2021 Worlds - Pairs Recap

If the pairs event at the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships stands for anything, surely it would be for the golden touch of the great Tamara Moskvina in the pairs discipline.  Last season, our newest World Champions Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov failed to make either the Russian world or Europeans teams.  After joining Ms. Moskvina's group last spring, however, Mishina/Galliamov have looked like a wholly new team with their newfound confidence, performance ability, and improved programs.  Likewise, although Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii faltered in the long program here, their development under Ms. Moskvina has been excellent.  It's extraordinary how Ms. Moskvina has coached world medalists in every single decade to date since Vorobieva/Vlassov in 1977.  Are we having a 'best coach' award this season?  If so, fork it over to Tamara Moskvina!  At the very least, she should receive a nomination for not only coaching two pairs to the world podium, but also breaking the eight-year Russians pairs world title drought . . . 

Anyway, Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov skated two clean programs to win the world title with 227.59 points overall, a shock win to many given their failure to make the world team last season as well as their fourth-place finish at the Russian Nationals this season.  However, their strong performances at the Channel One Trophy and Russian Cup Final in retrospect turned out to be a sign of things to come.  Mishina/Galliamov perhaps benefited from flying under the radar a bit behind their more high-profile teammates--one could tell the pressure had definitely gotten to both Boikova/Kozlovskii and Tarasova/Morozov.  This world title is definitely a reflection of Mishina/Galliamov's impressive technical elements--their big 3S-1Eu-3S jumping pass and Mr. Galliamov's lean-back lunge into a 3T looked particularly impressive on a night where so many other pairs faltered on their side-by-side jumping passes. In terms of sheer skating and the program components, however, Mishina/Galliamov had the weakest programs of the top teams.  Their SP is adorable, but the second half of their Random Queen Cuts LP--after the technical fireworks are over--lacks cohesion and definitely falters a bit especially during the long lifts where Mr. Galliamov slowly meanders over the ice while Ms. Mishina waves her arms around in a futile attempt to distract from the lifts' lack of speed and ice coverage. 

That being said, however, Mishina/Galliamov's development and growth as a pairs team have been impressive.  I once watched Mishina/Galliamov in person at a competition before the switch to Tamara Moskvina, and I distinctly recall a heaviness and stodginess to their skating that made Mishina/Galliamov somewhat unappealing to watch despite their strong technical elements.  Watching them in 2021, however, there's a lightness, joy, and confidence to Mishina/Galliamov's skating now that makes all the difference.  Imagine how much better they could be with more cohesive programs!  Next season, it'll be interesting to see how Mishina/Galliamov handle the pressure of being Russia's likely #1 pair--if Mishina/Galliamov continue to maintain the consistency on their side-by-side triples, they will be difficult to beat, especially now that they have a world title under their proverbial belts.  

Wenjing Sui/Cong Han won the silver medal with 225.71 points a little under two points behind Mishina/Galliamov.  It's understandable to be disappointed, given that Sui/Han were the reigning World Champions, but in light of the circumstances this season--Mr. Han's hip surgery, the fact that Sui/Han had not competed at all this season before Worlds while their Russian rivals have been competing every other weekend or so--it's a respectable result. Like practically every other pairs team tonight (with the exception of Mishina/Galliamov), Sui/Han struggled with their side-by-side triples, with Ms. Sui unable to land a single side-by-side triple cleanly throughout the entire competition.  Nonetheless, Sui/Han skated both their Blues for Klook SP and Rain, in Your Black Eyes LP with masterful expressiveness and their programs--which were beautifully presented and full of movements in character with the music--were the strongest among the top pairs.  If only this were more accurately reflected in the Program Components Score . . . I know Sui/Han did not skate cleanly, and Mishina/Galliamov were perky and effervescent, but the tiny PCS margins eked out by Sui/Han's significantly superior programs was disheartening to see.  To me, if PCS were marked correctly, Sui/Han should have won the gold here. 

However, I cannot help but wonder if the choice to repeat the Rain, in Your Black Eyes LP hurt Sui/Han here--the Rain, in Your Black Eyes program was so magical at 2019 Worlds in Saitama, this solid but relatively weaker performance in Stockholm cannot help but pale in comparison.  Perhaps it would have been better to repeat their wonderful Bridge Over Troubled Water LP, which Sui/Han have not yet skated to its fullest potential despite winning the 2017 world title with the program in Helsinki. 

Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii placed third overall with 217.63 points, with a disappointing fourth-place finish in the LP after winning the SP.  While winning a world bronze medal at only their second Worlds appearance would undoubtedly be a thrilling result for many pairs, Boikova/Kozlovskii were clearly unsatisfied--not surprising, especially given that they were serious contenders for the world title this season (plus, Boikova/Kozlovskii were arguably the odds-on favorites for the world title last season).  Hopefully, the disappointing result will serve as motivation for this young team--after all, Boikova/Kozlovskii were able to bounce back with strong performances at the 2019-2020 Russian Nationals and 2020 Europeans after a similarly-dismal LP at the 2019 Grand Prix Final.  

Right before Worlds, Boikova/Kozlovskii changed their SP music to Howl's Moving Castle from The Captivating Star of Happiness. While I always like to see more of Joe Hisaichi's music in figure skating, one wonders why Boikova/Kozlovskii went through the motions of skating to a new SP, given that the Howl's Moving Castle SP seemed somewhat similar to the old SP (the biggest change appeared to be the decision to dress Mr. Kozlovskii like the fifth Beatle from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).    

The James Bond LP, which is usually an effective vehicle for Boikova/Kozlovskii's youthful charm and considerable charisma, never seemed to recover after Ms. Boikova fell on the 3Tq of what would have been the side-by-side 3T-2T-2T sequence (so . . . who else thought that Boikova/Kozlovskii had it in the bag after those excellent opening side-by-side triple salchows?).  While the bobble on the throw 3F rendered a possible silver medal an impossibility, the judges were nonetheless quite generous with the scoring to keep Boikova/Kozlovskii in bronze medal contention. 

Ms. Boikova's snarky comment in the kiss-and-cry to Tamara Moskvina has certainly set many tongues waggling about a possible Zagitova vs. Medvedeva situation, or perhaps something along the lines of Virtue/Moir vs. Davis White (or Papadakis/Cizeron, for that matter!)  Whatever is going on behind the scenes at Tamara Moskvina FSC, one hopes that Boikova/Kozlovskii would refrain from making any rash coach-switching decisions so soon before the upcoming Olympic season.  Despite the somewhat uneven results this season, Boikova/Kozlovskii have made some real improvements this past year (in addition to upgrading their elements, though Boikova/Kozlovskii were relatively conservative at Worlds).  Tamara Moskvina is the best pairs coach in the world--after her, there's nowhere to go but down. 

Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, to use the old cliché, always seem to be the bridesmaids--although in this case (and sadly at the 2018 Olympics), they were the potato medalists.  With Ms. Tarasova being yet another victim of the side-by-side jumping plague during both the SP and the LP, Tarasova/Morozov were forced to settle for fourth place, behind their much-younger teammates.  Despite possessing considerable gifts as skaters--that 3twist! Those throw jumps!  The skating skills! The impeccable lines and precision typical of the best Moscow pairs!--Tarasova/Morozov's career trajectory has been trending decidedly downwards since 2018 (notwithstanding some intermittent bright spots, such as during 2019 Worlds and this season's nationals).  Indeed, Maxim Trankov gave an interview shortly before Worlds that fully listed the litany of disasters that had befallen Tarasova/Morozov this season, from Mr. Morozov's injury, both skaters catching COVID-19, funding problems, as well as Mr. Morozov severely falling ill from the enterovirus shortly before Worlds.  

The litany of disasters would perhaps explain Tarasova/Morozov's somewhat funereal mien throughout this entire competition, a feeling exacerbated by their inappropriately subdued Bolero and especially the severe, dirge-like Adagio in G minor LP.  

What is to be done?  Tarasova/Morozov are so incredibly talented, and it is frustrating to see them constantly fall short of what they are capable of.  From reading Mr. Trankov's interview, it looks like the current coaching situation is not ideal--Tarasova/Morozov are unable to travel to Florida (and thus to Marina Zoueva) due to the pandemic, and Mr. Trankov seems overwhelmed by his first foray into full-time coaching despite his obvious devotion to Tarasova/Morozov.  Unless the pandemic lets up soon, it really appears that Tarasova/Morozov need someone in Russia with substantive pairs coaching experience to lend a steady hand and steer the ship in person in addition to their current coaching set-up.  But who can do it?  It's almost certainly too late to get Tamara Moskvina. NO to returning to Nina Mozer.  I can't see Mr. Trankov ever working with Oleg Vasiliev after the Maria Mukhortova drama.  Artur Dmitriev also lacks the coaching experience.  Who else is there?

Miscellaneous notes on other pairs:

• Cheng Peng/Yang Jin - rotten luck in the SP with the random freak fall at the beginning and the costume malfunction.  Peng/Jin's inconsistency on the side-by-side triples will likely keep them from breaking through the lock the Russian teams and Sui/Han have on the top four spots, though. 
  
  
• Alexa Knierim/Brandon Frazier - there's been so much hype around this new pair, I fully expected Knierim/Frazier to skate like the second coming of Jesus here, or at the very least, like Volosozhar/Trankov at 2011 Worlds.  Perhaps less pressure would help (as well as not skating to song literally titled Fall on Me). 
  
  
• Ashley Cain-Gribble/Timothy LeDuc - skating to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in monochrome ombré costumes does nothing but to remind the viewer how much better Mishkutenok/Dmitriev's legendary Piano Concerto No. 2 LP is. 
  
  
• Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara  - surprisingly pleasant--Mr. Kihara looks more comfortable and secure skating with Ms. Miura than he did with his various other pairs partners, especially Narumi Takahashi.