Thursday, November 27, 2014

2014 NHK Trophy Preview/Predictions

Happy Thanksgiving, American readers... let's get to these podium guesses!

LADIES PREDICTIONS:

Gold—Satoko Miyahara (JPN)
Silver—Gracie Gold (USA)
Bronze—Kanako Murakami (JPN)

Dark Horse: Polina Edmunds (USA)

I know I might be on a pretty big limb with this one, but to me, Miyahara’s got the best programs and the most consistent elements of the bunch. (Also because the Russian athlete-of-the-week is veteran Alena Leonova, and based on what I’ve seen of her this season I don’t see her having a shot at this event.)

MEN PREDICTIONS

Gold—Takahito Mura (JPN)
Silver—Sergei Voronov (RUS)
Bronze—Jeremy Abbott (USA)

Dark Horse: Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)

Last week I predicted a Japanese man and a Russian man would go 1-2, and the results were actually the opposite. So what do I do this time? Go with the Japanese man, naturally. Am I just a slow learner? We shall see. As for head-wounded Hanyu, I really don’t want him to skate at all. Even if he happens to do well, I am not convinced that he is doing well for himself in the long-term.

PAIR PREDICTIONS

Gold—Kavaguti/Smirnov (RUS)
Silver—Duhamel/Radford (CAN)
Bronze—Yu/Jin (CHN)

Dark Horse: Bazarova/Deputat (RUS)

Throw Quad SHOWDOWN!! For the first time this season, two teams are likely to attempt throw quad salchows. They are the top two teams on my list... but more than the complex elements, Kav/Smir and Duh/Rad are two veteran teams with programs as interesting as they are. Hard to see anyone else getting near the top in this field.

DANCE PREDICTIONS

Gold—Weaver/Poje (CAN)
Silver—Sinitsina/Katsalapov (RUS)
Bronze—Coomes/Buckland (GBR)

Dark Horse: Monko/Khaliavin (RUS)

While I’m still on the fence regarding this year’s Vivaldi FD, Wea/Po is the crème de la crème here no matter what they’re skating to. But I’m also hoping Coomes/Buckland will pull down their second consecutive medal, as this season’s programs indicate real progress for them!


Looks like this week’s Twitter hashtag is #NHKTrophy... follow that thread when things kick off at 12:45AM tonight (technically Friday morning). Or you can just follow me (@KLBSt8ofSk8)!

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