2011 Cup of China Preview

The 2011 Cup of China is about to get underway!
First, here’s where to watch (particularly if you live in the U.S.):

On Ice Network.com (subscription required):

Friday, Nov. 4
3:30 a.m.: Short dance
5:00 a.m.: Ladies short program
6:45 a.m.: Men's short program
8:45 a.m.: Pairs short program

Saturday, Nov. 5
2:30 a.m.: Free dance
4:15 a.m.: Ladies free skate
6:15 a.m.: Men's free skate
8:30 a.m.: Pairs free skate

On Universal Sports (available over-the-air or via dish/satellite, depending on where you live):

Saturday, Nov. 5
6-8 p.m. Ladies free skate & Free Dance
10-12 midnight Men’s & Pairs free skate

NOTE: While Cup of China will NOT be covered on NBC, you CAN find last week’s Skate Canada Ladies free skate on NBC from 4-6 p.m. this Saturday. The broadcast will then repeat on Universal Sports from 6-8 p.m. this Sunday.

And now, some quick takes on this weekend’s lineup (details of which can be found here:)

CoC MEN—

Replacements from original lineup: No replacements; the TBD skater for China is Nan Song. However, Brian Joubert has withdrawn due to a back injury… and it appears Jinlin Guan (of China) has also withdrawn, leaving only 8 competitors.
Top 5 guess in alphabetical order: Jeremy Abbott, Artur Gachinski, Yuzuru Hanyu, Nobunari Oda, Ricky Dornbush
Dark Horse: Kevin Reynolds
Has a quad, or quads: Reynolds, Hanyu, Oda, Gachinski
Has a quad maybe: Abbott, Dornbush
Senior GP Debut: None
Favorite: Though I’m personally rooting for Abbott, the rest of the world is probably looking at either Oda or Hanyu to emerge victorious.
Other: 18 year-old reigning World Bronze Medalist Gachinski is the youngest competitor (and only teenager).


LADIES—

Replacements from original lineup: No replacements; the TBD for China is Qiuying Zhu.
Top 5 guess in alphabetical order: Christina Gao, Carolina Kostner, Ksenia Makarova, Kanako Murakami, Adelina Sotnikova
Dark Horse: Bingwa Geng
Who might have a 3/3 (triple/triple): Makarova, Kostner, Sotnikova, Murakami
Senior GP Debut: Zhu, Gao, Kexin Zhang
Favorite: Although Kostner was mighty good at Sk8AM, she might get overshadowed here by Sotnikova, who could make as big a splash as Tutamysheva did last week in Canada.
Other: Kostner’s teammate Valentina Marchei is the oldest competitor here (age 25).


PAIRS—

Replacements from original lineup: Two from China: Sui/Han and Yu/Jin are replacing Pang/Tong and Zhang/Wang
Top 4 guess in alphabetical order: Kavaguti/Smirnov, Moore-Towers/Moscovitch, Sui/Han, Zhang/Zhang
Dark Horse: Evora/Ladwig
Senior GP Debut: Steele/Schultz (of Canada)
Favorite: I’ll go with Zhang/Zhang, who looked better at Sk8AM 2 weeks ago than I’ve seen them look in a long time.
Other…: Evora/Ladwig are using Daphne et Chloe (Ravel) and Reverie (Debussy) for their free skate; please correct me if I’m wrong but I think this combo is very similar to the selection put together for Sarah Hughes 2002 Olympic free skate.


DANCE—

Replacements from original lineup: the new U.S. team of Samuelson/Gilles replaces Russia’s Monko/Khaliavin; Huang/Zheng are the TBD from China.
Top 4 guess in alphabetical order: Bobroba/Soloviev, Carron/Jones, Samuelson/Gilles, Shibutani/Shibutani
Dark Horse: Coomes/Buckland
Senior GP Debut: Samuelson/Gilles, Lichtman/Copely
Favorite: I’m guessing Bobrova/Soloviev, though wouldn’t be surprised if the current World Bronze Medalist Shib Sibs were favored over them
Other…: Although it’s their senior GP debut, U.S.’s Lichtman/Copely were the World Junior Bronze Medalists last year… I wouldn’t be surprised to see them in the top 5.