2022 Cranberry Open & Cup International- August 8th - August 14th

[victorskid]

When I saw this live, my thought was how innovative her choreography is; especially the ability to do multiple elements in both directions. Wish I had been closer to the ice, but I can no longer tolerate being upfront. Got too stiff and cold where I was in row 13. Perhaps it will be much better at SKAM with all that ambient body heat. I think I counted about 100 people sitting in the stands.

It certainly appeared that the rink was very cold for spectators - those near the ice were well wrapped in blankets and some even up a few rows were too.

 

[Sylvia]

I came across a fan cam of Amber Glenn's 1st place FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2_8ECbkRgU

Amber did not warmup the 3A today. She probably had too much speed going into the 2a and doubted herself midair. Her triples were rock solid.

Thanks - from this angle, her opening jump did not look like a 3A attempt.

More photos by Robin Ritoss have been added to FSO's gallery (Senior medals, Senior Women's FS, Senior Men's SP with FS to come): https://figureskatersonline.com/news/2022/08/12/photos-2022-cranberry-cup-international/

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks to @Frau Muller for sharing the link to Ela Cui's Cranberry Open Novice Women group C's podium post (this was the most competitive of the 3 groups with the winner attaining the 3rd highest Novice total of 148.84 in NQS comps so far and the silver & bronze medalists both scoring over 122+): https://www.instagram.com/p/ChPQCJIuk-o/

Cranberry Open Novice Women Group C results/link to protocols: https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2022/30718/CAT020SEG034.html

 

[clairecloutier]

It certainly appeared that the rink was very cold for spectators - those near the ice were well wrapped in blankets and some even up a few rows were too.

I actually found it quite comfortable overall. I usually always wind up wearing my winter coat at skating events, but didn't at this one. It was a little colder close to the ice, though, as you say.

Have to mostly agree with @sk9tingfan's takes on Hiwatashi, Gorodnitsky, and Zharkov's SP. Gorodnitsky really did deserve the win here, as he was clearly the most consistent and confident competitor across both programs. He just seemed very comfortable with what he was doing.

Tomoki was much like Amber Glenn in the SP--so impressive in warmup, but not able to deliver throughout in the programs. Still, I am happy that he was able to put out a good 4S and 4T/3T in the long program. It's been a big goal for him to get the two different quads into his programs, so it was nice to see him accomplish that in the free skate. Overall consistency does remain a struggle, though. I hope he gets a CS event or two and can improve. Artistically, I see growth and a little more stretch and polish in his skating.

Zharkov's SP really was quite good, and the FS wasn't bad either as a program (jumps aside). Like his style.

Eric Sjoberg once again really impressed me live. He has a rather unique style among the men, unusually graceful. I enjoy watching him. I think the judges do, too. Not really totally on with the jumps, but good to see a quad attempt from him.

On the ladies side, I missed Amber's LP, and of course the SP was a disaster. But honestly, in warmup, she just easily skates rings around the other women in terms of her speed and attack. As always, the challenge remains channeling that power.

I liked Sonja Hilmer's and Maddie Schizas's LPs. Loved Audrey Shin's 3F/2A/2T combo, which she did right in front of my seat. Fun! I would like to see Audrey grow a bit in her on-ice presence, projection, and power. She skates a little bit "small," and I think that is holding her back a little bit in PCS. But she's definitely going for it in terms of the jumps and is quite consistent, which is great to see. I thought most of her jumps looked pretty well rotated from where I sat, but of course it's hard to really see this for sure without replay.

 

[Deleted member 221]

I liked Sonja Hilmer's and Maddie Schizas's LPs.

Schizas got a tepid response from the judges in both programs, without the kind of PCS I suspect her team was hoping for. Curious for your take. Did the US women have home country bias working in their favor, or is the Canadian champ really equivalent to C-list US skaters?

 

[clairecloutier]

Schizas got a tepid response from the judges in both programs, without the kind of PCS I suspect her team was hoping for. Curious for your take. Did the US women have home country bias working in their favor, or is the Canadian champ really equivalent to C-list US skaters?

So first, I only saw Maddie Schizas's LP. Missed her short, unfortunately.

In the LP, I think my take would be that her PCS reflected more the overall current level of her skating than a specific comment on her programs. Maddie had a number of jump mistakes in her free skate and overall didn't look super-trained/fast. Her general condition and technical level was, I'd say, a clear step lower than Audrey Shin, who really went for her jumps and landed almost everything. So, basically, I think it's just early in the season, and Maddie isn't in top shape yet, and she doesn't have such a big reputation yet that she'll get great PCS even if she doesn't skate well overall. As we know, PCS is affected by the general success of the program, including jumps, even if theoretically perhaps it shouldn't be, too much.

If you compare Schizas's PCS scores this year versus at last year's Cranberry Cup, you will see they are much in line with each other. I'd just chalk it up to early-season scores and condition. I'm sure she also got judges' feedback on the programs, so that may give further clues to her team where to improve, or if the judges like the programs overall.

As to the U.S. women's skaters who placed above her, Amber Glenn and Audrey Shin are not what I would consider C-list in the U.S. More like B-list. Audrey had quite respectable results last season (except for SA), including a 4th at 4CCs and several 3rds/4ths at CS events. Amber is kind of like in her own category, LOL. Maddie can deliver jumps more consistently, but there is no question in my mind that Glenn is absolutely the stronger skater overall between them when she hits. Hilmer is, objectively, D- or E- or F-list based on past results only. However, her results are much improved this season, and her LP was one of the best IMO in terms of choregraphy and general impression. Audrey's LP I would also rate as good and well-crafted, but more typical. It was less innovative or interesting to me than Maddie's or Sonja's LPs, but it was still a nice program and well-presented, and has the potential for a bigger impact if Audrey can just amp up her presentation and projection a little bit.

I guess that's my take on it.