#pooja kaylan

[moonstarphoenix]

Skate America 2020 Ladies LP Pt. 1

Welcome back to the first skating event of the season. Tonight we have the ladies’ long programs. Can Bradie claim a gold? Can Mariah win her first gold medal? Let’s find out.

Gracie Gold starts us off. She had a very rough short. I hope her long goes better for her. The canned audience noise ended way to abruptly. Already a better start, with a triple lutz and double toeloop combo. But then she doubles her next lutz. Sometimes I wonder if she really wants to be competing again. Shaky triple loop but she stays on her feet. She struggling though. Lots of doubles and triples, and now she’s falling. Definitely not her best. I hope she does better at Nationals. She’s not even looking at the camera.

And the sound guy better with the audience noise because wow.

Pooja Kalyan is next. I like the dark wine color of her dress. Landed her first jump and struggles on the combo. I’m not feeling much connection to the music though. She’s just kind of skating it. A pretty program but not much spark. A good performance for her. Some mistakes on the jumps, but not a bad performance.

Starr Andrews is another one I’m rooting for to do better. That’s a pretty purple on her. Lovely triple flip to start, followed my a nice triple salchow. Leaning a bit on the triple toeloop combo, but she holds on. I feel like this song reflects Starr a lot, the way Gracie’s long and Amber’s programs last season did. She’s doing well on her jumps today. This could be her Hallelujah program. She needs to sell it a bit more though. Two foots that loop. What a lovely performance for her! If she can sell it a bit more, it could do really well for her. She’s happy with it. And sanitizing her hands! Good girl! Wash your hands everybody! She should be first easily.

Finley Hawk went warhorse on us. Carmen. Oddly enough, I haven’t heard that one in a while. Slips off the edge of her lutz and falls. The next is no better. I’m not liking this version she chose. The woman singer is screechy. I give her credit, she’s trying for the artistic score. Not bad. I think she just needs time and experience. She falls to third and Starr remains in 1st.

Sierra Venetta’s dress is gorgeous. She seems confident today. Who does she look like? There’s something familiar in her features. A little slow in her spins but she is landing her jumps. This is a lovely program and quite a happy smile from Sierra. Oh no. She slipped on her last jump and she was doing mostly well! But good performance for her. Another one with some time and experience could be a top lady. I don’t know if it’ll be her or Starr first. And Starr remains in first.

Shan Lin from China is next. Our only international girl. What a shame. Another pretty dress and another warhorse. Romeo and Juliet, but the question is which version. Lovely double axel-triple toeloop combo. She has a lot of speed in this program. Did we go again from the 1970s movie to the 1998 movie version? It changes from a score I know is not in that movie to I’m Kissing You. I didn’t like switching the versions when Tennell did it. I don’t like it now. Pick a version and stick with it. And back to the 1970s version. I should mention she was born here in the states and now represents China and this was also her Grand Prix debut. Not a bad performance though. She’s got some great skating qualities that will be fun to see develop further.

[figureskatingfanblog]

US Nationals - Day Four

Three out of the four Novice-level competitions ended today, and there was some great skating to be had.

The Novice Ladies competition was first, with loads of triples and great skating. In second after yesterday's short program, Angelina Huang of the St. Peters FSA  had a great skate to take the title. Ting Chui of the Baltimore FSC won the free skate and moved from up from third to second. She and Huang were the only two skaters to break 90 points. Pooja Kaylan of the Ozark FSC had a solid skate to move up from fifth to third. Last night’s overnight leader, Alysa Liu of the St. Moritz ISC, had multiple mistakes and fell from first to fourth.

In the men’s event, Maxim Naumov of the Charter Oak FSC overcame a mistake with his first combo to dominate the competition and win by over 11-points. Joseph Kang of the University of Delaware FSC held on to his second place standing and won the silver. Dihn Tran of the SC of San Francisco held onto third. Joonsoo Kim of the DuPage FSC climbed from fifth to fourth to capture the pewter.

In the Novice Pairs event, Erin Coleman and Derrick Griffith of the Panthers FSC held onto their overnight lead and won the competition by over fourteen points. Ashley Peterson and Kristofer Ogren (All Year FSC/Kansas City FSC) held onto their second place finish with a solid skate. Greta Crawfood and John Crawfood of the Los Angeles FSC held onto their third place finish and won the bronze. Elliana Secunda and Blake Eisenach had the fifth-place free skate but managed to hold onto their fourth place standing for the pewter. The Novice Dance competition started today, and will end tomorrow, concluding the Novice competitions here at Nationals. Junior Pairs starts today and ends on Thursday.The other three Junior-level competitions start tomorrow.

[moonstarphoenix]

Nationals 2019 Ladies SP

Alright ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2019 Nationals.

Tonight we have the ladies’ short programs. I’m not sure I’m going to go into detail with every skater. There are just too many competitors, but I will cover the top ladies for sure. Fair warning as always, I don’t like Bradie Tennell. Expect my comments to reflect that.

So here we go...

This first group contains Alysa Liu who is the young skater I mentioned earlier, though it is the triple axel she has, not the quad. She’s younger than I thought.

I do want to mention, I caught some of the junior ladies earlier this week. We have some lovely up and comers who will be fun to watch in the coming years.

I rather liked Pooja Kaylan. She has a lot of speed, solid jumps. Needs a little better choreography but lovely.

Oh, Alysa Liu is a little cutie! Lovely triple axel as well! Still needs a little refinement, but that comes with age and time. She’s still young at 13. And she’s clean! Lots of speed in her spins! Wow! A BAM! finish. Fantastic! A great score that’ll compete with the top ladies.

Switched over to NBCSN for a second and was actually surprised to hear Tara and Johnny admit that Tennell hasn’t made an impact internationally. Now that Olympic year is over and the USFSA isn’t trying to push the ‘golden child’, might we see a more fair commentating? Yay for Johnny recognizing the talented Mariah Bell who has slowly made a name for herself the last few years.

Is Emmy Ma related to Jimmy Ma? Her skating style reminds me a bit of his, the expression, the commitment to it. She drew me in. I enjoyed her.

Ouch! That fall looked painful for Courtney Hicks. She’s mever really made an impression on me, but this is an interesting program. Just not her best.

Mariah Bell is next. She’s had a great season so far and she loves this short. I hope Adam Rippon keeps choreographing. He feels music in a way few can and he could easily become one of the greats. Mariah has a lot of speed. Looks like some underrotating in the triple-triple, but she’s certainly performing. Very lovely. She’s not thrilled with it, but I love her. Not bad score. Sets her up well for the long.

Keep in mind, even if Alysa wins, she’s too young to go to Worlds (like the entire Russian Nationals podium) so likely the next three two placements will go to Worlds.

And the final group has Tennell and Starr. This will be an interesting group.

I feel like I’ve seen Amber Glenn for years now (like Courtney Hicks). Ones that are always there but never really breaking through.

Ting Cui has a very soft, pretty skating style. Too bad about her falls, but she is a very delicate, soft skater.

Tennell is next. I’m never going to like her skating, but I will give her credit. This short program is miles better than last year. Technical-wise, Alyssa should remain ahead of her. If Tennell is placed first, it’s obvious the fix is in. That said, this is the best Tennell has skated this program all year. She definitely had a lot of speed. I still don’t like her, but even I’ll admit, she was great tonight.

Silver platter.

There’s no way she should be ahead of Alysa, and definitely not by THREE FUCKING POINTS. Clean or not, the triple axel should have had enough points to keep Tennell in second. Not to mention that’s the best score of the USA ladies all season so far, right? A clean Tennell is barely middle of the pack internationally and she was barely breaking the 60s in the fall. Nationals’ scores are always inflated. Remember that.

Amber Glenn is emoting the hell out of this song, which every time I hear only reminds me of the amazing dance from So You Think You Can Dance. Nice job for her. That said, her dress needs to be darker. It’s too pale for her skin tone.

Hanna Harrell’s dress is reminding me of something but I can’t figure out what! Points to her for keeping her eyes up in her senior debut. It takes most ladies a couple of years to accomplish that. Fiesty little thing, isn’t she?

Alright, last year, the breakout was Miss Starr Andrews. She’s struggled this fall, but I’m hoping she’ll do better this year. A little messy on the landing but damn if she didn’t fight to stay on her feet. She’s got a lot more confidence tonight, that’s for sure, and skating with a lot more maturity. Still, apparently technically she was a little messy even on the spins. She won’t break the top three, but she should still be in the final group tomorrow night. Ouch, maybe not. That was harsh.

Akari Nakahara is another very lovely skater. She reminds me of some of the Japanese ladies. Sweet smile through the program. Still needs some refinement definitely, but a pleasure to watch.

Alright, so some surprises tonight but really not too many. Tennell in first, of fucking course. Alysa Liu is the breakout this season. She has two triple axels planned in the long and if she lands them cleanly, Tennell is going to have to skate the best she has ever skated to win fairly. I wouldn’t put it past the USFSA judges to place Tennell first to give her that boast if both are clean. A two-time National champion does have a better reputation internationally.

I want to go back and look at the Component scores, see the difference. And they downgraded Alysa on a triple loop, so that could be the difference. Tomorrow will be interesting indeed.

Wow, this got long. Well, that’s it for tonight. Tomorrow, is the short dance and the ladies free. I haven’t decided on covering the dance this year, but I will be back tomorrow for the ladies.

Quick note, I’m loving Ashley as a commentator at Europeans. She’s very quiet compared to Johnny and Tara. It’s a nice change as was listening to Charlie White and Michael Weiss on the NBC Gold Pass.

Edited to note: There are actually only 2 Ladies spots for Worlds, not 3 like I originally stated. I didn’t realize our ladies did that badly, I was so burnt out by then.