Figure Skating: Junior Worlds Ladies FS

Well, Russian Sports TV is showing Junior Worlds this week and despite Rosaleen's great live reports I'm getting up insanely early to watch russian TV and do my own reports. Russian commercials are fairly interesting. Anyway, I arrived in the midst of...

Nella Simaova CZE
2A, 2Z-2T-2L
Nella does not point her toes, but I like her very understated black costume with a few lines of stones.
35.99 31.44 67.43 105.79 5th

Megan Hyatt USA
red and red velvet with a deep V front. Attractive.
drummy music
3T nice. badly under rotated 2Z, traveling camel, donut, half beill, sit layback inside upright. 1L pop. back beill spital CE forward classic spiral eh back spiral eh. 2A-2T. 3S nice. axel sit. 3T turns out. tango music. uppy downy FW. steps 3S-2T? NICE layback, foot to head, beill EH.
Megan has the beginnings of some decent presentation. Give her a couple years.
39.01 + 34.70 = 73.71 T=113.82

Nana Takeda JPE
Lavender chiffon. nice.
Music: Otonal, the same arrangement as Johnny Weir
nice 3L. 2F. 3T-2T. layback nice, foot to head, beill. 2S. spiral eh ChE, back beill sp, side catch spiral. 3L. step 2A. 3T. axel sit outside. SL FW eh. 2A-2T-2T, camel inside sit camel donut, something, beill.
She kind of collapses trying to bow low. It's cute.
48.10 + 42.05 = 90.15 T=129.09

Hello protocol judging! I didn't get a close look at the components, but where the heck did they come from? The child didn't make even a creditable ATTEMPT at presentation. She had good speed, but that was about all. Maybe it's the effect of the music. But i just don't see components this high.

Chae-Hwa Kim KOR This is Korea's #2?
red velvet, black illusion sleeve
VERY familiar music? Nutcracker maybe?
3T(2foot)2F. 3S-2T-2L. 2A-2T. nice death drop inside. 3L. back spiral ch E beill. nice and steady. side catch eh bent knee. 3T. layback ugly leg foot to head. 3S nice. 2A nice. SL FW. camel sit outside layback ch sit inside sasha catchfoot.

She landed a lot of jumps. Her presentation is still very VERY embryonic. She gave up much pretense at it towards the end. I'm still not sure how the previous skate outpoints this one... maybe in the FW? CoP is sure unintelligible when a lackluster skate like Takeda outpoints this by 5 points on the tech score...
43.73 + 36.96 = 80.69 T= 122.81 2nd place

Elena Glebova EST
blue with straps, couple lines of stones. nice.
Queen symphony
3T turns out 2T. 2Z NICE. flying camel squat upright inside. 2A. 1L pop. weird layback on outside edge beill nice speed, spiral ChE wobbly. low catch foot side spiral. 3S-2T. Sl FW slow tentative upy downy. NICE twizzles though. 2A-2T-2T. 3T. camel sit inside layback ch camel outside-layback beill.

Now, under CoP, this exceptionally unique, probably nearly impossible, layback on an outside edge will get NO more points than the usual one.

In the replays, they are playing the Stairway to Heaven violin chamber music.

42.79 + 35.05 = 77.84 T = 118.26

I am still amazed how the Japanese girl outpointed these girls in components. That was really weird.

Jenniu Vahamma FIN
yallow dress with black stones and trim
little girlish showtunes
walley. 2S-2T-2L. 2A hop out. flying camel inside nice donut. 3T hand down. 2F-2T close to the boards. layback eh. half beill wobbbly so so classic forward nice catch side spiral nice side spiral. 2A-2T. 3S nice. nice circle FW very fast, slowing. Flz. fly camel, outside, sit nice catch, ch sit inside NICE catchfoot.

She's probably 12, she looks 9 and is just a delight. She has good speed and a nice tight wrap on her jumps... a pretty face and a bright smile. She has nice camel positions.
41.86 + 37.26 = 79.12 T = 121.88

Someone explain to me how this comes over Glebova? IN COMPONENTS? This kid isn't "juniorish" she's NOVICE-ISH for chrissakes! She was cute, and fast, but she was so unformed... She landed like one decent jump... color me not getting the judging here. Color me not getting it BIGTIME. At All.

Katerina Gerboldt age 16 RUS
WAY ugly dark pink with black insets and long black gloves.
2A eh. 2L-2T wonky landing. steps 3Z 2foot? steps 3T? flying camel inside donut nice. good speed. 3S bad fall out. beill spiral ch E nice. back beill. 3L. 2F-2T. layback. metal rock music with high vocal. camel outside squat layback ch donut beill.

Very pretty girl. VERY ugly dress.

39.13 + 35.99 = 75.12 T = 120.90


Isabelle Nylander SWE age 15
orange dress with red sequins and boa, my bet, Firebird... YEP, Firebird.
layback foot to head, nice fast spin. good speed. spiral back half beill ugh. side spiral. 2A. 2L 2foot. 3T FALL. 2S. camel outside nice sit layback foot to head. ch nice sit inside slow catch. 3S fall out. spiral to 2F-2L? SL FW nice speed. 2A turns 2L NICE axel sit slow cannonball, free leg bent in sit spin.

This kid looks like she's actually a normally sized human being. She has something nice about her skating, but the jumps really were not there for her today.

26.98 + 34.80 = 60.78 T = 102.83 12th place

Laura Lepisto FIN
snuffy brown and gold lamé dress with flowers... really, INCREDIBLY ugly... the color was awful.
Feeling Begins? Arabian music
3T nice. 2T-2T. steps 3S-2T, flying sit (DD?) inside. music change. nice 3L. 3T nice. wobbly ch e spiral so so position. back half beill, nice sideways lean to layback nice, foot to head. bad pop 1S fall. music change. circle FW slow2L 2T. camel outside sit catch, ch sit inside catch (the Kwan spin).

39.48 + 38.33 = 76.81 T = 121.05

Christine Zukowski USA
Nice forest green dress with criss crossy straps and white stones
oboe music
2L. nice speed. 3Z? sat on the landing but landed. layback. steps 2Z. spiral ch E half beill. back half beill BAD. 3S. 3T 2T. hop sit inside, foot behind the leg crouch. SL FW, swirly. 3S-2T-2T. 2A-2T, landed the 2A on an inside edge. traveling camel outside, sit cannon, layback, ch squat inside catch.

Here's a CW jumper, so I may have miscalled some of the jumps before I figured it out.
44.51 + 39.26 = 83.77 T = 135.14

Alissa Czisny USA
La baydere
dark blue Salome costume
3Z 2foot, fall. flying sit inside pancake good speed through. 3F 2foot? 3L wonky landing. camel inside donut sit catch ch sit layback beill. 2A. 1F pop. fast circle FW 1A pop. 1Z pop. SL FW fast and nice. side catch to unsupported ch e side spiral back spiral. forward beill spiral. sideways layback beill, very fast great positions.

Lovely as always and a very UN-juniorish skater, but jumps were AWOL today.
33.21 + 41.61 = 73.83 T = 124.18, 3 place

The idea that Takeda could have gotten better components than this when Takeda skates like a junior and Czisny skates like a senior is just beyond me. Where can I get some of the good drugs these judges are on?

Arina Martinova RUS
black velvet with long black chiffon skirt and silver "bow" in sequins, black velvet gloves
Devil's Trill (a la Kulik) and others.
2T. steps 3Flz. arm waving. 3F bad fall. arm waving. 3Flz fall. 2T?-2T 2A 2T. flying camel inside donut. music change to bluesy something. 2S-2T camel outside sit layback beill, ch sit inside catch traveling bad. spiral music change nice change of edge, steady. music change. back beill spiral. circle FW nice good speed. sideways lean layback foot to head beill finish after music.

Her coach looks like she must be her older sister. Talk about a family resemblance!
30.03 + 38.40 = 66.43 T = 116.39, 9th place.

Aki Savada JPE
red velvet with geometric designs
City of Veils
3F-2T nice. 3S ok. layback sideways, foot to head. 3Z pretty nice. 3F fall out and fall on knee. ugh spiral COE half beill. back half beill poor positions. back spiral poor position. 3L wobbly camel outside sit layback ch sit inside cross foot upright. 3T nice. 1A pop, another jump pop. axel sit inside.

This is no waif skater. She is short, but stocky and powerful looking (which means she's probably tiny compared to real people). They give her powerful music and it works for her. She both flutzes AND lips. her spins are wobbly and not well centered... until she gets into them. She IS adorable though.
39.46 + 39.84 = 78.30 T = 126.15, 3rd place

Yu Na Kim KOR
blue green strappy dress. No puberty monster here! age 15, looks 10
violin music.
3F-3T nice. 2A nice. nice death drop sit twist pancake. good arms nicely evocative. steps 3Z. layback foot to head beill. ina bauer to 2A 3T. 3Z-2t-2L spiral COE half beill. back beill eh. nice SL FW. 3L. 3S camel sit layback ch sit twist inside sasha catch.

This was very clean, nicely "pretty" and well done. It would have done pretty well in seniors. She has good speed... but, let's see what the Puberty Monster does to her. She has obviously NOT had a visit from said monster yet.

64.85 (she goes WOW) + 51.83 = 116.68 T= 177.54

A senior level score for a senior level skate... and in 4 minutes instead of 4:30! This really was an impressive skate. I do think it's a shame that this child could not be at the olympics. If she skated there that well, she could easily have done as well as Messiner. Kim's as "mature" as a skater.

Mao Asada JPE age 15
Her pink little girl dress... still looking very prepubescent.
Swan Lake?
3A popped to 1A. 3L nice. fly camel inside donut. illusion nice. swirly7 SL FW. 2A nice. small death drop twist panacke. 3F nice. beill COE spiral back slide catch foot. 3L-2L-2L. 3F-1L. 1Z pop. camel inside donut beill ch outside twist beill.

Okay, this isn't exactly the end, but I need to get my kids to school.

pardon the typos!