2025 Cup of China Womens SP PBP - Don't Let Me Be Ms UR

Glenn's first half is all business. The telegraphing into the 3axel is extra pronounced, especially after seeing Nakai's seamless integration last week of the same element. And the step sequence really crawled compared to this group, far closer to what Gubanova was giving than the rest.

This really lacked energy to me, and the ice coverage was poor. This program can be such a moment, but the ending just kind of dies IMO.
 
Glenn's first half is all business. The telegraphing into the 3axel is extra pronounced, especially after seeing Nakai's seamless integration last week of the same element. And the step sequence really crawled compared to this group, far closer to what Gubanova was giving than the rest of this group.

This really lacked energy to me, and the ice coverage was poor. This program can be such a moment, but the ending just kind of dies IMO.
Yea nothing has changed it is still ends pretty meh.
 
Rino’s skating skills are off the charts! I love her so much but I wish her short program wasn’t just a condensed version of last year’s free.
 
What were the two extra elements on Gubanova's protocol? She has 9 listed, instead of the usual 7. It's like the old ID days where they did extra lifts or something at the end that were marked but given no base value or level.
 
Amber looked really slow today and didn’t sell that nearly as much as at Nebelhorn.

Tech panel seemed to be looking the other way at a lot of things today.

Happy to see Alysa go back to this program. It’s beautiful. But i still think going for that 3Z+3L is probably not a good idea. Especially in the second half. We’ll see how that gets evaluated at other competitions.
 
Give Yoshida the PCS just for being fun and quirky. Great follow up to Koo koo fun (or whatever that SP was). Kill Bill is a great choice. Now to change this perk into vengeful perk. :lol:
I had a friend call me while the event was on. We are both Tarantino fans but he doesn't care for skating. And Kill Bill is one of my favourite Tarantino movies. And also I have just booked a trip to Japan next year which flies to Okinawa as part of the tour which is where The Bride goes to see Hatari Hanso to get the samurai sword. And last year for my birthday this friend gave me a Hatori Hanso t-shirt. However during the warm up I did get excited and had to tell him about the yellow outfit and that she might be skating to Kill Bill. And then during the program I gave him a commentary about which selections of the music she used.

Sorry I digress with my six degrees of Kill Bill but I was just so excited about skater doing a Kill Bill program wearing a version of Uma Thurman's yellow outfit which I have been dying to see for years. And couldn't be more appropriate it was a Japanese skater doing it seeing that scene was set in Japan. All it needed was a samurai sword but that would be a bit risky.
 
Veeeery chill panel today unless your name is Hana Yoshida.

This thread title is GOLD lol

Liu - pure delight. Happy she went for and mostly nailed the big combo in the second half. She should really just hold on to this short for the rest of the season. Thrilled she's in first.

Watanabe - yay, 3A! Her sort of toe-axely toe in the combo annoys me but otherwise great skate.

Glenn - love her 3A but that long circle she takes into it is a buzzkill. Looked tight today but got the job done. Better a mistake here where she doesn't really need a huge score than at the big O.

Shin - getting Sasha Cohen vibes from her where she can't not make a mistake. Her presentation is still very surface but she has the basics to blossom in the next quad.

Gubanova - seemed a little stiff compared to previous competitions but did well. She's struggled with spin levels throughout her whole career. Not sure why that isn't being addressed more aggressively since that should be an easy fix for her.

Rino - love her and hope to see her grow over the next 4 years.

Haein - good skate for her.

Zhu - pleasant nice skater. Glad she went clean.

Anna - really don't like her technique - tendency to swing into a delayed, sluggish rotation with a sloppy air position and a lean. If she was with someone like Raf her jumps would be so EPIC. Lucky she avoided a < on the flip because in all fairness she probably should have been last here. That music is unlistenable. I can tolerate a lot but I think I'm going to have to mute the next time she skates this one.

Zhang - cute and great combo!

Yoshida - UGH. love her so much and sad to see her in last place with a clean-ish short. I feel like she didn't use to have such chronic rotation issues on her jumps. But still, she and this program especially are da b o m b.
 
There are so many really good women skaters right now, is my reaction to the SP.

Japan: holy hell, these three talents are competing with Ami and Rion for what is probably one spot on the team. Rino is my sentimental favorite but I doubt her jumps are consistent enough. It’s not worth investing too much emotion is any of them given the odds.

Korea: was Lee always prone to URs? I’d rather she and Kim go to Milan and give Jia more time to develop as a senior. Clearly talented and clearly nervous in the big stage.

USA: oh Amber, even my cat knows I’ll be yelling at you at some point. Program needs more oomph at the end but she looks determined and ready.

Alysa, just keep the SP. it’s still magical.

Everyone else: Guba looks a bit old and haggard at the moment, the pressure from Georgia given the TE possibilities must be tough. And I keep forgetting Anna is only 18, I’m glad Lara is the number one and protecting her from the same kind of pressure.
 
Finally saw all the women I missed because I fell asleep (very necessary, otherwise I'd be dragging here at work this morning, lol). I'll read through the pbp comments from everyone else after I share mine:

Zhu – nice enough program – can she win the Oly spot and try to redeem herself with the Chinese people this year?

Matsuike – pleasant enough – there’s just not a lot to say about her.

Pezzetta – bit hunched on the landing of her combo; shame about the fall – this delay in Chris’ audio is a real trip, lol; lovely enough but she’s going to make it easy for Lara Naki to earn that Oly spot.

Shin – sooooooo bland & cookie-cutter; better than last week, so there is that, but what I would give for the KSU to let their women show a little bit of diversity in their styles on ice. Why is she in the lead?

Lee – a slightly more mature version of Shin at this point; I do appreciate the commitment to every step and move in this step seq though – and I’m laughing right along with her at the audacity of that closing pose right in the judges’ faces. Don’t agree with her being behind Jia, especially with Jia’s obvious error on her combo.

Watanabe – this is another program repeat, right? Well, okay, then 3a landed, though I’m not sure on that rotation in real time; she’s very pumped about that skate and all I’m thinking about is how much I hate “Tango de Roxanne” and wish there was a permanent moratorium on its use in FS.

Liu – I mean, if the tech panel isn’t going to call the rotation on that 3lz+3lo, then I guess, lol. I’ll admit, this is one of the few repeat programs that I’m not upset about. It is just magic.

Yoshida – I love her quirkiness. Ehhhh – that combo though… She’s by far the most interesting Japanese woman after Kaori, so it’s a real shame she’s pretty much got no chance of making their Oly team.

Gubanova – well, that was better than what I’ve come to expect from her at any GP, though she definitely seemed to tire as the program wore on. She was better at both Skate to Milano & Trialeti, IMO.

Glenn – that was some ice on the landing of that 3a, but we know this tech panel’s game today, sooooo… Oy, and of course, hand down on the next jumping pass. At least she’s fixed her mental game enough to not let the hand down ruin the rest of the program.

This tech panel was pretty lenient today based on all that Chris was commenting during the replays – and I can’t really disagree with him. There were some pretty generous non-calls throughout.

All in all, a pretty well-skated event from all 11 women. Hope they can bring it again tomorrow.
 
Thank you everyone for PBP! I'm still catching up but WOW! ALL the ladies went 60+! I can't wait to watch the replays!

As to Alysa's combo (gutsy to add it, and in the bonus no less!) Jackie Wong said on Rocker podcast that he felt that she landed it and feels that even a Q call would be harsh. Paraphrasing, he explained something along the lines of Alysa landing it parallel to the longways side of the rink, THEN she hooked it around on the short side of the rink 'to save it'.


It will be interesting to zoom in on it later when I get a minute and watch it on slo-mo!

I am THRILLED that Amber landed her 3A! Yes, she takes a long entry into it, but it's STILL a 3A and she's scored big with it when she lands it!
 
Overall a great day for the women.

Alyssa skated with such confidence and maturity, and I felt brought even deeper performance skill than all of last season.

Rinka was incredible and fiery and wonderfully dramatic. After the 3A her confidence seemed to grow even stronger. No offense to the GPdF champ, but Rinka brings the tech and maturity I'm craving.

Amber, Amber, Amber, being SO close to leading after the hand down on the 3T in the combo just shows the judges WANT to go with you. Relax and believe in your technique, gal! :drama:

Also noted that we started with Madonna, and Florence and the Machine and Freddie Mercury also popped up in the first group. Why we are getting so many hideous covers in FS makes me think maybe there's some laziness in even trying to get rights clearances. 🤔
 
I had a friend call me while the event was on. We are both Tarantino fans but he doesn't care for skating. And Kill Bill is one of my favourite Tarantino movies. And also I have just booked a trip to Japan next year which flies to Okinawa as part of the tour which is where The Bride goes to see Hatari Hanso to get the samurai sword. And last year for my birthday this friend gave me a Hatori Hanso t-shirt. However during the warm up I did get excited and had to tell him about the yellow outfit and that she might be skating to Kill Bill. And then during the program I gave him a commentary about which selections of the music she used.

Sorry I digress with my six degrees of Kill Bill but I was just so excited about skater doing a Kill Bill program wearing a version of Uma Thurman's yellow outfit which I have been dying to see for years. And couldn't be more appropriate it was a Japanese skater doing it seeing that scene was set in Japan. All it needed was a samurai sword but that would be a bit risky.
I definitely recommend watching Akiko Suzuki’s Kill Bill SP. I never saw the movie but loved the program.

Do not like how Gubanova uses her arms to wrench her jumps around. Just asking for a back injury.
 
I've just been catching up on all the stuff I missed, and wow, Rinka's SP was so powerful and compelling. Makes me really glad she was able to hang on to medal even with a rough free, because that short deserved it.
 
Do not like how Gubanova uses her arms to wrench her jumps around. Just asking for a back injury.
You are spot on. I really noticed during the event her technique compared to the Japanese and Alyssa. I wasn't quite picking up on why it didn't look right but she certainly doesn't have the ease of technique that makes the jumps look effortless. Now that you mention that makes sense. It is muscling through and always worries me when I see skaters do that.

And while I am posting really wanted to compliment Alyssa. That SP is gorgeous and she looks like she loves skating. As well as Kaori they both bring so much joy to the ice. It is not hard work to watch them. You go along for the journey.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top