World Figure Skating Championships 2015- Pairs (Part 2- Feeskate Groups 3&4)

Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier were the first Americans to skate. Neither of the American teams had a great freeskate. Their freeskate wasn't terrible, but there were lots of small mistakes that kept them out of the top ten. Most of their jumps and throws didn't have great landings (most notably the axel), and they need to work on matching their lines. In the side by side spins, you can see they aren't quite in the same positions, their arms aren't actually the same, and it makes a difference. They had a good performance, but it wasn't perfect, which, unless you have quad, is what you need to be in the top ten, and especially the top five in the world right now.

Alexa Scimeca and Chris Knierim skated immediately after their american teammates. They finished in 7th place overall. The quad twist was impressive, but they were kept out of the top five by small mistakes throughout the program. The pairs field is really tough right now, and it's only going to get tougher.

Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov finished in 6th place, less than a point behind their teammates, Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov. They're a younger couple, and they're skating very well. The music choice seemed a little odd, but they skated it well enough. They executed all of their elements well, but they don't have any of the big elements yet, which held them back. Their PCS is also on the low side, they don't have some of the transitions and choreography and skating skills in this program to push them into the top five.

Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang finished in fourth, the last of the Chinese teams, significantly behind their teammates, but also significantly ahead of Kavaguti and Smirnov, who were behind them. They skated well, for the most part, the only big mistake being on the side by side axels.

Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov did not skate nearly as well as they were expected to. After Europeans, they were expected to do better, but they got -2s on two of three throws (including the throw quad salchow) and their overall GOEs were not great. They also recieved a 7.89 for transitions. They didn't skate horribly, but I think most expected better from them after the season they've had.

Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford won the world title, as I think everyone expected them to after the season they've had. This was not the best they've skated all season (that would probably be the GPF), but they had two really good skates, the only real mistake being on the throw quad salchow. They also didn't get great GOEs on their side by side spins.

Qing Pang and Jian Tong came back with something to prove, and they did well. They finished in third, but in a lot of ways they don't have the elements to really compete. Their skatng is beautiful but the jumps weren't great, and I think some of the GOEs on those were a little generous. They had the advantage of being at home with a crowd that loves them, and that was almost certainly a factor.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han are one of my favourite teams. I'm completely in love with their short, it suits their personalities perfectly and they have spectacular elements. I'm not as crazy about the free, I don't think it really suits them, but there's no denying they were spectacular and entertaining to watch.

World Figure Skating Championships 2015- Pairs (Part 1- Feeskate Groups 1&2)

The first group of the pairs freeskate was okay, but compared to the later flights not as exciting. Amani Fancy and Christopher Boyadji skated first, to the music of Harry Potter. Not really sure how I feel about that music choice.

The second flight started with 2 of the three Candian teams. First, Julianne Seguin and Charlie Bilodeau who skated really well. They're still juniors, so they've got a ways to go in terms of maturity and skating skills, but they had to solid performances, and finished in 8th place, which was pretty amazing for them at their first worlds. These two are definitely ones to watch.

Lubov Iliushechkina and Dylan Moscovitch skated after Julianne and Charlie, and they had a rough freeskate. I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the death spiral, it just sort of seemed to fall apart. Their last lift was not great either. It's only the combined experience the two of them have that got them through that lift and the end of the program. They didn't finish as well as I would've liked (and I'm sure not as well as they would've liked), finishing in 13th place.

Valentina Marchei and Ondrej Hotarek skated next. Like Lubov and Dylan they didn't have a great skate in the free. Mistakes that wouldn't have been as bad for a more experienced couple really hurt them. Valentina is doing amazingly well, considering she's only been skating pairs for less than a year, but her lack of experience hurt them a little here. Over time though, those big elements will come and they will be a truly exceptional team if they continue the way they skated this season. They finished in 11th place.

Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres skated last in the second flight. They skated well in the free and finished in 9th place.