Pairs Discussion Thread 2019-20: “Two skating as one”

clairecloutier

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Starting a new pairs thread for 2019-20.

The off-season so far:

— Tarasova/Morozov’s new coaches will be Marina Zoueva and Nina Mozer. Apparently they’ll be moving to Florida to work with Zoueva.

— Aliona Savchenko and Meagan Duhamel are both pregnant!

— Duhamel and Bruno Marcotte are starting their own pairs school in Oakville, ON. Of the pairs who had been training in Montreal with Marcotte and Richard Gauthier, will anyone move to Oakville, or will everyone stay put in Montreal?

— New pairs: Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau

— Splits: Hocke/Blommaert, Stellato/Bartholomay, Deardorff/Settlage (who did I miss?)

— Coaching changes: Serafini/Tran to Monsey, NY
 
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Mad for Skating

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Starting a new pairs thread for 2019-20.

The off-season so far:

— Tarasova/Morozov’s new coaches will be Marina Zoueva and Nina Mozer. Apparently they’ll be moving to Florida to work with Zoueva.

— Aliona Savchenko and Meagan Duhamel are both pregnant!

— Duhamel and Bruno Marcotte are starting their own pairs school in Oakville, ON. Of the pairs who had been training in Montreal with Marcotte and Richard Gauthier, will anyone move to Oakville, or will everyone stay put in Montreal?

— New pairs: Ilyushechkina/Bilodeau

— Splits: Hocke/Blommaert, Stellato/Bartholomay, Deardorff/Settlage (who did I miss?)

— Coaching changes: Serafini/Tran to Monsey, NY

I’m so excited about all of this!

I think Marina will be a great choice for T/M as long as she is their main coach and not just assisting once every few months.

I’m thrilled about Aliona and Meagan - I’m already picturing one baby in a Pink Panther onesie and another baby happily munching on greens 😂

I’m also curious about the new Duhamel/Marcotte school - I think it’ll be awesome.

And of course, you already know how much I love Luba, so I don’t need to tell you about that 😀
 

aftershocks

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Well, I guess @clairecloutier didn't like my new thread title suggestion, offered in the last thread, when @Sylvia requested new thread title ideas. Anyway, I'm glad you liked it @Mad for Skating :saint:

"The Divine Pairs Discipline 2019 - 2020: Aiming to Bust a Move

Thanks to @clairecloutier, Frank Carroll, and Young MC for the inspiration. :D

"To me figure skating is a divine sport. It's a sport made by the Gods..." -- Frank Carroll
https://adivinesport.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZQQGX24Teg"


Anyway, onward and upward is the key. And I do appreciate the original title being used again because it's so apt and familiar! Hopefully, this new season's thread will inspire some on-topic posts about the beauties and joys of the divine pairs skating discipline. :)

Thanks @clairecloutier, as always, for keeping us pairs lovers updated, and for rounding up the latest pairs news in this thread. I'm sitting back and hoping the off-season proceeds smoothly and safely for all the skaters and that they can catch their breaths somewhat and enjoy the process. I'm not in a hurry for the new season to begin at all. I'm kind of burnt out by the last couple of years, and eager to simply enjoy down time reflecting on some past amazing pairs performances, and to process everything that's been happening at warp speed these days.

The skaters truly have a lot going on too, e.g., Ashley Cain's wedding is coming up in June; and there are the recent splits, new pairings and coaching changes, etc. Kayne/O'Shea are feeling healthy and able for the first time in a long time to take full advantage of training new programs this off-season. @Sylvia recently linked in U.S. pairs thread Sappenfield's Instagram clips of K/O and newbie U.S. seniors Feng/Nyman practicing their 2019-2020 programs:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BwuvuIUlPdg/ K/O
https://www.instagram.com/p/BwsY5vWlyux/ F/N

K/O are gaining explosive power on their throws, and improving height on their throw 3-twist. F/N have some cool choreographic moves and appear to be steadily improving. They need to develop consistency and confidence on their technical elements, and of course find unique ways to stand out in the talented pairs discipline, which is the goal of every team. I'm excited to witness the continued progress of U.S. Pairs, with some excellent teams on the rise, and veteran teams having overcome the injury and illness setbacks suffered in recent years.

Wishing good luck to Serafini/Tran in their development as they move to train in Monsey, NY. It will be interesting to see who might be moving from Montreal with the Marcottes to train in Oakville, ON. The new team of Luba/Charlie are making steady progress performing in exhibitions to help quickly advance their partnership connection. And fingers-crossed that Deanna Stellato will be able to find a new partner. :saint:

T/M adding Marina Zoueva to their team is fascinating. Does that mean Max Trankov is no longer aboard? Zoueva famously choreographed for Gordeeva/Grinkov, one of the most iconic pairs teams of all time. It looks like T/M and Mozer are making every effort possible to try and find some magic in order to stave off being overtaken by the exciting young Russian team, Boikova/Koslovskii! The challenging problem is that Vlad & Evgenia have to find something inside themselves to bring out on the ice. We shall see what happens.

The best pairs teams right now in terms of well-rounded abilities and magic chemistry are Sui/Han and James/Cipres. And with S/H out rehabbing Sui's injuries the past two seasons, it's been James/Cipres leading the pack with solid technical elements, exciting connection, and well-choreographed programs with good music selection. J/C have been the team to watch even during 2017-2018 season with Sav/Mas and Duhamel/Radford at the top.

T/M have always had the potential, superb tech elements, and judges' favor but have completely lacked chemistry on the ice. So it looks like by adding Zoueva to their brain trust, T/M are Aiming to Bust a Move next season. :lol: One thing T/M have always seemed to be able to count on is the judges rewarding them, and sometimes over-rewarding them. If they are ever able to actually bring out their personalities in competitive programs, that would be something. But as we've seen, the judges and the skating community don't necessarily hold them to a high standard in all aspects of their skating.
 
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aftershocks

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Evgenia has confirmed that Max is still on their team and will be helping them out

Okay, that sounds good. They are just seeking more input then by adding Zoueva to their team. We'll see how everything goes. Hopefully, they will be finding better music choices out-of-the-gate for next season.

The Knierims are listed along with Keegan Messing as guest stars headlining Cleveland Skating Club's annual show, May 10 - 11, as mentioned in a recent GSD thread. :)
 

Mad for Skating

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Knierims have hired Benoit Richaud again according to Alexa's IG so I assume they are carrying on. Looking forward to a new season (reset) for them.

I like the work he has done with them and Bradie.

This is awesome! I personally loved both the programs he did for the Knierims last year (still bitter we didn't get to see them clean) and I think he really emphasized Bradie's strengths in that free skate. He also did some great work for Kaori Sakamoto last season.
 

Sylvia

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Cross-posting from the U.S. Pairs thread (Sarah Feng/TJ Nyman are attending this seminar):

ISU Pair Skating Development Training Seminar for Coaches and Pair Skaters (link to PDF of ISU Communication No. 2216) - relevant excerpts copied out below:

The ISU announces that the Single & Pair Skating Technical Committee, through an initiative supported by the ISU Development Program, is organizing International Pair Skating Development Training Seminars for Coaches and Pair Skaters in:
Berlin, Germany: April 11 – 20, 2019
&
Novorgosk, Moscow region, Russia: May 2 – 11, 2019:

The 2019 [Novogorsk] Pair Seminar is designed for Junior and developmental Senior Pairs who are making the transition from Junior to Senior Pair Skating.
A Pair is eligible for participation who:
o Junior Pairs: Has not reached the age of nineteen (19) for Ladies and of twenty-one (21) for Men in Pair Skating.

o Senior Pairs – 1-2 years of experience.
Focus of this Seminar
o Increase effective training techniques both on- and off-ice.
o Improve skating skills.
o Increase repertoire of effective Skating elements – jumps, lifts, spins

Novogorsk, Russia, Pair Seminar Moderators:
The Moderators of the Seminar are: Mr. Charlie Z. Cyr (ISU) Coordinator, Ms. Nina Moser (RUS)
Head Coach, Mr. Vladislav Zhovnirsky (RUS) Pair Skating Coach, Mr. Fedor Klimov (RUS) Pair
Skating Coach and Mr. Igor Tchiniaev (RUS/CAN) Stroking Coach. Moderators for jumps, strength
and conditioning and ballet plus a physiotherapist and additional support staff will complete the team.

---

It will be interesting to see which other pairs from around the world are participating in this seminar.
 

love_skate2011

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3,608
Good.

Tarasova / Morozov must be nervous as Mishina / Galliamov will be turning senior.
there are many younger russian pairs and want to avoid being labelled "great fillers" like Shishkova / Naumov.
 

Mad for Skating

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Good.

Tarasova / Morozov must be nervous as Mishina / Galliamov will be turning senior.
there are many younger russian pairs and want to avoid being labelled "great fillers" like Shishkova / Naumov.

Mishina/Galliamov are talented but I think Tarasova/Morozov will have no trouble keeping their spot at the top for the next couple years as long as they stay healthy. If anything, they need to worry about Zabiiako/Enbert because Mozer clearly thinks they’re God’s greatest gift to the world and has managed to get the judges to agree (IMO, Z/E should not even be close to T/M in PCS based on speed alone). Also, Boikova/Kozlovskii are brilliant, but they will need a few years to get polished up. And I’m not sure what will happen with Stolbova/Novoselov, but they need to get the green light from Didier which may not even happen. So I’m not stressed about T/M’s spot yet.
 

marie1616

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Yesterday Tatjana Flade posted 4 photos from the Novogorsk pairs seminar that's underway: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDa4pWnGLV/
Klimov is pictured along with Zabiiako/Enbert who must be the demonstrators. Does anyone recognize any of the pair skaters?

Tanja Flade wrote that 3 of the 12 teams are German and non of these three have been in junior for more then a year. I think the oldest girl is 14...
 

Sylvia

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ISU Pair Skating Development Training Seminar in Berlin, Germany (April 11-20, 2019):

The 2019 Pair Seminar is designed for Novice and lower Junior-aged pairs with the following requirements:
A Pair is eligible for participation who for:
-Novice Pairs: Has not reached the age of fifteen (15) for girls and seventeen (17) for boys in Pair Skating.
-Junior Pairs: Has not reached the age of nineteen (19) for Ladies and of twenty-one (21) for Men in Pair Skating.
Focus of this Seminar
-Develop new Novice and Junior Pair teams.
-Increase the skill sets of existing Novice and Junior Pair teams


The Moderators of the Seminar are: Mr. Charlie Z. Cyr (ISU) Coordinator, Mr. Bruno Marcotte (CAN)
Pair Skating element Coach, Ms. Dorota and Mr. Mariusz Siudek (POL) off-ice lifts and Pair Skating
element Coaches, Mr. Peter Grueter (SUI) Single Skating element Coach, Mr. Igor Tchiniaev
(RUS/CAN) stroking, presentation and training routine Coach, Mr. Alexander Koenig (GER) all round
Coach and Mr. Vladislav Zhovnirskiy (RUS) Coach with demonstrators. Additional off-ice ballet
classes, and strength and conditioning will also be scheduled.


From various IG photos posted by skaters at the Berlin pairs seminar (links below), attendees included:

Alina Pepeleva & Roman Pleshkov (RUS) - Zhovnirskiy's demonstrators?
Maria Mokhova & Ivan Mokhov (USA siblings) - J4 at Nationals; she's 12 & he's 20
IceLab coaches Ondrej Hotarek & Luca Dematté were with their 3 ITA junior pairs:
Alyssa Montan & Manuel Piazza (ITA)
Federica Zamponi & Marco Zandron (ITA)
Giulia Papa & Riccardo Maglio (ITA)
Darya Ryabkova & Vladislav Gresko (BLR)
Tereza Zendulkova & Simon Fukas (SVK)
Ivan Khobta (UKR) skated with Violetta Serova in Berlin? (he was 2nd at Nationals with Victoriia Bychkova)
Ivan Pavlov (UKR) with new? partner Katya Dzitsyuk, 14 (he was 3rd at Nationals with Sofiia Holichenko)

Pepeleva: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfR-fkHDBz/
Piazza: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDdb_qAnGD/
Pavlov: https://www.instagram.com/p/BwhIZxGHK8r/
 
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hanca

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Mishina/Galliamov are talented but I think Tarasova/Morozov will have no trouble keeping their spot at the top for the next couple years as long as they stay healthy. If anything, they need to worry about Zabiiako/Enbert because Mozer clearly thinks they’re God’s greatest gift to the world and has managed to get the judges to agree (IMO, Z/E should not even be close to T/M in PCS based on speed alone). Also, Boikova/Kozlovskii are brilliant, but they will need a few years to get polished up. And I’m not sure what will happen with Stolbova/Novoselov, but they need to get the green light from Didier which may not even happen. So I’m not stressed about T/M’s spot yet.

I agree with Mishina/Galliamov needing a few years in seniors, but I don’t agree with Boikova/Kozlovski needing that much. If in their first senior year they managed to get sixth at worlds, they could very well be very close to medals next year, and if anyone from the top pairs make the mistakes, they could easily drop under them. This was B/K’s first senior season and they were hold down on PCS, but as long as they manage to stay consistent, their PCS will be now climbing up and on the technical side they are not definitely behind the top teams. Obviously I can’t see them beating Sui/Han, but I could see them beating Zabijako/Enbert, Peng/Jin, or even James/Cipres and Tarasova/Morozov if those pairs make mistakes. (I don’t think they will be beating those pairs if those pairs are clean, but they definitely put good foundation for the next season to progress.)
 

Sylvia

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Yesterday Tatjana Flade posted 4 photos from the Novogorsk pairs seminar that's underway: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxDa4pWnGLV/
Klimov is pictured along with Zabiiako/Enbert who must be the demonstrators. Does anyone recognize any of the pair skaters?

ETA: Martin Bidar (CZE) posted a IG story from Novorgorsk.
Tanja Flade wrote that 3 of the 12 teams are German and non of these three have been in junior for more then a year. I think the oldest girl is 14...
Thanks! Here's a just published IFS article by Flade (May 5): https://www.ifsmagazine.com/international-pairs-seminar-develops-skills/
The International Skating Union (ISU) is hosting its annual international pairs seminar in Novogorsk, Russia, this week, organized by esteemed Russian coach, Nina Mozer. Fifteen teams from seven nations (Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the U.S., Uzbekistan and, of course, the host country, Russia) are attending the seminar.
Among them are Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy, who ranked 19th at the 2019 World Championships and 2016 World Junior pairs champion Martin Bidař from the Czech Republic. He has been a regular at the camps but here he is trying out with a new partner.
Bidar, with new partner Hanna Abrazhevich, competed together in 3 internationals in 2019, placing 18th of 19 pairs at Worlds.

Also, Greta & John Crafoord (SWE) are at the Novogorsk camp with Feng/Nyman and Dalilah Sappenfield.
 
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hanca

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Thanks! Here's a just published IFS article by Flade (May 5): https://www.ifsmagazine.com/international-pairs-seminar-develops-skills/

Bidar, with new partner Hanna Abrazhevich, competed together in 3 internationals in 2019, placing 18th of 19 pairs at Worlds.
Depends on what exactly they mean. Do they mean that he came to improve with his new partner (‘new’ being a relative term considering they have been together for the past season) or do they mean exactly what they wrote, that he is with a new partner (and Hanna Abrazhevich was replaced with someone better)?
 

Mad for Skating

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I agree with Mishina/Galliamov needing a few years in seniors, but I don’t agree with Boikova/Kozlovski needing that much. If in their first senior year they managed to get sixth at worlds, they could very well be very close to medals next year, and if anyone from the top pairs make the mistakes, they could easily drop under them. This was B/K’s first senior season and they were hold down on PCS, but as long as they manage to stay consistent, their PCS will be now climbing up and on the technical side they are not definitely behind the top teams. Obviously I can’t see them beating Sui/Han, but I could see them beating Zabijako/Enbert, Peng/Jin, or even James/Cipres and Tarasova/Morozov if those pairs make mistakes. (I don’t think they will be beating those pairs if those pairs are clean, but they definitely put good foundation for the next season to progress.)

I definitely agree that they could slide in if anyone trips up! I was just saying that they are young and have several years to grow even better than they already are. The other pairs will have to watch their backs!
 

Sylvia

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Re-posting here from the Russian news thread in GSD:
There are speculations on the Russian forum about Liza Zhuk skating with the Czech pair skater Bidar. They have been seen skating together at a show in Novogorsk. Photos were posted on the forum.
Flade's article last week, linked above in post #17, mentioned Bidar was trying out with a new partner at the ISU Pairs camp in Novogorsk.

Liza Zhuk shared a group photo at the end of Novogorsk pairs camp: https://www.instagram.com/p/BxU_g83nVzN/
She tagged Martin Bidar first, then various coaches/instructors and the following pairs:
Pepeleva/Pleshkov (RUS) - she tagged them out of order so hopefully they're still together
Ghilardi/Ambrosini (ITA)
Feng/Nyman (USA)
Crafoord/Craaford (SWE)
Broda/Betagon Martin (ESP)
Karina Akapova/Maksim Shagalov (RUS w/ Team Mozer; eta: placed 4th in Sr. together at 2019 Bavarian Open)

Russians (not sure if any are paired up currently?):
Nikita Gusakov
Rodion Marinsky
Lena Pavlova, St. Petersburg
Barbara ? - part of #MozerTeam that trained alongside Cain/LeDuc in Japan
and
Edita Horňáková (CZE) - former partner was Radek Jakubka; they were 15th at 2018 Jr. Worlds
Russia would need to release her [Zhuk] rather than Czech Republic releasing him [Bidar]. I don’t think they would want to skate for Russia, considering that Russian pairs are getting quite crowded and Czechia doesn’t have anyone except of Bidar. (Duskova has not competed with her new partner and I am wondering whether this partnership will go anywhere.)
Anna Duskova had major knee surgery last year and is still working on getting her jumps back (she landed a sbs 2A with her new partner Radek Jakubka in practice around a month ago): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv1GP8-IT-p/

ETA that Flade/Ermolina have jointly written a Novogorsk pairs seminar article in Russian with similar content as the IFS article but different photos: https://fsrussia.ru/news/4387-mezhdunarodnyj-kemp-po-parnomu-kataniyu-prokhodit-v-novogorske.html
 
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hanca

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Anna Duskova had major knee surgery last year and is still working on getting her jumps back (she landed a sbs 2A with her new partner Radek Jakubka in practice around a month ago): https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv1GP8-IT-p/
I know about Anna’s injury, but it is third serious surgery within the past two or three years. It can get to the point where the body just can’t take it. Unless one is Pluschenko.
 

aftershocks

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17,317
Mishina/Galliamov are talented but I think Tarasova/Morozov will have no trouble keeping their spot at the top for the next couple years as long as they stay healthy. If anything, they need to worry about Zabiiako/Enbert because Mozer clearly thinks they’re God’s greatest gift to the world and has managed to get the judges to agree (IMO, Z/E should not even be close to T/M in PCS based on speed alone). Also, Boikova/Kozlovskii are brilliant, but they will need a few years to get polished up. And I’m not sure what will happen with Stolbova/Novoselov, but they need to get the green light from Didier which may not even happen. So I’m not stressed about T/M’s spot yet.

You make excellent points and I completely agree. It's only that in figure skating, like some other sports, what ends up happening is not always what we anticipate 'on paper.' I guess that's what makes watching sometimes exciting. :)
 

Mad for Skating

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You make excellent points and I completely agree. It's only that in figure skating, like some other sports, what ends up happening is not always what we anticipate 'on paper.' I guess that's what makes watching sometimes exciting. :)

Yep! I think this season is going to be awesome and unpredictable 😀
 

Sylvia

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Zabiiako and Enbert: ‘Everything is falling into place’ by Tatjana Flade (May 22): https://www.goldenskate.com/2019/05/zabiiako-enbert/
“Natasha definitely has become more confident,” noted Enbert. “She basically was always confident and she knew what she was doing and what for, but still, she is shining more and you can see that in the performances and off the ice, which is great.”
[Zabiiako's fiancé Danil] Grinkin accompanied the skaters to the training camp in Fukuoka before the World Team Trophy and filmed a documentary on them, along with U.S. Champions Ashley Cain and Timothy LeDuc, who joined the camp.
“The most important topic is the life of people,” Zabiiako shared. “Everyone has the same goals and dreams, independently of your nationality, and the same problems. The sport unites us.”
The documentary should be released next winter or in early spring.
 

clairecloutier

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Excellent article! However, his health issues are really concerning to me. I can’t help thinking of poor Grinkov.

What's strange is that Enbert talked about his recovery in that article, but not what the actual problem was. Is "tiredness" a medical diagnosis? And would simple "tiredness" have required such a specific training plan, with constant monitoring of his heart rate? :unsure:
 

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