Europeans Results: Men and Ladies!

What an interesting few days it has been. Between Nationals and Euros', I've been going absolutely skating crazy! I apologize for not having them up yet, but my thoughts on the pairs, ladies, and men's U.S. Nationals freeskates will be up in the next few days. I did not do a free dance review, as it is by far the discipline that I am least well versed in and I had severe tunnel vision on regarding Alex and Maia Shibutani. For now though, I'll talk about the new Europeans singles champions!

Sarah Meier finished second in the freeskate to win the gold in her home country in what she's said will be her final competition. What a way to go out! She finished with a overall score of 170.60. Carolina Kostner won the free to move up to 2nd overall (168.54), while Kiira Korpi fell to 3rd (166.40) after finishing 4th in the free. Ksenia Makarova and Alena Leonova finished 4th (162.04) and 5th(154.31) overall.

Freeskate Results

Protocols 

Overall Results 

 Florent Amodio won the European men's title with a total of 226.86 after placing third in the freeskate. Brian Joubert (2nd with 223.01) and Tomas Verner (3rd with 222.60) each beat him in that segment, but not by enough to catch him after his lead from the short.
Freeskate Results
Protocols
Overall Results
More pics due to the ridiculous amounts of adorable that Flo exuded.

And here is his reaction to the news. If this isn't adorable, what is?


And his imperfect, but still pretty dang good freeskate.

Skating Updates

It is that time of year again - Christmas AND many countries national figure skating championships. While many have been going on, the most notable thus far (at least, to me) would be France's Nationals and the Czech Republic's (for the men, of course).

At the Czech Championship, Tomas Verner took the gold with 221.20 points after winning both programs, while Michal Brezina, whom is recovering from a fairly recent stomach surgery finished second with 202.76 points.

At the French Championship, Nathalie Pechalat (coincidentally, Verner's girlfriend), and Fabian Bourzat won the ice dancing title to no one's surprise, and by a margin of over 20 points. They finished with a total of 166.44.

In the men, Brian Joubert claimed the title with 231.85 points after Florent Amodio made several significant errors in the short program and found himself playing catch up. Florent did win the freeskate, but not by enough to overcome the 10 point difference between himself and Brian and he finished in second place with 222.55. Alban Preaubert and Chafik Besseghier finished in third (213.90) and fourth place (202.94), respectively. Even more surprising than Brian's victory may be the fact that he did not attempt a quad in the freeskate, although he reportedly did in the short.

While the U.S. Nationals are still a month away, the American men aren't being ignored - Jeremy Abbott recently talked with Universal Sports and talks about the Grand Prix season and Nationals, among other things. I would have to agree that Jeremy is the frontrunner for the men at U.S. Nationals, but I'm afraid that his mentioning that and feeling like he is the leading man in our country may jinx him, as there are certainly some others in the mix, such as Adam Rippon, Brandon Mroz, and Armin Mahbanoozadeh. (Though I don't, by any means, feel that Jeremy is getting arrogant.)

Speaking of Adam, Mr. Rippon has recently spoken to Lois Elfman for Ice Network about his holiday plans and has also written a new blog on his website with some insight about his experiences at Skate Canada and Skate America.

Don't forget, Japanese Nationals is coming up this week and along with it, plenty of excitement and many questions. How will Mao fare? Will Daisuke be back to normal? And how well the youngsters Kanako Murakami and Yuzuru Hanyu perform? I'm really looking forward to seeing the answers to those questions and more!

P.S. Anyone who happens to find/upload youtube videos of Japanese Nationals or comes across any interesting news about it or even the results (as it can be extremely difficult to find results online for other countries' nationals, though I think I know somewhere I can find them for this particular event), please feel free to share in a comment here or tweet me. Thanks!

EDITED 12/21: Practice groups and event schedules are up on U.S. Figure Skating's website and much to my surprise, Ryan Bradley has been listed in Practice Group B for the Senior men. I had no idea he was competing!

Grand Prix Final: Men's Freeskate

Florent Amodio (France): Good triple axel at the beginning, followed by his triple axel-double toe combo - he had to hold the axel, but he got it done. A attempted triple loop that looked off from the takeoff was crooked and doubled. Good footwork, albeit with some moments where he just stands and dances, but what actual content was there was good. A flying sit spin with a cannonball variation was okay. Triple salchow-triple toe, the latter of which was at least two-footed, but otherwise done. Triple lutz, fine, and a triple flip that was great, except the wrong edge yet again. I definitely hope he works on that edge in the future; he pretty consistently does a flip on the outside edge, and that results in deductions. Triple lutz-double toe was alright,  as was his last jumping pass, a double axel. Second footwork sequence was cute, and skated well enough. Combo spin was alright, but some of the positions could have been better, and the final sit change sit was okay. Not his best skate, but it really wasn't bad, and it was a pretty decent comeback from his short program.  Florent just has a way of making people smile when he skates; it is evident that he really enjoys performing, even if he wasn't at his best at this competition. He also further endeared himself to me by  pretending to eat a stuffed ice cream cone in the kiss and cry. =) 70.40 TE 69.86 PCS ; 140.26 FS = 201.90 Total (6th)

Tomas Verner (Czech Republic): Started the program with his first quad toe attempt of the season - unfortunately, it was popped into a triple. He got it back together with a good triple axel-double toe combination shortly thereafter though, and a good triple loop. His first footwork sequence was alright, but as noted before by myself and others, while Tomas does the footwork well, his skating skills aren't as polished as the other men competing at the GPF; maybe not even as polished as Florent's. Flying sit spin was okay I guess, followed by a good triple axel. Lovely triple lutz after that; he got a full point extra on GOE. Great triple salchow and a triple flip that was on the wrong edge, but otherwise good. Stepped out on his triple lutz-double toe combo, but he did get credit for it as a combination and not a sequence. Slowish sit change sit spin, another footwork sequence that was fine, if unremarkable, and an okay combo spin to finish up.  I don't think that Tomas had his usual energy and spark artistically that he sometimes has, but it was pretty good technically. Like Florent, he also messed around in the kiss and cry, haha. 74.35 TE 73.92 PCS ; 148.27 FS = 213.64 Total (5th)

Takahiko Kozuka (Japan): The choreography at the beginning of the program always seems to highlight how beautifully he moves his body while skating. Opened up with a quad toe attempt that was two-footed and called underrotated; I do think I agree with that call.Triple axel was a little bit tight looking to me, but still good. Triple lutz-double toe was fine, followed by an alright combo spin that was clearly the best up to that point. First footwork sequence was gorgeous; I was really captivated this time around. Triple axel-double toe was managed, but he decided against using it as his three jump combination like he did in Paris. Triple flip was alright, if tentative. Triple lutz-triple toe was again tough at the ending. After that, a triple loop that was fine and a triple salchow that was kinda scratchy looking to me, but it actually garnered positive GOE... maybe I saw wrong? Nice death drop and very nice footwork, followed by an alright combo spin, which had a pretty nice and well center scratch spin at the end. Not as good as Paris, but still a good skate. His main problem was just having landings that didn't have a whole lot of flow coming out of them. One has to wonder if Takahiko was affected by his crash with Daisuke a couple of days prior; everywhere I've read has said that he has apologized multiple times and really feels bad about the incident, so I wouldn't rule it out. 82.25 TE 77.64 PCS ; 159.89 FS = 237.79 Total (3rd)

Daisuke Takahashi (Japan): Surprisingly, he started with a quad flip attempt, which was two-footed, severely underrotated and consequently downgraded by the technical specialists (By the way, anyone wondering why Daisuke would attempt this while not feeling his best: when his quad toe isn't reliable, he feels like it is a safer bet to go for the quad flip, because even if he doesn't rotate it, it's worth more than a downgraded quad toe and he falls on it less.). Really good triple axel, which received two points extra on GOE! After that was a triple loop that was okay, maybe a bit rough. Flying sit spin combo was fine, and the first footwork sequence was good, but not as great as usual. Stepped out of a triple flip-triple toe combo, the latter of which was downgraded and a bad fall on his second triple axel attempt, looked underrotated. Flying layback spin was alright, and then a good triple lutz.Triple salchow, maybe underrotated a bit. Fall on the second triple lutz, also underrotated, but I had a bad feeling about that one from the preparation; he really didn't have much speed going into it. Second footwork sequence was definitely slower that usual, but okay as far as the normal standard goes, and the final combo spin was just okay.For some reason two spins were only level 1; he's probably going to want to work on that.

Poor Daisuke. He seemed really tired in the second half and I'm sure he's extremely dissatisfied with his performance. Even the artistic quality to his skating didn't shine through as well as usual. I still think it an admirable effort though; here he was considering withdrawing and then he goes for a quad flip, haha. But, ah well, there'll be other competitions and really, I think the biggest hit to his technical score was that he only could complete one combination; his two falls were on his second attempts on the triple lutz and triple axel, rendering them sequences and causing him to be unable to add any more combos and salvage more points. It seems he's learned from Nobunari's past mistakes; thank God someone has. Here's to hoping that he recovers well from whatever injury he received in the crash and will be ready for Nationals and Worlds.
58.20 TE 81.00 PCS -2.00 Deductions ; 137.20 FS = 219.77 Total (4th)

Patrick Chan (Canada): Opened with an okay quad toe and an alright triple axel-double toe combination. Nice triple lutz and good footwork too, as well as a pretty good death drop. Fallout on the second triple axel, as well as the second triple lutz-half loop-double toe. Good sit change sit spin and he held onto a triple flip-triple toe combo. Nice triple loop and a good double axel. Finished up with good footwork and a good combo spin. Loads better than his other freeskates this season and if he had to win, I'm glad it was pretty clean , but I don't really have much else to say besides ,"Oh, now you don't fall" :P. Oh, and huge scores... too huge, in my opinion. 86.94 TE 87.22 PCS ; 174.16 FS = 259.75 Total (1st)

Nobunari Oda (Japan): He started off by dashing my hopes with a fall on his quad toe (deemed underrotated, though I disagree with that one). He came back soon after with a very nice triple axel-triple toe and a gorgeous triple flip-triple toe. His first footwork sequence was alright, and the flying camel combo spin was nice too. Great triple lutz (though, alas, edge called), followed by a lovely triple axel. The followed triple loop was alright and then a triple salchow-double toe-double loop that lost speed, but was okay. Good double axel, but much to my chagrin, he fell on the landing edge (I think he said he hit a rough spot?) and then missed part of his footwork sequence after. He finished off with a pair of pretty good spins. Ugh. He's an extremely maddening skater. First the combo counting issues, and now this fluke fall on a double axel.79.58 TE 78.64 PCS -2.00 Deductions ; 156.22 FS = 242.81 Total (2nd)

Freeskate Results
Overall Results

Tomas Verner - Post freeskate interview at Cup of Russia

Tomas may not be my favorite skater, but he really is charming and just comes off as such a nice guy that I end up rooting for him to skate well, whether I intend to or not. Best of luck to him the rest of this season!

Cup of Russia - Men's Freeskate

Somehow despite Cup of Russia having what was definitely what I considered to be the most lackluster men's event of the Grand Prix season thus far, Tomas Verner has managed to absolutely make my day by defying the odds and defeating Patrick Chan. Kudos to Tomas! That said, here are my thoughts!

Tatsuki Machida (Japan): Started the program off with a two footed quad toe attempt, also underrotated. Triple axel-triple toe combo; the axel was good, but I thought the toe was two footed. Triple lutz was okay and so was the footwork, but nothing really special about it. Flyin sit spin was alright, as well as the following triple flip. Unfortunate slip on the entrance to the triple loop had Tatsuki falling before really getting off the ice. Singled the following axel, which I can't really blame him for since it wasn't long after that fall, which I think may have knocked the wind out of him (or at least really shook him up.). Slow on a flying sit change sit spin, and it was sloppy in general. Triple lutz-double toe was well done and so was the triple salchow-double toe afterward. Second set of footwork was better than the first, but he could use some work on his camel positions in his spins, though the last combo spin was okay overall. That whole performance just seemed really tired, even down to his posture. No life in this program today, which is disappointing because it really seemed like Tatsuki had some connection to it at Cup of China. 60.80 TE 60.84 PCs -1.00 Deduction ; 120.64 FS = 177.01 Total

Anton Kovalevski (Ukraine): Leaned on the first triple axel in the air and fell. Fallout on the triple lutz, but put a double toe with a tano arm variation on the end for some reason (was counted as a sequence, with no credit for the toe loop). Second triple lutz was okay, as well as the triple loop, though the latter leaned in the air. Sit change sit spin with variations was okay. First footwork sequence was alright but half of it really didn't suit the music. There's really no oomph in his skating, at least not today. Triple toe-double toe-double toe, okay. Triple salchow was fine, but a not particularly impressive flying sit after that. Second footwork sequence looks labored to me. Geez, the music in his program is so random! And besides the randomness of it, the stronger parts of the music overpower his presence on the ice. Double axel-double toe was okay, then a sloppy combo spin. Meh. Anton has a strange lutz technique... he goes in without the outside edge and then switches onto it shortly before he picks in. I think some have said Rachael Flatt has the same technique? Either way, not really a fan of it. 56.19 TE 60.30 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 115.49 FS = 175.54 Total

Ivan Tretiakov (Russia): An okay triple axel to start, followed by an okay triple axel-double toe. Triple flip-triple toe combo, but had difficulties on both jumps. Flying camel that was slow as sin... man. What the heck is this music? Nice triple lutz, then triple loop that he held onto. Alright footwork and a triple flip-double tano toe-double toe that was okay too. Singled the salchow, but a good double axel afterward. Second set of footwork was slow, as well as the last two spins. None of the positions were particularly nice either. Ivan's skating is relatively smooth, but it is slow. Overall, that was really, really dull.  There wasn't really a lot to be interested in but the jumps and most of those weren't even very impressive. 66.52 TE 57.72 PCS ; 124.24 ; FS = 189.85 Total

Samuel Contesti (Italy): Good triple axel at the beginning. Skating skills already better than the two prior Europeans.  A good triple flip and an alright triple lutz as well, followed by a slow camel spin with a change of foot. I kind of liked the first step sequence, it was smooth.  Okay combo spin and a good triple axel-double toe-double toe. Two footed the triple loop after that, but recovered with a nice double axel. This second footwork sequence is really slow for this section of the music. An alright triple salchow-triple toe combo and triple toe-double axel sequence, and a slow spin to end. Not bad, but I did think the score ended up a little high on technical.75.11 TE 66.50 PCS ; 141.61 FS = 207.30 Total

Javier Fernandez (Spain): Javier started the program with a quad toe, which he actually did land, but after he landed it he fell... it was really strange.  Pretty good triple axel after that though, but popped a triple lutz into a single in an odd looking manner. Okayish spin and then that drunken pirate footwork, which I thought was alright. Single axel-double toe and a single flip, followed by yet another popped jump, a double loop. His jumps are just gone today. Heard that he may have been injured though, so I'll keep an ear out for that. Recovered with a nice triple salchow-double toe-double toe combo, as well as a good triple toe-double axel sequence. Another set of alright footwork, but his performance quality is lacking today. Finished with a decent sit change sit and a rough combo spin. That was pretty much a mess. Poor Javier. It appears he maintained his sense of humor in the kiss and cry though. 52.68 TE 65.92 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 117.60 FS = 184.06 Total

Konstantin Menshov (Russia): Another Michael Jackson program? Hm. Opened with a triple toe, which was most likely a planned quad. Triple lutz was alright, but it has the same weird technique as Kovalevski. Double toe loop. Music switched from Smooth Criminal to birds chirping. That's not confusing at all... anyway, held onto a triple axel, and did a spin that was actually kind of good. Weird triple salchow, but it was landed. The flying sit spin was okay, but got rather slow at the end. Footwork wasn't terrible but it did seem a bit labored. Just barely held onto to triple loop and fell on a triple toe. Double axel-double toe-double toe was okay, but a sloppy combo spin followed it and there was another footwork sequence that wasn't very good. 51.39 TE 63.42 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 113.81 FS = 181.15 Total

Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan): Triple toe at the start, which was a planned quad toe. Good triple axel, maybe a tiny bit underrotated. I love how Yuzuru's jumps tend to float seemingly effortlessly through the air. It reminds me a lot of how Johnny Weir's jumps were under Priscilla Hill. Alright triple flip, though a little tight , but edge called again - that's something he should probably work on. Sit change sit traveled some but it had good speed and positions.Triple lutz-double toe was okay, not quite the usually ease that he has with the jumps. Footwork was alright, but not really stand out. Good triple axel-triple toe and triple lutz-double toe, but the latter didn't count (due to repeating the triple toe and triple axel already.). Good triple loop, but a little slow on the following combo spin. Random slip and fall at the beginning of his second footwork sequence, but the rest of it was fine. Good triple salchow and a sloppy combo spin to finish up. Not a bad skate at all, but he's capable of better. A lot of his jumps didn't quite have the usual ease to them - nerves maybe? 67.20 TE 66.22 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 132.42 FS = 202.66 Total

Sidenote: I did the math and had Yuzuru managed the quad toe and thus had the second triple lutz-double toe count, it would have added 14.34 to his base value, which would put him at 217.00 total, just barely behind Jeremy Abbott (assuming the rest of the jumps were performed and graded the same as they were). And if Yuzuru had done the quad as well as he did at NHK (where it garnered an 1.29 in GOE) and/or gotten good GOE on the lutz combo, he very likely would have overtaken Jeremy for the bronze. Dang.

Alban Preaubert (France): Began with a fall an an underrotated quad attempt, but followed with a nice triple axel-double toe. Triple loop was fine too, along with an okay flying spin and footwork (those were only level 2's though). Another good triple axel and an alright triple flip-double toe. Doubled an intended triple lutz, and then did a rough triple salchow-triple toe-double toe. Footwork wasn't particularly good again and then a spin with decent speed, but traveled. One last decent triple flip and a much better combo spin at the end. Blah. I still like him better with humorous programs.68.32 TE 66.86 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 134.18 FS = 204.68 Total

Artur Gachinski (Russia): Quad toe attempt popped into a double. Triple axel-double toe-single loop; the first two jumps of the combo were nice. Scratch on the landing on the second triple axel and an okay flying camel, but his donut position is either weird or simply poor. Good triple loop and triple flip. Some of the first footwork sequence was alright, but then it sputtered into simple, silly things. How did that get a level 3? Okay spin and then a doubled lutz. Triple toe was fine, as well as a double axel-double axel sequence. Second footwork sequence was exactly the kind of thing Plushenko does, unsurprising as he and Artur share the same coach (That got almost a point and half on GOE! O.O). Combo spin was so slow at the end. That program, in my mind, was a hot mess. All that was was a rehash of Plushenko on a 17 year old boy. The dramatic arms on landings and the sliding of the hands across the face are NOT artistry to me. I wish Artur's coach would put effort into giving him his own skating style instead of trying to clone Plushenko. 61.43 TE 69.16 PCS ;130.53 FS = 202.94 Total

Tomas Verner (Czech Republic): Triple lutz-triple toe for a nice start. Held onto that first triple axel, followed up with a good triple loop. Footwork was alright, as well as the flying sit. Some of the music cuts are abrupt, but I think this Michael Jackson medley suits Tomas pretty well. It's amusing and just seems to work well on him for some reason or another. Good triple axel-double toe and an alright triple lutz. Very nice triple salchow, but then a fallout on a double axel. Triple flip-double toe-double loop, good enough but got edge called. Decent spin and okay footwork that was fun. The part with the Thiller laugh cracks me up so much. An alright combo spin to end. Pretty good skate! Better than I expected, that's for sure. 78.09 TE 78.12 PCS ; 156.21 FS = 230.11 Total

Jeremy Abbott (United States): Fall on the opening quad toe and it was underrotated :-/. There went all hope of him winning this, unfortunately. Fallout on the triple flip after that too, but got it back together for a good triple axel-triple toe combination. Okay flying upright spin, then nice footwork sequence, followed by a nice double axel. Fallout on the second triple axel. Triple loop-single toe-tight double toe, the latter deemed underrotated. Sit change sit was alright, but the last variation was slow. Fall on the second triple lutz (underrotated). Ugh. The wrong Jeremy definitely showed up today. Triple salchow was good though, as well as the second footwork sequence. I really love that transition where he slides on his knee and turns and looks straight at the judges; it's exquisite. Nice combo spin to end. Poor Jeremy. He looks unhappy. He's way better than this, but I guess it's better than peaking too early again this season. I definitely hope to see a clean performance of this program at some point; it could be gorgeous.  64.26 TE 77.34 PCS -2.00 Deductions ; 139.60 = 217.21

Patrick Chan (Canada): Fall on the quad and it was also underrotated. Triple axel-triple toe was pretty good, tough might've been a little tough. Good triple lutz and footwork with great flow, but again, that highkick needs a break. Nice flying spin, but fell on the following triple axel and triple lutz. What a splatfest he and Jeremy are having today... not good. Okay spin and an alright triple flip.  Triple loop-double toe, good. Double axel-triple toe, with the latter being wonky, but it didn't count anyway because of the second triple lutz not having a combo on it. Alright footwork with the highkick again. Good ending combo spin. 66.95 TE 81.30 PCS -3.00 Deductions ; 145.25 FS = 227.21

So glad to see Tomas edge out Patrick for the title, even if it did take Patrick doing too many combos. I still don't understand why Patrick gets such good scores with so many errors, but I'm just relieved to see him not get gold for it this time - I was convinced he had it, with the scores he gets. Good for Tomas; hopefully this will give him confidence and help him keep getting more consistency under his belt. As for the event as a whole though... Let's just say that I'm already eagerly looking forward to Trophee Eric Bompard next week.

P.S. Something I noticed... in this very underwhelming men's event, there was one common denominator missing that all of the other Grand Prix's this season happened to have; that being that at least one of the top three Japanese men (Takahashi, Oda, and Kozuka) were competing in each of those events . Interesting, no? ;)

Freeskate Results
Overall Results

Cup of Russia - Men's Short

Well, that was fairly underwhelming for the most part. There were a few bright spots though, so let's get started!

Ivan Tretiakov (Russia): Slightly odd entry into his triple axel, but it ended up okay. Triple flip-triple toe ; flip was a bit rough, but not bad overall. Triple lutz was on the good side. Slow spins overall, though the positions were okay. Footwork was fine too, looked like a decent level. Overall, just a rather boring skate, no personality and little speed. 36.43 TE 29.18 PCS = 65.61 Total

Konstantin Menshov (Russia): So much more speed than Ivan, even in the first few seconds of the program. Triple axel looked crooked in the air, but it was landed really well. Triple lutz/flip (I missed which... I don't do mornings!)-double toe, good. Doubled the loop. Slow flying camel with a poor variation. Footwork was alright, but had these weird noises in it, like sirens. Combo spin was on the slow side, but the sit change sit was better, at least until the final variation. Some attempt at entertainment in this program, but I didn't really dig it. I felt like it mostly fell flat. 36.27 TE 31.07 PCS = 67.34 Total

Anton Kovalevski (Ukraine): Awkward costume... it looks really, really, really junior. Fall on the triple axel, then a triple lutz-triple toe with the second foot down on the toe. Maybe underrotated? Triple loop wasn't bad , though his flying camel was slow and that knee catch variation looked terrible. So much arm waving in the footwork... blah. Sloppy change foot spin and the spins in generally weren't very good. 31.01 TE 30.04 PCS -1.00 Deduction = 60.05

Tatsuki Machida (Japan): Fall on the opening triple axel. Huge triple flip- 2 and 1/2 toe... maybe that flip was too huge. Dang it. Slow combo spin and the second spin was sloppy too. Hand down on the triple lutz. Okay footwork, but this whole program felt really rushed. Tatsuki had a lot of speed going into the jumps, but maybe it was too much, or just didn't have enough control. What a shame. I rather liked his freeskate at Cup of China. 26.76 TE 30.61 PCS -1.00 Deduction = 56.37 Total

Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan): Pretty good triple axel, maybe a little bit underrotated? Lovely triple lutz-triple toe. Rather good combination spin with mostly nice positions, except that A-Frame (one of these days I may write a post on that stupid thing!). Good triple flip, though may have been edge called. Alright footwork, and a camel with a donut variation, which was nice enough until it lost some speed. Really nice speed and good positioning on the sit change sit. His basic skating is so pretty too... very smooth. I don't believe I would mind just watching him skate around the rink. 37.86 TE 32.38 PCS = 70.24 Total I definitely would have had him a bit higher on components. If nothing else, the Skating Skills should be in the 7's. Good enough for first at this point.

Javier Fernandez (Spain): His skating seems so slow compared to Yuzuru that I actually wondered if my feed was lagging :-/. Sorry, Javier. Alright triple axel, looked a little far back on the takeoff. Triple lutz-triple toe, rough on the tail end and looked underrotated. Eeked out the triple flip. Flying sit with variations, eh.  Sit change sit was a little better. Footwork stopped a good bit and wasn't particularly good, although Javier tried to interact with the crowd in it. BAD camel positions in the last spin. All in all, a rather messy performance. 34.07 TE 32.39 PCS = 66.46 Total

Artur Gachinski (Russia): Quad toe-double toe was gorgeous! A little forward on the landing of the triple axel, but it was great in the air. Okay triple loop. Sit change sit with a twist variation was okay, as well as the footwork. Donut position in his camel spin is odd, and he almost lost the combo spin entirely during some of the variations. Absolutely no surprise that Alexei Mishin coaches him. Plushenko was in the stands too, by the way. 39.35 TE 33.46 PCS = 72.81 Total

Alban Preaubert (France): Pretty good triple flip-triple toe to start off. Triple axel looked a little weird in the air, but it ended up being kinda good.  Sit change sit was okay, and the triple loop was good. Flying spin was alright and the footwork was kind of fun. Massive traveling on that final upright spin. Pretty good skate for him, and I think this type of music suits him better than the classic he is using for his freeskate this season. 31.21 TE 34.29 PCS = 70.50 Total Slightly ahead of Hanyu... hm.

Samuel Contesti (Italy): Double lutz-triple toe. Oops. Well, aside from the doubling of the lutz, it was pretty nice. Held onto that triple axel, and then I think the triple flip was two footed or something. It was definitely wonky. Flying sit was okay until the end, where it slowed down. Footwork was kind of good I guess, but the spins at the end were mostly slow. Program was sort of fun, but not particularly stand out. Lots of tech problems. 31.12 TE 34.53 PCS = 65.69 Total

Tomas Verner (Czech Republic): The invisible umbrella he skates with on his way to the first jump was really a cute detail. Good triple-triple combo, but I thought the toe might be a little bit underrotated. Triple axel was alright, and his triple lutz was good too. Slow flying camel though, but his footwork was nice. Combo spin was okay but a little on the slow side, and his sit change sit was a lot better. It was a nice performance, but I know Tomas can sell this better. It wasn't quite there yet for me. 36.95 TE 37.15 PCS = 74.10 Total

Jeremy Abbott (United States): Triple lutz-triple toe... good! Followed that up with a gorgeous triple axel - wow! He is really on today. I was afraid that the other Jeremy was going to show up :P. Sit change sit with variation was really fast compared to everyone else's spins. Good triple flip. A little bit of footwork into a flying upright spin, kinda nice, and the footwork sequence was pretty good too. Great combo spin at the end.  (I have heard that both he and Chan had spin issues in the short... I'd love to see the protocols now.) Still a lot of arm movement going on throughout the program, but I liked it so much better here than at NHK. It felt more believable. 39.07 TE 38.54 PCS = 77.61 Total

Patrick Chan (Canada): Quad toe-triple toe was fantastic. And then... a fall on a triple axel. Good combo spin, and a very nice triple flip. Thought his flying spin was good too, and the change foot spin was on the good side , but a wee bit slow at the end (but once again, apparently there was a spin issue I didn't catch.). He really did have nice footwork, but I'm really tired of seeing that high kick move in every program that he does. It's a cool move, but it's getting seriously redundant.  42.54 TE 40.42 PCS - 1.00 Deduction = 81.86

Huh? I didn't think Patrick should be above Jeremy, because of that fall, even with the quad-triple being so well done. I also thought that Jeremy's spins were a lot better. I don't really see much artistry in Patrick's skating either, but oh well. Different strokes for different folks. ;)

Overall... that was pretty boring. My highlights were definitely Jeremy,Yuzuru, and the fact that the seats remind me of legos.

Short Program Results

Cup of China - Men's Long

Better late than never I suppose. ;)

Peitong Chen (China): Triple axel fallout, same for the following triple lutz. He really gave the lutz up though; it could have been held onto. Good triple loop. Footwork doesn't really stand out. Two-footed the triple salchow, and decent sit change sit. Managed to pull off a double axel-double toe combination, but fell on the triple flip shortly thereafter. Okay triple toe, spin, and another footwork sequence. Peitong really doesn't leave much impression. Fall on his second triple lutz and okay spin to end. Blah. 46.14 TE 51.70 PCS ; 95.84 FS = 150.69 Total

Jialiang Wu (China): A nice opening with a pretty good triple axel-triple toe, and a triple salchow that looked more like a double. Second triple axel was alright, and the first triple lutz was fine. Slowish spin, and alright footwork until he tripped. Ouch. Squeezed out a triple lutz-double toe, and did an okay triple loop. Another slow spin... Double axel-double toe-double toe was okayish. Fall on an underrotated triple flip. Slow footwork and then fell during a flying sit... what?!? Geez, and that was the ending! Poor Jialiang. I liked this program a million times better at his other Grand Prix this season! 65.88 TE 51.92 PCS -3.00 Deductions ; 114.80 FS = 172.56 Total


Peter Liebers (Germany): Sherlock Holmes soundtrack... could be interesting. Very nice opening quad toe. Triple axel-triple toe, alright. Walley into an okayish triple lutz.  Footwork is kind of interesting, and his flying spin was well done. Held onto a double axel somehow, but had a nice triple salchow-double toe combo after. Very crooked triple loop that he fell out of, unsurprisingly. He lost some speed on the next spin, but it really wasn't bad overall. Another fallout on his triple flip, which was marked underrotated. Double axel-double toe-double toe was nice. Footwork was fine, but his final spin died out. Pretty decent overall, and  I like the concept of a Sherlock Holmes program, but Peter could definitely try to sell it more. 59.16 TE 57.00 PCS ; 116.16 FS = 175.94 Total

 Samuel Contesti (Italy): Opening triple axel was alright, as well as his triple flip. Put both hands down on his triple lutz and then had a slow spin. I'm kinda liking the footwork. Much better spin this time (until the end of it, at least,), and an okay triple axel-double toe-double toe. Samuel is mostly getting the jumps, but his technique seems weird to me. Triple loop was fine, and after that he did a nice double axel. Second footwork sequence seems kind of simple to me, and rather lackluster. Triple salchow-triple toe was good, and an okayish triple toe-double axel sequence. Not a whole lot of zest to the performance, which is kind of odd because he's sometimes kinda fun to watch. 73.16 TE 65.08 PCS ; 138.24 FS = 198.84 Total

Jinlin Guan (China): Fell on his first element, the quad toe, but it did look rotated to me. Very nice triple flip, but then a weird hop out thing on his triple salchow. Decent spin. Triple lutz was pretty good, and then a nice spin with good variations. First footwork sequence is alright, if unremarkable. Triple flip-double toe-double loop, okay. Turnout on the triple loop, though after that he pulled of an alright triple lutz-triple toe combo. Light and easy double axel-double axel sequence, and some zest in that second set of footwork, which is great to see. Topped it off with a pretty good ending spin. Not too shabby... Jinlin needs a triple axel or two, but that wasn't bad at all. 70.89 TE 62.08 PCs ; FS 131.97 = 196.92 Total

Tatsuki Machida (Japan): Fall on opening quad toe. Good recovery with a nice triple axel-triple toe combination though, and then a nice enough triple lutz. Footwork was alright, and his flying sit really had nice speed. He seems to have good speed and flow across the ice too. Good triple flip and an okay triple loop. Second triple axel got tilted in the air and he fell. Flying sit change sit into a cannonball position, pretty good. Single lutz-double toe, argh. Triple salchow-double toe-double loop was nice for the first two jumps, but got rough with the loop. Second footwork sequence was much more enjoyable than the first, and he ended with a good combo spin. There's something inherently likeable about Tatsuki's skating to me. I'm curious to see how he'll develop. 69.73 TE 66.44 PCS -2.00 Deductions ; 134.17 FS = 200.95 Total

Ross Miner (USA): Starting with an alright circular footwork sequence, interesting way to start for sure. Triple axel was pretty good, easily the best I've seen him do. Following that up with a good triple lutz-triple toe combination, and then a triple flip-double toe, also well done. Fairly well done spin, and an alright triple loop. Walley into what I thought was a nice triple lutz, but the technical controller called it underrotated. Triple salchow-double toe-double toe. Second footwork sequence was alright, but it lacks flair and his position during the twizzles really drives me insane. High kick pick in for his triple flip, resulting in a fall and was marked underrotated. Nice spin, but afterward his double axel came out on two feet! Weird mistake for a guy who can land a triple axel. Ended with a sub-par spin and finished after the music had already ended. Definitely the better than his previous Grand Prix, but Ross did lose steam toward the end. Still, I'm glad to see him skate pretty well. 64.01 TE 67.02 PCS -1.00 Deduction ; 130.03 FS = 197.13 Total

Sergei Voronov (Russia): An attempted quad became a 3 and 1/2 toe loop, and the landing of it injured his knee, leading him to withdraw. Poor guy. I may not be a fan, but who would wish this on any skater?

Brandon Mroz (USA): A nicely done quad toe to open.Triple axel-triple toe was okay, and same for the first triple lutz. Not really a fan of that first footwork sequence. Again, triple loop was done well enough, and his death drop was okay, but it got rather slow at the end. Second triple axel, better than his first. Triple lutz-double toe was alright, as was the triple salchow. Triple flip-double toe-double loop, same as most of his other jumps - fine. Another spin that was on the slow side, but I liked his second footwork sequence better than the first. His final spin was a little better than the others, I think. Very good skate for Brandon; it's really nice to see him smile ( He doesn't usually seem too happy in the K&C, from what I remember.) He does get the jumps done, but they aren't really aesthetically pleasing - at least not to me. They don't sing. I'm not a particular fan of the program either. Oh well. Good for him. 78.98 TE 67.98 PCS ; 146.96 FS = 216.80 Total

Tomas Verner (Czech Republic): Michael Jackson medley. Nice triple flip-triple toe to start, followed by a good triple axel-double toe. Doubled his intended triple loop. Cute footwork, but slow spin after that. Determined to hold onto his second triple axel, which was marked underrotated in the protocols. Scratchy triple lutz, but then a lovely triple salchow. Double axel with excellent timing to the music. Triple flip-double toe-double loop, good, but edge-called on the flip. Nice spin, and great music for the second footwork sequence. I loved the Thriller laugh and his mouthing it! Very fun program, and pretty well skated overall! Tomas even moonwalked on his way off the ice! 68.94 TE 75.56 PCS ; 144.50 FS = 214.81 Total

Brian Joubert (France): Quad toe to start, which was deemed underrotated. Easy triple salchow and an alright triple axel-double toe combo. Okay flying upright spin and variation, but it looked really simple. His first footwork sequence was done well enough, but it was only a level 2. His costume (which he definitely used in a prior season) is really distracting me from the actual performance. It doesn't suit this music well at all, at least I don't think so. Edge called triple flip-triple toe, the latter of which he fell out of. Great double axel and an okay triple lutz. Another simplistic spin and more decent footwork, but it bores me. Triple loop, fine, then a triple salchow-half loop (downgraded)-double salchow. Sit change sit combo spin ending with an upright position, performed well enough but again, rather simple. I'm not really loving this program. Maybe Brian just needs to interpret it more and change the costume, but it was all rather blah to me. Plus I don't understand why he watered down his technical content so much. I mean the flip usually gets an edge call on it, so I understand only doing one of those, but his triple lutz is usually huge and his triple axel is usually fine, so why only one of each of those? His spins were done well enough though, but they were so easy... three level 1's and one level 2. Peitong Chen, who ended up in last place, tried harder spins than that. That, quite frankly, is ridiculous for someone who has medaled at World's as many times as Joubert has. 62.99 TE 72.50 PCS ; 135.49 FS = 210.29 Total

Takahiko Kozuka (Japan): Hand down on his opening quad toe and held onto his following triple axel.  Good triple lutz-double toe combination, followed by a slowish spin. Lovely footwork, very lyrical. Triple axel-double toe-double loop, good! Triple flip was well done, and the triple lutz-double toe combination afterward was fine too. Triple loop, well done, and held onto that triple salchow. I love his death drop, he does it so well, and his second footwork sequence was very nice. Ended very well, last position in his final spin being his usual scratch spin. A solid skate. Haha, he's so adorable in the kiss and cry! 81.41 TE 74.70 PCS ; 156.11 FS = 233.51 Total

Freeskate Results 
Overall Results 

Blast from the Past - Worlds 2007:The Men

Of all my figure skating tapes and dvds I've made over the years, I have to say that my dvds of the 2007 World Championship are some of the ones that I have watched the most . That said, it is certainly not without good reason: I quite enjoyed the men's event that year, even with Johnny Weir (yes, a favorite of mine) finishing in 8th place. The highlights are, for me at least, are...

Stephane Lambiel: After a less than perfect (but still fabulous) short program, he went on to have some difficulties on his jumps in the freeskate as well, but despite the mistakes, I love the passion in that performance and it remains a favorite of mine to this day. In addition, there is this fluff that really makes the passion in his programs at that event even sweeter, in my mind at least.

Jeffrey Buttle: Like Stephane, he also had a rough time technically in the free, but as with Stephane, I really enjoyed his overall performance. I think that those performances standing up as favorites even with the mistakes really underscores the fact that these two men were adapt at not letting technical errors ruin the program as a whole, which is definitely something you can't say about very many skaters these days.

Tomas Verner: His freeskate here definitely put him on the map. I didn't have any recollection of him before that, but it was a nice surprise to see a relative unknown step up to plate on the biggest competition of the season. Hopefully Tomas can put the puzzle pieces back together and get back to these kind of results.

Daisuke Takahashi: His near flawless freeskate (save for a hand down on his opening quad toe loop) was absolutely gorgeous, and the best part the fact he pulled it off in his home country! Daisuke skated a lovely program to Phantom of the Opera, which was full of solid jumps and great artistry. Brian Joubert may have won the World title, but Daisuke definitely had the performance of the night.

Cup of China - Men's Short

Peitong Chen (China): Bad costume... wow. Big double axel to start, and a triple lutz-triple toe combination, the latter of which was underrotated. Spin could have more speed. Managed to hang onto his triple flip, and had semi interesting footwork. Overall, it was alright technically, but all of his spins were really slow, and Peitong didn't leave much of an impression. He is in desperate need of more muchness. 28.75 TE 26.10 PCS = 54.85 Total 

Jinlin Guan (China): Fall on an attempted quad toe. That's a shame. He already has more presence than Chen and he's barely started the program! Triple flip-double toe was good, and a spin with good speed, along with decent positions. Double axel was fine, and I like the footwork; there's some life in it. Shaky camel position, but his sit change sit is well done. Too bad he doesn't have a triple axel in here... definitely would have helped, along with transitions. I did enjoy him though. 36.16 TE 29.79 PCS -1.00 Deduction = 64.95 Total

Ross Miner (United States): He held onto his triple axel ,but had a huge lean foward on the takeoff. I'm surprised he stayed on his feet! Triple lutz-triple toe, fine. Nice spread eagle, and then nice triple flip. Nice spins, but I hate the A-Frame positions SO much. His footwork is alright, but his upper body and arms on the twizzles make me crazy- he looks stiff and unsure. Slow spin at the end. 36.29 TE 30.81 PCS = 67.10 Total

 Peter Liebers (Germany): Triple flip-triple toe good. Fall on the triple axel afterward, which wasn't surprising because of the bad takeoff. Nice spin, and good to see some transitions. I liked his footwork, but he traveled on that last spin. Better than I expected from him, even with the fall. 30.92 TE 29.86 PCS -1.00 Deduction = 59.78 Total


Jialiang Wu (China): Triple lutz- incredibly crooked double toe. Fallout on the following triple axel, maybe two footed? Triple loop was fine though, as well as the following spin. Second spin, eh. Footwork was nice, but slow. The twist position in his ending spin was good. Not a whole lot of presence or attack in this program. I definitely prefer his free program. 30.04 TE 27.72 PCS = 57.76
Tatsuki Machida (Japan): Great triple axel to start, and the triple flip-triple toe was good too (though they edge-called the former. Camel spin was okay, great speed on the second spin. He's really trying to sell this program. Triple lutz, two footed and underrotated. Good flying sit and really nice footwork, though the end started to fizzle out somewhat. 33.16 TE 33.62 PCS = 66.78 Total I thought he should probably have the lead at that point, though the lutz...

Brandon Mroz (United States):Quad toe-triple toe to open, former of which I suspected might be slightly underrotated. Tilted forward on the triple axel and subsequently. I hate his catch-foot spin position. Landed the triple lutz, but it wasn't great. His death drop was nice, but it lost speed at t he end. Okay spin at the end. I wasn't very enticed by this program. I do think the music is better for Brandon than his infamous Mambo sort program last season, but I still don't think it suits him very well. 38.51 TE 31.33 PCS = 69.84 Total

Sergei Voronov (Russia): Strange costume. Some kind of gangster thing possibly? Fallout on quad toe and tacked a single toe onto the end. Triple axel was fine, and very nice triple loop too. First toe spins were alright. Cracked on the drama for the footwork, which is reminiscent of Plushenko, albeit with a little bit less arm waving and no "sexy" hip wiggling. 34.77 TE 33.93 PCS = 68.70 Total

Samuel Contesti (Italy): Already in character before he reached center ice. Triple lutz-triple toe, two-footed and underrotated triple toe (though it seems they didn't call it... weird.). Fallout on the triple axel after slipping on the entrance.Seems to be channeling Ryan Bradley in this program, entertaintment-wise and unfortunately, the jump problems too. One and a half flip. Dang.  I like the footwork, and would love to see this program skated cleanly. Slow spins at the end unfortunately.  Also, his coach has an absolutely insane mustache. Wow. 27.14 TE 33.46 PCS = 60.60 Total

Takahiko Kozuka (Japan): Good triple lutz-triple toe to start, as well as a nice triple axel! Lovely death drop, and a nice triple flip to boot. Camel spin did slow a lot, probably due to a change of edge. Really, really pretty footwork and an excellent split jump. Finished the program off well with a great ending spin. Very nice short program, though I have to agree with many in saying that Takahiko could be more expressive. But overall, I really enjoyed it. Plus, he really does have a sweet smile. 41.30 TE 36.10 PCs = 77.40 Total

Brian Joubert (France):Quad toe-triple toe, the former of which I thought was a little underrotated, but otherwise, good. Fallout on the following triple axel. Interesting variation on an upright spin, it reminded me of one that Sasha Cohen used to do. Good triple lutz, as well as on the sit change sit spin. Alright footwork, but still very much in Brian's style, which I'm not too keen on these days. Last spin was okayish, and the flamenco kind of works for him, but I wish he would embrace the character fully. Brian was absolutely buried in stuffed animals in the kiss and cry, and held onto them for awhile, much to my amusement. It was a cute moment. 37.79 TE 37.01 PCS = 74.80 Total

Tomas Verner (Czech Republic): Huge triple flip on his triple flip-triple toe combination, but he had to fight for the toe (the flip was edge-called too.. hm.). Yet another triple axel fallout, but a really great triple lutz soon after. Okay camel spin, and the footwork was fine, but I expected more from him. He isn't playing up the music (Singin' in the Rain) as much as I've seen him do in the past with other programs. Slow sit spin, but the second spin was better. 33.76 TE 36.55 PCS = 70.31 Total