Chinese Skating News, Pt. 3: A long & winding road to Beijing 2022

[skatfan]

Sui / Han have withdrawn from CoC to focus on his recovery. However, they will still go to Chongqing to train with their teammates. Cong said that their initial plan had been to have 4CC 2021 as their first competition after surgery but rushed a bit to make it to CoC since it's in China. Yet eventually they decided to take it easy and aim at long term goals.

Did you mean that originally the Grand Prix Final was to be in China in December? Because CoC is always in China.

 

[Gris]

Did you mean that originally the Grand Prix Final was to be in China in December? Because CoC is always in China.

No, but I should have worded it better. They said: '考虑到中国杯是家门口的比赛，我们之前也是想试着赶一赶。' = 'Considering CoC is held near to home, we tried to rush a bit before.'

Clip of Boyang practicing his FS to House of the Rising Sun

https://twitter.com/tenten740502/status/1323206279033200645

Clip of Han practicing his SP to A Thousand Years

https://twitter.com/tenten740502/status/1323358847147241473

(Edit: changed the links to the ones on Twitter)

 

[Japanfan]

Clip of Boyang practicing his FS to House of the Rising Sun

https://twitter.com/tenten740502/status/1323206279033200645

I think I'm going to like this program from Boyang. He's grown up and is not the goofy skater he once was. He looks to finding his own unique style.

Clip of Han practicing his SP to A Thousand Years

https://twitter.com/tenten740502/status/1323358847147241473

(Edit: changed the links to the ones on Twitter)

I could watch Han Yan do crossovers all day!

 

[Gris]

Among CoC skaters, Juwen Xu, Minzhi Jin and Angel Li's music selections are unknown

Juwen XU
SP: Bon Voyage by Vangelis; Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis
FS: En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor by ll Divo
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

Minzhi JIN
SP: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
FS: Fiamme by Roberto Cacciapagila
Choreographer: Caishu Fu

Angel LI
SP: Secrets by Jennifer Thomas
FS: Song for the Little Sparrow performed by Patricia Kaas; La terre vue du ciel by Armand Amar
Choreographer: Scott Brown

ETA:

Yuchen WANG / Yihang HUANG

SP: Go Now by Adam Levine
FS:
Never Take Off the Mask (from "The Lone Ranger" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer
The Railroad Waits for No One (from "The Lone Ranger" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer
Ride (from "The Lone Ranger" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer
Finale (from "The Lone Ranger" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer
Choreographer: Elvin Wong

 

[Gris]

Quoting myself from the PBP thread:

CoC posted on Weibo that Xinyu Liu hasn't recovered from a hand injury - he still has 10+ screws in his right hand.

Think they did very well considering this (I didn't even notice he might be injured) and hope he can heal fully soon!

Xinyu posted about his injury today with a few pictures:

Sina Visitor System

Translation of the text:

CoC has ended and it's very lucky for us to have a rare chance at an international competition. We thank the organizers for creating a safe and healthy event for us. I had surgery for my hand injury a while ago and has two plates and 11 screws in my right hand. It was only 2 months before the competition, but the doctors said I needed at least 3 months to slowly start rehab training and practicing lifts, so it's really not easy for us to make it to CoC. With an injury like this, there are much uncertainties in training. So I'm really grateful to Dr Cheng and Zhang, team doctor and rehab therapist in the National team, and our coach Patrice and his team for their help and encouragement, they made me believe I could do it. In the end, after training for 3 weeks, we accomplished this seemingly impossible task and I overcame myself. We know that since there were no international skaters, this is not a 'real' CoC gold medal, but this is an encouragement and goal for us. We will continue to work hard to win a true gold in senior Grand Prix for China. Come on!

 

[Dobre]

I finally got to see Cup of China. Too late for the play-by-play.

Thoughts:

Boyang looked very solid. I think it is to his benefit that 2022 is in China and jet lag will not be an issue there, though of course there will be the pressure of skating at home.

Peng & Jin were a class above, of course.

Yuchen Wang has such lovely arms & posture. Imagining what a top choreographer could do with Wang & Huang. There's some lovely potential there.

Chen & Sun are not The Greatest Showmen, but I did think this RD was an improvement from last year's. Her performance quality is improving. ( on going back to Umbrellas of Cherbourg; but what can you do in the middle of a pandemic an ocean away from your coaches?)

Wang & Liu were great, of course. Their Charlie Chaplin is easily my favorite program that they have ever done; and I think the back half of the FD has more impact now, though it feels like 400 years since I last saw the program.

I also like Hongyi Chen's LP.

 

[raruki]

According to some skaters, the Chinese nationals or Maybe the figure skating competitions of the National Winter Games will be held next month.

 

[raruki]

https://weibo.com/tv/show/1034:4568371476496407?from=old_pc_videoshow

Sui and Han have a new technical element, the beautiful forward outside death spiral.

 

[Sylvia]

Sui/Han article in English: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/10/c_139505278.htm

 

[Marco]

It is so great to see Yan Han skating solidly again.

 

[binbinwinwin]

Despite only competing once at 4CC this year Wenjing Sui/Han Cong have been included in Xinhua News Agency's Top 10 Sports Figures of 2020.

In February, at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, the defending champions, Chinese pair Sui/Han had an outstanding reversal in the free program to win the title.

 

[Gris]

微博

随时随地发现新鲜事！微博带你欣赏世界上每一个精彩瞬间，了解每一个幕后故事。分享你想表达的，让全世界都能听到你的心声！

m.weibo.cn

The National team is planning to have a 'team competition' between members during Jan. 1-2 and it will be broadcasted live on TV. (Link is to a Weibo post by Sui / Han's fanpage about this news)

Team A: Peng / Jin, Yudong Chen, Hengxin Jin, Wang / Liu, Xinyi Xie (Novice girl)
Team B: Boyang Jin, Hongyi Chen, Wang / Huang, Chen / Sun, Yihan Wang (Novice girl)

Wenjing and Cong won't skate but will be commentaters.

TV Schedule:

Jan. 1 16:25 Dance RD, Ladies SP
17:40 Men SP, Pairs SP

Jan. 2 15:30 Ladies FS, Men FS

 

[BittyBug]

@Gris why no Han Yan in the team competition?

 

[Gris]

@Gris why no Han Yan in the team competition?

Probably because he isn't in (Hongbo Zhao's) National team. There were some discussions about what happened between them starting from page 28 of this thread after Han not being on the entry list of Montreal Worlds.

 

[BittyBug]

Because he isn't in (Hongbo Zhao's) National team. There were some discussions about what happened between them starting from page 28 of this thread after Han not being on the entry list of Montreal Worlds.

Thank you. Like much of 2020, I had completely erased that from my memory.

I just don't understand how / why Han Yan gets such short shrift given his talent. I could watch him skate all day.

 

[Gris]

Good news from Han Yan - He posted yesterday that he was doing SP choreography. Hoping for a new program!

(Someone in the comments said he was doing video call with Yuka Sato but I can't tell)

 

[Sylvia]

I just came across this interview with Shan (Ashley) LIN after her international debut for China at Skate America:

Shan Lin Makes Strong Grand Prix Debut at Skate America | SkatingChina

Having represented the U.S. internationally on the Junior Grand Prix circuit and in the ISU Challenger Series, Shan Lin had to sit out of the last competitive season after switching to represent China.

skatingchina.com

 

[Sylvia]

Wenjing and Cong won't skate but will be commentaters.

TV Schedule:

Jan. 1 16:25 Dance RD, Ladies SP
17:40 Men SP, Pairs SP

Jan. 2 15:30 Ladies FS, Men FS

Can you post a link to watch please if the stream is not geoblocked?

 

[cgirl8]

Can you post a link to watch please if the stream is not geoblocked?

SYWTWFS has a post with the currently available information https://soyouwanttowatchfs.com/post/639046522319831040/2021-chinese-national-team-competition-info

 

[Gris]

This link posted by SYWTWFS is non-geoblocked. (15s ad at the beginning)

A back up link

 

[Gris]

Scores for RD/SP:

Team Sharp Blades (Captain: Han Cong, 'Team A' in post #972):

Wang / Liu 83.09
Xinyi Xie 37.08 (14-year-old, Music: Rain, In Your Black Eyes)
Hengxin Jin 65.44 (New SP music: Sinus Iridium & Mare Undarum by Karl Jenkins. She is a lot taller than last year and was wearing Hongyi's W.E. program dress)
Yudong Chen 84.46
Peng / Jin 79.37

Team Elite (Captain: Wenjing Sui, 'Team B' in post #972):

Chen / Sun 78.16
Yihan Wang 41.64 (10-year-old, Music: A weird cover of Shape of You & Perfect)
Hongyi Chen 68.08
Boyang Jin 90.35
Wang / Huang 66.26

Wenjing and Cong were very cute cheering for their teammates in the K&C but I didn't hear their commentary...

ETA: I think this rewatch link is not geoblocked and the competition starts around 14 min.

 

[Sylvia]

...
Wang / Liu 83.09
...
Peng / Jin 79.37
...
Boyang Jin 90.35

Thanks a lot! These 3 videos have been uploaded to YT:
W/L's Charlie Chaplin RD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV3KNrW9WT4
P/J's Somewhere in Time SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEdCRiC5TZM
Boyang's SP to Trio 1 in D/Mechanisms by Kirill Richter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHBRHFK2gWs

 

[haribobo]

Thanks for posting!! Since my brain cannot process results unless they are within the same discipline, I redistributed them!

DANCE
Wang / Liu 83.09
Chen / Sun 78.16

PAIRS
Peng / Jin 79.37
Wang / Huang 66.26

MEN
Boyang Jin 90.35
Yudong Chen 84.46

LADIES
Hongyi Chen 68.08
Hengxin Jin 65.44
(leaving out the young ones)

 

[Gris]

Scores for FS/FD:

Wang / Liu 122.62
Chen / Sun 114.70

Yihan Wang 71.35 (Music: Soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire)
Xinyi Xie 71.48 (Music: The Fire Within)

Hengxin Jin 110.87 (New FS music: Soundtrack of Pocahontas)
Hongyi Chen 118.27

Boyang Jin 166.86 (After finishing he first went to backstage to rest and joined his teammates in K&C later - Wenjing said in yesterday's interview that he was feeling unwell)
Yudong Chen 156.32

Wang / Huang 118.35
Peng / Jin 144.65

Total
Team Sharp Blades: 955.38
Team Elite: 934.02

 

[Gris]

Videos I've found on Bilibili (many thanks to the uploader!), in addition to @Sylvia's post #982.

Edit: Videos from day 2 added

Yudong Chen SP FS
Hongyi Chen SP FS
Wang / Huang SP FS
Hengxin Jin SP FS
Yihan Wang SP FS
Chen / Sun RD FD
Xinyi Xie SP FS
Peng / Jin FS
Wang / Liu FD
Boyang Jin FS
Award ceremony (With a group dance by the winning team! )

 

[Sylvia]

Thanks a lot, @Gris!

Same person from before has uploaded 5 videos to YT:

Wang / Liu 122.62 (FD) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99uoFHMOkJo

Hongyi Chen 118.27 (FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4BfGGGUio8

Boyang Jin 166.86 (FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdm3k2wROog
Yudong Chen 156.32 (FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6R0YRBotkw

Peng / Jin 144.65 (FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GphF9Xi6QN8

 

[Japanfan]

Boyang Jin 166.86 (FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdm3k2wROog

Okay, a rough skate for Boyang. But he gave it his all. I can see he is trying to develop the style he explore with 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. I think it does work for him. He is not a particularly graceful or lyrical skater, but I find he does have a certain sensitivity to the music and this this genre works for him much as rock'n'roll worked for Kevin Reyonlds. For lack of a better word, there is a certain innocence to Boyang's skating. He's exuberant, he's committed, but he's not polished nor refined or much of an artiste. But there is authenticity there, and I can feel him reaching out to touch the music and draw it in to his performance.

I think Boyang could do well with this program given lots of more mileage. It has potential as an Olympic program, actually - such an iconic and evocative song. And I think Boyang gets it, as he did 'My Guitar' - in way he never would with classical music.

Goodness, I me some Boing Boing (Kurt Browning's nickname for Boyang).

 

[Gris]

For what it's worth...

On Jan 29th CFSA released an announcement for Worlds selection. (2 Men, 1 Lady, 3 Pairs, 1 Dance and 1 alternate for each discipline)

Criteria: Those who have finished in top 6 at Olympics, WC or 4CC or top 3 at Asian Winter Games in the past 4 seasons would qualify directly if they apply (for Pairs and Dance both partners need to meet this). Others need to have their programs officially recorded on Feb 8 and 9th.

There are also minimum TES requirements for this selection only. (The announcement specifically said that skaters still need to meet ISU's final requirement for Worlds to actually go.)

MTS for this selection: Men 27/51, Ladies 24/41, Pairs 22/35, Dance 26/38, all of which are lower than the ones for Worlds and can be obtained at both international and domestic competitions in the past 2 seasons.

 

[Sylvia]

Pascal Denis has traveled to Beijing to work with the 2 Chinese IAM ice dance teams (Wang/Liu, Chen/Sun) there: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKxKfblsL_0/

 

[Marco]

Pascal Denis has traveled to Beijing to work with the 2 Chinese IAM ice dance teams (Wang/Liu, Chen/Sun) there: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKxKfblsL_0/

Team medal on the line...