European Championships 2016. Ladies short review

The European Championship 2016 in Bratislava started with ladies and men’s short programs.

To watch all the ladie’s warm-ups it’s a task for a real figure skating fan because the level of skaters is pretty low. Anyway I’ll try to find something good)

The girl from Israel – Aimee Buchanan has great layback spin! Among the girls in the second ten I liked Anne Line Gjersem she looks beautiful on ice, she has lovely lines, lovely program and lovely dress. And jumps……and jumps is not the most important thing)

I think Laurine Lecavelier has a good potential. Her performance maybe wasn’t impressive and I already hate the 5o shades of gray OST but it was a nice, solid skate. Good for her.

Anastasia Galustyan also left great impression in terms of presentation. I liked her program, it made me nostalgic about my childhood. And I also like when the program is age appropriate. But the technical specialis was severe( But maybe this ice shower will give Anastasiya and her team a needed push for improvement in her jumps? I really hope so.

Mae Berenice Meite decided to change her short program. Maybe Feeling good suits her better than the Swan Lake but it’s not an original choice and the program is not memorable. The Black Swan at least was a bit unexpected and shocking. And liked the black dress it was gorgeous! In this case I think that previous program could have worked better for her.

Eventually Joshi Helgesson have good program that suits her and looks interesting. Joshi skated is with lots of fire and I’ve notice her musicality. Maybe she could have done her elements better and I hope that she will have a good long program too and maybe will move couple place higher in overall ranking. But the short program was chick)

Angelina Kuchvalska is definitely a promising skater with a potential to medal at Europeans, one day. But she really needs to work on her second mark. First of all she needs to work on her posture (hers quite distracted) and to pay more attention to her free leg (it should has better extension). Secondly, be more careful with the music choice, the music in the short program was stronger than her and it was noticeable. But I’m really happy that there are other good girls at European level except the Russians.

Roberta Rodeghiero this season has great short program, so well received by the audience ( and it helps to get some more points in PCS). Another proof that it’s very important to make a right choice of music. This program really helps her. But according to her previous starts the free program can be no to successful.

There is no surprises in the first three ladies after the short program. Even no surprises in the ranking)

Actually in terms os PCS I unexpectedly liked Anna Pogorilaya more. I’ve never been a fan of her skating but this time she really grab my attention. As for me she showed the most mature skating. I think emotionally it was her best skate of the short program. Too bad she had a mistake on loop. But among all three Russian girl her place in the team is most insecure so probably she worries a lot and her desire to show that she deserves to go ro Worlds was just too strong. But I also hope that now we can expect a great free program from Anna.

As for me Elena Radionova and Evgenia Medvedeva are pretty on the same level of PCS. But I can understand why the judges decided so. Evgenia is a best bet of Russian Figure skating Federation for the World Championships, she’s more consistent, her programs are more difficult in terms of technique. And actually she has better programs. With more taste and refinement. So, I would say the scores was more political than real. But who is surprised? It’s figure skating)

Elena Radionova did her best skate of the short program this season. But the decision to go back to flip is quite strange. Her edge is still unclear and she doesn’t have enough steps before it. That’s why I think that the loop would have been more reliable option for her. What I like is that Elena is a fighter. That gives me some confidence that Elena can deal with puberty and won’t loose a lot in her technique.

As for Medvedeva…..all her program I couldn’t take my eyes over her legs. They look scary thin! Even junior ladies don’t have such skinny legs! I don’t know….I have a bad feeling that they try to control her weight to postpone the puberty…..dangerous games( And her tights are awful

Do I think that Medvedeva and Radionova were overscored? Definitely yes.

Related topics: Aimee Buchanan, Anastasia Galustyan, Angelina Kuchvalska, Anna Pogorilaya, Anne Line Gjersem, Elena Radionova, European Championships, Evgenia Medvedeva, Joshi Helgesson, ladies, Laurine Lecavelier, Mae Berenice Meite, men, Roberta Rodeghiero