International Skating Union

becool · Joined: 03 Feb 2008 Posts: 47

I liked Tessa too. (Maybe I was being to harsh)..But its just something to improve on. I wonder if its some of the hype that can get backlash. I hope they don't retire because I think V/M could still grow and become even better.

As for V/T I hope that they happen and it works. I have a feeling that they could be an amazing team, and that would be so good for skating.

lambielfan26 · Joined: 24 Mar 2006 Posts: 3492

I thought Marina and Gwendal's Flamenco was the best one of the decade, but Tessa & Scott's from this season was the next best one. I was so annoyed A&P did not get any 6.0s for their OD in SLC, especialy when the overrated Lobacheva & Averbuhk were given one, ugh!

vmfan89 · Joined: 15 Jul 2008 Posts: 409 Location: Canada

With all this talk about V/T, was anyone heard anything about Mukhortova? Has she retired or looking for a partner? Any ideas about who she might skate with?

Skater boy · Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 2245 Location: Heaven

Why was DL so enamoured with Gwendal? Was it his flowing locks? Ah, what happened to the talk of Tatiana - ooh maybe we got it right - really another person in search of OGM - looking for the right partner -the story of many of our lives.

nowthen · Joined: 27 Feb 2010 Posts: 84

Dragonlady · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 3662 Location: Edge of reason

Skater boy · Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 2245 Location: Heaven

This could be sad if after all this anticipation they ( V and T) don`t meld together. I wonder if they do become a team if they can beat K and S in their first year. Does anyone know who is available for Murtkova.

nowthen · Joined: 27 Feb 2010 Posts: 84

chuckiem · Joined: 12 Nov 2005 Posts: 3957

Over the past few years, Blanchard has had a few 'on paper' partnerships that never came to fruition, including those with Rinata Araslanova and Valeria Vorobieva. And he has just turned 29. I'm not convinced this partnership with Mukhortova is going to work out.

lambielfan26 · Joined: 24 Mar 2006 Posts: 3492

I expect Maria will probably end up retiring. She is an adequate technical skater but totally lacks in emotional, expression, or presentation skills. Without Maxim she will go nowhere and not even come close to the heights she reached with him, which still did not meet up to expectations people had of them. He basically carried her as he was clearly the stronger overall partner. That plus I keep hearing she is a total witch which will make finding someone to put up with her a challenge, particularly if she insists on being coached by her boyfriend Vasiliev.

loveskating · Joined: 20 Dec 2007 Posts: 677

Dragonlady · Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 3662 Location: Edge of reason

L&A had dreadful CD's and still manage to place 2nd in both CD's. Maria really was injured, so they were slow, her knees were not fully extended and their lobes were the shallowest of all of the top teams. Barbara Fusar-Poli was "black with rage" over the CD results but the woman had a point: they should have been 2nd in the CD's. I had L&A 5th of the 5 teams them showed on TV at the time. But had they placed 5th, they would have been out of the running for any medal, whereas 2nd place kept them in the hunt for gold.

I would not have had L&A 2nd in the OD either. At best, I would have placed them 3rd in this phase, so yes, the 6.0 was ridiculous. A&P were certainly the class of the field, even if their FD was dreadful in terms of concept and choreography: probably the worst FD of their careers. Their CD's were spectacular and their OD stands up well over the years, but the FD was cringeworth, both in concept and choreography. But it was packed with difficulty and they skated it very, very well. And it's not like any of the other dances were all that wonderful either. Ice-dancers trying to make bold political statements never works well, even if it is well-intentioned.

That L&A came within one judge of winning the OGM was to me, a travesty. IMO, they should not have been on the podium. Period. The Lithuanians were robbed.

nowthen · Joined: 27 Feb 2010 Posts: 84

The Polish judge gave L/A the 6.0.

chuckiem · Joined: 12 Nov 2005 Posts: 3957

In the CD, the judges were:
LTU AZE UKR GER BUL RUS SUI ISR POL
ordinals were:
1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 Anissina / Peizerat
2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 4 Lobacheva / Averbukh
4 4 3 1 3 3 3 2 2 Fusar-Poli / Margaglio
5 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 Bourne / Kraatz
3 6 6 5 5 4 6 6 5 Drobiazko / Vanagas

OD judges:
POL ITA LTU SUI AZE ISR GER BUL RUS
Ordinals:
2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Anissina / Peizerat (no 6.0s)
1 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 Lobacheva / Averbukh ( POL gave them 6.0)
3 2 2 3 4 3 3 4 4 Fusar-Poli / Margaglio
5 5 5 6 3 4 4 3 3 Bourne / Kraatz
4 4 4 4 6 6 5 5 6 Drobiazko / Vanagas

FD judges:
RUS SUI LTU GER ITA AZE BUL UKR POL
Ordinals:
2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 Anissina / Peizerat
1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 2 Lobacheva / Averbukh
3 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 3 Fusar-Poli / Margaglio
5 5 5 3 5 4 3 3 4 Bourne / Kraatz
4 4 3 5 4 5 5 6 5 Drobiazko / Vanagas

Judges were:
RUS: Alla Shekhovtseva (Mrs. Piseev)
SUI: Roland Wehinger
LTU: Eugenia Gasiorowska
GER: Ingrid Charlotte Wolter
ITA: Walter Zuccaro
AZE: Irina Nechkina
BUL: Evgenia Karnolska
UKR: Yuri Balkov
POL: Halina Gordon-Poltorak
ISR: Katalin Alpern

siteadmin · Site Admin Joined: 02 Nov 2005 Posts: 352

And I repeat once again......please don't bring up block judging or deal making unless you have some facts. It only starts the cold war all over again.

Thank-you.