NHK 2018 Preview/Predictions

Here are my NHK picks for 2018!

MEN

GOLD: Shoma Uno (JPN)

SILVER: Dmitri Aliev (RUS)

BRONZE: Sergei Voronov (RUS)

Uno was far from peak form at Skate Canada, but he still won by over 12 points. I’m looking over those in the NHK field with the most reliable quad power, and… well, I guess I’ve got them in 2^nd and 3^rd. (Aliev I’m basing more on last season’s efforts, since I haven’t seen him lately.) I’d love to put Vincent Zhou up there, but we all saw how he was “rewarded” for his efforts at Skate America a few weeks ago…

           

EYES ON: Kevin Reynolds (CAN), because he announced on Twitter on 10/31 that he had to put together a new FS due to “an ongoing dispute with one of the shared rightsholders of (his old FS) music”. Said music was selections from the video game Ni No Kuni. Wikipedia has his new FS as selections from the video games Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. I sense a theme here.

LADIES 

GOLD: Satoko Miyahara (JPN)

SILVER: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (RUS)

BRONZE: Rika Kihira (JPN)

This one is TOUGH. If Empress Tukta lands one or both triple axels, her odds of victory go much higher. And, Kihira has landed triple axels in international competition too… in fact, she was the first woman to land a 3ax/3Toe, at last year’s JGP Final. I’m going to stay with Miyahara here, as she proved at SkAM she’s even stronger now than she was last season… but her work is cut out for her.

EYES ON: Lim Eun-soo, a 15 year old up-and-comer from South Korea whose FS (to selections from Chicago) was choreographed by none other than Akiko Suzuki.

PAIRS

GOLD: Zabiiako/Enbert (RUS)

SILVER:  Moore-Towers/Marinaro (CAN)

BRONZE: Peng/Jin (CHN)

Zab/Enbert won GP Helsinki a week ago. That’s pretty much the only reason I’ve got them on top. They don’t do anything for me, but they seem to be more consistent than others. (Can you tell I’m just marking time until we can see James/Cipres again?)

EYES ON: Kayne/O’Shea. Mostly because I’d really like to see a US pair shine early in the season, and we’re running out of options. (But beware… made a coaching change to Dalilah Sappenfield a mere two months ago.)

DANCE

GOLD: Zahorski/Guerriero (RUS)

SILVER: Hawayek/Baker (USA)

BRONZE: Parsons/Parsons (USA)

This was supposed to be the GP season debut of reigning World Champs (and OSMs) Papdakis/Cizeron, but unfortunately they were forced to scratch from NHK a few days ago due to a back injury on Cizeron’s part. With no one else of quite their caliber competing here this weekend, my guess is that it’s Zahorski/Guerriero’s title to lose. But in any case, I’d better see reigning Four Continents Champs Hawayek/Baker on that GP podium. (They haven’t been there in four years, believe it or not.)

EYES ON: Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto, a married dance team representing Japan in only their second GP appearance. (Yes, Koleto is American-born and represented the US as a single skater until 2012.)