Overall, the ladies were less than amazing. I've got to be honest, I was bored half to death during the first flight of the freeskate. I missed most of the short programs, but I did watch all the freeskates. From what I've seen, it doesn't look like I missed much that first day.
Obviously, the highlights were Elizabet Tursynbayeva, Haruka Imai, and Angela Wang.
Elizabet is really making waves in the senior ranks. I've seen her at 2 senior internationals and she's won both, and really deserved to.
She's a really strong skater. She has good musicality, interpretation, and skating skills and her jumps are almost always strong. She had a few jump errors at both competitions, but overall her jumps are substantially better than the others.
I'm very curious to see what is going to happen with her at Skate America, she's ranked near the middle of the ladies overall (in the second column of the USFSA fantasy skating) but I really think she could easily contend for medal if she skates anything like she did here and at summer skate.
The other two medalists were less interesting.
Haruka Imai is very good, but I don't find her programs to be engaging. Her skating skills aren't fantastic, and the PCS is where you really get me or lose me.
I know a lot of people who care a whole lot about the jumps when they watch a program, and they matter, but I really think there's far too much emphasis on the jumps compared to everything else.
I would genuinely rather watch a program with good choreography, interpretation and skating skills but bad jumps than a program that feels like a jump drill.
Haruka Imai is not that bad, but it's still not great, which is probably why I don't really remember her programs.
Angela Wang was also very good, but her programs are a bit of a snooze.
The other ladies were overall pretty disappointing. They don't have the best choreo, and on top of that the jumps were sloppy in the free.
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