Friday, November 6, 2009

NHK Pairs LP Live Commentary

Start Order

Warm-Up Group 1

1 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN
8 39.80

2 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS CAN
7 47.32

3 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN
6 51.10

4 Ksenia KRASILNIKOVA / Konstantin BEZMATERNIKH RUS
5 51.32

Warm-Up Group 2
5 Rena INOUE / John BALDWIN USA
4 52.52

6 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA
3 55.20

7 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN
2 67.30

8 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV RUS
1 68.90


Judges are being announced.

Warm-up group 1 on ice.

Warm-up has concluded.


Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran (Japan)
SBS 2A-big step outs from both
split double twist-good
Throw 3T-fall; not much height and slow entrance
SBS Pair Spins-first spin very off; second spin good
Nice transitional lift
Throw 3S-forward on landing but clean
SBS 3S-singled hers; fell on his
Death spiral very low to the ground
Amazing extension from her. Pair has some decent qualities but need more refinement and (especially) more dynamics. Program is very flat and doesn't go anywhere or change in mood.

TES: 43.16
PCS: 39.52
Ded: -3.00
Total: 79.68
Grand Total: 119.48


Paige Lawrence/Rudi Swiegers (Canada)
Clockwise pair (most are counter-clockwise)
Split triple twist-little low
3T-fall from her
2A+2T-singled his axel
SBS Spin-Not awful
Good speed in spiral
Presses his hips way too far forward on Y-scale spiral; not an attractive position but hers is OK
Throw 3R(IIRC)-shaky but landed
Lift-Scary. He fell to the ice as he was descending her but luckily she was low enough to the ice that she didn't crash
Throw 3Z-both hands down
Very rough last pair spin

TES: 44.09
PCS: 41.36
Ded: -2.00
Total: 83.45
Grand Total: 130.77
Rank: 1


Mylene Brodeur/John Mattatall (Canada)
Skating to Singin' in the Rain
Good speed
Throw triple twist-barely rotated; low
SBS 3T-doubled his
SBS Spin-Off unison in the middle of it
Throw 3R-put free leg down immediately after landing
SBS 2A+2A+SEQ-wobbled on her 2nd jump but good
Throw 3S-Low but clean
Very nice final lift
Ended right on the music
Cute program but they need to sell the fun theme of the program more. Throws, whether they be twist throws or throw jumps, need to be much higher and stronger.

TES: 52.33
PCS: 47.28
Total: 99.61
Grand Total: 150.71
Rank: 1


Ksenia Krasilnikova/Konstantin Bezmaternikh (Russia)
SBS 3S-Very off-unison, fall from her
double twist
Throw 3F-no distance, landed but possibly double footed
SBS Spin-off at start but got better as it went
SBS 2A+2A+SEQ-fell on her 2nd jump, singled his 2nd jump
Throw 2R-low and no speed
Very rough program. She looked like she was going to kill him throughout the entire skate (even though she was the one mucking up).

TES: 45.13
PCS: 43.04
Ded: -2.00
Total: 86.17
Grand Total: 137.49
Rank: 1


Warm-up group 2 on ice.
Denney and Barrett in purple and black, respectively. Barrett singled axel in warm-up. Pang and Tong in red.

Pang and Tong stunning 3R throw. Kavaguti and Smirnov in pink and black, respectively.
Kavaguti and Smirnov excellent 3R throw. K/S just did throw 3S.

Warm-up concluded.


Rena Inoue/John Baldwin (USA)
Loud crowd response
SBS 3T-looked UR on his part
SBS 2A+2A+SEQ-forward on landing of his first jump but otherwise good
Throw triple twist-low; barely rotated
Throw 3R-very nice
Throw 3A-hard fall to the side; very off in air
Awkward exit from lift
SBS Spins-off in places
A fall on the throw 3A but otherwise a good skate. They are not capable of stunning artistry but this program is somewhat pleasant to look at and their choreography is simplistic but well suited to them. They look more fit than last year.

TES: 59.14
PCS: 49.12
Ded: -2.00
Total: 106.26
Grand Total: 158.78
Rank: 1


Caydee Denney/Jeremy Barrett (USA)
Sheherezade
Throw triple twist-best one seen today; good
SBS 3T-nice transition going into it, slight wobble from him on landing; good overall
Throw 3Z-fall
2A+2A+SEQ-singled his 2nd axel
SBS Spin-pretty good
Throw 3R-very good
Last pair spin-slightly traveled
Good lifts throughout. Much more speed than Inoue/Baldwin. Some very strong points of the program, rough around the edges in places but good overall. She has sizable room for improvement with extension.

TES: 50.27
PCS: 46.96
Ded: -1.00
Total: 96.23
Grand Total: 151.43
Rank: 2


Qing Pang/Jian Tong (China)
2A+2A+SEQ-good
SBS 3T-good
SBS Pair Spin-Unison decent but traveling like mad (particularly him)
Throw triple twist-good height; slightly double footed
Throw 3S-very nice
Throw 3R-very nice
Great one-handed lift at the end
Finished slightly after music and didn't hold final pose
Great presentation

TES: 69.63
PCS: 62.72
Total: 132.35
Grand Total: 199.65 WOW!!!
Rank: 1


Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov (Russia)
Throw 4S-hard fall; much like fall at 2009 worlds
She is injured, stopped the skate
Continuing now

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