Australian skating news

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

2017 Four Continents Championships results:

From what I can tell, Kailani Craine's combined TES in her two best international competitions -- 2016 CS Warsaw Cup (85.30) & Volvo Cup (76.03) = 161.33 -- is higher than Brooklee Han's 2017 4CC (79.95) & 2016 CS Golden Spin (66.83) = 146.78.

Two good skaters, but man, sometimes it is like throwing a blanket over them trying to choose who gets to skate at worlds, and ultimately, will qualify Australia an Olympic berth for next year without having to go through the torture of Olympic qualifying competition later this year.

Good to see Brooklee return to her best form in Gangneung, and smash her personal best free skating score, too.

If Craine is indeed going to Helsinki, she will need to be perfect in the short program to have a shot at the top 24. On top of what I am guessing will be an early draw, that means going for everything (triple flip/triple loop) and the triple lutz out of steps.

 

[misskarne]

*unhappy face* Can't we send them both? Pretty please?

 

[Marco]

Oh so Kailani still has Asian Winter Games to compete at before Worlds. I suppose this won't hurt her nomination. Keeping my fingers crossed for her.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting from another thread and replying here:

Katia and Harley will also be at Junior Worlds, as well as Senior Worlds. Harley doesn't turn 21 until October this year, so he and Katia can do JGP again (and there's a big incentive this season with JGP Brisbane on the cards). They could qualify for the JGPF again.

That's good for them - given how few senior level pairs teams there are, if could gain enough points maybe they'll pick up a Senior Pairs Grand Prix slot.

@skatingguy, pairs are no longer allowed to compete on both and Junior and Senior Grand Prix in the same season.

This Alexandrovskaya/Windsor article before 4CC mentions he is dealing with a knee injury: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/spo...s/news-story/620b2dae5468fa3577dcdf704ccabff4

As well as the challenge of competing in open competition, Windsor is managing an injury, after tearing his patella tendon last month.
But he said they had been able to work around it in training and was confident it would not prevent them from performing this week.
“We’ve managed our workload on the ice and we’re trying not to overdo it,’’ he said. “I can do everything, it’s just if I do it repetitively it starts to get irritated.’’

On practicing a Senior FS that's 30 seconds longer:

“It doesn’t sound like much but it makes a big difference,’’ Windsor said. “It’s hard and it’s tiring. Hopefully we can do well and then we have junior worlds (next month in Taipei) and hopefully it will make our junior program feel a lot easier.’’
Their coaches Andrei and Galina Pachin believe they can contend for a medal at the junior titles and then carry that momentum into the senior world championships two weeks later, where they will have the chance to secure a place at the Olympics.

 

[skatingguy]

Thanks, forgot about that.

 

[misskarne]

Harley has a torn patella tendon and still skated that well?!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

ISA has announced which skaters they are sending to the World Championships in Helsinki next month.

Men's Singles / Brendan Kerry
Ladies' Singles / Kailani Craine
Pairs / Alexandrovskaya & Windsor

Dance is subject to Morrison & Rokachev obtaining the minimum TES in time.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

According to Wikipedia, the JGP in Brisbane may or may not be featuring pairs. :-(

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISU_Junior_Grand_Prix_in_Australia

 

[Marco]

ISA has announced which skaters they are sending to the World Championships in Helsinki next month.

Men's Singles / Brendan Kerry
Ladies' Singles / Kailani Craine
Pairs / Alexandrovskaya & Windsor

Dance is subject to Morrison & Rokachev obtaining the minimum TES in time.

 

[Sylvia]

According to Wikipedia, the JGP in Brisbane may or may not be featuring pairs. :-(

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISU_Junior_Grand_Prix_in_Australia

@essence_of_soy, 4 of the 7 JGPs usually include pairs - here's the initial list as published by the ISU in October 2016: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/in...7-18-locations-preliminary-information.99646/

These are the 4 JGPs with pairs:
3) Riga, Latvia September 4-10, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
4) Minsk, Belarus September 18-24, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
5) Zagreb, Croatia September 25-October 1, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
6) Gdansk, Poland October 2-8, 2017 (including Pair Skating)

Had Australia known how successful Alexandrovskaya/Windsor would become so quickly, maybe the fed. would have offered to include pairs in their bid?

 

[misskarne]

I wonder if we can change the bid now, now that we know?

 

[greenapple]

Given that Alexandrovskaya/Windsor are aiming to compete at the Olympic Games in 2018, they would not be skating in the junior ranks next season in any case. They need to hone their skills in the senior ranks going forward.

 

[Sylvia]

Team Australia results/scores from the Asian Winter Games:

5th KERRY Brendan AUS 82.74(5) 154.63(6) 237.37 (total)
Articles:
http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/kerry-skates-to-a-new-personal-best
http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/kerry-keeping-on
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/02/26/aussie-skater-track-second-olympics

5th CRAINE Kailani AUS 55.02(5) 99.39(5) 154.41

6th FRIEND Matilda / BADAOUI William AUS 42.56(6) 63.42(6) 105.98

7th STEPHENS Paris / DODDS Matthew AUS 29.52(7) 62.38(7) 91.90

Craine & Stephens/Dodds article: http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/fifth-for-craine-at-asian-winter-games

Team Australia entries for Junior Worlds (Feb. 15-19, 2017 in Taipei):
Holly HARRIS ( sub: Amelia Scarlett JACKSON )
James MIN ( sub: Charlton DOHERTY )
Ekaterina ALEXANDROVSKAYA / Harley WINDSOR
Matilda FRIEND / William BADAOUI

Article about Friend/Badaoui that was published before Four Continents: http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/hard-yards-pays-dividends-for-young-ice-dance-team

 

[misskarne]

Thanks for those articles, Sylvia!

This quote from the SBS one actually sums up what I was thinking about earlier in the season:

Kerry says he's in a "one hundred per cent better place" to compete at an Olympics than he was three years ago.

"Last time was my first time moving overseas, I had my first girlfriend, I was finishing my HSC," he told AAP.

"Now training comes first."

Last time, he wasn't ready, not really. This time, he's ready. He will be ready.

 

[Aussie Willy]

@essence_of_soy, 4 of the 7 JGPs usually include pairs - here's the initial list as published by the ISU in October 2016: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/in...7-18-locations-preliminary-information.99646/

These are the 4 JGPs with pairs:
3) Riga, Latvia September 4-10, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
4) Minsk, Belarus September 18-24, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
5) Zagreb, Croatia September 25-October 1, 2017 (including Pair Skating)
6) Gdansk, Poland October 2-8, 2017 (including Pair Skating)

Had Australia known how successful Alexandrovskaya/Windsor would become so quickly, maybe the fed. would have offered to include pairs in their bid?

I would think it is about time and cost why you wouldn't host pairs. And I don't think it is ISA that picks up the tab although they would contribute something. Ice Skating Queensland would be financing most of it. Someone else might know more.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

I would think it is about time and cost why you wouldn't host pairs. And I don't think it is ISA that picks up the tab although they would contribute something. Ice Skating Queensland would be financing most of it. Someone else might know more.

That would be a shame, and a bit of a sad reason not to include pairs at every Junior Grand Prix event.

It is definitely the one discipline where it would be good to encourage and build numbers. Especially with Katia and Harley becoming such an unexpected yet delightful success story, seeing that it is possible for Australia to be competitive on the world stage.

Having been to the JGP of Brisbane in 2011, it was one of the few Junior Grand Prix Series competitions that was sold out. There were a lot of pre - teen kids there with their parents and as they say, visibility generates interest.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Well it is not only the cost. The event is run by volunteers. Running an event like that is exhausting. And most of those people would be taking time off work to run the event.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Well it is not only the cost. The event is run by volunteers. Running an event like that is exhausting. And most of those people would be taking time off work to run the event.

What a nice competition to give to Australian skating fans. Speaking from personal experience, helping put together any kind of event is a massive amount of work.

Given the communal structure attached to the organisation, it is even more impressive how well a small, volunteer - run federation like Ice Skating Australia has done on the international stage.

 

[aussieSKATES]

Below are some links to two new sites we recently built.

The Dodds Squad Page

The Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya & Harley Windsor Page

Below are some links to some upcoming event previews.

2017 World Junior Championships

2017 World Championships

aussieSKATES will also be on site in Helsinki at the Hartwall Arena and behind the scenes in the press centre, covering the 2017 World Championships on our Facebook Page. Click here for the link.

 

[Sylvia]

Team Australia entries for Junior Worlds (Feb. 15-19, 2017 in Taipei):
Holly HARRIS ( sub: Amelia Scarlett JACKSON )
James MIN ( sub: Charlton DOHERTY )
Ekaterina ALEXANDROVSKAYA / Harley WINDSOR
Matilda FRIEND / William BADAOUI

Holly Harris' ISU bio has been updated for Jr. Worlds and Tom Zakrajsek is listed as her coach now (used to be Christy Krall).

 

[Chemistry66]

I'm excited to see Australia apparently taking advantage of ISU developmental opportunities.

I was watching videos from this Australian Youtuber family (the channel is LuckyFortune8Family)

One of the kids, Shesscintle, is 9 and a budding pairs skater. She and her partner Lachlan apparently placed second in Basic Novice Pairs at the Australian FS Championships this year, by a small margin. Apparently ISA is sending the team to a ISU Pairs Developmental seminar in Berlin, in April. (Though apparently the mom has to go along because the girl is so young)

 

[Aussie Willy]

I saw Shesscintle and Lachlan at Australian Nationals. They were very cute but also quite entertaining and I enjoyed watching them very much. They certainly have a future if they stay together.

 

[Chemistry66]

I saw Shesscintle and Lachlan at Australian Nationals. They were very cute but also quite entertaining and I enjoyed watching them very much. They certainly have a future if they stay together.

That's great to hear. I remember thinking she had potential when she skated with her brother the year before, and that it was sad that he didn't want to continue skating. Glad she found a new partner!

It's especially interesting to watch after seeing a bunch of her early skating videos on the channel. Shows how much she's improved in such a short time. Also makes me realize just how much effort goes into even the most basic skating moves - stuff that looks easy to a fan's eye but is really a lot more difficult if you actually try it yourself.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Most certainly. And I think pairs is one of the most difficult to achieve a good standard with. Everything has to be very clean and precise and the risk is the most dangerous out of the disciplines.

 

[insideedgeua]

Yes, Holly switched to Tom in January.

 

[Princessroja]

Oh dear, I don't find that good news about Holly switching. I haven't been impressed with Tom's other results recently. I hope it either works for her or if it doesn't, she quickly finds a new home.

 

[Sylvia]

HISTORIC WIN / PAIRS GOLD MEDAL at Junior Worlds by Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovskaya & Harley Windsor!!!

1 Ekaterina ALEXANDROVSKAYA / Harley WINDSOR

AUS 163.98 3 2
ISU personal bests in SP (59.82), FS (104.16) & Total! On to Helsinki!!

Team Australia preview published before Junior Worlds: http://corporate.olympics.com.au/news/figure-skaters-prepare-for-world-junior-titles

Holly HARRIS qualified for the FS on Saturday (48.24), new ISU PB & 20th of 44 in SP, and will skate #4.

ETA:

James MIN set a new ISU personal best score in the SP (53.72) for 29th place out of 45 men.

Matilda FRIEND / William BADAOUI finished 25th of 31 ice dance teams -- 40.24 is their new ISU PB for the SD.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Amazing news. I hope they get some coverage in the mainstream media for this as well. And it will probably encourage other skaters to think about pairs skating as well.

All our skaters have done really well at JWC. Well done to them all.

 

[kwanfan1818]

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

First time popping in this thread!

Ive been wondering... does Australia have a shot of getting the final spot into the team Event at Olys next year? Or is the momentum for Korea? Or Italy.

I was just wondering with Kerry, Craine, Ekat & Harley and a dance team (Friend & Badaoui?) will they have high enough scores soon to get a spot into the team event???

Although if Ekat & Harley had to do the SP and free in team and then again the SP and Free immediately after for pairs that would be way taxing.

(added later) Does Ekat have citizenship?