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| World Championships 2005 Ladies - Short Program |
| The Disclaimer:
I am not infallible, I cannot guarantee not to have made any mistakes and since it’s impossible to mention everything, there are bound to be some omissions. If you have any comments, disagreements or corrections, feel free to contact me, I’ll appreciate any input. I imagine that some of my strong opinions may anger some fans so I would like to explain from the start that this review is written from a very European perspective. Since these reports are based on Eurosport TV broadcast, I can never be sure about the issues like speed or ice coverage. Some abbreviations I use: ‘coe’ = change of edge ‘held’ on jumps means the landing was just held, hung on to, so the flow out probably will be poor and free foot might be put down quickly ‘held’ on spirals and lifts refers to the CoP rules requiring the skaters to hold them for at least 3 seconds 'inverted' on camel spins means a position where the upper body is twisted ‘overrotated’ means turning out of the jump and putting the foot down, while ‘turned out’ means turning out of the jump, without the free foot touching the ice The reviews are arranged according to the starting order. Full results can be found by clicking on one of the links below: Ladies Short Program – Official Results Ladies - Final Standings 8. Yan Liu /CHN/ 3loop – not sure about steps preceding it long set-up into 1lutz/2toe into 2axel flying camel – basic, slow serpentine spiral sequence – not held sideways leaning spin – slow straight line step sequence – quite basic camel/sideways/change sit/cranston camel – slowish Poor quality of all the non jump elements and a very basic program. Good technique on the jumps she did land, however. 9. Viktoria Pavuk /HUN/ 3flutz/2toe – low, slight flutz, poor flow out 3flip – straight off steps, very low, possible cheat flying camel into ugly bent leg – quite slow serpentine spiral sequence – possibly not held, ended with skating round in a spiral position with hand on the ice spread eagle into 2axel turns into layback into bielmann – not a great bielmann position straight line step sequence – all on two feet turns into camel/sideways to bielmann/change sit/Y/upright – quite slow Considering she is just recovering after breaking her leg, this was very impressive. He stroking is still quite choppy but I feel it’s improved. The lines also look a bit better and this program was quite good with some elements straight of footwork and fair amount of reaction to the music. Spins still need a lot of work, though. They were quite slow and some positions were ugly and not extended well. 10. Karen Venhuizen /NED/ steps into 3toe – slightly over the toe ina bauer, turn, 3salchow/2loop flying camel – messy, poor fly, to inverted position but lost speed serpentine spiral sequence: bielmann/bielmann/front – not held 2axel – just held, very long preparation sideways leaning spin camel/sit/up var/change camel into catchfoot/upright circular step sequence – presenting it well That was the best I’ve ever seen her skate! Lots of attack and sold it really well, which she usually isn’t able to do. She has very bad technique on the double axel and here it looked like she did not take-off, when she was supposed to, had to add a turn and try it again. Since she didn’t leave the ice on the first attempt, it wasn’t called and she could have another go at it. 11. Jenna McCorkell /GBR/ 3lutz/2toe – over the toe on lutz, poor running edge out, foot down quick footwork, very big gap, 3loop flying camel to inverted to doughnut serpentine spiral sequence – last position not held 2axel – slightly cheated, shaky landing sideways with catch straight line step sequence – nice but not much to do with music ?/sit/sideways/change sit+var/upright Her usual nice, soft skating, and slightly more choreography than in past seasons, but she is not well prepared to the new judging system. Apart from the spirals, all her elements were level one, and all the entries to the elements were basic. A big question mark over the placement of loop. If we were to strictly follow the rulebook that would be -2 or -3 straight away, due to lack of connecting footwork. In the interview with British Eurosport, Juri Bureiko said that they were working on improving transitions since Europeans but you couldn’t really notice that in this program. 12. Lina Johansson /SWE/ looks extremely nervous/angry at start, like she doesn’t want to be there 3flip(just held)/2toe steps into 3toe – pulled long set-up into 1axel flying camel into inverted into doughnut – didn’t fly at all circular step sequence – turning both directions sideways leaning spin with catch – very nice, fast serpentine spiral sequence: coe into bielmann, back into owen – good ?/sit/V/change camel/sit/Y Much better performance than at Europeans. Struggled on the jumps, but all the other elements in the program were performed well. A good effort, considering that she is currently suffering from a foot injury and was ordered to take some time off-skating to recover. Now she should focus on the components and come up with a more complex program next year. There was quite a lot of plain stroking in this routine and it wasn’t very balanced. On the other hand, Chris said that she skated with a lot of speed. 13. Cynthia Phaneuf /CAN/ 3lutz – underrotated, fall footwork, gap, 1flip sideways leaning spin with catch – great extension serpentine spiral sequence: front, coe, back, two more – didn’t hold the last three positions straight line step sequence 2axel flying camel into illusion – didn’t fly camel/sit holding leg/sideways/change camel/cross-foot She has a very good basic quality, good extensions on spins and spirals and interprets the music very well. She already has the overall package (when one of my friends was judging all the ladies at the Grand Prix Final for the FSU CoP Project, Phaneuf ended up with the highest components!) and if only she could get more consistent, she could challenge for the top spots. Hopefully this will come with time, as she gains more competition experience. 14. Sarah Meier /SUI/ 3lutz/2toe turns into 3lip – underrotated, fall, downgraded to double sideways leaning spin with catch serpentine spiral sequence: two catchfoot positions, second not held 2axel into flying camel – basic circular step sequence – turning both directions, mostly on one foot camel to coe/sit to var/sideways/change camel to catchfoot/cross-foot Bond elevator muzak and a generic program which didn’t do anything for her. I was rather surprised that she received the second highest component mark so far, since I thought that neither her basic quality, nor the choreography of her program were particularly strong. 15. Joanne Carter /AUS/ 3lutz(turn)/2toe steps into 3flip - cheated, foot down sideways leaning spin – with one position change serpentine spiral sequence: coe/owen/bielmann 2axel camel/sideways/sit var/change camel/sit/upright straight line step sequence flying camel to inverted position Lutz was taken from the outside edge in the end, but her edge wobbled a lot between the two different edges before take-off. The program didn’t suffer from the lack of choreography but what was there seemed quite messy and ragged. Great to see her at Worlds again, after seven years of absence. I remember her from 98 Olympics and Worlds, when she was a huge talent, was landing 3loop/3loop combinations in practice and was expected to achieve great things. Sadly, she couldn’t deal with the pressure and finished outside top 10 at both of these competitions and subsequently suffered from a very serious injury, from which it took her a long time to recover. I really admire her determination and the fact that she stuck with it, against all odds. 16. Jennifer Kirk /USA/ 3flip/2toe steps, gap, 3flip – fall sideways leaning spin serpentine spiral sequence – two out of three not held 2axel flying camel – didn’t fly, messy landing, travelled serpentine step sequence – selling well scratch butterflies into camel/sit/sideways/change sit/V After all the jumps were out of the way, she made a good effort with presenting her program, although it didn’t work as well as last year. As cheesy as it sounds, it seems like the joy has gone out of her skating. I assume that the first jump was supposed to be the lutz, but I have no idea how the caller is supposed to have guessed that. 17. Idora Hegel /CRO/ ugly light pink dress with lots of ruffled fabric on the skirt 3lutz/2toe – good steps into 3flip – two-footed, didn’t get enough height camel/sit/sideways/change sit/Y – travelling towards the end serpentine spiral sequence – poor extension spread eagle into 2axel sideways with catch circular step sequence – heavy flying camel to coe – didn’t fly Just like Joanne Carter, her skate wobbled between both edges going into the lutz, but she managed to take off from the outside in the end. I thought her choreography looked better last season and her basic quality still hasn’t improved. The judges are being more generous to her this year, though, which probably is down to their better acquaintance with her, and her “having proved herself” last season with an excellent free program at Worlds. 18. Anette Dytrt /GER/ 3lutz – fall 3flip – off-axis in the air but no problem with the landing at all flying camel serpentine spiral sequence 2axel sideways leaning spin to catch – travelling circular step sequence – selling it very well, lots of “twitchy turns”, hardly any full ones camel/sideways/change camel/sit/Y/upright – slowed down at end She has beautiful skating quality and the mistake at the start didn’t de-compose her at all. It is a very good program, choreographed by Tatiana Tarasova, and she did it justice but performing at as well as she could, as if nothing happened. 19. Joannie Rochette /CAN/ 2axel – nice, soft landing long set-up into 3lutz/2toe footwork, gap, 3flip flying camely into bent leg sideways leaning spin straight line step sequence – slow small circle of crossovers into serpentine spiral sequence into camel inverted/sit/sideways/change sit/Y/scratch Job well done on the jumps, but I didn’t think that it was a good performance. A large amount of plain stroking and, unlike in her free program, she didn’t even seem to be interpreting the music in the posing sections. 20. Elena Liashenko /UKR/ 3lutz/2toe – good 3flip – gap after steps, slight touchdown with free foot flying camel into inverted into coe – lost speed and messy on coe serpentine spiral sequence: coe bielmann/back/front – not sure if she held the last two positions 2axel sideways leaning spin – changing position straight line step sequence transitions into camel/sit/sideways with hands behind back/change sit to coe/catchfoot/upright Thanks to the new judging system, it’s the first season since I started closely following skating, where Liashenko has visibly improved. More difficult spins or spirals, than what we were used to from her, and skating better in time to the music. There were some small mistakes but overall it was a strong performance. 21. Shizuka Arakawa /JPN/ catchfoot spiral into 3lutz/2loop footwork, gap, 3lip – cheated, step out flying camel to coe to doughnut – quite slow serpentine spiral sequence: front/back bielmann/owen (not held) 2axel from spread eagle sideways leaning spin to catch – slight travel serpentine step sequence – lot of twizzles at the end camel to coe to doughnut/sit var/ change camel/sit/sideways with catch/upright finished slightly behind music This program has improved since the start of the season in terms of transitions but I still thought that the powerful music was overshadowing her and that she wasn’t really interpreting it. Soft kneebend but edges, lines and posture are not very good and she’s a skater I can’t understand the hype about at all. 22. Michelle Kwan /USA/ long set-up into 2axel – slight hesitation on landing long set-up into 3lutz/2toe scratch butterfilies into flying sit with camel position in the air – quite slow long set-up into 3flip – hardly any steps before, very slight cheat camel/sit+var/Y/change sit/Y serpentine spiral sequence: coe/ugly bent leg/owen(slight wobble) straight line step sequence – quite intricate sideways leaning spin – quite poor extension The judging system has moved on, other skaters have moved on but Michelle Kwan is stuck in her past golden era, spending almost the whole length of the rink setting up her jumps and with spins slower than most of other girls competing here. Her skating was of its usual good quality but there was a lack of transitions, and other than performing the spirals to the crescendo of the music, the lack of interpretation. 23. Julia Sebestyen /HUN/ huge 3flip off steps – fantastic long set-up into 3lutz – leaning forward, underrotated, fall flying camel into doughnut stroking into serpentine spiral sequence 2axel sideways leaning spin to catch circular step sequence – both music and her go wild, messy into camel/sit to var/upright/change camel to doughnut to bielmann/fi upright Weaker performance that at Europeans but that can be possibly explained by her flu (in addition to her usual nervousness). Started well but possibly suffered from stamina problems, due to her condition. Her circular step sequence is choreographed really well but she was neither able to sell it, nor to perform the footwork well. 24. Susanna Poykio /FIN/ footwork, gap, 3flip – nice long set-up into 3lutz/2toe serpentine spiral sequence – positions held long scratch butterflies into flying sit into coe long set-up into 2axel – slight stutter on landing sideways leaning spin to a very nice catch straight line step sequence – well to the music, very nice camel/sit/sideways/change sit/Y – not very fast Skated very well in time to the music at the end of the program but I thought that she struggled with it until the straight line steps. Such a shame because when this program is skated to full potential, the interpretation is fantastic. Very good basic skating but transitions need some improvement. Poykio really needs to make a mark this year because both at Europeans, and at the Worlds so far, the judges haven’t been going with her on the components (giving her lower skating skills than to Sokolova, for example) and she needs to produce some good results to start being treated seriously. 25. Carolina Kostner /ITA/ 3flip/3toe – great two three-turns into 3loop some stroking, serpentine spiral sequence: catch/back/back – last not held 2axel – weight slightly over the toe straight line step sequence – intricate but messy flying camel to messy coe camel/sit/change camel to doughnut to catchfoot/upright sideways with position change – weak extension, travelling Very fast, a decent basic quality but a big question mark over putting all three spins right at the end of the program and the overall choreography of the routine. While there were some nice moves, I am not convinced that they were timed to the music. 26. Fumie Suguri /JPN/ very long set-up into 3flutz – fall 3flip – strong sideways leaning spin – with free leg position change serpentine spiral sequence: coe/catchfoot/V back spiral into 2axel flying sit holding leg to coe serpentine step sequence – in character camel to coe/sit/sideways/change sit/catchfoot/upright – lost all speed on catchfoot cheeky ending pose: crouching by the boards, then jumping up suddenly, ending up standing just in front of the judges and smiling Very negative body language going into the lutz, slowed down, and it just wasn’t going to happen. Nice quality, quite interesting program, and spins improved in accordance to the new system. If it wasn’t for that fall, she would have been up there in the final flight. 27. Miki Ando /JPN/ 3lutz/3loop – shorter set-up than most girls doing triple/double, loop slightly cheated, quite poor flow out 3lip – strong, gap after steps sideways leaning spin to catch – slow steps to camel/sit/sideways/change sit holding leg to Y – quite slow 2axel – over the toe, poor flow out, quite long preparation serpentine spiral sequence: coe/bielmann diagonal step sequence – quite weak flying camel to inverted to coe to bent leg There were some attempts at interpreting the music and this was a better short than the one she used last year, but lot of work still needs to be done in this area. Spins were slow, execution of steps was quite weak and according to Chris, she wasn’t very fast, so overall she still looks very much like a junior skater and now needs to focus on all those issues to add to her great jumping ability. 28. Irina Slutskaya /RUS/ long set-up into 3lutz(wild turn, lost all speed, just held)/2toe steps, gap, huge 3flip 2axel flying camel to coe to doughnut straight line step sequence – intricate sideways leaning spin into layback into bielmann serpentine spiral sequence: coe/back – all in bielmann position camel to coe/sit/sideways/bielmann/change sit/upright/fi upright – slight re-centring on change of foot, slow and messy last position Two small mistakes on the jump and spin combinations but she presented the program well, delivered all the tricks and showed that studying the rulebook and working with it pays off. On the slow-motion, however, the double toe-loop looked toe-axeled and possibly it should have been called as a single. I checked the video again, before I finished writing this, and it did indeed seem to me that the double toe-loop was half a turn pre-rotated and in that case, she should receive -3 GOE for her combination, for not reaching the required amount of revolutions. Nevertheless the technical controller called out as a double so maybe the blade did just barely leave the ice, I wonder what other people thought about that. 29. Sasha Cohen /USA/ 3flip/2toe – outside edge was held for a tiny moment so good luck steps, large gap, 3flip – outside to inside on entry, good flying camel into catchfoot – travelling 2axel serpentine spiral sequence: front/coe/owen - good extension but messed it up going into the bielmann position into sideways leaning spin to catch straight line step sequence – not in time with the music at all camel to coe/sit to holding leg/front attitude/change sit/Y – fast finished slightly behind music (and got a deduction for that) Great attack and interpretation from the start but she lost it after she messed up the spirals. What happened was, she tried to go into a bielmann position, while changing edge, but couldn’t achieve it, had to drop her foot down and somehow managed to stay on one foot. A moment later she tried to get into the bielmann position again and this time it worked. I have no idea how the caller, or anyone else for that matter, is supposed to distinguish between her “lutz” and flip. They both looked exactly the same with her going to an outside edge for a very short moment and then switching to the inside before take-off. 30. Elena Sokolova /RUS/ 3lutz/2toe – high on lutz steps, huge gap, 3lip – double-footed and a really egregious lip, that should be -3 straight away flying camel to coe to doughnut serpentine spiral sequence: coe catchfoot/stroking/back spiral(not held) 2axel sideways into bielmann into catch circular step sequence – mostly on two-feet, quite ragged ?/sit holding leg/sideways/change sit/catchfoot/upright holding foot – lost speed on catchfoot Her basic skating improved and she skated better to the music than usual, but her overall quality is still nowhere near as good as that of the most of the ladies in the last two flights, and the kind of components she received were based on judges only now what. |