Pairs Discussion Thread 2017-18--"Two Skating as One"

[MAXSwagg]

Especially the way Aliona and Steuer treated Robin.

D/R got many gifts. High PCS for a snoozy and slow program, not one judge give negative GOE for that clearly two-footed 3LzTh. One judge even gave +2! AT BEST that should have been -1. Completely unsynchronized 3Lz. He was halfway done with the jump by the time she picked into the ice, with scratchy landings. Certainly should have been under Yu/Zhang and arguable under Zabiiako/Enbert as well.

Tarasova/Morozov and Sui/Han clearly the class of the field with high-quality elements, and incredibly skating skills. T/M slightly better on technical elements, with S/H slightly better on a few components. Good judging for those two, though thought PCS should have been slightly higher for both.

V/T record will never be broken...

 

[Amantide]

Same. Exact. Thoughts.

Well, I was feeling really guilty about it. But I'm glad I have a "partner in crime".

 

[clairecloutier]

Sigh. Such a great night of skating, but that doubled Salchow from Bruno. Awful.

 

[VGThuy]

It's amazing. I went from ignoring Pairs at the start of this Olympic cycle to salivating over one performance after another. What an exciting and beautiful discipline this is!

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

D/R got many gifts.

LMAO..Um no.. That would be S&M.. side by side doubles and in 4th place, and a hair out of third........ CHILD........

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

So anyway... WOWWWWWWW... ALL 16 teams that advanced had 0 deductions... Can you believe it???????

When you see both Italian teams at 74... Wow.. just wow.....

Pairs has advanced MILES....

Was hoping so much that A&W would advance but when I saw them at 4CC I wasnt impressed as I was with them last year....

The Knierims... well, at least they advanced... but I do see how other teams are improving.. and they.... well... were better last year first competition back at 4CC then they are now with a full year behind them

 

[MAXSwagg]

LMAO..Um no.. That would be S&M.. side by side doubles and in 4th place, and a hair out of third........ CHILD........

That is true too. But S/M at least have good program (though you only watch Aliona). S/M should also have D/R PCS, while D/R should have 32-33 PCS.

 

[Amantide]

Tarasova/Morozov and Sui/Han clearly the class of the field with high-quality elements, and incredibly skating skills. T/M slightly better on technical elements, with S/H slightly better on a few components. Good judging for those two, though thought PCS should have been slightly higher for both.

T&M LP though....oh dear. I can't say I'm really looking forward to that one.

 

[VGThuy]

We all know T/M's LP is what Twitter and Buzzfeed was made for.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

That is true too. But S/M at least have good program (though you only watch Aliona). S/M should also have D/R PCS, while D/R should have 32-33 PCS.

I want S&M to get the gold medal.. but they should be behind Marchei & Hotarek as well.. so I see them like in 8th place.

 

[aftershocks]

Sorry for Bruno and Aliona. I hope they can come out with more sass and calm like they did at GPF for the fp. The scoring though, oh boy all the high, tight scores. It's really different from the team comp judging. The PCS is way out of whack as usual.

What you guys think about Peng/Jin being dropped with that lowball score? Surprising. I know that Peng made a huge mistake on the sbs, but they are a better team than Hocke/Blommaert. M-T/M weren't heavily dumped on for their doubled jump.

I'm at least glad J/C made the final group for the fp (Correction: I forgot that pairs teams usually skate 4 or 5 pairs to a group). I really call out NBC and TT&J for their negative slants on J/C before they even skated! After all J/C have accompllished this season and last with their breakthrough under John Z, John Kerr, and crew. Plus the way J/C have inspired other teams with their great programs, but all we hear from TT&J is lies about J/C not having finesse and not holding it together on their elements, and things not being as good for them since a 10th place finish at the last Olympics!? WTH is wrong with TT&J? Everything J/C accomplished last season and this season has left NBC's memory banks? Granted the judges made sure to hold J/C down as much as they could during the GP, and at Euros too (J/C were good enough to make the GPF over Y/Z). J/C performed consistently well all season until their tentativeness in Euros fp after being in first after the sp.

I hope J/C skate with confidence and cleanly in the fp, because the judges really don't want them too close to the podium. It would be so cool for J/C to rock it and others make mistakes. That's how mad I am about the way J/C have been treated all season long. Vanessa's uncharacteristic tears at the end of that sp performance were for a reason!

 

[aftershocks]

I want S&M to get the gold medal.. but they should be behind Marchei & Hotarek as well.. so I see them like in 8th place.

Eh, M/H are performing over their heads. They are not that high caliber a pair team. Sure they've lifted their level for the Olympics apparently. The rivalry with D-M/G has M/H upping their level, and both Italian teams had to be inspired by the strides J/C made last season. To me, M/H still skate like two singles skaters paired up. Not a real deep connection between them either. I personally don't care for M/H's over-broad comedic shtick, even tho' it is entertaining and they did hit their elements.

 

[nimi]

I was looking at the 2014 results--the lowest qualifying score was 51.64 by Della Monica/Guarise. This year's will probably be 10 points higher.

OMG almost 12 points higher!!! Hocke/B got 63.04

 

[aftershocks]

I saw the NBC interview with A/W. Boy, Andrea Joyce was only gabbing with Harley, going on about him being the first indigenous Australian to skate at the Winter Olympics. Meanwhile Katia A was looking bored and annoyed standing there. I guess Harley's Mom has Aborigine blood. They showed her cheering for Harley in the audience. I'm not sure if both of Harley's parents are Aborigine.

ETA:
Oh wow, I'm just now seeing a replay of the early pairs groups. I think A/W were hurt by having to skate in the first group. They skated much better than some top teams, hitting all their elements. Their results at 4CCs must have hurt them a bit in how they are being viewed. Their PCS shouldn't be that bad to where they didn't make the final 16. I think these results are so unfair.

The biggest problem is that they should not be cutting it off at sixteen teams. There's so much depth in pairs skating. Twenty should be allowed! But seriously, at least 18. They have cut out two excellent teams in A/W and P/J. I don't think Hocke/Blommaert (a new team) are that strong. Plus, S-K/K didn't really skate that well either compared to A/W, even if Alexa/Chris deserve higher PCS for their better connection and maturity. M-T/M made a mistake but got off fairly lightly as well. Its just an unfair set-up.

 

[nimi]

I'm not sure if both of Harley's parents are Aborigine.

I think both of his parents are. Don't remember the tribes, but there were news stories (probably around last season) that mentioned those.

 

[Dobre]

OMG almost 12 points higher!!! Hocke/B got 63.04

I feel like maybe it's time to open up the difficulty of the elements allowed in the SP. Bring on the quad twists.

 

[aftershocks]

^^ They first need to clean up the judging and allow more pairs to advance to the fp. I'm checking out replay of the first groups and seriously, the Israeli pair had a better connection than Hocke/Blommaert. And A/W are a very quality young team who should have made the cut. Peng/Jin are also a quality pair team. Someone should be protesting ISU's idiotic pairs cut-off rules which make no sense.

The random rise in scores and PCS all over the place don't make sense either. A/W were definitely hurt by having to skate so early.

 

[nimi]

I feel like maybe it's time to open up the difficulty of the elements allowed in the SP. Bring on the quad twists.

You want more train wreck SPs? Recovering from a crashy 3Tw seems to be difficult enough for a lot of pairs, so more pairs scrambling for 4Tw in an attempt to up their SP BV and having scary twist mishaps is not high on my list of things I want to see.

Btw, Meagan and Vanessa both think 4Tw is too scary and risky and out of the question for them, and those two 4STh landing pairs women aren't exactly "weak", mentally or physically. (To say the least.)

 

[aftershocks]

Ah no! Duskova/Bidar were not clean. Why were they given such higher points than A/W? I know the Czechs are a good quality team and potential stars, but it's really not fair. A/W are star quality too, if Katia can become more expressive.

 

[misskarne]

Five - count them, FIVE - pairs who had a lower TES than Katia and Harley beat them. FIVE. AND SOME WITH BIG ERRORS.

If they'd had a disaster skate I could probably handle this better. But they didn't.

 

[nimi]

Uh... Have you noticed that the planned elements for S/M FS include not only 3ATh but also 4Tw and 4Sth?
https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/...-skating/results-pair-skating-fnl-000100-.htm

I know that planned content doesn't necessarily mean "oh yeah we're definitely gonna go for all of these tomorrow" but... yikes.

 

[Quadjump]

Uh... Have you noticed that the planned elements for S/M FS include not only 3ATh but also 4Tw and 4Sth?
https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/...-skating/results-pair-skating-fnl-000100-.htm

I know that planned content doesn't necessarily mean "oh yeah we're definitely gonna go for all of these tomorrow" but... yikes.

This makes me so scared...

If she wants to try the 4Tw. Ok. Lets go for it! Could bring to extra points.

But she will definitly land the throws on two feet or fall.. There will be no extra points with that! Please Aljona don't do it!!

 

[chapis]

omg, I totally fell in love with S/H . I have watched their performance nonstop, and this is so weird because I hate that song, I can´t sleep. When the competition started I was rooting for S/M winning the gold medal, but sorry, I don´t care anymore, as far as I'm concerned, everyone can fall on their faces, I just want S/H win that damn gold medal, there is nobody close to them IMO.

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Starting order http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/owg2018/SEG006.HTM

 

[Seerek]

The general audiences still prefer ice dance by a reasonable margin (many Tweeted along the lines of: "kind boring. It's kinda like singles, but slower...and with 2 of them..."), but at least they got an understanding what the "A" standard of today's pairs are when most of the teams skate well.

As mentioned above, the likelihood of a free skate splatfest is high given the extra risks the pairs may take for extra technical points.

 

[Anyasnake]

We are ending with Candyman
You know maybe T/M will be OGM. Which will be deserved because they are so good and they have some of the best elements in the world and everything that go with. If they do, they'll get a lot of money. Use it... and hire a new choreographer
I hope at least, the very least that they don't have those awful costume for the LP. If they have something a bit more sober it might change the "tacky" perspective a bit (which means a lot).

Also : what an event. This is crazy, the level is so high.

 

[Finnice]

I think both of his parents are. Don't remember the tribes, but there were news stories (probably around last season) that mentioned those.

His other parent is British.

 

[nimi]

His other parent is British.

Hmmm, that's a bit confusing. I googled and found the article which I was thinking of and it claims otherwise.
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/olympic...katerina-alexandrovskaya-20180202-h0t2ti.html

Harley is the youngest of nine siblings, though he's actually the only child of both Josie and her husband, Peter Dahlstrom. Josie and Peter each have four children from former marriages.

Josie's heritage is from the Weilwyn and Gamilaraay people of western NSW. She grew up in a camp without power or running water near Gulargambone, a town between Dubbo and Walgett. Peter is from Moree, of the Gamilaraay and Ngarrable people, and also has Swedish ancestry.

 

[barbarafan]

I saw the NBC interview with A/W. Boy, Andrea Joyce was only gabbing with Harley, going on about him being the first indigenous Australian to skate at the Winter Olympics. Meanwhile Katia A was looking bored and annoyed standing there. I guess Harley's Mom has Aborigine blood. They showed her cheering for Harley in the audience. I'm not sure if both of Harley's parents are Aborigine.

ETA:
Oh wow, I'm just now seeing a replay of the early pairs groups. I think A/W were hurt by having to skate in the first group. They skated much better than some top teams, hitting all their elements. Their results at 4CCs must have hurt them a bit in how they are being viewed. Their PCS shouldn't be that bad to where they didn't make the final 16. I think these results are so unfair.

The biggest problem is that they should not be cutting it off at sixteen teams. There's so much depth in pairs skating. Twenty should be allowed! But seriously, at least 18. They have cut out two excellent teams in A/W and P/J. I don't think Hocke/Blommaert (a new team) are that strong. Plus, S-K/K didn't really skate that well either compared to A/W, even if Alexa/Chris deserve higher PCS for their better connection and maturity. M-T/M made a mistake but got off fairly lightly as well. Its just an unfair set-up.

hmmm....coaches judges and federations seem to value blond sparkles over beauty of lines and elegance. Katia did have beautiful movement and elements and he seems to be a very strong partner.

 

[VGThuy]

The general audiences still prefer ice dance by a reasonable margin (many Tweeted along the lines of: "kind boring. It's kinda like singles, but slower...and with 2 of them..."), but at least they got an understanding what the "A" standard of today's pairs are when most of the teams skate well.

As mentioned above, the likelihood of a free skate splatfest is high given the extra risks the pairs may take for extra technical points.

I think pairs is probably something one has to see live. I can't imagine those high-risk, high-amplitude (for the most part) throws and twists and lifts would fail to impress when the pairs give inspired, clean performances like they did last night.

That said, it's nice to see people discovering ice dance at this Olympics. I don't know what happened in the generational shift, but it seems ice dance has caught on to the general American public in a way that hasn't happened for a long time.

 

[muffinplus]

The general audiences still prefer ice dance by a reasonable margin (many Tweeted along the lines of: "kind boring. It's kinda like singles, but slower...and with 2 of them..."), but at least they got an understanding what the "A" standard of today's pairs are when most of the teams skate well.

I have to say pairs is my least favorite discipline. and I much prefer ice dance as well.. (yes I know this is a pairs thread )