2022-23 Pairs General Discussion - You Get a GP! You Get a GP! All of You Get a GP!

[Karen-W]

According to the insiders, China, mainly team Heilongjiang and Beijing, will send other athletes to attend the other junior and senior B events. I have heard that some pair teams from Heilongjiang, likely Zhang Siyang/ Yang Yongchao and Wang Huidi/ Jia Ziqi, will attend the Golden Spin of Zagreb to earn the senior MTS for both 4CC and Worlds. Some male single skaters, likely Team Beijing(Chen Yudong, Zhang He, Fang Shuai), will fly to Indonesia to attend the Asian Open.

Looks like we might have some new Chinese pairs teams! Can't wait for the Golden Spin entries to come out this in the next day or two.

 

[Sylvia]

FSO's interview article with Greta and John Crafoord, published today before they compete at CS Warsaw Cup this week and then in their 2nd Grand Prix in Espoo, Finland (added just yesterday):

Greta and John Crafoord grateful to be back on the ice after devastating injury - Figure Skaters Online

By Gina Capellazzi and Maura Sullivan Hill, Team FSO Photos by Melanie Heaney, Robin Ritoss and Greta Crafoord Editor's Note: At time of publication, Greta and John Crafoord were scheduled to compete at Warsaw Cup in Poland. Since the release of this article, the Crafoords have withdrawn from...

figureskatersonline.com

 

[Gris]

Looks like we might have some new Chinese pairs teams! Can't wait for the Golden Spin entries to come out this in the next day or two.

Those two teams mentioned are not exactly that "new" though - Yongchao Yang competed with Feiyao Tang in both Junior and Senior internationally (Tang / Yang's ISU bio, their best finish is 4th in Junior Worlds 2018) and Wang / Jia competed on JGP during 19-20 season and finished 9th at Junior Worlds.

Just as I was typing this I found out that Wang / Jia's ISU bio has been updated - guess that's a sign they will compete internationally soon.

ETA: And Zhang / Yang's bio has been updated too! And I had forgotten that they had competed in Asian Open 2021, ha.

 

[~tapdancer~]

FSO's interview article with Greta and John Crafoord, published today before they compete at CS Warsaw Cup this week and then in their 2nd Grand Prix in Espoo, Finland (added just yesterday):

Greta and John Crafoord grateful to be back on the ice after devastating injury - Figure Skaters Online

By Gina Capellazzi and Maura Sullivan Hill, Team FSO Photos by Melanie Heaney, Robin Ritoss and Greta Crafoord Editor's Note: At time of publication, Greta and John Crafoord were scheduled to compete at Warsaw Cup in Poland. Since the release of this article, the Crafoords have withdrawn from...

figureskatersonline.com

Thanks, that was a great article. Wow, what a lot they have been through, especially Greta. I enjoyed them at SA and look forward to seeing them again. Sounds like they have a promising future!

 

[Karen-W]

From the Chinese news thread - the two Chinese pairs who are rumored to be entered for Golden Spin. I'm glad China is sending them out to compete. They have to start somewhere and they certainly don't appear to be any worse than about half the field at any of the GPs so far.

Zhang Siyang / Yang Yangchong ’s programs this season
SP:

张思阳杨泳超 成年组双人短节目 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

中国体育思阳挺适合双人技术但还是能看出来各滑各的, 视频播放量 1759、弹幕量 3、点赞数 25、投硬币枚数 0、收藏人数 5、转发人数 1, 视频作者 缇可张, 作者简介 主要收集了我国花样滑冰小女单们的比赛视频，有时候会剪点花滑脑洞放上来，相关视频：李宣潼王新康 呼神护卫！哈利波特 青年组自由舞 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站，董昕澄 新意国风节目 潜力小女单 徐梦圆电音×花滑 教练王晨 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站，陈婉庭 一梦敦煌 深圳小女单 少年低龄组自由滑 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站，石尚王新康 刺客信条 成年组自由舞...

www.bilibili.com

FS:

双人滑 张思阳杨泳超 【22-23花滑俱乐部联赛②合集】_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

双人滑 张思阳杨泳超 【22-23花滑俱乐部联赛②合集】共计2条视频，包括：自由滑 悲惨世界、短节目等，UP主更多精彩视频，请关注UP账号。

www.bilibili.com

Wang Huidi / Jia Ziqi
SP:

【2022俱乐部联赛第一站】成年组双人短节目 王慧蒂/贾梓麒_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

https://weibo.com/detail/4807352236376068-, 视频播放量 445、弹幕量 0、点赞数 3、投硬币枚数 0、收藏人数 3、转发人数 2, 视频作者 Varia的记忆之野, 作者简介 关注乒乓球排球花滑 乒乓球交流秋裙：806856200，相关视频：肖紫兮何凌昊 冰舞冠军 自由舞 法罗朱 2024/25赛季全国花样滑冰冠军赛，【24-25冠军赛】张轩绮/丰闻强(57.99) 2024/2025全国花样滑冰冠军赛双人短节目，【刘玉萱】脱杆4T！质量杠杠滴，刘玉萱 堂吉诃德...

www.bilibili.com

LP:

王慧蒂贾梓麒 加油加油 成年组双人自由滑 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第一站_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

中国体育, 视频播放量 2083、弹幕量 0、点赞数 35、投硬币枚数 1、收藏人数 5、转发人数 4, 视频作者 缇可张, 作者简介 主要收集了我国花样滑冰小女单们的比赛视频，有时候会剪点花滑脑洞放上来，相关视频：董昕澄 新意国风节目 潜力小女单 徐梦圆电音×花滑 教练王晨 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站，居然从搞笑的双人滑节目里，看见了婊气冲天，小张可欣 成年组女单短节目 2024年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛成都站，秦子茜 秦时明月国色天香 女单短节目 2022年全国花样滑冰青年锦标赛，新搭档亮相 央视关注隋文静复出训练 期待为国争光，王奕凝 Voila 青年组短节目...

www.bilibili.com

Zhang Siyang used to be a single skater, she changed and started to train in pair skating 2 years ago. I very like this team, and think that they could be a great force internationally because Zhang is a great pair girl with great skating skills and presentation skills, their technical elements are getting better and better too.

One positive thing regarding Wang/Jia is that they can land throw triple flip consistently which they used to very struggle with for a long time when they were training in the national team.

Luan Bo, former coach of Sui and Han, also come back from retirement and start to redevelop the Chinese junior pair teams at this moment. Wang Yihan, with his new partner Zhao Wantong, is now training under Luan Bo.

 

[raruki]

From the Chinese news thread - the two Chinese pairs who are rumored to be entered for Golden Spin. I'm glad China is sending them out to compete. They have to start somewhere and they certainly don't appear to be any worse than about half the field at any of the GPs so far.

They are training under Zhang Tianci, the former head coach of the Chinese Junior team and the former partner of Peng Cheng, in Heilongjiang after the Chinese Junior team was dissolved. Technically, what these 2 teams have achieved is pretty promising, especially Wang/Jia who can consistently land a harder throw jump.
Having said that, Zhang Tianci is really a controversial coach in China. He has one very controversial pair who have a
huge age and body differences, Sun Youmei(10 yrs old)/ Li Enze(24 yrs old). These pair have even practiced a quintuple twist without a harness and proper safety measures on the ice.

 

[raruki]

Luan Bo also comes back from retirement after Beijing Olympics to train some new junior pairs. Most of her teams except Wang Yihan/ Zhao Wantong are very young and have just trained for a couple of months， but they can execute some very difficult elements in their programs. There is one team in Luan Bo's team, Guo Rui/ Zhang Yiwen, around 10 to 14 yrs old, who can perform a very difficult forward outside death spiral perfectly in their program even though they can only do the double jumps at this moment.

郭蕊张益文 栾波小双 恭喜亚军 成年组双人自由滑 2022年中国花样滑冰俱乐部联赛第二站_哔哩哔哩_bilibili

中国体育, 视频播放量 4477、弹幕量 5、点赞数 31、投硬币枚数 1、收藏人数 12、转发人数 9, 视频作者 缇可张, 作者简介 主要收集了我国花样滑冰小女单们的比赛视频，有时候会剪点花滑脑洞放上来，相关视频：吐槽花滑营销号第二期，绝了！摔断腿的天才少女漫画家！用《金牌得主》的女性温情来震撼日本漫坛！鹤舞墨鱼太的漫画之路！，【花滑千金】250421 tg更新 对TeamS的7周年感谢，2025年世锦赛花滑女单最后一组3S，【2023/12/22】Kamila Valieva短节目I see...

www.bilibili.com

Actually, there are 2 teams in Team Luan Bo that can perform forward outside death spiral.

Sina Visitor System

 

[Karen-W]

Just saw this post on the Czech FSA's IG - https://www.instagram.com/p/ClBGgztjHq6/ - Alessandro Zarbo has Czech citizenship, which is why he and Federica Simioli were able to make the switch from representing Italy last season to now representing Czechia. They still train in Bergamo with Ondrej Hotarek's group. They're making their season debut this week at Warsaw Cup!

 

[Karen-W]

Golden Spin entries: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00113553.htm

(2 Chinese pairs! )

Not only the two Chinese pairs, but Maria Pavlova has a new partner (Alexei Sviatchenko) and they will be making their debut for Hungary here! Same with Pereira/Michaud, and Kam/O'Shea get their chance for the SB list, same for Schaller/Mayr (please let them land their SBS triples in the SP at last).

Some of these teams entered are likely to make the GPF (Les Kovs, ConMac, GhiAmbr, and ChanHowe), but even with 2-3 off to Torino instead, this is still a pretty good field with a lot of interesting pairs!

 

[Andrea82]

Chan/Howe and Conti/Macii takes 4th and 5th spots for Gran Prix Final. Conti/Macii won't have to regret that aborted lift in Sheffield.

With Kovalevs' weak result at NHK, Ghilardi/Ambrosini or Metelkina/Parkman don't need a win in Espoo (they can lose to a recovered Efimova/Blommaert). A 2nd place would be enough to qualify.

 

[Karen-W]

Well, this weekend was interesting...

Who had Italy on their bingo card at the start of the season as the #2 Pairs nation? Once the Warsaw Cup results are added to the SB list, they'll have 5 different pairs teams in the Top 24.

Current SENIOR teams on the SB list by country...

USA (7) - KniFraz, ChanHowe, PlaFern, Mokhovs, SmirSiia, McBBar, WessEis (split) - KamOSh entered at Golden Spin
ITA (5) - GhiAmbr, ConMac, BecGuar, CalMag, ValPia
CAN (5) - SDDes, McInMim, LaurEth, AltFar, MatFer* (injured) - PerMich entered at Golden Spin
FRA (4) - Les Kovs, PieStrek, VouGin, KerBou* - Erhard/Pellegris entered at Golden Spin
GER (3) - EfiBlom, HocKun, RoSchu
JPN (2) - MiuKih, YunIchi
GEO (2) - MetPark, SafBeru (injured)
NED (2) - DanTsi, OsiEpst
CZE (2) - ZukBid, SimZar
UKR (2) - SierKhob, HoliDar* (injured)
AUS (1) - GoluGM - still to compete CherWin (injured)
GBR (1) - VLDigs
SWE (1) - Crafoords*
PHI (1) - GamKor*
RSA (1) - MauWilk*

CHN - WangJia, ZhaYang entered at Golden Spin; PengJin (injured)
AUT - SchMayr entered at Golden Spin
HUN - PavSvia entered at Golden Spin

*current SB score doesn't meet the current season's GP total minimum score

 

[happycamper2554]

Well, this weekend was interesting...

Who had Italy on their bingo card at the start of the season as the #2 Pairs nation? Once the Warsaw Cup results are added to the SB list, they'll have 5 different pairs teams in the Top 24.

Current SENIOR teams on the SB list by country...

USA (7) - KniFraz, ChanHowe, PlaFern, Mokhovs, SmirSiia, McBBar, WessEis (split) - KamOSh entered at Golden Spin
ITA (5) - GhiAmbr, ConMac, BecGuar, CalMag, ValPia
CAN (5) - SDDes, McInMim, LaurEth, AltFar, MatFer* (injured) - PerMich entered at Golden Spin
FRA (3) - Les Kovs, PieStrek, VouGin, KerBou* - Erhard/Pellegris entered at Golden Spin
GER (3) - EfiBlom, HocKun, RoSchu
JPN (2) - MiuKih, YunIchi
GEO (2) - MetPark, SafBeru
NED (2) - DanTsi, OsiEpst
UKR (2) - SierKhob, HoliDar* (injured)
AUS (1) - GoluGM - still to compete CherWin (injured)
GBR (1) - VLDigs
CZE (1) - SimZar
SWE (1) - Crafoords*
PHI (1) - GamKor*
RSA (1) - MauWilk*

CHN - WangJia, ZhaYang entered at Golden Spin; PengJin (injured)
AUT - SchMayr entered at Golden Spin
HUN - PavSvia entered at Golden Spin

*current SB score doesn't meet the current season's GP total minimum score

Zhukova/Bidar for cze

 

[Karen-W]

Zhukova/Bidar for cze

Whoops! That's right!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Who had Italy on their bingo card at the start of the season as the #2 Pairs nation?

Ummmm Me

 

[Karen-W]

Ummmm Me

Ummmm, no?

Sure, in the GP pbp threads, we've all commented on how Italy is suddenly coming on, but that's been a fairly recent development in the season. I said "at the start of the season" - none of us had Italy flagged. It's certainly exciting, but it was most definitely unexpected.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Ummmm, no?

Sure, in the GP pbp threads, we've all commented on how Italy is suddenly coming on, but that's been a fairly recent development in the season. I said "at the start of the season" - none of us had Italy flagged. It's certainly exciting, but it was most definitely unexpected.

ohhhh I sure did. Specially during the summer when I knew Matteo regrouped with Beccari. I saw all my fellow Italians on the scene and I knew it was going to be special. I’m psychic, I have ESPN!

 

[Karen-W]

ohhhh I sure did. Specially during the summer when I knew Matteo regrouped with Beccari. I saw all my fellow Italians on the scene and I knew it was going to be special. I’m psychic, I have ESPN!

We all have ESPN if we have basic cable or Hulu Live...

 

[kwanfan1818]

But does ESPN send you faxes ?

 

[LeafOnTheWind]

We all have ESPN if we have basic cable or Hulu Live...

Or the Disney/Hulu bundle

 

[Karen-W]

So, back to the international pairs watch... I've been compiling a list of various different partnerships/rumored partnerships. Some have competed only domestically, some have been entered in domestic competitions and then withdrawn, and some have only been reported.

The following teams, if they compete as scheduled at Golden Spin, will earn SENIOR SB Top 75 scores:
Schaller/Mayr AUT
Pereira/Michaud CAN
Wang/Jia CHN
Zhang/Yang CHN
Ehrhard/Pellegris FRA (on the SB list already from the JGP)
Pavlova/Sviatchenko HUN
Kam/O'Shea USA

Looking to improve their SENIOR SB Top 75 scores to at least 135+ (anticipated GP total score minimum for next season) at Golden Spin:
Gamez/Korovin PHI
Mauder/Wilkinson RSA
Crafoord/Crafoord SWE (if they don't achieve it next week at Espoo)

Pairs Teams who are SENIOR AGE-ELIGIBLE & have competed domestically but not at a Challenger, GP or JGP yet this season (Note - I'm leaving off teams that are either injured or haven't achieved scores comparable to other teams in their country being given int'l assignments):
Proft/Nadeau CAN
Vaananen/Clerici FIN (he cannot compete internationally for FIN until after April 15, 2023 due to representing ITA at 2022 Jr Worlds)
Faula/Belle FRA
Hanns/Neudecker USA

Announced or rumored partnerships who have not competed yet:
Ghedini/Maierhofer AUT
Farkhoutdinov/Pierre FRA
Hase/Volodin GER
Cho/Adcock KOR
Irman/Jalovick SUI

Any other rumored partnerships we haven't heard about yet?

 

[Sylvia]

Re. Brooke Barrett/Mitrofanov, this was posted in the U.S. Pairs thread recently:

I also think Mitrofanov is having some other tryouts now.

 

[Karen-W]

Re. Brooke Barrett/Mitrofanov, this was posted in the U.S. Pairs thread recently:

Okay, I'll edit to remove them.

 

[Karen-W]

Just wondering if anyone has any info on the status of Yunoki/Ichihashi? They didn't compete in senior pairs at Japanese Sectionals, so I'm wondering if they're done for the season or if there's a chance we'll see them at Japanese Nationals still. It would be nice if we had two Japanese teams at 4CCs.

Ichihashi announced his retirement today.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1594613368475656192

Well, this is a bummer, for both pairs skating and Japan. Their junior pairs team isn't age-eligible for seniors until the 2026-27 season.

 

[miffy]

Well, this is a bummer, for both pairs skating and Japan. Their junior pairs team isn't age-eligible for seniors until the 2026-27 season.

Was he injured? It’s such a shame. I was hoping they would do well this season and maybe even get to Worlds.

 

[Karen-W]

Was he injured? It’s such a shame. I was hoping they would do well this season and maybe even get to Worlds.

It sounds like it.

 

[clairecloutier]

Meagan Duhamel shares her thoughts about the current state of pairs skating in this new FSGossips interview. (Note: This is an original interview, not a translation.)

“Pair skating is in a major rebuilding phase now” Interview with Meagan Duhamel

Part 1 of big interview with Meagan Duhamel. About current situation in pair skating, ways of its developments and quads.

fs-gossips.com

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

How much longer until Laura barquero suspension is over? Was it just a year?

And whatever happened? Did she try to fight this? What was the actual substance? I’m hoping we will see them again soon? Are they still together and training does anyone know?

 

[Karen-W]

How much longer until Laura barquero suspension is over? Was it just a year?

And whatever happened? Did she try to fight this? What was the actual substance? I’m hoping we will see them again soon? Are they still together and training does anyone know?

We don't know any of the details of her suspension. The assumption is that it's a year, but there's not been any confirmation of that. They are very much still together - they took a nice vacation to Bali earlier this fall.

 

[Karen-W]

Current SENIOR teams on the SB list by country -

Many of the teams have a chance to improve their SB next week:
GREEN = GPF qualifier
GOLD = Golden Spin entrant
BLUE = JGPF qualifier

USA (6) - KniFraz, ChanHowe, PlaFern, Mokhovs, SmirSiia, McBBar, WessEis (split) - KamOSh
ITA (5) - GhiAmbr, ConMac, BecGuar, CalMag, ValPia
CAN (4+1*) - SDDes, McInMim, LaurEth, AltFar, MatFer* (injured) - PerMich
FRA (3+1*) - Les Kovs, PieStrek, VouGin, KerBou* - Ehrhard/Pellegris & Faula/Belle
GER (3) - EfiBlom, HocKun, RoSchu
GEO (2) - MetPark, SafBeru (injured)
NED (2) - DanTsi, OsiEpst
CZE (2) - ZukBid, SimZar
UKR (1+1*) - SierKhob, HoliDar* (injured)
JPN (1) - MiuKih, YunIchi (split)
AUS (1) - GoluGM - still to compete CherWin (injured)
GBR (1) - VLDigs
SWE (1*) - Crafoords*
PHI (1*) - GamKor*
RSA (1*) - MauWilk*

CHN - WangJia, ZhaYang - still to compete PengJin (injured)
AUT - SchMayr
HUN - PavSvia

*current SB score doesn't meet the current season's GP total minimum score

 

[trainingdogs82]

While the Russian ban makes sense for obvious reasons, pairs is definitely the event the Russian ban is felt the most as far as the competitive quality. Combine that with Sui & Han probably being retired or atleast not competing for awhile, and who knows about Peng & Jin, so the Chinese being out too, and the depth is really pretty dire right now. I agree with Meaghan it is a real rebuilding phase, but once we get to the Grand Prix final and worlds it will start to look a bit better than it does now. I look forward to some of these veteran pair skaters coming in to compete with their new partners too. Yeah it is funny to see teams medaling with throw doubles though.