Grand Prix Final 2015- Pairs Free

If you'd like to see my thoughts on what happened in the pairs short, you can watch it here along with the men's short.

The pairs free at the grand prix final did not come out the way anyone expected.

Duhamel and Raford could not manage to make up their point deficit in the free. They managed to move up one place, but still finished in second behind Stolbova and Klimov.

Stolbova and Klimov beat Duhamel and Radford by quite a lot. They won by about 13 points. Unlike Duhamel and Radford, they had a clean skate. They got positive GOEs on every single element in the free. They also got over 9 in each part of the PCS. They skated well, but their programs continue to not be my favourite. I'm not so sure we're going to continue to see this from these two, they haven't looked great up to this point, and they're missing some of the big elements other teams have. I'm not certain these programs are going to continue to be enough for them come worlds.

Duhamel and Radford had some issues in the free which kept them from recovering from the short. They had issues on both their throws, especially the lutz. I think their problem comes largely from the indecision about that throw. They need to decide definitively if they're going to go for the quad lutz, because they are clearly capable of the triple. However, even the triple has been looking off in competition. Perhaps it comes down to doubt, but they will need to rely on technical perfection if they want to win worlds again this year. Many of there elements were fine, but not particularly strong, which is extremely uncharacteristic of them. Here's hoping this was a one off, and is not going to become a consistent problem.

Kavaguti and Smirnov could not hold onto their lead over Duhamel and Radford, but did manage to extend their lead over Seguin and Bilodeau. They struggled on both of their side by side jumps, which hurt them significantly. Most of the rest of their elements were fine, but not spectacular. Most of them recieved between and 0 and a 1.5, which is not what these two are capable of. We saw some of their weakness in the jumps that had been absent for quite a while. They've come a long way in the last year, but they clearly still have some work to do on nailing the elements.

Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau surprised the world, finishing in fourth at the Grand Prix Final. They've only just moved up from Junior, but they are not letting that show. They're skating clean programs which is allowing them to move up quickly. They don't have some of the technical content the others have, they don't have a quad, but the elements they do have they do well. They suffer a little in the PCSs, which I think has a little to do with the fact that they are new seniors. They're generally good skaters, and they do have the choreography and transitions in their programs. With time, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in pairs. All season, I've said they're going to be Canada's number two, and this is going to solidify that position. They'll be at worlds for sure, now we're just going to face the question of who will be our number two team.

4 Continents Championships- Pairs

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford continue their winning streak. With only one major competition left in the season, there is a good chance that they will finish off the season undefeated. However, if they have any technical mistakes, that will not happen. Though the mistake on the side-by-side triple lutzes in the free didn't have much of an impact here, Worlds will be a different story. The competition will be too close for them to have any mistakes.

They are playing to their strengths this year, and as long as there are no technical errors, it should be enough to win them the world title.

Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang finished in second place overall, but the competition overall was not particularly strong. Just about every team had errors on at least one set of side by side jumps in the freeskate Peng and Zhang were no exception. They had two mistakes on their side-by-side jumps, first a fall and then only a single jump on the end of the combination. Like many of the other teams, the timing on their side-by-side spins was not consistently good.

These little details will become more important at Worlds than they are here. However the choreography in their programs is interesting and the music choice is very different from the other teams.

Qing Pang and Jian Tong have come back for the end of the season, and no one knew quite what to expect from them, but they did not disappoint. Though their throws were excellent, some of the side-by-side elements were not so perfect. Both sets of side-by-side jumps in the freeskate were popped, which is one of the greatest differences between them and some of the Russian teams. The style is similar, but having just come back, they are not as consistent as they will need to be to really compete at Worlds. If they skate the way they did here, they simply won't be able to make it onto the podium at Worlds.

Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch are a brand new team, and doing quite well. They're working on difficult elements, and Dylan is always so comfortable in lifts. Their overall comfort together is what separates them from Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro.

A lot of their elements are not as clean as the other teams at the Four Continents Championships, but it is clear they both have the ability to be one of the best teams in the world. However, some of the choreography is a little too cheesy for my tastes, especially the opening pose of the freeskate.

Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro are doing well enough for a new team, but they haven't necessarily made the best choices for them this season.

The short program music choice doesn't necessarily suit them. They don't have the power for the music yet, and the disposition she needs for the Cell Block Tango isn't in her personality as a performer.

Chess is a better music choice, but some of the elements, though comfortable for Kirsten, don't seem to be natural for Michael. One lift in particualr requires him to push her up above his head, and he always struggles with that lift. Between that lift being too difficult and his bad posture in lifts, they don't have the ease they should. Most of the other elements are still rough around the edges, but over time they will improve.