The Asian Open and Olympic Test Tournament officially kicked off with its first short program competition in mid-October.
There is a very magical type of skaters in figure skating. Their highlight moments are always during the open practice (OP) or the six practices before the game. They often collapse completely when it comes to the official competition. Therefore, they are nicknamed OP World Champions by ice fans.
——If I were to rely on OP scores, I would definitely be the world champion.
On the contrary, athletes who often perform exceptionally well in official competitions are called big-game players.
Under the atmosphere and pressure of the competition, the number of OP world champions is generally greater than that of major competition players. In the pair skating event, the current US pair No. 1 Sally & Jeffrey are one of the representatives of OP world champions.
Before the competition started, they not only cleaned the short program in the OP, but also successfully completed the practice of the quadruple toe loop (4T), which brought great pressure to the double No. 1 Jiang Ran and Yu Botao.
As a result, in the short program on the second day, Sally and Jeffrey made a low-level mistake by letting the spiral line slip out of their hands.
Finally, the Asian Open short program ranking and the order of appearance of the last group of free skating are:
【Chinese】Jiang Ran & Yu Botao
【Add】Isabella & Aubrey
【Chinese】Lu You & Xie Yunjun
【Russia】Kavra & Anatoly
【US】Sally & Jeffrey
After the results came out, the Italian veteran duo, who were just a little bit away from making it into the last group, looked disappointed.
Their coach said in Italian: "This time it's China's home court, so the Chinese people's GOE and P scores will be higher than normal."
"Although the LX combination that China promoted from the youth group this season has a high difficulty reserve, they were urgently promoted to make up for the shortage. It is inevitable that they will make mistakes under strong pressure," the Italian coach said seriously. "This is the last year of your professional career. You must stand on the podium at the Winter Olympics."
"The Chinese duo of Nie and Han withdrew from the competition. The young duo of Lu and Xie are very likely to bet on 3ATh and Twist 4 in the Olympics. When the pressure is too great and mistakes are made, it will be your best chance to take advantage of the situation and stand on the Olympic podium."
The Italian coach said cryptically: "They are young and their mentality is fragile. It only takes a little pressure to make them go wrong."
The two Italian veterans seemed to disagree with their coach's words. The female companion was about to speak but was pulled back by her partner and she finally held back.
Isabella, a Canadian athlete who came in second in the short program, can understand Italian. When she heard what her Italian coach said, she rolled her eyes openly.
Although the referees of AO this time were all invited by the organizers, anyone who knows the background of these referees will know that they are all well-known for their fairness and integrity in the international arena, and they only consider technology rather than nationality.
Saying "No" to referees with factional bias is a common practice for Zhonghua to host competitions. Therefore, the China Cup Grand Prix held in Zhonghua every year is called the "Dryer" Cup. The referees are quick, accurate and ruthless in catching steals and mistakes. Many players with inflated skills dare not choose the China station.
According to Isabella, even if the American team had not made that eye-catching mistake of dropping the spiral line, it would have been difficult for the Italian team to enter the final group based on their performance, because their difficulty reserve was out of touch with the main group.
This Italian pair is a pair of veterans with an average age of 23. They are of the same generation as Jiang Ran and Yu Botao. Although they have competed in adult competitions for many years, their best result is the silver medal in the European Championships.
Not only are the world champions in women's singles getting younger and younger, but in pairs skating, there has also been a constant stream of newcomers entering the adult group over the years, bringing the difficulty of pairs skating to a new level.
Not every pair of veteran players can work as hard as Jiang Ran and Yu Botao to update their technical difficulty. In fact, most of them rely on their refereeing experience accumulated in the adult group.
Because of the retirement of their original coach, the Italian veteran pair had to temporarily change their coach at the beginning of the year. After this Olympic season, the two Italian players will also retire.
As we all know, pair skating has the lowest commercial value among the four figure skating events. After retiring, it is difficult for the skaters to continue to shine on ice performances like individual skaters and ice dancers. If they do not change careers, the best way out is to become a coach.
If they can win a medal at the Olympics, their future as coaches will be much easier.
As for the current coach of the Italian team... Italy has never produced a pair of small doubles that can enter the free skating. If this coach does not produce results in the veterans' final season, then his ultimate fate will be to remain unknown in the industry.
But this should not be a reason for him to curse his opponents or play unfair psychological tactics.
"It's really lame to need to use the opponent's mistakes to achieve your own goals," Isabella said in English.
The Italian coach's face looked ugly for a moment, and finally he snorted and said something in Italian.
In short, during the free skating on the second day, Isabella and her male partner intentionally or unintentionally prevented Lu You and Xie Yunjun from getting close to the Italian coach.
At the end of the six pre-match practices, she slid past the Italian coach with a sullen face, jumped a clean triple T, then lifted her hair with a meaningful look in her eyes.
Jiang Yang, who was watching Lu You and Xie Yunjun practicing from a distance, spat out a mouthful of water.
Jiang Yang asked: "Is Isabella arguing with the King of Pre?"
After finishing the practice, Lu You helped Xie Yunjun put on the knife sheath and asked, "What is the king of pre?"
"The current coach of the Italian team was known as the king of stealing weeks before he retired," Jiang Yang explained. "Not only does he rotate his body in advance when doing 3T, he also throws the knife at 200 degrees and then adds ice. He is using his nationality advantage to frantically test the edge of relegation."
"But sometimes the referees really turn a blind eye and don't catch him. In short, now whenever the pre-jump method is discussed, the old videos of this Italian coach will be pulled out and repeatedly criticized."
So Isabella specifically slid in front of it and did a triple T, which was just to hit him in the face, right? I don't know why Isabella did this.
Lu Tingsong was at the forefront of the competition: "Oh, it's the Italian coach who can't control his mouth. Yesterday he mocked Isabella for being the cashier."
"Isabella and her boyfriend have had a rough life. They have won silver medals in international competitions for two consecutive seasons," Lu Tingsong smacked his lips. "It seems that they always lose to different people in different competitions. It's quite magical."
Lu You leaned against the baffle, playing with Xie Yunjun's fingers while listening to Lu Tingsong and Jiang Yang discussing the difficult experiences of their predecessors.
They were the third to last to perform. The Kiss & Cry area was set up not far from the waiting seats. Caveira and Anatoly finally got a free skating score of 132.38, proving to the Russian Ice Hockey Association with their strength that they were still in good shape.
Kavela hooked Anatoly's neck, and before Lu You and Xie Yunjun came on stage, he sat on the sofa in the KC area and yelled at them with full force: "Ura!"
Lu You suddenly broke into a brilliant smile, waved at her, then interlocked his fingers with Xie Yunjun and skated to the center of the ice rink.
At the on-site commentary booth of this competition, Tang Baifeng, a male commentator who has been commentating on figure skating and rhythmic gymnastics for many years, and Guan Lin, the former number one in women's singles, sat together. They will also serve as commentators for the figure skating events of the Beijing-Zhangjiakou Winter Olympics.
Guan Lin: "The next players to take the stage are our country's young players Lu You and Xie Yunjun. They have only been in the youth group for one year and were promoted to the adult group. They are also one of the most popular players in next year's Winter Olympics."
Tang Baifeng: "It is worth mentioning that the Lu Xie combination represents the highest combat power in the youth group. If they were not urgently promoted to the next group, with their abilities, they would have a high chance of winning the youth group grand slam."
On the ice rink, Lu You and Xie Yunjun held hands and saluted the audience.
"For this free skating, the song they chose is from the musical Jekyll and Hyde. We can see that Lu You's image has changed a lot compared to before. Let's look forward to their performance."
The commentator's voice died down, and dull, slow music began to play.
Lu You put on a smoky eye makeup and pulled the black silk half-gloves on her fingers. The upturned eyeliner perfectly neutralized her cute appearance.
She gently pinched Xie Yunjun's chin, and put her lips softly to the boy's ear. Following the rhythm of the music, her other hand slowly stroked his neck, collarbone, and waist, like a succubus following him everywhere.
When she turned around, the wide-backed costume was revealed in front of the camera. The black and red skirt looked like a blooming black lotus, in sharp contrast with Xie Yunjun's light-colored costume.
The skates of the two skaters slid rapidly on the ice. The free skating of "Jackson Hyde" has appeared three or four times this season. Lu You quickly entered the state of Devil Hyde. There was an evil aura in his expressions, movements, gestures, and movements. He was like a little devil with a tail, luring people into the abyss.
The first jump, 3FTh.
Lu You's back was pressed against Xie Yunjun's chest, with his hands on his hips. The moment he felt Xie Yunjun's force, Lu You's icy teeth scraped the ice surface, and the sound of the ice was crisp and pleasant.
The girl and her male partner exerted force at the same time. After being thrown into the air and spinning 1080° like a small top, her tense body instantly stretched out, she landed gracefully on the ice, and spread out her floating legs calmly.
Ice hockey fans who are familiar with Lu You and Xie Yunjun know that once 3FTh is used, the second move is definitely 3F.
These two people really like to do the same kind of throw jumps and continuous jumps together. It is said that Lu You often makes mistakes in the single 3F jump during her usual practice, but as long as she completes 3FTh first and then jumps 3F, she will have an 80% success rate, which is quite amazing.
However, doing the same type of jumps continuously is very entertaining to watch, and even the referees like this kind of single jump combo, so this season, many players have begun to try this kind of choreography.
However, being able to complete 3FTh and then quickly follow up with a 3F single jump with just a few steps is still the unique skill of the Lu Xie combination.
Soon, Lu You and Xie Yunjun started their third jump.
With three swish sounds, before a cluster of ice mist dissipated, another layer of ice mist rose again. In the blink of an eye, Lu You and Xie Yunjun completed the 3S+2T+2T jump sequence with a super high synchronization rate.
Caveira stood up all of a sudden: "They can actually raise their hands for the triple jump!"
Lu Tingsong pressed his forehead and said, "If you want to raise your hands, then raise your hands. Why did 3S raise both hands, the second 2T raised one hand, and the third 2T started to raise both hands again? When did they decide?
Uncle Lu clenched his fists: "Lu You is taking advantage of Xie Yunjun again!"
Jiang Yang held the thermos cup in his hand, and his mentality was very peaceful: "Maybe they just think it's fun. For such a small matter, let them have fun."
Caveira & Anatoly: "..."
Figure skating is something these two people have learned a lot about.
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