Skate Canada International, aka the 2nd stop on
this year’s GP circuit, gets the competition ball rolling around 3PM Eastern
today (Friday). Here are my guesses as to how the podiums will look on
Saturday:
LADIES:
GOLD: Kaitlyn Osmond (CAN)
SILVER: Maria Sotskova (RUS)
BRONZE: Ashley Wagner (USA
DARK HORSE: Rika Hongo (JPN), Marin Honda (JPN)
WILD CARD: Anna Pogorilaya (RUS), Karen Chen (USA
Y’all know I like me some big, beautiful Osmond jumps, and
last year she started to get her groove in a big way at this event (finishing 2nd
behind Evgenia Medvedeva). The World Champ isn't here this time, so I’ll pick the reigning World
Silver Medalist instead. As for the 2016 WSM (Wagner), I’m sorta reserving
judgment on these “revisited” programs of hers—“Hip Hip Chin Chin” for the SP; Moulin
Rouge (supplanting her planned La La Land) for the FS—because I’m
admittedly disappointed, particularly about Rouge 3.0. But, as I say…
trying to reserve judgment for now.
On the other hand, Chen recently announced she was bailing
on her new Carmen FS in favor of an even newer one—a self-choreographed
routine to Bill Conti’s Slow Dancing in the Big City. Color me
intrigued.
DANCE:
GOLD: Virtue/Moir (CAN)
SILVER: Weaver/Poje (CAN)
BRONZE: Hubbell/Donohue (USA
DARK HORSE: Loboda/Drozd (RUS)
WILD CARD: Hawayek/Baker (USA
Meanwhile… we’ve got V/M doing Moulin Rouge (1.0) and
W/P bringing back the Je Suis Malade FS that they initially used way
back in 2012! Never a dull moment. AND we have perennial U.S. Bronze Medalists
Hub/Don declaring third place isn’t good enough for them anymore. But can they
do better than bronze here? Stay tuned…
MEN:
GOLD: Shoma Uno (JPN)
SILVER: Patrick Chan (CAN)
BRONZE: Jason Brown (USA
DARK HORSE: Takahito Mura (JPN), Alexander Samarin (RUS)
WILD CARD: Keegan Messing (CAN)
At the top I have the World Silver Medalist that is
determined to give Yuzuru Hanyu a run for his money, both at home and abroad,
this season. Following him are two guys known more for their impeccable
artistry… that’s because Mura has become more inconsistent with time, Samarin
is making his senior GP debut (translation: he’s a teenager), and former U.S.
competitor Messing pretty much puts the WILD in “wild card”.
PAIRS:
GOLD: Peng/Jin (CHN)
SILVER: Duhamel/Radford (CAN)
BRONZE: Savchenko/Massot (GER)
DARK HORSE: James/Cipres (FRA)
WILD CARD: Ilyusheckina/Moscovitch (CAN)
I went largely with how everyone’s competed so far this
season to make these determinations—and both Duh/Rad and Sav/Mas look to be
doing some fine tuning yet on their respective programs. Attention James/Cipres
(whose FS to “Say Something” is a worthy follow up to “Sounds of Silence”) and
Ilyu/Mosco (who are reportedly landing throw quad salchows in practice): this
is your cue to push and pull for the podium!
Look for me on Twitter (@KLBSt8ofSk8); I’ll be live-tweeting
and/or commenting with the hashtag #SCI17 throughout the weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment