I really went through a lot. It was so hard. Xiaoyu helped me a lot."

Thanks, @Gris! I haven't had a chance to watch the SP videos yet but found Yu/Zhang's FS (he skipped the sbs jumps): https://www.bilibili.com/video/av64339730
I think Tang/Yang won with Wang/Wang 3rd?

Ladies top 3: Xiangyi AN, Ashley Lin, Yi (Beverly) Zhu
FS videos: https://www.bilibili.com/video/av64310400

I think He ZHANG won the Senior Men's event?

 

[rosewood]

Love Love Love both programs of Xiangyi AN for this season, especially FS (by Richaud?) Wish she'll be more consistent on jumps as the season goes. Do we know if she has an entry to any international competition this season?

 

[oleada]

Love Love Love both programs of Xiangyi AN for this season, especially FS (by Richaud?) Wish she'll be more consistent on jumps as the season goes. Do we know if she has an entry to any international competition this season?

IIRC she is still too young for the JGP?

 

[Sylvia]

Do we know if she [Xiangyi AN] has an entry to any international competition this season?

She's too young (born 12/24/06) for the JGP/ISU Junior events this season... has she competed anywhere internationally in Adv. Novice before?

I believe Richaud choreographed programs for her, Yu/Zhang, and He Zhang, but I'm not sure which ones he did.

 

[Marco]

OMG. Zhang Hao competed at the 2002 Olympics. 18 years ago.

Let the man rest.

 

[Japanfan]

OMG. Zhang Hao competed at the 2002 Olympics. 18 years ago.

Let the man rest.

He hasn't indicated that he wants to, SFAIK. The Federation may well have been putting pressure on him, but I doubt they could stop him if he wanted to retire. And, I'm sure the Federation pays him well.

Zhang probably wants to compete at home in 2022. Although a medal for him may not in the cards, it's not entirely inconceivable.

 

[oleada]

Love Love Love both programs of Xiangyi AN for this season, especially FS (by Richaud?) Wish she'll be more consistent on jumps as the season goes. Do we know if she has an entry to any international competition this season?

Just want to share that I love the LP too and I think she has a maturity and musicality far beyond her years. Her edge jumps are stronger than her toe jumps at this point, I think. I hope she can get the 3+3 more rotated because I think she could be a force next year.

 

[rosewood]

@oleada @Sylvia thanks for the reply. Yes, I knew she's not eligible for JGP yet, as well as I forgot which competition novice skaters can enter (maybe mostly in the second half of the season ?). I really wish the fed will send her to at least one international competition this season so that she can experience the atmosphere, see her competitive peers from strong countries, and get feedback from judges. I think the period of Novide Advance is very important for these promising kids. Yeah, I know the crap shoot risk etc but still.

 

[Gris]

^ I'd love to see her getting an international novice competition too but that seems unlikely...

Thank you Sylvia! Here're some other results and videos (some of the links are from Weibo since I didn't find alternates. Sorry!):

Sr Ladies FS protocols

Sr Dance top 6

1 Yuzhu Guo / Pengkun Zhao 167.34
2 Wanqi Ning / Chao Wang 157.41
3 Shang Shi / Nan Wu 131.85
4 Xuan Chen / Kaige Zhao 126.43
5 Tong Liu / Quanshuo Ge 125.12
6 Yuhan Feng / Ilya Yukhimuk 117.49

RD Videos (G/Z, N/W, L/G)
FD Videos (L/G, G/Z, N/W, S/W, C/Z, F/Y)

Sr Pairs top 4

1 Tang / Yang 184.00 FS Video
2 Yu / Zhang 164.00
3 Wang / Wang 157.90 FS Video
4 Liu / Xie 157.71

And FS protocols (T/Y 1st, W/W 2nd, L/X 3rd and Y/Z 4th)

Sr Men (FS protocols)

1 He Zhang 222.40
2 Yi Wang 194.39
3 Tonghe Tian 170.14

9 Zhiming Peng 135.56 (6th in FS, landed an underrotated 4S)

Peng is such a discovery for Chinese fans this year - he is 16 and only took up figure skating 6 years ago. He's from and based in Guangdong province in southern China where figure skating is almost non existent and he trained himself. Previously he had to give up training for about a year due to lack of funding until the provincial sports bureau offered help. In an earlier competition he landed fully rotated 3A and now 4S<. I really hope the national team can reach out to him and offer him proper training - once all those base and level 1 spins and StSq get fixed his score would improve greatly.

Juniors

Yixuan Zhang won in ladies and Angel Li came 2nd. FS Videos

Wang / Huang and Chen / Xing won in pairs and dance respectively. We shall soon see C/X in Courchevel. Yufei Lin / Zijian Gao (assigned to JGP Baltic Cup) finished 2nd in dance.

W/H FS C/X and L/G FD

ETA: Jiaen Li / Zijian Wang (Jr pairs) attempted 4Tw in FS. Not very successful though - level 1, GOE -1.9. Video

 

[Gris]

Rankings for the interclub league, top 6 in singles, top 4 in pairs and top 5 in dance qualified into the Final (Aug 29 - Sep 1 in Sanya, Hainan Province).

Senior qualifiers:

Men: He Zhang, Yi Wang, Tonghe Tian, Zhiming Peng, Luanfeng Li, Qinglong Rong
Ladies: Xiangyi An, Jiaying Cheng, Ashley Lin, Xiangning Li, Guanru Jin, Beverly Yi Zhu
Pairs: Tang / Yang, Wang / Wang, Liu / Xie, Yuyao Zhang / Yunzhi Guo
Dance: Guo / Zhao, Ning / Wang, Chen / Zhao, Shi / Wu, Xinyi Yu / Tianyi Liu