2024 Warsaw Cup Pairs SP & FS

[Belsornia]

So, Gabbie fell on both her throws and yet she and Luc are going to be in 1st by almost 5 points at the end of this first group. And that was with them being down by about 5 points from the SP from the last team in this group.

Singles skating skills more than making up for 2 twist, base level death spiral and splats on both throws. (To be fair, great synchronicity on the SBS 3lutz, and lifts were fine.)

You’d never think Martin Bidar was a junior world champion from the way he’s skating now. That was painful.

 

[Karen-W]

Singles skating skills more than making up for 2 twist, base level death spiral and splats on both throws. (To be fair, great synchronicity on the SBS 3lutz, and lifts were fine.)

You’d never think Martin Bidar was a junior world champion from the way he’s skating now. That was painful.

Well, it's not as though Faula/Belle or Gunnarsdottir/Piazza were lighting it up with their pairs skills, otherwise they'd have easily beaten Izzo/Maierhofer, even with their own jumping pass issues.

I really don't understand the KucBid partnership - he/his dad broke up a promising junior pair so that he could skate with her, but she was not so promising as to be a surefire upgrade to Zukova - and has turned out to be worse, to be honest.

 

[tony]

Failed lift to even try to go up, try 2 seconds later and it immediately comes down. Good grief. The first attempt probably took up the lift block as it was.

 

[Kateri]

The first attempt probably took up the lift block as it was.

Interesting point. Oh dear...

 

[Karen-W]

McIntosh/Zandron need a lot more time. I'm not sure they were really competition ready with the short amount of time they've had to train together. We'll see what the protocols tell us in a couple of weeks at Golden Spin (let's be real, no one believes we're getting a stream for that Challenger, right?).

 

[tony]

What am I watching at this point? Terrifying competition.

 

[Karen-W]

Wow. This was a real disaster for EhrPel - not just a lift fail but also an aborted death spiral. They may finish below Faula/Belle, which would be quite an accomplishment.

 

[Karen-W]

What am I watching at this point? Terrifying competition.

Well, the new teams are a bit of a blank slate in terms of our expectations, but the seasoned teams in these first two groups and their SP scores should have warned you off of tuning in until at least the second half of the FS, lol.

 

[Karen-W]

CalMag - all of their elements are so clunky - they make pairs skating look even harder than we know it is. I'd actually have them below both KucBid and IzzoMai, but they had a decent lead on both, so it will be close.

 

[Karen-W]

Where's @AngieNikodinovLove (ANL) for MarBed?

 

[Karen-W]

Oy. They are still struggling as ever with their lifts. I'm not sure they'll beat Digerness/Sadusky at Nats, the way they're looking this month. We'll have to see what the protocols say after Golden Spin in a couple weeks.

 

[Karen-W]

RoSchu - oh, yay, a GOT program. Sigh. The problem with most GOT programs is they invariably choose the slower pieces from the soundtrack and they do nothing to convey the energy or inherent drama from the original. Well, that got better as it went along. We finally have a second team after IzzoMai to possibly break the 50 point barrier on TES if it holds up on review.

ETA - it didn't.

I'm really praying that DanTsi and HoliDar can bring the level of skating up significantly.

 

[Belsornia]

Scary lifts from Danilova/Tsiba today.

 

[Karen-W]

DanTsi - now the real battle for bronze begins, of course that means Michel doubles his 3s, and they both had issues on their SBS 2a+1a+a; her throws are both sublime though. They're completely gassed here at the end, but this will easily keep them in the medal conversation.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Danilova/Tsiba's program felt 10 minutes long.

I kept envisioning a synchro program, or a group finale with breakout solos. The music is way too big for them.

 

[Karen-W]

HoliDar - I'm pretty sure these are new costumes from their JGP earlier? Which would make sense since the program lengths are different, etc. Struggles on both SBS jumping passes, but the 3tw was nice. Can they be any slower going into the pairs combo spin to end here?

 

[Belsornia]

Holichenko/Darenskyi - I think SBS 3 flip was the new element the commentator was trailing, but very messy today.

 

[Belsornia]

Bombardier/Mimar - I hate his tacked down funeral tie. Good throws. Lifts looked secure but his footwork was a bit sketchy.

 

[Karen-W]

BoMim - First La La Land program of the season that I can recall. Good start with the solo SBS jumps and first throw but then he botches the SBS combo. That was pretty decent given how new they are. I think they're going to be just shy of the Worlds CTES min, but they'll easily get the 4CCs CTES.

ETA - ooooo - they JUST managed the Worlds CTES min by .17!

 

[honey]

Well that was almost delightful from Bombardier and Mimar. There were moments of nice choreo and some performance.

Their newness is of course on display, but here is some potential.

What I really hope is that every single day, someone is working on their line, posture and details. Because it’s good for now, but we’ve all seen the story before where those things get ignored and never get better. The technical side is strong already and that’s half the battle. Please someone make sure to get them to that next level, because the potential indicates they could be very, very good.

 

[Belsornia]

I’m so impressed by Tom Bouvart’s improvement. This is a totally different skater from the guy who had to do all the lifts first to survive when he was skating with Colline Keriven.

 

[Marta24]

I like this Swiss team. Not bad for a new team.

 

[Karen-W]

VouBou - I didn't watch their FS from NRW last week, so this is my first time seeing it. WTF is this music and these costumes? Bit more of a struggle on the jumping elements today for them. I think they're going to wind up just being nipped for bronze by BoMim, but they'll have another chance to improve their SB in a couple weeks at Golden Spin.

 

[honey]

Very solid base of elements for the Swiss. The twist especially was very well done.

 

[Karen-W]

I’m so impressed by Tom Bouvart’s improvement. This is a totally different skater from the guy who had to do all the lifts first to survive when he was skating with Colline Keriven.

That was one of my takeaways too. He is so much more confident over his blades on the lifts than he was with Coline.

 

[Karen-W]

VLDigs - just a bit off their A-game so far. Nothing so bad to knock them off the podium, but not enough to beat MetBeru unless they have a REALLY bad skate.

 

[Kateri]

"Almost perfectly clean"???? She did not watch the same skate I did...

 

[Belsornia]

Vaipan-Law/Digby - I don’t love this programme but props to Mark Hanretty for giving them choreo with space to breathe so things don’t snowball after a mistake. First lift was a bit sketch, only level 3. Ana looks so happy this season!

Invalid lift? Not sure why.

 

[Kateri]

Invalid lift? Not sure why.

He never got his arms locked out, I don't think.

 

[honey]

He never got his arms locked out, I don't think.

They got the lift added back in the end.