Australian skating news

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

AMAZING news... wasnt expecting to hear that yet!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

AMAZING news... wasnt expecting to hear that yet!

That takes quite a bit of pressure off. Usually these things are down to the absolute wire. Like Anthony Liu receiving Australian citizenship at the very last second in 1998.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Fantastic news!

 

[aussieSKATES]

Set your DVR timers.

SBS TV Australia will be airing the ISU Grand Prix Series each Saturday from 2.30 - 4.00pm. (Screening times may vary from state to state.)

Next week on October 28, the season beings with the ISU Rostelecom Cup.

 

[dinakt]

Congratulations to Katya! I am very happy for everybody involved.

 

[Seerek]

The Olympic Winter Games Institute announced that Australia's Kailani Craine has been invited to compete in the ladies' event at the ISU Grand Prix - Skate Canada International.

This does bring up an interesting scenario should Kailani finish top 8 this week in Regina, since that means at least 190 points added towards the Olympic Team Event qualification total.

 

[Marco]

I think ISA would be hard pressed NOT to nominate Kailani to the team if she helped AUS qualify a spot in both ladies and the team event.

Having said that, I think it would be very diffcult for Kailani to break top 8 given the field:

No. Name Nation
1 Kailani CRAINE AUS
2 Larkyn AUSTMAN CAN
3 Alaine CHARTRAND CAN
4 Kaetlyn OSMOND CAN
5 Laurine LECAVELIER FRA
6 Marin HONDA JPN
7 Rika HONGO JPN
8 Anna POGORILAYA RUS
9 Maria SOTSKOVA RUS
10 Karen CHEN USA
11 Courtney HICKS USA
12 Ashley WAGNER USA

Basically I think Austman is the only one whom Kailani can reasonably beat. Maybe also Rika Hongo and Laurine Lecavelier if they have a bad day and Kailani has a great day like at Nebelhorn. But even then she is 9th tops.

 

[misskarne]

This does bring up an interesting scenario should Kailani finish top 8 this week in Regina, since that means at least 190 points added towards the Olympic Team Event qualification total.

And Brendan, also.

Adding to the intrigue, I believe we're something like 42 points behind Israel in 10th...and Daniel Samohin finished dead last at CoR.

This one might come down to the wire...

 

[aussieSKATES]

Our special guest reporter at Skate Canada this week, Justin Laem, did a fantastic recap of last weekend's ISU Rostelecom Cup. He also opened his report with a short discussion about Australia's Kailani Craine.

Click below for the link to his YouTube review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5RmKe9w1O8

 

[Alilou]

Golden Skate article by Tatjana Flade about Kailani Craine. She sounds sooooo excited!

https://goldenskate.com/2017/10/kailani-craine/

 

[Marco]

The three-time Australian Champion is now looking forward to taking the next steps now that she has qualified. She is relieved that the qualification process is over and can now concentrate on improving technically. She is also working to increase the difficulty of her program with triple-triple combinations.

now that she has qualified "a spot for Australia"

Craine should be able to use the spot she earned herself, as she said that selection criteria of the Australian Olympic Committee states that after Nebelhorn Trophy, she needed to be ranked 20 world ranking spots higher than the next Australian skater to get the spot automatically. Craine is currently World No. 31, while the next Australian lady Brooklee Han is ranked 53rd.

I think she is as confused as we are, waiting for an official announcement?!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

now that she has qualified "a spot for Australia"
I think she is as confused as we are, waiting for an official announcement?!

It sounds like the decision between whom Ice Skating Australia nominates, may be played out at next month's national championships in Brisbane.

 

[Marco]

I think it is just going to complicate things if Brooklee beats Kailani at Nationals but Kailani fulfills the written criteria.

 

[misskarne]

I think it is just going to complicate things if Brooklee beats Kailani at Nationals but Kailani fulfills the written criteria.

No kidding. Not to mention my poor heart.

But it's always been the way that ISA announces teams at the banquet at Nationals. They won't announce sooner. Heck, they haven't even formally announced Brendan and he was the most 100% guarantee of the lot.

That said, I read it more as Kailani just clarifying the situation. After all, there are a lot of fans/people who seem to forget that the spots don't belong to the skater, but to the country.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

No kidding. Not to mention my poor heart.

Both skaters at their best are quite evenly matched. It may come down to the wire.

 

[Marco]

Both skaters at their best are quite evenly matched. It may come down to the wire.

Nationals was never part of the criteria though. Now I am starting to understand all the lawsuits in past Olympic team nominations.

 

[Sylvia]

This Olympic Winter Institute of Australia article on Craine and Kerry previews Skate Canada International: http://www.owia.org/figure-skating-news/grand-prix-season-beckons-for-figures-skaters

Leaving his relatively safe character performers from last season behind, Kerry has taken a more serious-minded approach to his music choices for the Olympic season with two different choreographers in Mark Pillay for the short and Nikolai Morozov for the free.
“The inspiration behind the short to ‘Everyone Wants To Rule The World’ was to just go out and do something completely different, be more serious and to play to my skating strengths.”
“The free program to Pink Floyd was Nikolai's idea and I love it because I feel as though it's super outside of the realm of skating. It's edgy and different,” Kerry said.

Brendan's FS is listed as "Valley of Dreams" by John Tesh in his ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00011398.htm
Is Pink Floyd a new program or maybe it was his first FS and he misspoke?

 

[Seerek]

I think in 2002, Stephanie Zhang was awarded the Olympic berth pretty much upon earning it at 2001 Golden Spin (Nebelhorn wasn't used that cycle). There had been a designated skate-off to determine the Golden Spin entrant at Nepela Trophy.

 

[misskarne]

Brendan's FS is listed as "Valley of Dreams" by John Tesh in his ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00011398.htm
Is Pink Floyd a new program or maybe it was his first FS and he misspoke?

Looks like it's a new FS. The music played in practice at SkCan was Pink Floyd. Didn't recognise the first part but I think there was Great Gig in the Sky in the second part.

This'll be his third FS this year. I understand striving for a great program but it's time to settle on one...

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I think in 2002, Stephanie Zhang was awarded the Olympic berth pretty much upon earning it at 2001 Golden Spin (Nebelhorn wasn't used that cycle). There had been a designated skate-off to determine the Golden Spin entrant at Nepela Trophy.

That was back when countries could send more than one skater to determine Olympic qualification.
Later that year, Zhang was beaten by Miriam Manzano at the National Championships.
Zhang still went to the Olympic Games, yet failed to qualify for the free skate.
Manzano was chosen to go to worlds, and finished an impressive 16th.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Kailani Craine skates her short program practice run through today at Skate Canada. Watch her include a killer triple loop / triple loop as the two - jump combination.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XMOOLIx2Xw

 

[Marco]

Kailani Craine's short.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2OTJIR3Pd4

Clean to the naked eye but a < on the flip and a << on the 2nd 3loop. I thought it was sensational and the << was way harsh. 54.96.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Kailani Craine's short.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2OTJIR3Pd4

Clean to the naked eye but a < on the flip and a << on the 2nd 3loop. I thought it was sensational and the << was way harsh. 54.96.

You have to wonder if Shin Amano was on the panel. Almost everyone excluding Osmond got hammered today.

 

[aussieSKATES]

Our special guest reporter at Skate Canada, Justin Laem, interviews Australia's Kailani Craine. Click below for the audio link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p0SATAiZsw&feature=youtu.be

 

[aussieSKATES]

Our special guest reporter at Skate Canada, Justin Laem, interviews Australia's Brendan Kerry. Click below for the audio link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE2YN_m4Ols&feature=youtu.be

 

[aussieSKATES]

Justin Laem, our guest reporter at the ISU GP Skate Canada International, did this fun vlog about his experiences at the event. Click below for the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLiW5YJq_So&feature=share

 

[Marco]

I thought Kailani Craine was outstanding at Skate Canada even though she did have some UR issues. Unfortunately she did not get a SB or anything close to that and with her placement, she did not help Australia get more team event quali points (neither did Brendan who landed the big tricks and then popped all the triples...)

If each of her jumps had 1/4 more turns, I think I would have Kailani around 6th, where Rika Hongo placed.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Unless Ice Skating Australia plans to clone Katia and Harley, the short and free programs for each competition are happening at almost exactly the same time.

I've just checked out the provisional timetables for the Grand Prix Series Final (where the pair are skating in the junior final) and the Australian Figure Skating Championships (where they would presumably be competing in the senior event).

Here is a link to the AFSC provisional timetable.
http://isq.org.au/uploads/AFSC 2017 - Draft Schedule Version 5.xlsx.pdf

Here is a link to the Junior and Senior Grand Prix Final timetable.
http://www.isuresults.com/schedules/gpf2017_ColouredTimeSchedule.pdf

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Maybe the AFSC's provisional timetable is for senior pairs excluding A/W? I believe Ryan Dodds may have a new partner, for example.

ETA:

Brendan Kerry is one of the 6 men invited to the inaugural figure skating portion of the ISU Shanghai Trophy in China, Nov. 24-26.

 

[jersey1302]

Wow can I just say how much I enjoyed watching Kailani skate? What a natural presence on the ice. You could feel how excited and proud she was to be there. I really liked her program and the character she played in it. So much fun to watch. Its unfortunate about the TES deductions but she clearly wasn't the only one to receive those. On closer look at those who did, Id say the judges were right about them.