Finlandia Trophy 2025 Pairs SP-"Hard Flop Hallelujah"

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

It's so heartwarming to see the tradition of great Chinese pairs living on: these spins were awful

 

[Firedancer]

They really could have been skating to anything

 

[Hanna]

The Chinese pair is SURPRISINGLY slow live.

 

[Karen-W]

Bandit's timing is impeccable. It's like she has a sixth sense as to whenever there is pairs skating on my television.

ZhaHua - huge 3tw; SBS 3t - gorgeous; throw 3f - bit skiddy on the landing but it was huge; SBS spins - messy & out-of-synch; step seq - nice speed and I don't mind their cartwheels; lift - great exit into the BODS.

 

[skatingguy]

Jiazuan Zhang/Yihang Huang
Coach: Yang Ding, Jiayuan Du
Music: Nemesis by Benjamin Clementine

Triple Twist 3
3T
Throw 3F - poor landing position, lack of flow/speed
Flying Change Foot Combo Spin 1 (1V after review) - Jiazuan's flying entry was poor, and had difficulty maintaining speed in opening camel position
Step Sequence 2
Reverse Lasso Lift 4
Back Inside Death Spiral 2

Not quite the quality we saw earlier in the season, and maybe a bit of nerves showing.

62.42 = 1st Place

 

[Aceon6]

It's so heartwarming to see the tradition of great Chinese pairs living on: these spins were awful

For a few seasons, I thought that “Chinese skaters can’t spin” was long behind them, but I see that it’s back with a vengeance.

 

[thvu]

This was not nearly as good as Cup of China. Awesome 3twist, but Zhang & Huang seemed really absent from the performance once they got to those messy sbs spins.

 

[Hanna]

First pair is on, and I'd rather watch Nathan Chen.

I see you're off to a positive start here.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

It's so heartwarming to see the tradition of great Chinese pairs living on: these spins were awful

Apparently the spins are their Nemesis.

 

[Karen-W]

Another office day for me, sigh. Gotta quit doing this. Everyone have fun and I'll catch up later!

My sympathies. I took the day off because I have to go to DEQ and DMV to get my car tags renewed and I figured I might as well watch skating during the morning then handle the car stuff in the afternoon.

 

[beckab81]

Even with the mistakes, I really enjoyed the program from the Chinese, the steps were really nicely matched with the music, and I love the back of her dress.

 

[ChillSkate]

Chinese pair very slow across the ice

 

[Citlali]

Those spins were rough, but everything else was pretty good, solid not-scary lift so they have that going for them, I hope their federation lets them develop

 

[ChillSkate]

So many Japanese fans here - amazing how well they travel

 

[thvu]

Those spins were rough, but everything else was pretty good, solid not-scary lift so they have that going for them, I hope their federation lets them develop

They're spending money on B E N O I T, so there's hope!

 

[beckab81]

The twist from N/M was fantastic, so much improvement from this team!

 

[MacMadame]

Even with the mistakes, I really enjoyed the program from the Chinese, the steps were really nicely matched with the music, and I love the back of her dress.

And I hate it.

 

[thvu]

The skating skills in this step seq. So so so good.

 

[Karen-W]

NagaMori - let's see if they can skate clean outside of Japan for once... 3tw - decent; SBS 3lo - hand down for him; throw 3s - very nice; lift - really impressive; BODS - solid; step seq - good; SBS spins - whoa - they are way too close on that first position and messy AF then drift apart for the final position.

 

[beckab81]

Hope we get to see at least one good SBS spin today

 

[Aceon6]

And NagMor botch the spin! I love her expression.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

I'm low-key fangirling the Japanese.
Fantastic basics, they have excellent potential, providing someone gives them less weird choreo.

I also wonder whether it's mandatory to have the shortest boys for pairs in Japan.

 

[skatingguy]

Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi
Coach: M. Hamada, D. Savin, F. Klimov, C. Reed
Music: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Triple Twist 3
3Lo - Sumitada hand down
Throw 3S
Reverse Lasso Lift 4
Back Inside Death Spiral 3
Step Sequence 4
Flying Change Foot Combo Spin 3 (2V after review) - too close, and Yuna had to adjust

Just a few minor issues marring the performance, but their overall quality, and speed still comes through.

67.53 = 1st Place

 

[Hanna]

I'm so glad they kept this program, I love Yellow Brick Road.

Speed is about double compared to the Chinese.

The level of this team could be insane if only they were more consistent. I sometimes think he could probably find a better partner but not today, she was radiant.

 

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Hope we get to see at least one good SBS spin today

Don't bet any money on that.

 

[Hedwig]

I cannot gush enough about the Japanese team. I really like the music for them - it fits them so well in their so very exciting skating style.
For sure the faves for the next Olympic cycle

 

[Sally1214]

Yuna and Sumitada - not as good as NHK but this is a seriously good team. Too close on the sbs spins and a hand down for him on the 3lp but still some very impressive skating skills on display here. I think I've found a new team to follow very closely in the next quad. Good for them. Also, loved everything about their costumes. They looked like ... well, just like the were heading down that Yellow Brick Road.

 

[Karen-W]

That score is way too high for the errors on the SBS jump and spins.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

I'm still amazed how Wozniak became the better half of this pair after never skating pairs. The best spins so far, which is a very low bar.

 

[genevieve]

Wozniak has twice the speed and ALL the charm/energy in the Polish team