Team Spain

[Arwen]

Not sure that this is the right place, but... Well, this season Europeans will take place in Minsk, Belarus, and just today the news arrived that visa free time (for foreigners arriving to Belarus through national airport ) is extended up to 30 days http://belarusfeed.com/belarus-visa-free-30-days/

So, if anyone wants to see Javi's presumably last competition, they don't have to apply for visa when arriving by air (but not through Russia as there isn't border control between Russia and Belarus).

[Sammie]

 

[Sammie]

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

Here is a glimpse of Sara and Kirill's FD  It already looks great 

 

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

[sallycinnamon]

 

[Yatagarasu]

Does he mean he wishes he was back training? 

I am sure it must be weird for him, considering but also since he does plan on going to Euros, he has to get started because I don't see him just jumping in without at least one other international. 

 

[KatjaThera]

10 minutes ago, Yatagarasu said:

Does he mean he wishes he was back training? 

I am sure it must be weird for him, considering but also since he does plan on going to Euros, he has to get started because I don't see him just jumping in without at least one other international. 

 

I've been wondering the same... But well, there's also Japan Open and after beating Shoma and Nathan last year, he might like to do it again, so he'll need some practice for that, too. And even for his ice show, he'll need to stay in shape. I haven't watched the original, not to spoil myself, but I think he'll be skating in it quite a lot. He'll need to be in good shape. (I do wish he'd start announcing the guests, too, though... just out of curiosity lol Though I'm plenty excited just about seeing and meeting him, even without others...)

[Yatagarasu]

3 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I've been wondering the same... But well, there's also Japan Open and after beating Shoma and Nathan last year, he might like to do it again, so he'll need some practice for that, too. And even for his ice show, he'll need to stay in shape. I haven't watched the original, not to spoil myself, but I think he'll be skating in it quite a lot. He'll need to be in good shape. (I do wish he'd start announcing the guests, too, though... just out of curiosity lol Though I'm plenty excited just about seeing and meeting him, even without others...)

 

I forgot about JO  Yes, probably though it will be more difficult this time around I'd think.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if he were keeping himself in good shape but even training for ice shows is different to actually competing at Euros. I know he has been quite dominant in all these years but still.

Great to hear you're going to the show though! I hope you'll give us a full report! Hopefully they'll start announcing soon. 

 

 

[KatjaThera]

3 minutes ago, Yatagarasu said:

 

I forgot about JO  Yes, probably though it will be more difficult this time around I'd think.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if he were keeping himself in good shape but even training for ice shows is different to actually competing at Euros. I know he has been quite dominant in all these years but still.

Great to hear you're going to the show though! I hope you'll give us a full report! Hopefully they'll start announcing soon. 

 

 

Maybe it'll give us a hint as to whether the new rules favor artistry more or technical difficulty more... though probably not lol (I admit I'd love it if he suddenly decided to rain on Yuzu's parade and do ACI again, as practice Unlikely, but one can daydream lol More seriously, I agree he should do at least one other international competition, instead of just JO and Euros... It seems a bit too ambitious. And he changed his mind about JO, so why not ACI? lol)

 

His program is going to be pretty tight, with the last shows at the end of December... but I like to think he knows what he's doing. I really want him to get that 7th title!

 

I'll try to remain coherent enough for a full report! lol It'll be my first ice show (not counting galas), so I'm quite excited! (It's too bad all my hopes of a surprise Yuzu appearance were dashed by GP scheduling... unless he can teleport from Moscow lol)

 

And since this is Team Spain, I'm looking forward to seeing Sara and Kirill in Helsinki. I remember liking them in the gala at Euros last year, so it'll be great to have a chance to see them live. (And I hope they do really well, so I can tell Javi I cheered for them :p lol j/k I'll cheer for them, anyway. The more Spanish skaters, the better!)

[Yatagarasu]

1 hour ago, KatjaThera said:

Maybe it'll give us a hint as to whether the new rules favor artistry more or technical difficulty more... though probably not lol (I admit I'd love it if he suddenly decided to rain on Yuzu's parade and do ACI again, as practice

 

Not possible I think because tbh, how? From what I understand, he's not back to proper training, in terms of competitions? So ACI is too close, no way is a month and change enough. But I do think something later, a Senior B or even a challenger is more likely. 

 

I don't know about the title, a lot will depend on the Russian men. If Kolyada can stabilize his Lz, if Raf helped, then it's going to be tight. And then there's Aliev too. Since the judges couldn't care less about prerotations, he's safe in that regard. Javier has the reputation of course but he really does have to be fit. 

[sallycinnamon]

Didn't he say in a recent interview that he would only go to Europeans? He can change his mind later but iirc this is what he said last time. He will be very busy with his shows but I was wondering if he could go to one of the smaller competitions before Europeans (Alpen Trophy, Tallin Trophy or Golden Spin perhaps?).

 

I agree with you @Yatagarasu, if one of the Russian boys will be in good form then it might be difficult to win that 7th title.

[KatjaThera]

5 hours ago, Yatagarasu said:

 

Not possible I think because tbh, how? From what I understand, he's not back to proper training, in terms of competitions? So ACI is too close, no way is a month and change enough. But I do think something later, a Senior B or even a challenger is more likely. 

 

I don't know about the title, a lot will depend on the Russian men. If Kolyada can stabilize his Lz, if Raf helped, then it's going to be tight. And then there's Aliev too. Since the judges couldn't care less about prerotations, he's safe in that regard. Javier has the reputation of course but he really does have to be fit. 

You're right. I also just remembered he's doing that ice opera in Italy those days, with Plush and co.

 

I guess we'll see, yeah... IIRC, last year, Kolyada was losing steam by Euros - I think he'd been doing much better in the earlier competitions? Or was that just an impression?. It'll be interesting to see if he'll figure out his peaking. I'm in a way more concerned about Aliev. He seemed somewhat unpredictable... I think that aside from being fit, what could help Javi a lot is if he's relaxed. Some of his best skates happened when it seemed he had nothing more to lose. Boston free, IdF last year. And I think avoiding the stress of competitions might just make him zen enough to get an upper hand... But then again, I'm sure he does want that 7th title and on the contrary, being away from competition for so long might instead make him nervous ^_^; But he's already 6 times European Champion, so whatever happens is fine. As long as he enjoys it and doesn't have any regrets!

 

5 hours ago, sallycinnamon said:

Didn't he say in a recent interview that he would only go to Europeans? He can change his mind later but iirc this is what he said last time. He will be very busy with his shows but I was wondering if he could go to one of the smaller competitions before Europeans (Alpen Trophy, Tallin Trophy or Golden Spin perhaps?).

 

I agree with you @Yatagarasu, if one of the Russian boys will be in good form then it might be difficult to win that 7th title.

He did. But he also said some time back that he wouldn't do Japan Open anymore. That's why I said he might change his mind lol But I'm not sure about those... they're very close to ROI shows and he'd have little to no time to train before them. I suspect after the last show he'll go to Toronto right away and start intensely training for the little less than a month he'll have... That's why it would have made sense to try an event before the season - maybe even one where he has about the same amount of time to prepare. Basically a test drive. But it won't happen with ACI and probably not with any other competition either...