This past weekend the Junior Grand Prix concluded in Toruń, Poland. It was a VERY good weekend for Japan!
In Pairs, Takahashi and Tran of Japan bettered their bronze from last week in Lake Placid to take the title in Poland in a close final. Less than one point behind in second were Russians Novik and Kuznetsov with Canadians Jones and Gaskell pulling up to place third. Americans Zhang and Toth improved on their seventh place short program with a top four free skate and finished sixth overall.
In Ice Dance, Russians Ilinykh and Katsalapov won big. They won all three portions of the competition on their way to an easy victory. Their teammates, Antipova and Kudashev were second overall, despite finishing third in the free skate behind Americans Cannuscio and Lorello who took the bronze. Important to note Japan had no entries in Ice Dance.
Amongst the women, Japan also did well with Kanako Murakami taking the title easily. In second was Russian Anna Ovcharova and winning the bronze was American Christina Gao in her Junior Grand Prix debut. American Karen Zhou finished fifth.
Once again, Japan enjoyed success with Yuzuru Hanyu winning the gold medal by more than twenty points. In second was American Kanallakan who held on to second after a rough free skate that was ranked only fifth best. The bronze medal went to Russian Gordei Gorshkov who held off the challenge by teammate Alexander Nikolaev who actually placed second in the free skate. American Keegan Messing pulled all the way up to sixth from eleventh after a top three free skate.
Every Japanese entry in this event won! Full results can be seen here.
No Junior Grand Prix this weekend but the competition picks back up next week in Minsk, Belarus.
UPDATE: Big thanks to @patinaggio on Twitter for posting a link to the video of Yuzuru Hanyu's very elegant performance. My favorite highlight is the Ina Bauer he does.
The figure skating season thus far has been a bit of a wash for the U.S. ladies.
Our last two U.S. Champions (Nagasu and Meissner) were not able to place any higher than 5th (Nagasu at Skate America) in Grand Prix competition. Inconsistency continues to plague the likes of Czisny and Liang.
Jump downgrades have been the name of the game this season and Zhang and Wagner have felt the brunt of that wrath.
Katrina Hacker is still a bit green and lacking in the technical department and Emily Hughes has...well...she barely did...
Our one ray of hope this season has been Rachael Flatt. She's managed to be (mostly) consistent. She also achieved the highest placement on the Grand Prix by any U.S. lady, a silver in Russia. She's had to deal with the occasional downgrade as well but seems to be working through the problems better than the others.
As I look forward to U.S. Nationals, I'm gonna peg Rachael as the one to watch...and potentially...beat. More than any of the other U.S. ladies, she's bringing the goods this season. She's managed to work through the technical content while still bringing some style and elegance to the ice; a feat few U.S. women have accomplished this season. Mark my words...keep an eye on her.
Here's her SP from Cup of Russia...it's not perfect, but shows that she is definitely a competitor.
And so, the 2008 Edition of the Grand Prix has come to it's conclusion...for Ice Dance we barely made it there! It was fun wasn't it. Six Events all chock full of intrigue and surprises. A huge (well, mostly huge) final with some surprising...and expected happenings.
Like I stated before, in Ice Dance, we were lucky to reach the end after a full 1/3 of the field decided to withdraw from the event. Khoklova and Novitski called it quits after the OD Warm-up, citing an upset stomach. Belbin and Agosto decided to pull the plug after the Free Dance warming with complaints of back pain from Ben. Aye aye aye! But that left the door open for Davis and White who managed a bit of an upset, taking the Bronze ahead of veteran Italians Faiella and Scali whose 'Moonlight Sonata' couldn't compete with the Americans' 'Samson and Delilah.' After a ridiculously clunky and awkward Free Dance, Russians Domnina and Shabalin still managed a good score and took the Silver medal (the fact that Free Dance was scored so well simply amazes me...they must have gotten the better selection of the 5 judges whose score counted!). But favorites and clear class of the field, Delobel and Schoenfelder of France skated away with the Gold...and their first Grand Prix Final title (hard to believe that a team that has been at this for so long is just now winning this event!).
I found myself completely shocked by the turn of events that took place among the men. First, like Ben Agosto, Joubert decided to withdraw prior to the free skate because of back pain. Apparently he sustained a bit of an injury on the morning practice. Patrick Chan who I had pegged to win this thing couldn't land a triple axel to save his life in Korea and finished last. Tomas Verner, who also had some technical issues, barely slid past Chan to finish fourth. Johnny Weir, had a solid free skate (still a little front loaded) and won the bronze. It reminded me quite a bit like his free skate from last season's worlds...steady, consistent, a little slow, but overall okay. More importantly, he continues to be solid and consistent, a testament to his new mental attitude and Galina Zmievskaya. Takahiko Kozuka, who had the lead after the short, crumbled a bit in his free skate and had to settle for the silver. After a solid opening, which included a quad he almost got done, he took a couple spills and had a downgraded triple loop. He actually finished behind Weir but had a solid lead after the short and was able to stay ahead of him. There was no staying ahead of, however, American Jeremy Abbott who showed he is a contended on the 'big boys' stage. An amazing free skate that earned him not only a killer technical score but amazing component scores as well and he took the Gold Medal, quite to his surprise. A new face for American Men's skating perhaps?
In Pairs, it was Russia's day with both teams coming in 5th and 6th. Mukhortova and Trankov, who again had a terrible outing with their 'Lady and the Hooligan' routine (it's time to ditch it I think!) brought up the rear while their countrymen Kawaguchi and Smirnov weren't much better and finished just ahead of them. The Ukranian team of Volosozhar and Morozov was uninspiring and finished fourth. Savchenko and Szolkowy had fall from grace and only managed the bronze after a terrible free skate. The Chinese teams reigned supreme, Zhang and Zhang taking the silver and Pang and Tong with a very solid free taking the Gold and earning their first Grand Prix Final Title. Three first time winners this season.
The ladies event, where to begin. First lets go back to the short where, as much as I love and adore her, Yu-Na Kim should not have had the lead...but she did. I could care less that Asada's Triple Loop on the back half of her flawless Triple Flip was downgraded, overall the program was better. Who pop's a Triple Lutz in the short program and still get's the lead...Yu-Na Kim! Fast forward to the Free Skate... and poor Miki Ando. What appeared to be an impressive skate, with what appeared to be a beautiful Quad Salchow in it. Interestingly, she ditched 'Giselle' for Saint-Saens 'Symphony No. 3.' But her celebration quickly came to an end when the scores went up. Half her jumping passes were downgraded (quad included) and her component score was less than great. After what she thought was a completely successful free skate, she found herself finishing last...unbelievable. Yukari Nakano didn't fare much better. Her usually consistent downgraded Triple Axel was not so consistent and she putzed her way through her program to finish 5th. Joannie Rochette skated better than she did in the short to finish 4th, however it was a far cry from what she was putting down in her previous Grand Prix appearances this season. As per usual, Carolina Kostner with a clunky program manages to win a medal, a bronze this time. The showdown really was between the top two ladies. Mao Asada again put down two Triple Axels, only this time she got full credit for them both! Those two jumps alone netted her 19.90 points alone. She went on to have a solid free skate (she did get a downgrade on her second flip) to easily take the lead. I'm noticing she's removed the lutz from her free skate and going with the axels instead...risky decision. Yu-Na Kim had a solid opening of her own but another popped lutz and then a fall on triple salchow and she couldn't over come the technical muster of Asada. Therefore she had to settle for the silver and Asada manages to reclaim her title (she last won the event in 2005, defeating Slutskaya).
That's it for the Grand Prix. Now we get to look forward to all the National Championships, Russia and Japan are first up with Canada and the U.S. in January. Stay Tuned! Also, here's the video of Mao Asada's free skate.
UPDATE: This (the blank YouTube video above) is beginning to infuriate me! How is it that the video is removed due to a copyright claim by U.S. Figure Skating? The coverage was Korean SBS! Out of pure spite for what State of the Skate calls the "Powers that Be"...here the video is again...Japanese coverage this time...let's see if the powers that be can get this video erased!
My goodness! Starting with the Ice Dance, what a crazy ride that was! The OD my goodness! I gasped when Charlie missed that first twizzle sequence and my heart sunk. Then when he feel on that second smaller twizzle section I just had to turn it off! I didn't even finish watching the OD! When I returned much later and found they were only in 4th I was slightly relieved. Again the Italians had a prime opprotunity to hit the podium that just didn't pan out. The judges aren't feeling the 'Love Story' program as much as they'd like. Despite the 8th place finish in the OD Davis and White managed to get themselves back on the podium into that third position with a solid free skate that was ranked 2nd best. Had it not been for the horrible OD, they might have gone toe-toe for the title! Shockingly, well not shockingly but unexpectedly Domnina and Shabalin only got the silver after a free dance that was unispired, slow, and only ranked third best on the night. Khoklova and Novitski, who were expected to be the #2 Russian team took the title in a bit of a surprise.
On a side note, I have many issues with the judging system but it has done wonders for Ice Dance, I love hove you never know what will happen and the results aren't predetermined.
No big shocks in the Pairs but how about Kawaguchi and Smirnov becoming the second team to hit the throw quad salchow in competition! I wasn't even expecting it...it just sort of floated out of nowhere and I looked and thought to myself "I think I just saw a quad?" I rewound and thought "I did just see a quad!" Despite winning the free skate they had to settle for the silver. The bronze went to Volosozhar and Morozov who couldn't quite match their silver medal performance from Cup of China...big problems for Stanislav on the side-by-side jumps. Zhang and Zhang took the title after a healthy lead going into the free skate. Gorgeous throw jumps and overall better skating than last season...they appear to be one of the teams to beat this season (as they usually are anyway!). This is the only discipline I managed to correctly predict...drats!
I am now at a loss of words about Kimmie Meissner. After what looked like a decent short program I was shocked to see how low she was ranked. To the element sheet I went and she got little credit for what was considered a double loop and the majority of her footwork and spins were only given level ones. Then that free skate that started strong but faded fast. I just feel bad for her and hope that something can change. Czisny moved up a spot to claim fourth place after an up and down program, but the spins and spiral sequence continue to amaze me. Suguri settled for the bronze despite leading after the short program. I think the nerves crept in a bit but what she did do she did very well. Rachael Flatt simply shined in an amazing performance that, more importantly, had no downgraded jumps. I thought she was great and I think she deserved the win! Poor alas, Carolina Kostner took the title with a better performance than she turned in at Skate Canada but still some issues. However, she creamed Flatt on the component score (and I can't figure out how) and won that way. Sigh....
I was so confused by the men, I just never got my head around it. Adam Rippon had a much better skate here than he did in Everett and finished 5th. He seemed pleased with his effort. Jeremy Abbott pulled up to 4th after a great free skate. Something to note about Abbott...if he has a solid short program, watch out (ala Cup of China) because the judges are loving his programs. He actually finished second in the free to get to fourth. Alban Preaubert did it again as the frenchman earned his second bronze of the series after another fantastic skate. He managed to hold off Abbott. Tomas Verner earned the silver despite winning the free skate. He looked better than he did in China opening his program with a gorgeous quad toe. Joubert took the title despite finishing fourth in the free. He just had a big lead after the short. It's not even that he skated bad he just didn't seem to get the tech credit of the other skaters. This could be a problem for Brian later in the season. If he doesn't turn in a stellar short, he could be in trouble because his free skate lacks staying power (kind of like when Buttle won World's last season...I'm just saying).
It was a bloody mess in Paris this past weekend...but it was fantastic all at the same time!
Craig Buntin gets the Pic of the Week...simply because he's a stud! That's right...a stud!
So he totally slices his hand in half 30 seconds into he and partner Megan Duhamel's free program at Grand Prix Paris! Craig and Megan stop their program and run over to the referee...blood going everywhere! He tells them they have two minutes to regroup then it's a quick trip to the boards where a medic is rapidly wrapping Craig's hand.
Meanwhile, the crowd is cringing at the multiple replays of how the incident happened playing on the jumbo tron above center ice.
Then it's back out onto the ice, with this still heavily bleeding hand that the wrapped bandage is really not doing much for, and they can't seem to get the music in the right spot. Bleeding continues...
Finally the music is right and into their program they go. A little bit rattled you think...naw! Beautiful throw triple loop, beautiful throw triple lutz. The lifts, which you think would be hampered by this huge bloody bandage on Craigs hand, excellent!
At the end, Megan's dress was covered in blood, Craig's bandage was now crimson red, and the audience was on their feet! I give him so much credit for keeping it together in this crazy (and I'm sure painful...stitches were required later that day!) situation. And they got the bronze medal (I think they should have got the silver but I digress...) out of it all.
If you missed the drama...here it is for you (I just love the British Eurosport commentators).
The fourth event in the Junior Grand Prix has ended in Ostrava, Czech Republic and the U.S. walked away with three medals, two Gold and one silver.
The Gold went to Mens competitor Alexander Johnson. He defeated very narrowly Ivan Bariev of Russia. Angela Maxwell took the silver in the women's competition after a come from behind performance that mover her all the way up from seventh place. Gilles and Donohue also took Gold in the Ice Dance competition, winning all three portions of the competition.
This past weekend the Junior Grand Prix concluded in Toruń, Poland. It was a VERY good weekend for Japan!
Amongst the women, Japan also did well with Kanako Murakami taking the title easily. In second was Russian Anna Ovcharova and winning the bronze was American Christina Gao in her Junior Grand Prix debut. American Karen Zhou finished fifth.
