2011 JGP Volvo Cup: Ladies SP

I don't have time, nor do I care to do a full review of the scary skating that was the ladies SP.  I went through the pain of watching all of the ladies so I could post the few videos that are worth watching...

Before I post the videos, let me say how thrilled I am that the ISU finally has a YouTube channel!  There has never been full coverage of the JGP; Ice Network airs the JGPF but that's it.  Last season, the ladies' JGP events were better and more exciting than the senior level GPs.  Hopefully, the ISU will continue to post all of the junior competitions so we won't be reduced to digging for low quality bad angled fan cam versions.

Anyhoo, on to the junior ladies worth mentioning:

Zijun Li (CHN): 55.09 (1st)

I'm loving this girl!  She really caught my eye last season and it looks like she's getting off to a good start this season.  With Adelina Sotnikova and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva on the senior level this year, I'm hoping to see Zijun emerge as one of the top junior ladies this season.

Polina Agafonova (RUS):  54.60 (2nd)
Polina is another clear example of how deep and freakishly scary the Russian ladies will be come 2014.  Her 3s-3t combo was UR, otherwise she'd probably be in first place.  It'll be a close race with Zijun if both ladies skate well in the LP...

Ashley Cain (USA):  49.14 (3rd)
This girl really grabbed my attention!  She had an interesting program, solid jumps, a very commanding presence on the ice and a great dress (there were some terrible ones, let me tell ya). I don't recall seeing her prior to this but I'll definitely remember her now.  I'm interested to see what she can do in the LP...

Josefine Taljegard (SWE):  41.46 (8th)
8th place or not, this girl had a ton of energy out there!  Really energetic footwork and spins, solid jumps, and an unconventional rock-n-roll styled program that stood out, but not in a bad way.  I don't know what her chances of medaling are, but in a sea of cringe-worthy programs, I really enjoyed hers a lot.


Aside from those four, there wasn't much else to talk about.  A lot of very slow skating, lots of falls, two "Masquerade Waltz" programs, the customary "Scheherazade," one girl who skated to James Bond and The Simpsons theme song...the majority of the skaters were a hot mess, but I'm so desperate for some skating that I watched all of it. The free skate is going on now and the ISU is already posting videos.  I'll suffer through them all and post something on the results later...

ETA:  The final results are up!