Worlds 2012: Thursday in Review

Here are some quick notes I took during Thursday's events...

LADIES SP-- I wasn't able to watch until the tail end of Ashley Wagner's performance. I know she had trouble w/the 3F and so the 3F/3T she needed in order to be a contender wasn't there. Everything else looked good though... she's in 8th headed to the FS.

And yes, that means I missed my bronze medal prediction (Alena Leonova)... Also Asada (in 4th), Makarova (in 6th), and Gedevanishvili (in 7th). I hope to check out those SPs over the weekend.

Here's who I DID note on:

Marchei : 3ltz pitch forward, no combo… 3sal/2t…2ax. Looked better than usual (though not as good as 2 weeks ago?) 52.14.

Czisny: 3lz FALL… ugh here we go. 3Lo way off axis, FALL, no combo obviously. 2ax steps out of that too. Guess we’ll have no one in the final flight, and once again 3 spots is unlikely. Wish I could get inside Alissa’s head with a vacuum cleaner and suck the demon cobwebs out.

Murakami: great 3T/3T…3F looked good… 2ax… this looks more like the Kanako we saw last season, not earlier this season… 62.67

Kostner SP: Another spot-on 3T/3T!... but doubles her 3Lo. 2ax good. This program and music has grown on me… 61.00

Suzuki SP: 3T/3T again!!... 2’d her lutz… beauty 2ax. I’d still have this program over Carolina’s, but methinks the judges won’t agree… 59.38

Helgesson SP: 3T/3T (so many of these; why can’t our girls get it done too??)... 3Lo nice save… 2ax had a double-3 coming out, or did it? Hard to tell w/choreo.54.39 is TOO LOW but her components weren’t up to snuff.

ICE DANCE...

I never pretend I can take decent notes on dance elements, so just a few comments here:

-- Virtue/Moir took gold, repeating what they accomplished at 2010 Worlds. It wasn't my preference, and my untrained eye saw no reason Davis/White couldn't have won that event rather than take silver. But from those who are ready to point out every detail that allowed V/M to Victory Lane this time, to those (Phil Hersh included) who maintain these medals for ice dance are determined weeks before a blade touches the ice, the results remain the same. Will it be D/W's destiny to win titles in odd-numbered years only? For Olympics' sake, let's hope not.

-- Weave/Poje's angst-ridden "Je Suis Malade" was powerful enough to make me think they'd taken the bronze from Pechalat/Bourzat's hands... but not quite. At least, not this year. While I still MUCH prefer last year's Pech/Bour FD to this year's Skate Like An Egyptian, I was delighted to see them win bronze in their home country. (And if you saw the way Weaver ran to hug them both after they skated... apparently, so was she.)

-- The Shib Sibs picked a bummer time for a sophomore slump (yes, as if they made that choice themselves... heh, I think not). But lots of time left for them to rebound.

-- Let's hear it for Third Teams! Hubbell/Donohue surely surprised many (myself included) with a Top 10 finish... and while Canada's Asher/Hill didn't get much love from the judges in their Free Dance, I found their program (especially the choreo) quite endearing. So did the crowds... I think some of the first score-jeering of the event came with their time in the K&C.

OK-- that's it for now. I'm hoping to get a FRIDAY update posted before, um... the end of Friday. :-)