What fun must it be to have made the GPF this year! I mean,
how often does the competitive circuit envelop a whole new country? And such a
breathtaking city?
By the time I get this finished and posted, the Junior GP
events will already have started. But the Pairs SP kicks things off for the
senior crew at 2:15 (Eastern Time)
this afternoon. Check out this schedule... and if you want to keep score on my predictions to tease me about them in
the comments later, here they are:
GPF Predictions
PAIRS:
GOLD: Stolbova/Klimov (RUS)
SILVER: Duhamel/Radford (CAN)
BRONZE: Kavaguti/Smirnov (RUS)
Dark Horse: Sui/Han (CHN)
Because... while the Canadians have the most challenging
elements of the field in their arsenal (including a throw quad salchow that has
yet to be landed at a GP event), I think Stol/Klim are seen as the more
polished, complete package.
MEN:
GOLD: Tatsuki Machida (JPN)
SILVER: Javier Fernandez (ESP)
BRONZE: Takahito Mura (JPN)
Dark Horse: Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
Because... Javi’s dealing with a lot, competing in such a
major event at home for the first time after having almost single-handedly
brought this sport to Spain ’s
masses. Much as I’d love to think it’ll roll off his back, his semi-sloppy free
skates thus far indicate he’ll be a gamble for gold here. (I still hope he
wins, though. That would be beyond cool.)
DANCE:
GOLD: Weaver/Poje (CAN)
SILVER: Chock/Bates (USA )
BRONZE: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA)
Dark Horse: Shibutani/Shibutani (USA )
Because... while Wea/Po and C/B are pretty compatible when
you look at their scores from their winning GP events, I can’t see the reigning
World Silver Medalists losing to anyone in this field... so long as they don’t
collapse a lift or spin out of orbit on a twizzle, that is.
LADIES:
GOLD: Elena Radionova (RUS)
SILVER: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)
BRONZE: Julia Lipnitskaia (RUS)
Dark Horse: Anna Pogorilaya (RUS)
Because... it’s a preview of Russian Nationals for a reason.
And much as I’d love to see Ashley Wagner crash this particular podium party, I
don’t think she can amass the kind of points needed to do so.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @KLBSt8ofSk8... I’ll
be tagging my comments with #GPF14.Enjoy the happenings as Act I of the 2014-15
skating season draws to a close!
4 comments:
What about Maxim Kovtun ???
Thank you for your prédictions :-)
Sandra
Hi Sandra! All things being equal (and I know that's not always the case), I see Kovtun about 4th here. Got the jumps, but I think his PCS will lag behind the ones I put in the top 3.
I didn't put him as the Dark Horse because Yanyu's such a wild card right now-- if he's back to form (or close), he'll be on the podium. If he's closer to what we saw at NHK, though... no bueno.
Ok !!! I understand ! Thank you very much :-)
Continue, I love your prédictions +++
Thanks, that's great to hear!
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