Pairs: This is possibly one of the deeper pairs fields on the Grand Prix so far, Zhang/Zhang, Kavaguti/Smirnov, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, and Sui/Han likely being the major teams in contention for the podium. Zhang/Zhang led the field after the short program at Skate America and grabbed silver overall, despite not having competed in over a year. Moore-Towers/Moscovitch also medaled at Skate America and will obviously want to repeat that here, but I think it'll be more difficult this with the two Chinese teams and the Russians to contend with. Kavaguti/Smirnov have been World and Olympic medal contenders before and definitely have a good chance win over this field here if they skate well. Sui/Han are a very young team but they did well on the Grand Prix last season and won Junior Worlds for the second year in a row. They may lack finesse, but their big tricks can be absolutely massive, which often helps them shoot up the rankings. Americans Evora/Ladwig are an outside shot for a medal in my opinion, but a solid showing here would be a great way to build confidence going into Nationals.
Ice Dance: World bronze medalists Shibutani/Shibutani are the likely favorites for this event and look to win their first senior title of any kind here . Bobrova/Soloviev will probably be their main challengers for the gold. Beyond that, it's a bit more confusing with Carron/Jones and Coomes/Buckland having been World competitors and Lichtman/Copely who medaled at Junior Worlds last season. The newly formed team of Emily Samuelson/Todd Gilles will also be competing and I'm interested to see where they'll end up (Samuelson's former parter Evan Bates placed 4th at Skate Canada last week with his new partner Madison Chock).
Ladies: Carolina Kostner has to be considered the favorite at this competition. There's a few girls that could defeat her, but for most of them that will probably require mistakes on her part and excellent skates on theirs. Mirai Nagasu should be considered a threat, but her programs this season, especially her freeskate, are lackluster and she displayed very little fire at Skate Canada last week. If Mirai is on, I think she could take Carolina, but like Jeremy, it all depends on what's going on in her head. Kanako Murakami did extremely well on the Grand Prix last season (beating Kostner at Skate America even) and placed at the top 10 at Worlds; she reportedly is having boot problems but if she can fight through that, it's easy to imagine her medaling. Adelina Sotnikova is the 2011 World Junior Champion and will be making her senior GP debut at this event and will likely be a factor if her jumps stay together. Christina Gao will also be making her GP debut; I like her, but I'm not convinced she'll be in it for a medal. She does has a triple flip-triple toe that's been competition tested before though, so I don't think it's entirely out of the question.
Men: The battle for the podium here will be slightly less difficult than it was expected to be, due to Brian Joubert withdrawing because of a back injury he's been dealing with recently. It seems like there will be four main guys in contention, with a few possible spoilers should they falter. Jeremy Abbott is a fantastic all around skater, but how he places here will depend on his mental game; if he keeps it together he could come out with a massive score, but if he doesn't, he could end up off the podium entirely in this field. Artur Gachinski is lacking in some areas but can be a very consistent jumper and has a solid quad under his belt. Yuzuru Hanyu shocked many by placing second behind Daisuke Takahashi at Four Continents last season and while still developing (understandable because he's still only 16), has nice style and some absolutely gorgeous jumps. Nobunari Oda is not planning to attempt a quad here because of a knee injury he was dealing with a few months ago, which could make medaling here significantly more difficult with Gachinski, Abbott, and Hanyu competing; especially with all three planning to quad (to the best of my knowledge). Kevin Reynolds, as usual, has the potential to play spoiler here as he'll probably be attempting at least two types of quads, but he lacks consistency and often falls apart in the freeskate. Richard Dornbush also has a quad planned and can be a steady competitor, but unless the others really struggle, I think don't think his odds of medaling are great.
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Showing posts with label Kanako Murakami. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kanako Murakami. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Worlds Ladies Short Results
Post short program interviews
Yu-Na Kim (1st)
Miki Ando (2nd)
Ksenia Makarova (3rd)
Alissa Czisny (4th)
Rachael Flatt (8th)
Kanako Murakami (10th)
Scott Hamilton's take on the ladies short
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Skating Updates
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| Ryan Bradley wishes you a Merry Christmas! |
There hasn't been a whole lot of skating news going around this holiday season (aside from various countries nationals), but there has been a few items of note.
Jeremy Barrett proposed to Amanda Evora on Christmas Eve. While I'm not particularly in love with either of their respective pair teams, I'm really happy for them - I do have a bit of a soft spot for Amanda ever since I saw her reaction to being put on the Olympic team. Congratulations to the happy couple!
Marie-France Dubriel and Patrice Lauzon celebrated the birth of their first child, also on Christmas Eve!
Yu-Na Kim's management is demanding an apology from a Japanese tv crew for filming Yu-Na's training without permission. Here is Universal Sports take on the situation. Honestly, I find the whole thing rather ridiculous. If Yu-Na is in decent shape by the time Worlds comes around, she'll certainly be in the mix for a medal, so why even bother spying on her?
Miki Ando won the ladies title at Japanese Nationals in a convincing fashion, finishing with 202.34 points, while short program leader Mao Asada won the silver medal with a total of 193.69 points overall. Kanako Murakami finished in third with 187.52 points and Akiko Suzuki fourth with 175.96 points. Congratulations to Miki on her first National title in quite awhile and to Mao for fighting back after a dismal Grand Prix season.
Miki, Mao,and Kanako have been selected for the Japanese World team, while Akiko will be competing in place of Kanako at 4 Continents. My one regret for the ladies? That Akiko isn't on the World team. The three girls selected probably do have a better shot of medaling there than she does, but it's still a shame after seeing her consistently underscored on program components throughout this season, despite the fact that she is easily one of the more expressive ladies currently competing. Well, c'est la vie I suppose. On the brightside, Akiko has stated that she is planning on competing next season, so there is still hope yet!
As many others have stated (though I'm not sure it can be stated enough), Japan needs more than 3 spots for Worlds in singles!
Monday, December 6, 2010
Grand Prix Final - The Preview
Ice Dance Qualifiers
1. Meryl Davis/Charlie White (USA)
2. Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat (FRA)
3. Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier (CAN)
4. Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS)
5. Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN)
6. Nora Hoffmann/Maxim Zavozin (HUN)
Substitutes
7. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA)
7. Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein (USA)
8. Ekaterina Riazanova/Ilia Trachenko (RUS)
I think the battle for gold here will most likely be between Davis/White and Pechalat/Bourzat. I'd still give the edge to Davis/White, but the French have come much closer to their point total than anyone expected before this season started. In all honesty, it seems like everyone else will just be fighting for the bronze.And my personal hope? Simply that a team will withdraw so that the Shibutanis get a chance to compete at the GPF this year and so we get a last chance to see them compete before Nationals.
Pairs Qualifiers
1. Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy (GER)
2. Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN)
3. Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov (RUS)
4. Kirsten Moore-Towers/Dylan Moscovitch (CAN)
5. Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze (RUS)
6. Wenjing Sui/Cong Han (CHN)
Substitutes
7. Narumi Takahashi/Mervin Tran (JPN)
8. Caitlin Yankowskas/John Coughlin (USA)
9. Paige Lawrence/Rudi Swiegers (CAN)
As in the ice dancing event, in pairs the top two teams are the clear frontrunners. Savchenko/Szolkowy and Pang/Tong should be the teams to watch here, but if either team really falters, Barazova/Larionov are the most likely to crash their party. Sui/Han will also be looking to place well in their home country and might be a threat for bronze if all of their tricks are there. Also, a fun fact: Sui/Han also qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final this season, but chose to compete in the Senior event instead (which I feel is definitely a wise choice), and the first alternates Takahashi/Tran also qualified for the JGPF.
Ladies Qualifiers
1. Miki Ando (JPN)
2. Alissa Czisny (USA)
3. Carolina Kostner (ITA)
4. Kanako Murakami (JPN)
5. Akiko Suzuki (JPN)
6. Rachael Flatt (USA)
Substitutes
7. Kiira Korpi (FIN)
8. Mirai Nagasu (USA)
9. Ashley Wagner (USA)
As I previously stated, the Ladies event is likely to be the most unpredictable in Beijing, which could be exciting or just disastrous. I'd normally say that Miki Ando has possibly the best chance at gold here, but she got injured at Cup of Russia and was skating in pain during the freeskate. How she places will probably be determined by how well she has recovered. If Miki is healed enough to rotate and land her jumps well, it might just be enough for the title. Carolina Kostner will likely still be skating with watered down jumping content but if she lands what content she has, the judges are pretty likely to reward her with a medal. Alissa Czisny is as inconsistent as can be, and while her spins and spirals are very pretty, I really doubt that the jumps will be there for her and consequently am not convinced that she'll manage more than a bronze, if that.
I also think that Akiko Suzuki has a clear shot at a medal if she just lands her jumps and is just a lovely skater to watch; I'm definitely hoping that she can put all the elements together at this event and claim the title. Kanako Murakami and Rachael Flatt are each a bit of a question mark here; Kanako is lively and vivacious, but not necessarily the most consistent jumper, and I still find her rough around the edges, while Rachael is somewhat the opposite; consistent, but never exciting, and the judges haven't been doing her many favors lately (compared to other ladies).
Mens Qualifiers
1. Takahiko Kozuka (JPN)
2. Daisuke Takahashi (JPN)
3. Patrick Chan (CAN)
4. Tomas Verner (CZE)
5. Nobunari Oda (JPN)
6. Florent Amodio (FRA)
Substitutes
7. Jeremy Abbott (USA)
8. Brandon Mroz (USA)
9. Adam Rippon (USA)
As has been the case all season, the men look to be the highlight of the competition. All of these guys have the potential to be on the podium, so this event is somewhat hard to predict, though there's one or two that I find more likely to be on the podium than the others. Patrick Chan may have a harder time getting away with big mistakes in a field this deep, but I have a feeling that he's likely to medal even with those mistakes unless his competitors skate lights out. Daisuke Takahashi hasn't been as clean as he would've liked thus far this season, but his freeskate has been getting stronger at each event, so hopefully it will come together for him here. If Daisuke is clean, that along with his high (deservedly so) component scores will likely give him the win, and even if he has a couple of minor mistakes, he'll probably still be in the mix for a medal. Takahiko Kozuka, the surprise top qualifier for the Grand Prix Final,, will find himself in good stead if he skates as consistently as he has at his two Grand Prix events; if Patrick and Daisuke really fall short, Takahiko potentially could beat both of them and win his first major ISU championship. Even if he doesn't win, he has an excellent shot at medaling.
Nobunari Oda is also a possible medal threat - when he's on, he's great, and he always garners a lot of positive Grades of Execution on his jumps. He'll need to keep track of his combinations in this field though; it might be a close contest and he can't afford to give away that many points. Tomas Verner and Florent Amodio are the wild cards of sorts here; if either skate flawlessly, they could find themselves on the podium, but it may take mistakes by others to make that happen. Also, neither of them have attempted a quad in competition so far this season and if the other guys land theirs, that might end up being the difference between 3rd and 6th. Tomas plans to put a quad in at some point this season, possibly at the Final, but Florent has no such plans (his coach Morozov is leaving it out in attempt to build consistency and thus far, it is working).
Overall, the Grand Prix Final looks like it could really be a good competition, with some of the top skaters facing each other for the first time this season. The action starts Friday morning at 4:15 AM, Eastern Standard time.
Grand Prix Final Entries
Grand Prix Final Live Streaming Times
Monday, November 15, 2010
Brief thoughts of Skate America: Ladies Free (Final 6)
Before I get started, I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Ms. Murakami; We're all indebted to her for helping keep Kostner off the top step of the podium, even if she still has some rough patches in her skating. Thanks Kanako!
Amelie Lacoste: Well... there goes that Fantasy pick! (Come on.. if you picked her, you were so thinking it too!:P)
Caroline Zhang: Gorgeous dress. Sorry to see that she's gained some weight... it's not gonna do her any favors on her jumps, especially with the technique corrections still in progress. The triple flip-double toe didn't seem so bad, but then the mega highkick into a 1 and 1/2 lutz results in that spectacular fall into a near split position. Dang Zhang! I don't think I've ever seen a singles girl manage to do that kind of a fall. One bright point though... she really does have a lovely layback spin, unlike most of the ladies I've seen recently.
Rachael Flatt: Her highkick on her flip and lutz made me insane today, worsened by the fact that she landed them cleanly aside from that, excepting the underrotated first lutz. It may sound mean, but I wish that the highkick would give her more trouble on those two jumps so that she'd be forced to learn a better technique for them if she wished to remain competitive. Other than that though, I was bored.
Joshi Helgesson: I kind of liked her dress.I think she underrotated the back end of two of her combos, but I appreciate the fact that she completed a triple lutz without a highkick, very, very much.
Kanako Murakami: She does the high kick too.... good heavens! (Why do these girl's coaches abide in this kind of poor technique? I was working on a single flip before I had to quit skating, and every single time that I would dp the highkick to try to tap in harder for more height, my coach would screech at me not to do it. Every. Single. Time. And I never even tested!) Watching her and several other of these ladies makes me long for Dick Button's commentary- I can just imagine his reaction to their laybacks. ;) It's good to to see a lady with some spunk though, although I do think it sometimes makes her skating appear sloppy. There's a glimpse of Yukari Nakano's infamous leg wrap in at least one of her combinations too, albeit to a lesser extent (thankfully!). I quite enjoyed her footwork though; that was pretty smooth, interesting, and well done.
Carolina Kostner: I am amazed that Scott Hamilton and the other commentators are trying so hard to make her lack of difficulty sound like a good thing! The upbeat outlook on that didn't do her many favors though; falling on her first triple loop and doubling the second, and even singled a double axel, making her scant technical content even more watered down. She even was sloppy on a spin. She isn't my cup of tea to begin with, but that was a really poor freeskate. I'm so thankful that the judges didn't give her the win this time.
Overall, from what I've seen and heard from this event and the other Grand Prix's thus far, the ladies certainly have been lackluster this season. I'm certain that I am not alone in missing Michelle Kwan.
Monday, October 18, 2010
NHK Trophy 2010 Rundown
Daisuke Takahashi - I definitely expect (and hope!) that the reigning World Champion will land on the podium, and think that it's pretty likely that he will land on the top step. Daisuke expects a lot from himself, artistically and technically, and I look forward to seeing how that culminates here.
Jeremy Abbott - Jeremy is a skater that I really do enjoy watching, but you never really know which Jeremy is going to show up on the ice. He either skates beautifully or explodes entirely. I do expect him to medal, but think it is more likely to be silver than gold.
Florent Amodio - This up and coming French skater first capture my attention at the 2010 Olympics, especially with his sad clown program. With more difficult content being put into his short program this season, hopefully he'll continue to move up the ranks, starting here. I'm hoping that either Florent or Yuzuru Hanyu capture the bronze.
Yuzuru Hanyu - The 2010 World Junior Champion already seems to have a nice presence on the ice ,and the technical content to challenge for a medal at his first senior international ever. I'm really looking forward to seeing what he does this season.
As for the ladies, I'm curious to see if Mao Asada can find her consistency again, as she has been reworking her jump technique after switching coaches. At the Japan Open, she honestly was a mess, but hopefully these last few weeks have given her enough time to get her technique under her belt.
I don't really have many thoughts as far as the American ladies go for this event - I am curious to see if Caroline Zhang's work on her speed and technique have paid off though.
Kanako Murakami, the 2010 World Junior Champion, seems like a good bet for the podium, as long as she holds up under pressure.
My only expectations as far as ice dancing and the pairs go are that Meryl Davis and Charlie White will dominate the dance event easily, Qing Pang and Jian Tong will do the same in the pairs event, and I think that the American pairs team of Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett might land the bronze.
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