I was due for a not-so-good week of predictions, and the
results from last weekend’s Cup of China definitely fit that bill. I nailed
down 3 of the 4 winners, but yikes! Not much else… at least some of those
guesses were still in the ballpark. Some notes:
DANCE
* Good Lord that Papadakis/Cizeron “Moonlight
Sonata” free dance is a sight to behold. This weekend was my first time seeing
it, and more than one genuine Oh, WOW came out of me during their
inventive-yet-still-buttery lifts and spins. They are clearly not looking to
forfeit their chance at OGM status.
* I did it again—overestimated
Bobrova/Soloviev’s finish… but I thought the fluke mistake they made at Rostelecom on
their dance spin made most of the difference. Apparently not!
* Thoughts on new Chock/Bates FD
(“Imagine”): I like the contrast from last year’s “Under Pressure”. I like the
universal idealistic theme. I like the whole package! And
yet I wonder if it’ll be enough to let them shine in a crowded field of stars. What did YOU think?
LADIES
* Alina Zagitova FTW I got right, but man this
was a tough field… the top FOUR ladies had point totals over 200! And 5th
through 7th place were within 5 points of 200! By comparison, only
Skate Canada winner Kaetlyn Osmond broke 200 at that event… and the score earned there by
bronze medalist Ashley Wagner would only have been good enough for 8th (!!) place in China .
* While I’m very eager to see Satoko
Miyahara return to competition next weekend at NHK, Wakaba Higuchi’s efforts
are definitely growing on me.
* Elena Radionova’s bronze medal may not
seem like much, considering she came in 4th at Rostelecom (which
means she’s far from a GPF lock). But if I were on the Olympic selection
committee in Russia, her 3rd place here would be noteworthy for a
few reasons: 1) Because she racked up
over 200 points earning it, 2) Proving she held her own in a ladies event that
may prove to be the toughest of the GP season, and 3) and she did so with all
the pressure and disadvantages that come with being the final skater in such a
competition.
MEN
* What happened to Javier Fernandez?
As I mentioned in the preview, I didn’t think he’d be in fighting shape to win
against, specifically, the likes of Boyang Jin (who ultimately finished 2nd).
But he was there without longtime coach Brian Orser, who was recovering from
gall bladder surgery (word is that he’ll be back this weekend, accompanying
Yuzuru Hanyu to NHK)… and probably more to the point, he was suffering “a
stomach upset” according to IFS magazine. In any case, his 6th place
finish at CoC takes him out of the running for the GP Final. Who will benefit?
We’ll know for sure by the month’s end.
* All apologies to Max Aaron!
Vincent Zhou may have indeed been the U.S.
man with the best chance at the CoC podium, as I suggested in my preview last
week. But Aaron was the one that actually stood there when all was said and
done (with Zhou finishing 4th). It was nice to see, too, given
Aaron’s spotty history at non-Skate America GP events… 4th place at
last year’s CoC was his best international finish until now.
* Did I underestimate Mikhail
Kolyada (who left CoC with his first GP title)? I named him a “dark horse” for
the podium because he clearly had potential to be there… but he also hadn’t put
together anything close to two clean programs in an event this season. He still
hasn’t. His SP here, though, showed he is capable of landing one of the highest-quality
quad lutzes known to the sport. The more he stands up on it in competition, the
more consistent a threat he’ll be. (He HAS, in the meantime, already punched
his ticket to the GPF!)
PAIRS
* Who will be reigning World Champs
(and CoC winners) Sui/Han’s fiercest foe this season? Maybe the question is
WHAT, not “who”… with that “what” being the calendar, and the fact that Sui has
either endured injuries or surgery recoveries in three of the past five
seasons. Stay injury-free, kids. Skating needs you!
* With a relatively shallow pool of
pairs at CoC, it looked like there was a chance for an Italian team to make the
podium—which is noteworthy since neither of the top two Italian teams have done
so in their several years of competition. Alas, neither Della Monica/Guarise
nor Marchei/Hotarek got it done. (Honors instead went to Canada ’s
Moore-Towers/Marinaro, giving them the second GP bronze of their partnership.)
* Meanwhile with US pairs… yet
ANOTHER second-to-last finish (this time for Cain/LeDuc). At this point,
Scimeca-Knierim/Knierim are all but guaranteed for the sole U.S.
Olympic pairs spot if they simply show up!
Onward to NHK! My preview and predictions will be posted
Thursday.
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