NHK Trophy 2023 Pairs SP - Throw Like Sushi

[genevieve]

Wedgie Data

Starting Order:
Warm-up Group 1
1 Yuna NAGAOKA/Sumitada MORIGUCHI JPN
2 Chelsea LIU/Balazs NAGY USA
3 Minerva Fabienne HASE/Nikita VOLODIN GER
4 Kelly Ann LAURIN/Loucas ETHIER CAN

Warm-up Group 2
5 Lucrezia BECCARI/Matteo GUARISE ITA
6 Daria DANILOVA/Michel TSIBA NED
7 Anastasia GOLUBEVA/Hektor GIOTOPOULOS MOORE AUS
8 Rebecca GHILARDI/Filippo AMBROSINI ITA

ISU stream

 

[Bunny Hop]

I'm here, but eating dinner so limited comments for most of first group.

 

[airgelaal]

Time for breakfast and pairs

 

[skatingguy]

Nagaoka, Yuna/Moriguchi, Sumitada
Coach: B. Marcotte, B. Shales, M. Hamada, C. Reed
Music: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You by J.L. Young

 

[airgelaal]

Not the best start

 

[MacMadame]

There are things to like about this program but at the same time, it's a bit of a disaster. Nice DS to end though.

 

[skatingguy]

Nagaoka, Yuna/Moriguchi, Sumitada
Coach: B. Marcotte, B. Shales, M. Hamada, C. Reed
Music: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You by J.L. Young

2Tw 2
1Lo* - invalid element
Hand/Hip Lift 4
Throw 3S - fall
Fly Ch Combo Spin 4
Step Sequence 4
Forward Inside Death Sp 3

Another new team with new team issues - pretty much the theme for pairs for the past couple of Grand Prix seasons.

45.36 = 1st Place

 

[Karen-W]

Nagaoka/Moriguchi - he should have kept Murakami as his partner and done another season on the JGP. Just sayin'...

 

[skatingguy]

Liu, Chelsea/Nagy, Balazs
Coach: T. Sand, J. Meno, B. Frazier. C. Binder
Music: Dive by Ed Sheeran

 

[airgelaal]

Ok, at least I have coffee

 

[Amy L]

How is Chelsea even blonder? She's gone past platinum into something that lives on the other side of a giant ice wall.

 

[MacMadame]

How is Chelsea even blonder? She's gone past platinum into something that lives on the other side of a giant ice wall.

I hate to sound like the old fogie I am but what happened to the days when one partner would die their hair to match the other? All these brunette gals with brunette partners dying their hair blonde is just weird to me.

 

[Bunny Hop]

I know I've seen Liu/Nagy's program before but I have no recollection of it. That could either be a good or bad thing...

ETA: Though I approve that one of his hobbies is 'desserts with cinnamon'.

 

[skatingguy]

Liu, Chelsea/Nagy, Balazs
Coach: T. Sand, J. Meno, B. Frazier. C. Binder
Music: Dive by Ed Sheeran

3Tw 3
3Sq - Chelsea put her hand down
Throw 3S - two-footed
Forward Inside Death Sp 4
Ch Combo Spin 4 - some timing issues
Step Sequence 3
Hand/Hip Lift 4

A bit of a sloppy skate - ahead of the music much of the way through.

61.23 = 1st Place

 

[airgelaal]

No, coffee doesn't help

 

[skatingguy]

How is Chelsea even blonder? She's gone past platinum into something that lives on the other side of a giant ice wall.

She's the Mother of Dragons.

 

[Amy L]

I hate to sound like the old fogie I am but what happened to the days when one partner would die their hair to match the other? All these brunette gals with brunette partners dying their hair blonde is just weird to me.

Shpilband liked his dance teams to have one blondie/one dark, Charlie White bleached his hair when he was a competitor. Chelsea must have bought into this theory and went overboard with it.

 

[Karen-W]

LiuNagy - well, a hand down on the SBS 3S is probably the best we can hope from her, so I'll take it. They really do have such quality pairs elements apart from her jump issues.

 

[MacMadame]

Shpilband liked his dance teams to have one blondie/one dark,

 

[skatingguy]

Hase, Minerva Fabienne/Volodin, Nikita
Coach: Dmitri Savin, Knut Schubert, Rico Rex
Music: Stay by Rihanna, Mikky Ekko

 

[Amy L]

Volodin had something like 4/5 different partners in as many years. Good luck Minerva!

 

[Bunny Hop]

Hase/Volodin - wow, that was some lift entry!

 

[skatingguy]

Hase, Minerva Fabienne/Volodin, Nikita
Coach: Dmitri Savin, Knut Schubert, Rico Rex
Music: Stay by Rihanna, Mikky Ekko

3Tw 3
3S
Throw 3Lo
Hand/Hip Lift 4
Forward Inside Death Sp 4
Ch Combo Spin 4
Step Sequence 4 (3 after review)

All the points. They are wonderful, and can't wait to see what they can do when they've had a couple seasons together.

67.23 = 1st Place

 

[Karen-W]

HaseVol - during the warmup Ted said we could expect this team to show more personality in future seasons... either Ted was throwing Mark level of shade at how boring they are or he completely forgot that this is exactly who Minerva is as a skater and she skated these se dreary, bland programs with Seegert too.

Anyway, this will easily lead. Meh.

 

[skatingguy]

Laurin, Kelly Ann/Ethier, Loucas
Coach: S. Valois, Y. Desjardins, V. Emard
Music: All Right Now by Superhuman

 

[Amy L]

HaseVol - during the warmup Ted said we could expect this team to show more personality in future seasons... either Ted was throwing Mark level of shade at how boring they are or he completely forgot that this is exactly who Minerva is as a skater and she skated these se dreary, bland programs with Seegert too.

Boring, yes, but at least with Volodin they can do lifts instead of biffing them half of the time.

 

[MacMadame]

Kelly skates like she has a weak core. You can see it in the throw and the DS where she couldn't hold herself into a proper arch.

 

[skatingguy]

Laurin, Kelly Ann/Ethier, Loucas
Coach: S. Valois, Y. Desjardins, V. Emard
Music: All Right Now by Superhuman

3Tw 2
3S< - she fell
Hand/Hip Lift 4
Throw 3Lo - fall
Forward Inside Death Sp 3
Step Sequence 3 (2 after review)
Ch Combo Spin 4

It's hard to make much of an impact with the performance when you can't land the jumps.

49.18 = 3rd Place

 

[Bunny Hop]

Laurin/Ethier - That was rough. Another program I've apparently seen before but don't recall. I swear I've been paying attention!

 

[Karen-W]

ROUGH skate for LaurEth. Hope they can get it together by Canadian Nats.