2023-24 Pairs General Discussion - Join the SBS Double Salchow Club!

[Sylvia]

June 13:

Tilda Alteryd, 25 (from Sweden who skated with Gabriel Farand for Canada last season) and Finland's 36-year-old Dr. Valtter Virtanen! https://www.instagram.com/p/CtcF9d-r7Z6/

The Alteryd/Virtanen partnership has ended - Tilda posted yesterday that she has left Finland to return home to Sweden and plans to look for a new partner according to her reply in the comments ("... then Canada is the idea. Will try to find a new partner now "): https://www.instagram.com/p/CyX_kiyrSwO/

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting here from the Korean news thread:

Just saw this from AnythingGOEs: "Hyejin Cho / Harley Windsor have ended their partnership. Cho is searching for a new partner."

Hyejin Cho's latest Instagram story links to her reel video from May 2023: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cr6EdDOgc3f/

 

[Sylvia]

Ukraine's Violetta Sierova/Ivan Khobta have qualified for the JGP Final for the second year in a row - article by Judith Dombrowski (Oct. 8):

Ukraine's Sierova and Khobta elated with accomplishments

Violetta Sierova und Ivan Khobta Ukraine’s Violetta Sierova and Ivan Khobta are elated by the accomplishments they’ve earned not only during the 2022-23 season but also in the current season. […]

www.goldenskate.com

Sierova injured her hip in June and is still recovering. They are grateful to be training with their coach in Chemnitz, Germany.

 

[happycamper2554]

Windsor on IG saying that he’s about to reveal why his last two partnerships ended and throw people under the bus. I doubt this ends well but get out your popcorn.

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Rather than deraill this thread too much, I decided to post in this one in GSD with his name in the title: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/harley-katya-documentary.110258/page-4#post-6482673

 

[Wyliefan]

(Cross-posted in the U.S. pairs thread)

Chan/Howe are out of Cup of China.

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1714945636313772320?t=NVcOcv8pGFH7E4dYjkr9LA&s=19

 

[Karen-W]

Copying over from the OES news thread...

Osipova/Epstein have ended their partnership. Sounds like Nika is done and Dmitry plans to look for a new partner.

Dmitry Epstein on Instagram: "So unfortunately I have sad news, Nika and me decided we've had a fine run together. Gladly would I have skated on with Nika, I really prefer to keep trying to improve as it's my general philosophy in live and to always

112 likes, 19 comments - dmitryepstein on November 2, 2023: "So unfortunately I have sad news, Nika and me decided we've had a fine run together. Gladly would I have skated on with Nika, I really pr..."

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

(Cross-posted in the U.S. pairs thread)

Chan/Howe are out of Cup of China.

And NHK Trophy as well - re-posting here from the U.S. Pairs news thread on 10/31:

Happy Halloween from “Super” Spencer & Emily : https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzEv6e_RZgn/
...
Coach Olga Ganicheva posted the same clip as an IG story plus another clip of them off ice captioned “Coming Soon”.

 

[Sylvia]

Copying out Dmitry Epstein's long post for those who can't access Instagram:

So unfortunately I have sad news, Nika and me decided we've had a fine run together.
Gladly would I have skated on with Nika, I really prefer to keep trying to improve as it's my general philosophy in live and to always see things through. But Nika feels that she is content with where we are right now and skating on will not enrich our lives to the full extend as possible. Somewhere I understand her, but we'll have to agree to disagree about the word 'enrichment'.

Honestly though, I had a blast and I'm kinda proud of what we did in such a short period together.
Especially, on a personal note, the fact that I achieved everything by using straight up ghetto tactics.
Let's face it, I started waaay to late, never could afford adequate hours of ice and coaching except for the last year's and I only skated full competition rotations from 2010 to 2013 and 2020-2023, because of these struggles.
Considering all that I think we did well.
We proved that you can do something pretty cool quick, no matter your age and just right at home, without a dad for a millionaire (you do need to open a strong skating school/club though, lol).

Also I'm really happy to have skated with such a special person who became a friend for life and who I can call every day and we both have learned a lot from this experience together!

Luckily, I also have my law degree and the skating school going on, which I also enjoy, so I have decided to let faith decide whats next for me.
I made a good training schedule to continue working on my goals regardless if I have a partner or not.
So if I find the right match, I might as well continue competing (so skaters, dm me)

I'm excited for the future, whatever it may hold.

 

[Amy L]

Copying over from the OES news thread...

Bummer. I think they were the NED team with the higher potential, but potential only goes so far. Danilova/Tsiba seem like hard workers, and they are improving at least. Hopefully Epstein can find someone if he wants to continue!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Great background piece on Deanna and Max. Love it. Not new, but still quite informative.

How Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps found each other after a 16 year retirement and 8 different partners

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps' story of how they came together to be figure skating pairs partners is one of perseverance, passion for the sport...

www.youtube.com

 

[Colonel Green]

We'll soon get our first look at Peng's new partnership on international ice.

 

[skatingguy]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Backstage interview of a Minerva and Nikita at Nebelhorn trophy a month ago and how they got together

NT2023 Winners interview // Minerva HASE & Nikita VOLODIN

Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin are winners of the Nebelhorn Trophy 2023 in Oberstdorf, Germany. Their total competition score was 194,96 a new personal best...

www.youtube.com

how they chose the free program Music is funny, I’m Team Nikita lol.

 

[airgelaal]

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

They loved to do SBS 2s when it was not yet popular

 

[Belsornia]

Stocktake of pairs teams who have competed this season but do not have the technical minimums to compete at the big events. I've excluded teams from countries who already have enough eligible pairs to fill their sports.

Euros/4CCs (if they're not on the entry list for Golden Spin, see you next year)
CHE - Pauline Irman / Ben Jalovick (need both)
DEU - Katalin Salatzki / Lukas Roeseler (need both - assuming Roscher/Schuster won't be back from their injury break in time for Euros)
JPN - Yuka Nagaoka / Sumitada Moriguichi (need SP)
ZAF - Julia Mauder / Johannes Wilkinson (need both)

Worlds
POL - Ioulia Chtchetinina / Michal Wozniak (need SP), Aleksandra Malinkiewicz / Piotr Wisniewski (need both)
UKR - Sofiia Holichenko / Artem Darenskyi (need SP) - though Sierova/Khobta have minimums if they're planning another split season

Junior Worlds
AUS - Peyton Bellamy-Martins / Kryshtof Pradeaux (need both)
CHE - Chiara Pazienza / Maxim Knorr (need both)
ESP - Linda de Nardin / Patrizio Rossi Lopez (need both), Ines Moudden / Alejandro Garcia (need both)
ISR - Sofia Enkina / Nikita Kovalenko (need SP)
POL - Wiktoria Pacha / Szymon Derechowski (need both)
USA - Saya Carpenter / Jon Maravilla (need both), Ashley Fletcher / Aaron Felberbaum (need both), Adele Zheng / Andy Deng (need both)
UZB - Anastasiya Sazonova / Jamshid Tashmukhamedov (need both)

TBH some of these look unlikely, even with the most generous of panels. But it's good to see lots of new teams taking advantage of the flux in the discipline to try it out, even if it's going to be a while longer before they're ready for championship competition.

 

[Karen-W]

Stocktake of pairs teams who have competed this season but do not have the technical minimums to compete at the big events. I've excluded teams from countries who already have enough eligible pairs to fill their sports.

Euros/4CCs (if they're not on the entry list for Golden Spin, see you next year)
CHE - Pauline Irman / Ben Jalovick (need both)
DEU - Katalin Salatzki / Lukas Roeseler (need both - assuming Roscher/Schuster won't be back from their injury break in time for Euros)
JPN - Yuka Nagaoka / Sumitada Moriguichi (need SP)
ZAF - Julia Mauder / Johannes Wilkinson (need both)

Worlds
POL - Ioulia Chtchetinina / Michal Wozniak (need SP), Aleksandra Malinkiewicz / Piotr Wisniewski (need both)
UKR - Sofiia Holichenko / Artem Darenskyi (need SP) - though Sierova/Khobta have minimums if they're planning another split season

Junior Worlds
AUS - Peyton Bellamy-Martins / Kryshtof Pradeaux (need both)
CHE - Chiara Pazienza / Maxim Knorr (need both)
ESP - Linda de Nardin / Patrizio Rossi Lopez (need both), Ines Moudden / Alejandro Garcia (need both)
ISR - Sofia Enkina / Nikita Kovalenko (need SP)
POL - Wiktoria Pacha / Szymon Derechowski (need both)
USA - Saya Carpenter / Jon Maravilla (need both), Ashley Fletcher / Aaron Felberbaum (need both), Adele Zheng / Andy Deng (need both)
UZB - Anastasiya Sazonova / Jamshid Tashmukhamedov (need both)

TBH some of these look unlikely, even with the most generous of panels. But it's good to see lots of new teams taking advantage of the flux in the discipline to try it out, even if it's going to be a while longer before they're ready for championship competition.

Japan has 3 spots for Worlds, so presumably Nagaoka/Moriguchi would be sent if they can get the TES mins in the winter.

 

[Belsornia]

Japan has 3 spots for Worlds, so presumably Nagaoka/Moriguchi would be sent if they can get the TES mins in the winter.

Yeah, I see Chtchetinina/Wozniak as the team most likely to get Worlds minimums, but Nagaoka/Moriguchi can score big on the side-by-side jumps so I think they have a decent chance if they can get their lifts up and their death spiral down. Their performance at NHK was more "too soon for this" than "yikes, scary pairs " despite the lift fail.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Just throwing in some general comments about pairs that I have watched this season. I am pretty busy with work stuff but have watched when I can.

Firstly I am very happy with our Australian pair Anastasia and Hektor. Great to see them competing in the senior GP and they are making a mark. There are still work to do on their levels on some elements but they are improving each time.

Secondly great to see pairs from Germany and Italy getting on the podium.

Thirdly I am impressed with the level of presentation of most of the pairs. Really good standard. And better music choices that the last couple of years.

Fourthly Deanna rocks and has a level of intensity and fire that I love to see with any skater.

 

[Karen-W]

Yeah, I see Chtchetinina/Wozniak as the team most likely to get Worlds minimums, but Nagaoka/Moriguchi can score big on the side-by-side jumps so I think they have a decent chance if they can get their lifts up and their death spiral down. Their performance at NHK was more "too soon for this" than "yikes, scary pairs " despite the lift fail.

I'd have to agree, though I haven't had a chance to watch Chtchetinina/Wozniak yet, but just based on their individual levels of experience, they seem the most likely to get the TES mins.

Nagaoka/Moriguchi are just way too new of a team to have been assigned by the JSF to NHK. I don't understand the logic behind that decision, especially since they weren't assigned to Golden Spin and I think a low-level Challenger is a much smarter option than a GP to get the 4CCs TES mins. Likewise, a generous panel at Bavarian Open or Challenge Cup and a couple additional months of training could be enough to get them the Worlds TES mins.

Mauder/Wilkinson were MUCH improved when I saw them earlier this fall compared to last year. It wouldn't surprise me if they manage to get the 4CCs mins at Golden Spin.

Holichenko/Darenskiy had a horrible SP at their first competition but bounced back very well in the FS. I don't see any reason to think they won't obtain the Worlds min either at Golden Spin or Euros. And, FWIW, I'd send them to Euros over Sierova/Khobta just on the strength of their throw triples and other elements that look and feel more senior.

 

[Belsornia]

I agree on Mauder/Wilkinson; last year they were very 'developmental' and this year they fit right in with the other lower tier pairs teams. It would be great to see a pair from a country without much of a tradition of any sort of skating make it to 4CCs.

In juniors, I think Enkina/Kovalenko and the US teams are the only ones with a chance of getting there this season. E/K are within a couple of points - get you to Oberstdorf.

 

[Karen-W]

I agree on Mauder/Wilkinson; last year they were very 'developmental' and this year they fit right in with the other lower tier pairs teams. It would be great to see a pair from a country without much of a tradition of any sort of skating make it to 4CCs.

In juniors, I think Enkina/Kovalenko and the US teams are the only ones with a chance of getting there this season. E/K are within a couple of points - get you to Oberstdorf.

Yeah, I'd be planning on sending Park/Griffin to Bavarian Open - Jr pairs at US Nats will be over a week before that comp.

Then again, the USFS only sent 2 pairs teams to Jr Worlds last year, so they're not afraid to not use those earned spots. I do think that a fully-healthy Williams/Lewer and Flores/Wang can manage to hold onto 3 spots for the next year, but I'd love to see Park/Griffin go also just for experience since they're so young.

 

[skatingguy]

I had to look these up, so for anyone else that didn't know:

CHE = Switzerland
ZAF = South Africa

 

[Karen-W]

Per Flavien Giniaux on IG, his partnership with Oxana Vouillamoz ended a few weeks ago.

Flavien Giniaux on Instagram: "Hi everyone! My partnership with Oxana has ended few weeks ago. I respect her choice , but for me it’s not the good and respectful way on how she decided to end this partnership. To quit in the middle of the season is

312 likes, 24 comments - flavien_giniaux on December 5, 2023: "Hi everyone! My partnership with Oxana has ended few weeks ago. I respect her choice , but for me it’s not the good and respectful way..."

www.instagram.com

 

[alj5]

Such a shame. I really liked Vouillamoz and Giniaux.

 

[Belsornia]

Oof, the one sided breakups are always tough.

I thought Vouillamoz was clearly the stronger partner (his skating seemed reminiscent of British pairs guys to me - and to be clear, that's not meant as a compliment) but pairs guys are in demand so hopefully he will have success finding a new partner.

 

[Karen-W]

Stocktake of pairs teams who have competed this season but do not have the technical minimums to compete at the big events. I've excluded teams from countries who already have enough eligible pairs to fill their sports.

Euros/4CCs (if they're not on the entry list for Golden Spin, see you next year)
CHE - Pauline Irman / Ben Jalovick (need both)
DEU - Katalin Salatzki / Lukas Roeseler (need both - assuming Roscher/Schuster won't be back from their injury break in time for Euros)
JPN - Yuka Nagaoka / Sumitada Moriguichi (need SP)
ZAF - Julia Mauder / Johannes Wilkinson (need both)

Worlds
POL - Ioulia Chtchetinina / Michal Wozniak (need SP), Aleksandra Malinkiewicz / Piotr Wisniewski (need both)
UKR - Sofiia Holichenko / Artem Darenskyi (need SP) - though Sierova/Khobta have minimums if they're planning another split season

Junior Worlds
USA - Saya Carpenter / Jon Maravilla (need both), Ashley Fletcher / Aaron Felberbaum (need both), Adele Zheng / Andy Deng (need both)

Chtchetinina/Wozniak and Holichenko/Darenskiy both earned the Worlds SP TES min today. Mauder/Wilkinson missed the 4CCs SP TES min by a lot. The other 3 teams did not compete at Golden Spin.

Add in the following team for the USA in search of Jr Worlds TES mins (both) - Cayla Smith/Jared McPike (assigned to WYOG).

 

[Ka3sha]

Great interview with Dmitri Savin about current state of Pairs skating and his European teams

«Не остался в Америке, потому что не хотел жить в дне сурка». Наш фигурный тренер готовит европейских чемпионов

Дмитрий Савин на связи.

m.sports.ru

(it’s in Russian, hope google translate works)

 

[Karen-W]

Bavarian Open entry lists have been leaked over on Golden Skate -

senior - https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2024-bavarian-open-jan-30-feb-4.95823/post-3238607
Kucianova/Bidar CZE
Faula/Belle FRA
Smart/Mattick GBR
Salatzki/Roeseler GER
Caldara/Maglio ITA
Valesi/Piazza ITA
Nagaoka/Moriguchi JPN
Danilova/Tsiba NED
Chtchetinina/Wozniak POL

junior - https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2024-bavarian-open-jan-30-feb-4.95823/post-3238651
Debora Anna Cohen/Lukas Vochozka CZE
Ines Moudden/Alejandro Lazaro Garcia ESP
*Claudia Sinclair Scotti/Noah Quesada ESP
Louise Ehrhard/Matthis Pellegris FRA
Romane Telemaque/Lucas Coulon FRA
Aliyah Ackermann/Tobija Harms GER
*Ornella Crivolap/Linus Mager GER
Sonja Loewenherz/Robert Loewenherz GER
Anastasia Steblyanka/Lukas Gneiding GER
*Nora Marleen Rothenbuehler/Mozes Jozsef Berei HUN
Sofia Enkina/Nikita Kovalenko ISR
*Sae Shimizu/Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda JPN
Wiktoria Pacha/Szymon Derechowski POL
Nikola Sitkova/Oliver Kubacak SVK
*Audrey Park/Carter Griffin USA
Adele Zheng/Andy Deng USA

Also that week will be the Winter Youth Olympic Games - junior pairs teams entered are - https://olympics.com/gangwon-2024/en/results/figure-skating/entries-by-event-pair-skating.htm
Peyton Bellamy-Martins/Kryshtof Pradeaux AUS
Annika Behnke/Kole Sauve CAN
Carolina Shan Campillo/Pau Vilella ESP
*Cayla Smith/Jared McPike USA

* = International debut

 

[Karen-W]

Well, today was a real mixed bag at Bavarian Open in terms of teams looking for Worlds and Jr Worlds SP TES mins.

Faula/Belle did not compete and neither Kucianova/Bidar or Nagaoka/Moriguchi got the SP TES min for Worlds. NagaMori are entered for Challenge Cup so they can try again there. KucBid are listed as Res 1 on the Challenge Cup entries list so whether they get a chance to try again remains to be seen.

On the Jr side... Zheng/Deng, Enkina/Kovalenko, Rothenbuehler/Berei, Scotti/Quesada and Shimizu/Honda earned the SP TES min. EnKov are now qualified for Jr Worlds as they already had the FS min. Tomorrow we'll see if the other 4 can get the FS min. Crivolap/Mager, Steblyanka/Gneiding, and Pacha/Derechowski did not compete.

Challenge Cup entries as of 1/31 are available - https://www.schaatsen.nl/media/62100/entryl-list-cc2024_v31jan.pdf

Pairs
Index Couple Organization Org.index
1 SCHALLER Sophia / MAYR Livio AUT 1
RES 1 KUCIANOVA Barbora / BIDAR Martin CZE 2
2 VAANANEN Milania / CLERICI Filippo FIN 3
3 KOVALEV Camille / KOVALEV Pavel FRA 4
4 PIEGAD Oceane / STREKALIN Denys FRA 4
Sub FAULA Aurelie / BELLE Theo FRA 4
5 SMART Lydia / MATTICK Harry GBR 5
6 SALATZKI Katalin Janne / ROESELER Lukas GER 6
7 BECCARI Lucrezia / GUARISE Matteo ITA 7
8 CONTI Sara / MACII Niccolo ITA 7
Sub GHILARDI Rebecca / AMBROSINI Filippo ITA 7
9 MIURA Riku / KIHARA Ryuichi JPN 8
10 NAGAOKA Yuna / MORIGUCHI Sumitada JPN 8
11 DANILOVA Daria / TSIBA Michel NED 9
12 CRAFOORD Greta / CRAFOORD John SWE 10
RES 2 MARTINS Isabelle / BEDARD Ryan USA 11

Junior Pairs
Index Couple Organization Org.index
1 SCOTTI Claudia Sinclair / QUESADA Noah ESP 1
2 WOOD Zarah / LAPSKY Alex GBR 2
3 ACKERMANN Aliyah / HARMS Tobija GER 3
4 ROTHENBUEHLER Nora Marleen / BEREI Mozes Jozsef HUN 4