Rostelecom Cup 2013

Hotaru wrote:

Just finished watching the ladies sp.  Sorry, Julia's score was way too high.  She scored almost 4 pts more in pcs compared to Skate Canada.  I really didn't think her performance was that much better here.  Carolina's score was a bit lower than I thought... I thought she'd hit closer to 70 (or more) when she skates clean, but I guess that didn't happen.  She's going to have to work very, very hard for an Olympic medal.

I was pleasantly surprised to see those I wasn't expecting much from to skate a fairly clean program.  Mirai did well!  I thought she was lowballed a bit here, but I hope she can skate clean in the LP.  

I felt so sad for Kanako, it looked like she was holding back tears.  She totally botched her 3-3 combo.

Yea Kanako was visibly upset and I thought we would get good skates from everyone (after Mirai hit it man, I though fairy dust was on the ice)
and Mirai Mirai! so happy for you!

(but on a side note why is one of your spins only level 1???! If it was like a level 3, you would have been a point ahead... (( )

AmazingGraceMao wrote:

PCS 32+ is a joke to me.

Yes, IMO her PCs should have been around 28-29 or maybe 30 due to home advantage...but 32? No way!

I expected a score around 67-68 for Julia....quite similar to Caro's although I agree with the placement.

I expected 68-69 for Julia here and maybe 70 due to PCS since it's in Russia but to get 72+ with 32.61 PCS just less than a point from Caro is waaaayyy too much. How did she get 4+ points better in terms of PCS in a couple of weeks? The Olympic and World medalists took years to get those kind of PCS. IMHO it's a big insult to them.

The thing is, with this kind of scoring system, if she's already been given 32+, it most likely won't go down to normal level from now on. She's been given the rep now which I don't think she deserves yet. If it will go down most likely a point only. That's from getting 27 last year, 28 in her first GP this season but then suddenly leaps to 32+ now.

Hmm there has been a lot of PCS boosting this season! Like Gracie's PCS got 30? Which is pretty high, and it's slowly climbing!
So I guess with Julia getting such high marks, she is a medal contender? o: (or even gold if the top skaters are not careful?!)

Holy shiz... Julia gets 72.24 points for SP?? That's the world record score Yuna got at 2009 4CC...
I guess that's what happens when a lot of articles published are hyping and politicking for her.. but still. Mao, Yuna, and Caro didn't even get that kind of PCS until a few seasons as seniors. It looks like standards are changing

I find it sort of funny that Russia is really pushing to get as many medals as possible at Sochi next year. With the way Julia is being judged, she'll become the 5th woman to break the 200 point barrier (and the youngest) and she'll medal in Sochi too. Only time will tell..

Oh no Aliona  . A nasty fall on the triple axel and she was almost crying at the end. And even if that axel had been perfect they would have scored much less than V/T in recent competitions (maybe 7 points or so)...

sweetdream wrote:

Hmm not too sure if anyone is following but a huge huge huge score from julia 72.24 points, which is massive! Caro in 2nd, with 67.74 and Mirai 60.44 Agnes 60.45 and Eliza all 60.1ish really close to each other!! o:

Julia was good and I really like her new costume, but that score is a giant joke. Even the TES score is too high. The landings of her jumps are not good, some of her jumps are small, she travells during the spins...come on judges, what the hell?!   And where did those mark in PCS come from? Her SS aren't that good, ice coverage OK, there wans't any flow out of the jumps, so to my untrained eyes this means not much speed... One has to take it in consideration though, that CoR is in Russia, so inflation is going to happen, just think SA or even better, SC. I wouldn't be worried, IF Oly's weren't in Russia, but since they are...they better not be screwing other more deserving skaters so they can push Julia. What will she score tomorrow, 140, with 69+ in PCS?!  
We are looking at a possible Olympic bronze medal winner, maybe even higher if Mao and Yuna aren't careful. And if she'll deserve it good for her, but I don't like the way this is going. It'll be interesting to see how she'll be scored at GPF.


@cera, your avatar is gorgeous!   Where was this picture taken from?

zarinaballerina wrote:

sweetdream wrote:

Hmm not too sure if anyone is following but a huge huge huge score from julia 72.24 points, which is massive! Caro in 2nd, with 67.74 and Mirai 60.44 Agnes 60.45 and Eliza all 60.1ish really close to each other!! o:

Julia was good and I really like her new costume, but that score is a giant joke. Even the TES score is too high. The landings of her jumps are not good, some of her jumps are small, she travells during the spins...come on judges, what the hell?!   And where did those mark in PCS come from? Her SS aren't that good, ice coverage OK, there wans't any flow out of the jumps, so to my untrained eyes this means not much speed... One has to take it in consideration though, that CoR is in Russia, so inflation is going to happen, just think SA or even better, SC. I wouldn't be worried, IF Oly's weren't in Russia, but since they are...they better not be screwing other more deserving skaters so they can push Julia. What will she score tomorrow, 140, with 69+ in PCS?!  
We are looking at a possible Olympic bronze medal winner, maybe even higher if Mao and Yuna aren't careful. And if she'll deserve it good for her, but I don't like the way this is going. It'll be interesting to see how she'll be scored at GPF.

Since they're setting Julia up as a medal contender at Sochi, there's no way her scores would go down next time, especially in Sochi if she skates the same as today:@_@:   

Holy cow, Kovtun!   That was freaking amazing!   if only he were close to this form last season, Russia would've had two spots for Sochi.   I wonder what will happen at Nats, if Kovtun keeps this up. I adore Plushy, but i don't think he can compete with this. Nov Maxim, please be amazing tomorrow as well.  

pearlyriver wrote:

Since they're setting Julia up as a medal contender at Sochi, there's no way her scores would go down next time, especially in Sochi if she skates the same as today:@_@:   

OK, but then, the scores for other skaters espescially Mao, will have to go up as well, because she's better than Julia. No way should Mao's PCS be only less than 2 points higher than Julia's.   At least not in this Universe.

IMO, outside Russia Julia's PCS will drop a bit, though this will depend on how hard Russia will politick for her.

zarinaballerina wrote:

OK, but then, the scores for other skaters espescially Mao, will have to go up as well, because she's better than Julia. No way  should Mao's PCS be only less than 2 points higher than Julia's.   At least not in this Universe.

IMO, outside Russia Julia's PCS will drop a bit, though this will depend on how hard Russia will politick for her.

I'm curious to know how Yuna bot is feeling now. Their queen needs to watch out.

pearlyriver wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

OK, but then, the scores for other skaters espescially Mao, will have to go up as well, because she's better than Julia. No way  should Mao's PCS be only less than 2 points higher than Julia's.   At least not in this Universe.

IMO, outside Russia Julia's PCS will drop a bit, though this will depend on how hard Russia will politick for her.

I'm curious to know how Yuna bot is feeling now. Their queen needs to watch out.

They're probably freaking out or to say it better, having a hate fest.

Don't get me wrong, Julia is very, very good, and her nerves are made of steel, but she did not deserve that score. I would've given her around 69 points.

What the heck is going on with Javi?  

And I really like the new pair Antipova/Maisuradze.   Potential there is huge!

I just got to see the sp, and overall a well skated event from the ladies, there were some nice surprises and some shocking surprises. I was soo happy to see mirai doing so well. but quite shocked to see Kanako in 9th place. Julia did a great job and her spins are really exciting I love her flexibility, but some of her spins do travel quite a bit. that's why I have an issue with her receiving +3 in goe on some of her spins.
I also really have a hard time grasping how Julias tinnyyyy jump could rack up so much goe. because through she has good rotation, she doesn't have any height or distance, nor does she have any flow going out of the jumps and I will not even begin to talk about lack of transitions.

Then when it came to the PCS my mouth also dropped wide open, that's quite a rise from one event to another.

Kostner on the other hand did better then I expected, after her last outing and the latest twitter I was pleasantly surprised to see her pulling herself back, and landing the jumps. but the late recovery has really affected her pcs!

ballerinamao wrote:

Kostner on the other hand did better then I expected, after her last outing and the latest twitter I was pleasantly surprised to see her pulling herself back, and landing the jumps. but the late recovery has really affected her pcs!

Caro has a twitter account?!   Where the heck have I been.  

This will sound mean, but Caro has been generously marked so many times in the past, that it's good to see the judges giving her lower, IMO, more deserved scores.

zarinaballerina wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

Kostner on the other hand did better then I expected, after her last outing and the latest twitter I was pleasantly surprised to see her pulling herself back, and landing the jumps. but the late recovery has really affected her pcs!

Caro has a twitter account?!   Where the heck have I been.  

This will sound mean, but Caro has been generously marked so many times in the past, that it's good to see the judges giving her lower, IMO, more deserved scores.

oh I meant the lastest twitter about her practice sessions  

I too am happy to see that kostner was scored more fairly, once in a while. but to me julias inflanted scores, in goe an pcs is just immense. one doesn't have to be an expect to notice that her spins travel, her jumps are soo tiny, she barely get's in the air and her SS is quite weak, I could go on... but I will just wait and see what will happen tomorrow

hopefully everyone will have a good skate, i am crossing my finger and hoping that Mirai medals and and Kanako skate lights out tomorrow to move up in the standings.

ballerinamao wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

Kostner on the other hand did better then I expected, after her last outing and the latest twitter I was pleasantly surprised to see her pulling herself back, and landing the jumps. but the late recovery has really affected her pcs!

Caro has a twitter account?!   Where the heck have I been.  

This will sound mean, but Caro has been generously marked so many times in the past, that it's good to see the judges giving her lower, IMO, more deserved scores.

oh I meant the lastest twitter about her practice sessions  

I too am happy to see that kostner was scored more fairly, once in a while. but to me julias inflanted scores, in goe an pcs is just immense. one doesn't have to be an expect to notice that her spins travel, her jumps are soo tiny, she barely get's in the air and her SS is quite weak, I could go on... but I will just wait and see what will happen tomorrow

hopefully everyone will have a good skate, i am crossing my finger and hoping that Mirai medals and and Kanako skate lights out tomorrow to move up in the standings.

Thanx for clarifying.  

Well Sochi is in Russia, Russians want as many medals as possible. IMO, the same is happening to Julia (she's the best russian) as it did to Joannie 4 years ago, when suddenly her scores skyrocketed. As I said, unless something drastic happens, then IMO, Julia is in contention for the bronze.

I still think though, that her scores outside Russia will be a bit lower. For example, at GPF she'll probably get around 70 points for the same SP performance, which is still very high.

Everyone is overscored at Oly's, so scores there are going to be very high.

zarinaballerina wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

Kostner on the other hand did better then I expected, after her last outing and the latest twitter I was pleasantly surprised to see her pulling herself back, and landing the jumps. but the late recovery has really affected her pcs!

Caro has a twitter account?!   Where the heck have I been.  

This will sound mean, but Caro has been generously marked so many times in the past, that it's good to see the judges giving her lower, IMO, more deserved scores.

oh I meant the lastest twitter about her practice sessions  

I too am happy to see that kostner was scored more fairly, once in a while. but to me julias inflanted scores, in goe an pcs is just immense. one doesn't have to be an expect to notice that her spins travel, her jumps are soo tiny, she barely get's in the air and her SS is quite weak, I could go on... but I will just wait and see what will happen tomorrow

hopefully everyone will have a good skate, i am crossing my finger and hoping that Mirai medals and and Kanako skate lights out tomorrow to move up in the standings.

Thanx for clarifying.  

Well Sochi is in Russia, Russians want as many medals as possible. IMO, the same is happening to Julia (she's the best russian) as it did to Joannie 4 years ago, when suddenly her scores skyrocketed. As I said, unless something drastic happens, then IMO, Julia is in contention for the bronze.

I still think though, that her scores outside Russia will be a bit lower. For example, at GPF she'll probably get around 70 points for the same SP performance, which is still very high.

Everyone is overscored at Oly's, so scores there are going to be very high.

I sincerely hope this will not be the case, after all there is no way to justify her scores. Her weaknesses are glaring weaknesses. That needs no protocols and no experts eye to catch, and she needs alot of work on practically every aspects of her skating (spins, jumps, skating skills) the excuse of the Olympics being in Russia, is no valid excuse that can make up this kind of sudden boost. Which is why I am not really taking her or several other skaters scores seriously this season.
I really like Julia, as a skater her flexibility, extension, centered spins are all aspects I really appreciate and look for in a skater, and which I wish would be rewarded more in general. But just as her skating is strong in these departments it's also really weak in the others I mentioned in my previous post, and I think scores which would reflect that a bit more is definitely not too much to ask for from the judges.

ballerinamao wrote:

I sincerely hope this will not be the case, after all there is no way to justify her scores. Her weaknesses are glaring weaknesses. That needs no protocols and no experts eye to catch, and she needs alot of work on practically every aspects of her skating (spins, jumps, skating skills) the excuse of the Olympics being in Russia, is no valid excuse that can make up this kind of sudden boost. Which is why I am not really taking her or several other skaters scores seriously this season.
I really like Julia, as a skater her flexibility, extension, centered spins are all aspects I really appreciate and look for in a skater, and which I wish would be rewarded more in general. But just as her skating is strong in these departments it's also really weak in the others I mentioned in my previous post, and I think scores which would reflect that a bit more is definitely not too much to ask for from the judges.

ballerina, I completely agre with you. I wasn't trying to imply that by giving her 70 points, it would be fair. I was trying to say, that due to GPF being outside Russia, she might get overscored a bit less. Fact is, she is the main russian hope for a medal, therefor she will be overscored by the judges. Look at her scores from SC, granted they were lower due to GP being outside Russia, but she was still being generously scored, IMO. She is also incredibly consistent, which is showing in her PCS. It will really be interesting seeing her going head to head with Mao, and how they will be scored in PCS.

Though to be fair, her scores are nowhere near as ridiculous as those of V/T. Hopefully, it'll stay this way. I don't want a russian version of Yuna.

Did any of you watch the Short Dance? Is it me or judges seem to give really different scores every time?

zarinaballerina wrote:

Though to be fair, her scores are nowhere near as ridiculous as those of V/T. Hopefully, it'll stay this way. I don't want a russian version of Yuna.

ITA, I am actually really excited to see how the competition tomorrow will unfold, since the placement and scores across the disciplines has been quite surprising in good and bad ways  

..... I hope that this won't reflect what Sochi will be like  

Maybe the Russian coaches who complained about PCS and whatnot did have an influence. That's really annoying though. The previous generation of skaters, including Mao, Yuna, and Caro all had to work for a few seasons before their PCS went up... And in no universe should the PCS between the artists and the jumping beans be the same.

sapphiresky wrote:

..... I hope that this won't reflect what Sochi will be like  

Maybe the Russian coaches who complained about PCS and whatnot did have an influence. That's really annoying though. The previous generation of skaters, including Mao, Yuna, and Caro all had to work for a few seasons before their PCS went up... And in no universe should the PCS between the artists and the jumping beans be the same.

I guess we will be seeing ladies hitting 80+ on their SP scores on a daily basis soon...with the way this season is going.

Is it too late for Caro to go back to her last season SP? And do you guys think if she does, her scores will top 70+ if skated clean. Because I think she deserves a chance to medal at Sochi waaaaaay more the Julia, who will still be a teenager in 2018, and will still have a good chance of winning gold at the next Olympic.

shar wrote:

Is it too late for Caro to go back to her last season SP? And do you guys think if she does, her scores will top 70+ if skated clean. Because I think she deserves a chance to medal at Sochi waaaaaay more the Julia, who will still be a teenager in 2018, and will still have a good chance of winning gold at the next Olympic.

I think she should, that was the best SP of last season for me (or one of the best, at least). And I was thinking...Julia is really lucky to have been born in the exact time for Sochi. Imagine, she will only be 19 when the next Olympics take place, same age as Mao and Yuna in Vancouver...

Iceriver wrote:

And I was thinking...Julia is really lucky to have been born in the exact time for Sochi. Imagine, she will only be 19 when the next Olympics take place, same age as Mao and Yuna in Vancouver...

THIS.

And had Mao been born in June instead of September, IMO, she would've won in Torino 06.

Iceriver wrote:

Did any of you watch the Short Dance? Is it me or judges seem to give really different scores every time?

The short dance was so badly scored it was ridiculous. Most of the time, the judges are pretty decent with at least the compulsory portion of the dance. Not so much this time around, but we can thank politicking and/or bribes for that.