2011 Japanese Nationals - Men's Short

Daisuke Takahashi skated a flawless short program that included a clean quad toe-triple toe combination (the first I ever recall him landing offhand) - he scored 96.05 (50.70 TE 45.35 PCS = 96.05.)



Takahiko Kozuka also skated a clean short and is second with 85.60 (45.30 TE 40.30 PCS = 85.60).




Tatsuki Machida



Yuzuru Hanyu



Kento Nakamura



Keiji Tanaka



Shoma Uno



Yoji Tubio (no video available to my knowledge)

Daisuke Murakami



Akio Sasaki



Ryuju Hino



Takahito Mura



 See here for scores

Note: Yuzuru Hanyu was originally in third place, but there was some sort of mistake and he is now in fourth behind Tatsuki Machida (by a small margin, but fourth nonetheless.).

Cup of China: A Preview

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.

Icenetwork Livestream Schedule
Isu Event Page

Skating Updates

Marina Zoueva & Carol Lane talk about waiting for Worlds

A translation of the French Federation's offer to give Japan next year's Worlds

Yu-Na Kim gave a sneak peek of her new short program


& will make a pitch for Korea's bid for the 2018 Olympics

All That Skate Korea announcement

 Finally and most importantly, Worlds has been moved to Russia and will take place April 24th - May 1st!


The ISU announcement

Phil Hersh's take on it - includes snippets with Meryl Davis 

Universal Sports spoke to Ross Miner about Worlds' relocation . Apparently the rink in Sendai, Japan, is gone, which is where World Junior Champion and 2011 Four Continents Silver Medalist Yuzuru Hanyu trains if I'm not mistaken. :-/

They also spoke to Rachael Flatt, Mark Ladwig, Michal Brezina, & Meryl Davis 

Patrick Chan article

4 Continents Exhibition - Part 4

Daisuke Takahashi (Amelie & his Mambo short program footwork. =D)


^ The more I see that man skate, the more I fall in love with his skating.

Yuzuru Hanyu (Vertigo by U2)


Jeremy Abbott (The Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's)


Takahiko Kozuka ( Hello Goodbye & Safety Dance - Glee)


Adam Rippon (I'm Yours - Jason Mraz)


Exhibition Opening


Exhibition Finale

4 Continents Men's Freeskate Videos

Shawn Sawyer


Armin Mahbanoozadeh


Jinlin Guan


Adam Rippon


Takahiko Kozuka


Jeremy Abbott


Yuzuru Hanyu


Daisuke Takahashi

4 Continents Men's Free & Final Results

1.Daisuke Takahashi TE 78.65 PCS 82.86 -1.00 :FS 160.51 = 244.00 Total (JPN)
2.Yuzuru Hanyu TE 78.20 PCS 73.38  :FS 151.58 = 228.01 Total (JPN)3.Jeremy Abbott TE 71.70 PCS 78.28 -1.00 :FS 148.98 = 225.71 Total (USA)
4.Takahiko Kozuka TE 83.19  PCS 75.08 - 1.00 :FS 157.27 = 223.52 Total (JPN)
5.Adam Rippon TE 66.10 PCS 71.20 :FS 137.30 = 210.01 Total (USA)
6. Jinlin Guan TE 72.30 PCS 66.00  -1.00 :FS 137.30 = 201.98 Total (CHN)
7.Armin Mahbanoozadeh TE 67.93 PCS 66.34 :FS 134.27 = 200.67 Total (USA)
8.Jialiang Wu TE 61.58 PCS 61.58 :FS 136.48 = 199.78 Total (CHN)
9. Nan Song TE 75.02 PCS 60.64 -1.00 :FS 134.66 = 195.13 Total (CHN)
10. Shawn Sawyer TE 59.31 PCS 67.92 - :FS 127.23  = 192.94 Total (CAN)
11.Kevin Reynolds TE 63.34 PCS 64.74 -2.00 :FS 126.08 = 191.55 Total (CAN)
12.Misha GE TE 62.68 PCS 60.78  :FS 123.46 = 182.06 Total (UZB)
13.Abzal Rakimgaliev TE 61.80 PCS 58.00  :FS 119.80 = 180.75 Total (KAZ)
14.Joey Russell TE 57.87 PCS 57.64 -2.00 :FS 113.51 = 171.18 Total (CAN)
15.Min-Seok Kim TE 64.28 PCS 50.64 :FS 114.92 = 168.59 Total (KOR)
16.Mark Webster TE 48.16 PCS 47.12 :FS 95.28 = 143.54 Total (AUS)
17.Jordan Ju TE 48.04 PCS 42.92 - 1.00 :FS 89.96 = 134.33 Total (TPE)
18.Brendan Kerry TE 40.11 PCS 41.08 - 1.00 :FS 80.19 = 125.64 Total (AUS)
19.Wun-Chang Shih TE 39.18 PCS 41.42 :FS 80.60 = 120.96 Total (TPE)
20.Stephen Li-Chung Kuo TE 36.92 PCS 43.22 :FS 80.14 = 117.96 Total (TPE)

Detailed Freeskate Results
Protocols

4 Continents Men's Short Videos

I posted Daisuke Takahashi's short a few posts ago, so if you're looking for that particular video, scroll down a bit. =)

Adam Rippon (Please... grow your hair back out. :-/)


Takahiko Kozuka


Yuzuru Hanyu


Jeremy Abbott


Shawn Sawyer


Kevin Reynolds

4 Continents Men's Short Results

1. Daisuke Takahashi TE 42.35 PCS 41.14 =  83.49 Total (JPN)
2. Jeremy Abbott TE 37.87 PCS 38.86 =  76.73 Total (USA
3. Yuzuru Hanyu TE 40.76 PCS 35.67 =  76.43 Total (JPN)
4. Adam Rippon TE 38.13 PCS 35.58  -1.00 = 72.71 Total (USA)
5. Armin Mahbanoozadeh TE 34.98 PCS 31.42 =  66.40 Total (USA)
6. Takahiko Kozuka TE 30.49 PCS 35.76 =  66.25 Total (JPN)
7. Shawn Sawyer TE 31.58 PCS 34.13 = 65.71 Total (CAN)
8. Kevin Reynolds TE 34.14 PCS 33.33 -2.00 = 65.47 Total (USA)
9. Jinlin Guan TE 34.75 PCS 29.93 = 64.68 Total (CHN)
10. Jialiang Wu TE 34.51 PCS 28.79 = 63.30 Total (CHN)
11. Abzal Rakimgaliev TE 31.41 PCS 29.54 = 60.95 Total (KAZ)
12. Nan Song TE 29.61 PCS 30.86 = 30.86 Total (CHN)
13. Misha Ge TE 30.46 PCS 28.14 = 58.60 Total (UZB)
14. Joey Russell TE 29.00 PCS 29.67 -1.00 = 57.67 Total (CAN)
15. Min-Seok Kim TE 28.10 PCS 25.57 = 53.67 Total (KOR)
16. Mark Webster TE 24.61 PCS 23.65 = 48.26 Total (AUS)
17. Brendan Kerry TE 23.70 PCS 21.75 = 45.45 Total (AUS)
18. Jordan Ju TE 24.02 PCS 20.35 = 44.37 Total (TPE)
19. Wun-Chang Shih TE 20.04 PCS 20.32  = 40.36 Total (TPE)
20. Stephen Li-Chung Kuo TE 15.21 PCS 23.61 -1.00 = 37.82 Total (TPE)

Detailed Results
Protocols

Japanese Nationals - Mens Results

1. Takahiko Kozuka
2. Nobunari Oda
 3. Daisuke Takahashi
4. Yuzuru Hanyu

The World team is Takahiko Kozuka, Nobunari Oda, and Daisuke Takahashi. 4 Continents is assigned to Takahiko, Yuzuru Hanyu, and Daisuke.

Freeskate Protocols
Freeskate Results
Overall Results

Congratulations to Takahiko on his first National title. It is a shame that he couldn't have won with a performance that he'd be more pleased with (I heard he disagreed with his score for the freeskate, thinking it too high), but it's still a big accomplishment.

As you could see from my post the other day day, I am extremely proud of Daisuke for pulling through and skating his best freeskate all season (and the performance of the night) to finish second in the freeskate and third overall. Here's to hoping that he takes a well deserved rest for a few days, and that his injury heals soon. After that, I think his focus should be getting the levels on his spins up (level 4's probably would have gotten him at least silver here), and obviously getting at least one of the quads consistent again. If Daisuke can do those things in the month and a half that he has until 4 Continents, he should be in much better stead. Sending my prayers that he'll be healthy and ready for Worlds!

Japanese Nationals - Men's Short Results

Well THAT certainly didn't go as expected! 

1. Takahiko Kozuka 87.91
2. Yuzuru Hanyu 78.94
3. Nobunari Oda 77.48
4. Daisuke Takahashi 74.78
5. Tatsuki Machida 73.75
6. Takahito Mura 72.33

From what I've gathered online, here is a summary how the top 4 skated. (If anything is wrong, I'll correct it once I've seen it and can confirm it.)

 Yuzuru Hanyu landed a clean triple axel, triple lutz-triple toe, and a triple flip.( Very good! It's nice to see him skate so well, he's definitely one to keep an eye on. Fuji TV's camera work was... interesting. It made it look like his donut spin was all over the place.)

Daisuke stepped out of his triple flip-triple toe, and had a shaky triple axel, but had a triple lutz that was fine. I didn't expect him to be under Yuzuru based on how Yuzuru was scored on the Grand Prix. I'm thinking he had something called underrotated or downgraded. (Upon watching, it is pretty evident Daisuke was not himself. None of the jumps were very secure and even the spins had trouble. It did look like he had the axel ,though maybe slightly underrotated, but then he flipped out of it. The second half of his combo looked underrotated in the replay too. In a Japanese article he said he's in a better condition than at the GPF, but his coach has alluded otherwise. :-/)

Takahiko landed a triple axel, triple lutz-triple toe, and a triple flip, all cleanly. (After watching... Holy cow! Those jumps were GORGEOUS! Definitely among the best I've ever seen him do. Good for him! I do still find it shocking that he hit 87 without a quad, but I've heard that he got level 4 on all his spins and the step sequence, and I guess the GOE was through the roof on the jumps, deservedly.)

Nobunari fell on his quad attempt, which was supposed to be his combo. He landed a clean triple axel and triple lutz-triple toe, but lost his balance and fell during the footwork sequence. (Ouch. Well, he did think on his feet this time and salvaged some points by making the lutz his combo.)

Unfortunately, it is definitely going to be an uphill battle for Daisuke to keep his title. Takahiko has over 13 points on Daisuke, so Daisuke's going to have to skate near perfect, sell it for everything it is worth and likely hope for mistakes by at least Takahiko.  Nobunari has his work cut out for him as well, if he wants the title, as he is 10 points behind the leader as well. 

As much as I love Takahiko, you can bet that I'll be praying for a Christmas miracle for Daisuke. :P

EDIT: Links added! Thank you to whoever sent them to me. 

P.S. Merry Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas to all of my readers!

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

NHK Trophy - Men's Freeskate

 After having to miss the men's short program intially, I was really excited to see how the freeskate panned out. I'm happy to say, they certainly didn't disappoint.

 Jeremy Ten (Canada): Opening triple axel was a little wonky, but he squeezed it out. Triple lutz-triple toe was alright. Following triple flip maybe two footed?Triple axel-double toe was fair, but he keeps have slightly scratchy landings on the jumps, even though the rotations look good. The music was lovely and his basics really are nice. Good footwork, but then popped his triple loop into a single loop-double toe combination. Second triple lutz was fine, but the double axel after it was scratchy, weird. His spin positions are pretty good, and his triple salchow near the end was good. Overall, a pretty decent skate. Jeremy could definitely smoothen out his jump landings a bit, but his skating is growing on me. 61.20 TE 60.80 PCS = 122.00 FS ; Total 176.48 

Kevin Van Der Perren (Belgium): Good quad toe, although he pitched forward a bit on the landing. Triple axel, maybe two-footed?  Triple flip-triple toe-triple toe; Good! I can't remember him pulling that off the last couple of years, so good for him.  Footwork was okay, just nothing special. Cool hydroblade move into a triple salchow. Handdown on the triple loop and a triple lutz that appeared to be two-footed. Second triple flip seemed a little wonky to me. Again, boring footwork, but a nice double axel-double axel sequence at the end of the program. Good way to start out the season for him! 74.26 TE 59.84 PCS = 134.10 FS ; Total 189.41

Adrian Schultheiss (Sweden): Triple flip-double toe was fine, as well as his triple axel-double toe. Double axel fine, but the following spin was rather slow. Nice triple loop and triple salchow. A second double axel and triple flip were solid, but then Adrian fell on his triple lutz. Good overall all, but not particularly inspiring. 57.81 TE 62.42 PCS - 1.00 Deduction = 199.23 FS ; Total 181.47

Takahito Mura (Japan): Quad toe was good, but he pitched forward on the landing a bit. Turnout and second foot down on the first triple axel.. Triple flip was rough, with a single loop tacked to the end of it. Triple lutz-double toe was fine. Pretty footwork and very nice triple axel-double toe. Triple loop was also good, but the following triple salchow was a little rough, likely because of the lack of speed in the entry. Underrotated triple lutz, but again, nice footwork with an interesting stop in it. Nice program overall, and I'm liking his style. 69.03 TE 59.62 PCS = 128.65 FS ; Total 191.85

Jialiang Wu (China): Nice triple axel-triple toe and triple salchow. Lovely spread eagle into a good triple axel. Fantastic triple lutz and his footwork was wonderful. I really like this music choice for Jialiang, it's very pretty and seems to be complimentary to his style. Triple lutz-double toe, okay. Popped his first attempt at a triple loop into a single, but his second attempt was fine, but the double toe he added to it was downgraded. Good triple flip and the second set of footwork was really nice also. Most of the spins were lovely too. Very nice program, and I do believe this is love at first skate sight for me! I think all of the elements are there, though some think he just needs better choreography. 66.72 TE 58.80 PCS = 125.52 FS ; Total 189.58

Ross Miner (United States): Triple axel was held onto. Triple lutz-double toe was okay, and the  triple flip-double toe seemed okay to me as well (though the flip got an edge call* and deduction). Triple loop was fine, and the walley transition to the triple lutz was lovely, as was his spread eagle. Underrotated triple salchow with a handdown as well. Nice triple flip to rebound, but then Ross stumbled out of a double axel. Overall, he was okay, but again, nothing particularly stands out. He comes across a little bit Jeremy Abbott lite to me, personally, but it was only his first senior Grand Prix. 59.41 TE 62.28 PCS = 121.77 FS ; Total 186.62

Denis Ten (Kazakstan): A nightmare of a skate. Only two clean jumps. Enough said. Hopefully Denis will do better at his next event - he does seem to have potential, even if it wasn't clearly shown here. 45.16 TE 60.78 PCS = 102.94 FS ; Total 171.68
 
Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan): Opened with an absolutely gorgeous quad toe. Triple axel wonky, but held onto.Triple flip landed somehow, despite a lack of speed going into it. Nice spin following it. Great Ina Bauer transition into a triple lutz-double toe. Triple axel-triple toe was good, but the following triple lutz was a bit rough and triple loop attempt was popped into a single. Both footwork sequences were fine, but not the standout elements for him. Good triple salchow and spin to finish up. Very nice senior international debut! Overall I think that one of Yuzuru's greatest assets is his determination to land the jumps as cleanly as possible . He also has a nice style, but then again, being a Johnny Weir fan, I'd be inclined to appreciate it. Definitely a guy to keep an eye on. 72.57 TE 65.74 PCS = 138.41 FS ; Total 207.72

Florent Amodio (France): Beautiful triple axel to open, then follows up with a great triple axel- tano double toe. Interesting footwork. Great flying sit spin too. My mother is falling in love with this program already... all of the Michael Jackson movements and music are winning her over. Triple salchow-triple toe was really good. Good triple lutz, and I thought the triple flip was good, but it got the wrong edge call*. Triple lutz-double toe, maybe underrotated? (It wasn't marked UR in the protocols though.) Singled his double axel. Holy cow... crotch grab and cute footwork. Great spins to finish. Fantastic skate! Florent really looked like he had fun during that program, and I certainly had fun watching it. He even brought some of the program to the Kiss and Cry. 73.74 TE 70.02 PCS = 143.76 FS ; Total 213.77

Shawn Sawyer (Canada): Two footed and underrotated triple axel to start. Fall on a triple flip, and then a landed, but wonky triple lutz.  Nice split jump into a triple salchow, unfortunately the latter seemed kind of off to me.  Ridiculously good spiral; Shawn puts most of the current ladies skaters to shame. The transitions in this program as a whole are really nice, and I love that it's an Alice in Wonderland program, without it going too zany. He held onto the triple loop, and the second triple flip was nice, but singled the loop in the middle of the combination. He did manage a triple loop on the very end of the combo though. Double axel was fine, and his back bended, crouching spread eagle is really fantastic (it is definitely something you have to see to understand).  Great footwork, and double axel-double toe was fine. Overall, spins, footwork, transitions - all wonderful. It's just the darned jumps that trip him up. Lovely program though, I hope we get to see it skated cleanly by the season end! The music and character of it are just great; Shawn even motioned as if he were the Mad Hatter adjusting his hat in the Kiss and Cry. 57.45 TE 67.20 PCS = 123.65 FS ; Total 193.80

Jeremy Abbott (United States): Solid opening with a good triple lutz and triple flip. Fantastic triple axel-triple toe, and the first footwork sequence is quite charming. Great double axel. Jeremy's facial expressions are really nice to see in this program. Popped his intended triple axel into a single, and the following triple loop seemed rather crooked to me, but somehow he cranked out a double toe and double loop on the end.Triple lutz-double toe, the former of which was two-footed and underrotated. Lovely triple salchow with a flourish after landing. Good footwork to finish. Very character driven program, and it was beautiful overall. 67.15 TE 76.42 PCS = 143.57 FS ; Total 218.19
 
Daisuke Takahashi (Japan): Daisuke opened with a pretty nice quad toe, following it up with a fabulous triple axel. The triple loop was kinda tight, but he held it. Excellent footwork, and it definitely has the character of the music. I really love his interpretation.  Good triple flip-double toe, though again, they edge called the flip*. Triple axel-double toe combo was great, and the spin afterwards was pretty. Fine triple lutz, but popped his triple salchow into a single afterwards. Triple lutz-double toe start fine, but he fell on the tail end of the combination. Again,  really great footwork, which is often considered one of his signatures. Overall, lovely, sexy program, but Daisuke is definitely capable of better. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this program develops over the season. 74.17 TE 83.58 PCS = 156.75 FS ; Total 234.79

All in all, the men definitely brought it to the table at NHK. Most only had small errors, and their programs were, for the most part, not impacted very much by their mistakes. The freeskate definitely gives me a lot of hope for the men this season in general. I'm extremely excited to see how it unfolds.

I also was pretty satisfied with the overall results. Some do question why Daisuke got such high component scores in comparison to Jeremy, but I do find it fair. While I really enjoyed Jeremy's program, Daisuke just seemed to perform more I think, in spite of the fall. But either way, they're both really excellent skaters and I hope they both continue to develop even further.

*There were 5 wrong edge calls in the men's competition, and I'm not sure about all of them, but I'm pretty certain that at least 2 of called jumps actually were on the correct edges (Takahashi's and Hanyu's, each on a triple flip.), so unless I am mistaken, I'm not sure how accurate the callers were on the other edge and underrotation calls either.

ISU Results page for the Men's Free

Men's Overall Results

NHK Trophy 2010 Rundown

In anticipation of this season's Grand Prix opener, I've decided to post some of my expectations and hopes for certain skaters that I'm keeping my eye on, beginning with my favorite discipline - the men! 

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.