Cup of China Wrap

A very fast wrap-up of Cup of China. I'm on limited blogging time!

Ice Dance was a runaway for Pechalat and Bourzat of France. They had a nice lead out of the Short Dance and just extended it in the free. Bobrova and Soloviev of Russia surprised many by taking the silver. Faiella and Scali had to settle for the bronze after a nasty slip in the free dance. Three bland programs at this point for the top three teams but I think Faiella and Scali's Flamenco has potential.

Pang and Tong put experience to good use in Beijing besting their Chinese teammates Sui and Han for the win. It was as unusual meeting of experience vs youthfulness as the senior most competing Chinese team took on the youngest. Sui and Han provided some fireworks with a very solid throw quad salchow attempt and a flair for performance rarely seen in Chinese competitors. Americans Yankowskas and Coughlin improved their 4th place finish at NHK to a bronze in Beijing and have a slim shot at making the Grand Prix Final, also in Beijing. Pang and Tong are the first skaters to earn a trip to the Grand Prix Final.

It was Japan full steam ahead in the ladies competition. Miki Ando showed a jumping clinic to take the ladies title. Akiko Suzuki was in tow in second with a solid effort and a beautifully choreographed program. Russia's Alena Leonova backed into the bronze medal after Mirai Nagasu, leader after the short, tanked in the free to finish 4th overall.

Japan again was on top in the men's division as Takahiko cruised to an easy victory with two programs chock full of strong components. American Brand Mroz surged in the free skate with a tremendous skate that included a clean quad to take the silver.
Tomas Verner managed to hang on for the bronze with an entertaining (but somewhat lacking) skate to Michael Jackson. The big story in the men's field was Brian Joubert, with a decent performance, dropping down to 4th due in major part to only receiving level 1's for his spins.

My Fantasy picks weren't horrible...I tied for 222nd for Cup of China which doesn't sound great...but I moved up to being ranked 139th overall. I'm just going to stick with it...

You can see the full Cup of China Results here.

Skate America starts tomorrow.

NHK Trophy Roundup

So about the 2010 installmenmt of the NHK Trophy...

What I Liked
NHK Trophy gave us a good peak at some of the young and up-and-coming talent from Japan. In the short program especially, Yuzuru Hanyu and Kanako Murakami came out like gang busters...very impressive. And while not perhaps their best performance, Takahashi and Tran did a nice job of putting Japan on the Pairs radar as far as seniors go. I loved some of the new programs out there including Daisuke Takahashi's short, Jeremy Abbott's short and free, Denney and Barrett's free, Shawn Sawyers, free, Yankowskas and Coughlin's free, Ilinykh and Katsalapov's free dance, and the Shibutani's free dance. I also loved that the Shibutani's nabbed a bronze medal in their Senior Grand Prix debut! While I'm not jumping for joy over the programs (yet), I love the class and sophistication Davis and White and Pang and Tong brought to their victories.

What I Didn't Like
I was not a fan of the short dances. One of the things I asked Ice-Dance.com on Twitter was what should we look for with these and one of the most important things was the transition between prescribed steps from the old compulsory dance to the original choreography. I felt like few of the teams managed this well. It seemed like there was a compulsory dance, and then there was a mini original dance, and all the teams were huffing and puffing around the rink trying to get all the requirements in on time. Only Davis and White I felt managed a smooth transition between the two types of 'ice dancing' required in the short dance. I also didn't like the result of the ladies competition. I think Rachael Flatt should have had an easy win here and yet she found herself second behind a watered down Carolina Kostner. I poured over the judges protocol and on the technical side, the judges were slightly more generous with positive grades on the things Carolina did well vs the positive grades for what Rachael did well. Carolina had 1's and 2's where Rachael had 0's and 1's. Also, a near seven point gap between Carolina and Rachael on the PCS scores seems ridiculous to me. I think in some areas (some!) Carolina may have a slight advantage...but overall I feel their skating is quite even on a component scale. I would love for a judge to sit down with me and explain point-by-point how Carolina is that much better. In general, I don't feel the judges were very forthcoming with scores for any of the American competitors.

What I Hated
First, watching Mao Asada have an utter meltdown! Nothing worked for her here, either in the short or free. And with an 8th place (yes 8th!) finish, a trip to the Grand Prix Final in Beijing is near impossible. I hated the ridiculous number of Tango's this season. Not just in dance, but in all the disciplines so many competitors have a Tango! The best Tweet during NHK Trophy was from @icedancecom! Only Daisuke Takahashi's Tango passes the Axels, Loops, and Spins overused music test and gets a pass. I even still have to warm-up to Davis and White's Forever Tango/Il Postino. The final thing I hated was the scoring amongst the top three in the mens competition. First I had a hard time with Amodio sneaking past Abbott in the free skate (even though he placed behind him overall). The sophistication of Abbott's program coupled with the fact he only had one major jump error led me to believe Abbott would sail past Amodio but not the case. To be fair it was the technical score that got Amodio past Abbott but still. I mean standing at center ice for 11 seconds doing Michael Jackson isn't exactly skating. On the flip side, Takahashi was scored nearly 7 points better than Abbott in the PCS score on his way to a win. No way is Takahashi 7 points better than Abbott in PCS...at best they are about dead even. Like the women, I want someone to sit down and explain how Daisuke is 7 points better...anyone? I'll get off my soapbox!

As for my fantasy picks...wamp wamp! I'm tied for 365th place. Get em' next time!

You can see the full results here. Next week, Skate Canada!

World's Rewind

It was quite a roller coaster ride all the way around.

The Pairs were first and had the most predictable set of results with Pang and Tong taking their second World Title, Savchenko and Szolkowy pulling in for the Silver, and Kavaguti and Smirnov working out the bronze. I thought the Germans were best on the night but the judges went with the Chinese. Ho hum. Now we get to wait and see who decides to retire...who decides to continue. I'm betting Pang and Tong will call it a day. As far as World berths next season, China and Russia get three, Canada and the U.S. get two, everyone else gets one.

The Men were next and provided the most fireworks. Daisuke Takahashi took this Championships by storm, killing it in both portions of the competition and surprising everyone when he almost completed a Quad Flip! Crazy! Patrick Chan took the Silver with an underwhelming performance, he's very fortunate to have such solid components because that is what kept him afloat. Brian Joubert muscled out a Bronze, having some technical struggles of his own. The surprise of the competition was Michal Brezina who I've called a "Breath of Fresh Air" just skated his heart out to finish fourth. I actually thought he should have been on the podium but I guess it wasn't to be. Jeremy Abbott and Adam Rippon skated fairly well (especially Adam) and earned the U.S. three spots next year. Speaking of those spots, Japan also earned three and Canada eeked out three. France, Italy, and Belgium nabbed two. Everyone else just gets one.

The Ice Dance competition was the closest. As expected, Virtue and Moir and Davis and White did battle...again. This time, Davis and White won the Free Dance but Virtue and Moir had enough lead to hang on to the win and complete a medal set. It's crazy how close these two teams are and how it comes down to the wire every time. Faiella and Scali earned their first World Medal on home ice taking the Bronze in a "feel good" moment. Like Pairs, now we get to wait and see who will and won't retire. As far as berths for next season, U.S. and Canada are in for three with Italy, Israel, Great Britain, France, and Hungary nabbing two.

The ladies competition was blown wide open when Kim Yu-Na finished 7th in the short. It was blown even more open when she made errors in her free skate. The only skater to take advantage was Mao Asada who recaptured the World Title after losing it to Kim last season. Mao did get a downgrade on her second triple axel but she looked far more put together in Torino and skated an amazing free. Despite the problems, Kim Yu-Na still managed to get the silver (actually won the free) and Laura Lepisto took the Bronze with, I'm sorry, a terrible performance. In fact, the ladies event past Asada, had little to hang your hat on. Canada's Cynthia Phaneuf probably had no idea she'd finish 5th! Both American's came undone to finish 7th and 9th...disappointing since Nagasu was the leader after the short program. Berths for next season, only Japan gets three. A smattering of countries including Korea, Finalnd, Canada, Italy, U.S., Russia, and Sweden all get two.

World's kind of ended on an unimpressive note. For me, the real standout star was by far Daisuke Takahashi who was incredible. Still scratching my head about Nobunari Oda's complete implosion and failure to make the free. Sad that the U.S. completely let a great opportunity to earn three women's spots slip away. And so very very thankful for Meryl and Charlie who saved face for the U.S. and kept us from having a medal shut-out.

Lots to digest in the off season. But, 3rd Annual Loop Axels are coming!

XXI Olympic Winter Games Figure Skating Pairs Preview

The Pairs are the first to hit Olympic ice a week from tomorrow, on Valentines Day actually. There are nine teams that each bring unique aspects to this competition. Experience, ingenuity, consistency, athleticism, beauty, and fearlessness are some of the many things we can look forward to in the Pairs competition.

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett (USA) - Many, in fact probably most, don't expect this extremely young and inexperienced team to be a podium threat...but I think they are. The reigning U.S. Champs have three things working in their favor; their ridiculous consistency, the fact they are fearless in competition, and they have nothing to lose by going for broke. That's a recipe for success if you ask me. The one thing that will hamper them is the fact that they don't have the little details such as toe-point, line, extension, etc. mastered. At U.S. Nationals Sandra Bezic made the comment, "There's no box for magic" when discussing the scoring system. This team may knock the socks off of everyone and find themselves still playing catch-up. I hope this isn't the case.

Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison (CAN) - This team will enjoy the support of the crowd as they are Canada's best hope at a medal in this event. The 2008 World Bronze Medalists have had trouble living up to their potential. They failed to make the Grand Prix Final this season. But at this year's Canadian Nationals they turned in a stellar free skate that left everyone, myself included, speechless. When this team is 'in the zone' they are stellar. If they can recreate that magic again in Vancouver and couple it with a clean short program, this team will not only be in the hunt for a medal, it will be for Gold.

Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (RUS) - History is on this teams' side. When was the last time a Russian or Soviet Team wasn't on the Olympic podium in Pairs Figure Skating? 1960. And since then, a Russian or Soviet team has won every single time (they did have to share in 2002). Four of those Olympic Champions were coached by Tamara Moskvina. Sound familiar? Yuko and Alexander also just won the European Title, desperately close to cracking the highest score ever..even with some little mistakes. This team brings ingenuity and cleverness to the ice coupled with infectious personality and charisma. If this team is 100% clean...I believe the Russian legacy of Pairs Figure Skating Champions will live on.

Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov (RUS) - This team is the Russian Yen to Kavaguti and Smirnov's Yang. They bring a more traditional Russian style to the ice than their teammates. This team has also been very consistent this season, taking medals in almost everything they've entered (the Grand Prix Final was the lone hiccup where they finished 4th despite a near clean performance). What this team doesn't seem to have is that extra bit of 'pizazz' that really gets the judges behind them. They've had good luck this season against some tough teams so if they can continue to be consistent they may sneak onto the podium. Hitting every element and finding a way to make their performance more transformative will be key.

Qing Pang and Jian Tong (CHN) - Part one of the Chinese juggernaut, this team has looked solid this season. Easy wins on the Grand Prix and a very solid Silver at the Grand Prix Final has them in position to be one of the main challengers for a medal, if not Gold, in Vancouver. With loads of Olympic experience to fall back on, this team will know exactly what to expect out there. Their Man of La Mancha free skate has been very well received this season. Like Mukhortova and Trankov, their biggest set back is their sometime lack of extra spunk to set them apart. If they are clean, they'll make a great case for the podium.

Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (GER) - Along with the Chinese, these two are seen as one of the road blocks in the way of continued Russian domination of Pairs Figure Skating. The reigning World Champions have had the oddest season however. They looked out of sorts in Paris at the Grand Prix Opener winning only a bronze. They went back to the drawing board and created, I think, the most gorgeous Pairs Free Skate...ever (I know that is a big claim but it's how I feel!). They blew the competition away at HomeSense Skate Canada and set a new high score for Pairs Figure Skating. They then watched that score fall at the Grand Prix Final where their problems (and the Bronze Medal) returned. They were still not fully with it at Europeans when they lost to Kavaguti and Smirnov. What does all this mean? It means they need to get their heads together or they are going to miss their shot at Olympic Gold. They have the vehicle to win this, they just need to bring their 'A' game.

Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao (CHN) - The veteran team comes to Vancouver looking for the Olympic Gold that has twice eluded them. When it comes to experience this team has more than any other as they prepare to compete in their 4th Olympics (Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino, Vancouver). Part two of the Chinese juggernaut, they are the sentimental favorites and could be the team to put an end to Russian domination of this sport. At 31 and 36 respectively, it seems unfathomable that they recently nabbed the highest score ever for a pairs team at the Grand Prix Final. Even as two of the oldest competitors, they are solid as a rock technically. They are also two of the most expressive skaters on the ice. If these two win I don't think anyone would be upset and should they lose many will be heartbroken.

Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov (UKR) - I've said it plenty of times before and I'll say it again...this team is stuck in the zone of mediocrity. They are generally good enough to mention them here as medal contenders, but often find themselves pulling in for 4th, 5th, or 6th place. They didn't help their case at Europeans when they finished off the podium in 4th. Their free skate set to Pearl Harbor seems to labor on and on and you just wish it would end. Despite these shortcomings, they know how to construct a program to earn points and should other teams falter they might back into a medal...but I'm not holding my breath.

Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang (CHN) - Part three of the extremely powerful Chinese team, they actually have the best Olympic credentials of the three teams having won Silver in Torino. This season, however, they have been completely overshadowed by their teammates and have had really lack luster performances. Just last week in Korea, however, they put the train back on the tracks at the Four Continents Cup to win the title with two very solid performances. They didn't have to compete with their teammates in Korea and that might have given them the breathing room they needed to succeed. Trouble is, they aren't afforded that breathing room in Vancouver. Team China is exactly the same as it was in Torino yet completely different outcomes are expected of the three teams. What a difference four years makes!

NHK Trophy Afterthoughts

I know it feels like some time has passed since this event ended but I did want to post some thoughts.

First, the underwhelming ladies field. Miki Ando won with an uninspiring performance to Cleopatra (although I felt the character was a bit improved). Also, surprisingly, Miki was the only Japanese competitor to win a medal at the event. For me, the only two bright spots in that event was Ashley Wagner's win of the short program and Alena Leonova's charming free skate (silver medalist), the rest, for me, was a bathroom break.

Second, the Ice Dance competition. I only watched the top three (again, given my hectic week thus far a detailed watch simply wasn't possible) but no surprises here. I will say I don't think that Crone and Poirier have that something special they had last season. And the winners, Davis and White, posting their personal best and again the highest dance total this season. Are they the ones to beat this year? The gap between them and the rest of the field in Japan was...cavernous!

In Pairs, Pang and Tong did it again with a lovely free skate. Kavaguti and Smirnov went for that quad salchow (which they always try with no speed?) and had that nasty fall. I thought they were going to withdraw when they went over to the referee. They said she suffered injury and had three minutes, I suspect she just needed to get her wind back (and perhaps pop a shoulder back in place?). Even still, they were only about six points back. I think this team, if they can get a clean competition together, will be formidable. Inoue and Baldwin nabbed the bronze ahead of Denney and Barrett who made unusual mistakes.

And the men, who by all accounts, were stunning in the short program, all but fizzled in the free skate. Joubert's win was unimpressive...he smartly played it safe because the rest of the field wasn't up to par and a win would more than likely get him to the final. Abbott, who was brilliant in the short, went to pieces in the free...as did Takahashi and Kozuka. The huge bright spot for me was Michal Brezina who put down, for me, the best performance of the night and moved up to capture the bronze. Johnny Weir's silver medal performance was much better than what he did in Russia.

So you check out all the results here.

Rostelecom Cup Surprises

Rostelecom Cup surprised me a bit. There were many unexpected moments.

Surprise #1: Pang and Tong. I thought their free skate was awesome. Maybe I’m a sucker for Man of La Mancha but I just loved this program. I feel they are in their comfort zone this season with their programs and I suspect they’ll be able to keep up with their Chinese counterparts. I thought they might get bested by the Russians here but they prevailed.

Surprise #2: Evgeny Plushenko. While I always thought he had a decent shot at winning this competition, I expected there to be a little rust after not competing at this level for so long. Well, he showed no rust at all and after his performance he has to be considered the early favorite for Olympic Gold. I was simply astounded by his performance level (see video below).

Surprise #3: Johnny Weir. On the flip side from Plushenko was Johnny Weir who didn’t look nearly as prepared as I expected him to be. While his programs are solid, I don’t think they have what it takes to be competitive with many of the other men this season. I was expecting a brand new Johnny this season and I feel I got more of the same. I’m feeling a bit short-changed here. He said he was mad in a post-event interview with David Pelletier…let’s see how mad he really is.

Surprise #4: Davis and White. Whoa! We had some stellar dancing last week in Paris from Virtue and Moir and people were already talking about them being shoe-in’s for Olympic Gold. Then, Davis and White bump it up a notch and hardcore bring it in Moscow. The lifts these teams are doing this season are crazy and I just love the competition that is being set up for Vancouver. Outstanding!

Surprise #5: Mao Asada. I just am sad for her. She probably is blessed with the most natural ability of any skater ever but something has gone terribly wrong for her the last year-an-a-half. There’s conflicting reports rather she will switch her SP or not (it would be a wise decision), she’s more than likely not going to make the Grand Prix Final after that 5th place finish, and even her spot on the Olympic Team looks iffy given that the Japanese Federation is doling out Olympic berths based upon the Grand Prix (Although I can’t imagine a scenario where she doesn’t make that team. Even at her worst she is capable of competing with the best.). Suguri and Suzuki all of a sudden are contenders here. Something has to give. I had her pegged as the easy winner here without Kim in the field and Miki Ando and four other skaters just waltzed over her like there was nothing to it.

Surprise #6: Ashley Wagner. Why she didn’t pull out the victory (Miki Ando did that with a rather bland performance to Cleopatra), she did put herself as a serious contender for one of the two Olympic berths the U.S. has for the women. She put down two great programs (work on those edge deductions) and not only earned some international props in the process but sub-planted the reigning National Champ Alissa Czisny (finished off the podium in 4th) in the process.

You can take a look at the full results here. This week the Grand Prix pit stops in Beijing, China.

Another Day in Vancouver

The rain came today and foiled my plans of going to see some of the Olympic Venues...but it is the Pacific Northwest. So I've decided rain or shine I'm making the rounds tomorrow.

Great bit of skating today. The Ice Dance couples took to the ice for their original dance and there were some hum dingers! Not among the OD's that sizzled were Navarro and Bommentre. Their struggles continue as Kimberly had some problems in her footwork and the found themselves again trailing the top pack of dancers. Despite a solid program, Canada's Crone and Poirier slipped from 3rd to 4th after Samuelson and Bates of the U.S. showed some fancy footwork and moved ahead of them. Canada's Virtue and Moir continue to lead the competition, however Americans Davis and White are not letting them run away with it; they are staying close on their heels. Tessa and Scott are going to have to work for this title.

The Pairs Final took place. While the American teams skated better than they had in the short programs, they still found themselves in 5th, 6th, and 7th. Inoue and Baldwin were 7th. Again John was unable to complete a triple toe (please work on this) and later in the program Rena fell on throw triple loop. The bright spot for the U.S. team was Denney and Barrett who threw down another clean free skate! They are starting to make a habit of this. The were just behind Keauna and Rockne who skated similarly to their performance at Nationals in Cleveland. Duhamel and Buntin weren't able to back up their clean short with a clean free and finished 4th. I had pegged Zhang and Zhang of China to win this competition but they huffed and puffed their way to third. This team usually is sharp this time of the season but they didn't look sharp at all here. The top two teams, however, were on top of their game. Canadians Dube and Davison gave the Canadian crowd a treat with a solid free skate. Their 'Carmen' program brought the crowd too it's feet. China's Pang and Tong rebutted with an outstanding program of their own to take the title. Pang and Tong are on quite a roll this season and at this point have to be considered the favorites in L.A.

The day ended with the men. Nobunari Oda (who incidentally won my Quick Vote Poll) struggled and found himself in 6th. That will actually put him in the penultimate group of skaters in the free skate. Brandon Mroz continued to be Mr. Cool Calm and Collected; he put down a clean skate and is currently in 5th. Jeremy Abbott is in 4th, after a gorgeous opening to his program he fell on his triple lutz and then stumbled in his foot work. Even still, he had very strong component scores. Japan's Takahiko Kozuka is in 3rd after a solid short. Just a little over a point separates 3rd - 6th so it will be interesting. Evan Lysacek seems to have found his mojo. He was his old self again, ripping through his short program with more speed and vigor than I've seen from him in a while. He posted a solid number and is in second place. The night, however, belonged to Patrick Chan who posted an even bigger (88.90 wow!) number to take the lead. He delivered every element with speed and precision, it was really amazing to watch. The crowd went nuts for him and they (well, we...I was up too!) were out of their seats instantly.

What ever Patrick Chan and Yu-Na Kim were drinking before their shorts...it worked!

Ladies and Dance Free tomorrow!

Another Grand Prix Season Complete

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!

浅田真央 Mao Asada 2008 GPF FS
Uploaded by hawaiiantommy

NHK Wrap-up

I know, I know...all my fellow figure skating bloggers are quicker on the draw on these but for me, Ice Network is like TiVo...I can watch it whenever I want and so I've had a bad habit of planning things on the weekend and watching the competition on Sunday/Monday.

But I've caught the action and I'm ready to give my take on things...

In Ice Dance I was so worried about Samuelson and Bates not making the podium, coming into the Free Dance in 4th. And then on the dance spin Evan lost his footing and plopped down to the ice and I was like, "Oh no...that does it." But a ray of hope as Russians Gorshkova and Butikov were less than stellar and actually dropped a couple of spots securing the Americans a place on the podium. I honestly thought that the Italians, Faiella and Scali would have an easy victory...not the case. After winning the compulsory dance, it was a bumpy road with the French team of Pechalat and Bourzat (who were exceedingly more polished here than I've ever seen them!) winning both the OD and the Free Dance. Luckily for the Italians, their lead all the way back from the CD held and they took the title (barely). That also means I 'barely' accurately predicted the podium!

UPDATE: Ooops! I looked at my predictions below...and I didn't get this one right. I actually had Samuelson and Bates pegged for silver...guess my limb broke!

Among the men, I was dissapointed that Stephen Carriere came undone and failed to either medal or make the Grand Prix Final. This is the second year in a row that NHK has been unkind to him. Stephen made Tomas Verner a very happy fellow! Takahiko Mura showed the depth of the Japanese team with a strong performance and a respectable 5th place showing. Patrick Chan is clearly the class of Canada now but Kevin Reynolds is proving to be quite the competitor as well. Not one, but two beautiful quads in his free skate to capture 4th place (I have to tell you...that is exactly why I pegged him for the bronze...maybe next time!). The bronze medal went to Yannick Ponsero who looked leaps and bounds more comfortable here than he did in Canada. He too opened with a gorgeous quad toe to get a strong program underway. The silver went to Johnny Weir who started very strong but then towards the end of the program he doubled a jump and singled another. Even still he had strong scores and continues to show his attitude change and his new approach to training continue to pay dividends. On a nit picky level, I'd like to see him not front load his free skate so much...and always try the quad. Johnny's jump technique is solid enough that he can almost always keep that jump on its feet. Nobunari Oda won the men's event with a solid free skate (he too threw a quad that was mostly successful). He, like Weir, also had some jump issues here and there but overall he looked very fit and he skated with tremendous speed. The response from the Japanese audience was overwhelming and at one point you could tell he was really trying to hold back some tears. For Oda it was mission accomplished as far as restoring some credibility.

The pairs event was rough. Dube and Davison didn't look themselves at all. About the only element, aside from the lifts, that went right was the triple twist. All of their jumping elements were flawed, they were slow across the ice, and they lacked the spark they usually have in their skating. I don't think this team has helped themselves this season by choosing such a rough cut of Carmen either...it just doesn't suit them. They got the bronze medal only because the all the other teams before them had rough skates as well (well...that...and the fact that even on a bad performance their skating skills were far superior to the teams that had skated prior to them). The bright spot on the evening was the Americans. Inoue and Baldwin, while not as technical as the other teams, did turn in a pretty good performance for the silver. After John fell on the opening triple toe (which despite the fall, I give him credit for rotating it. So often he just does a double and he has to get his head around doing the triple) went on to skate very well. They scaled back from the throw triple axel, opting for a double instead, but it was done well. Solid lifts, amazing side-by-side unison on the spins, and overall...not too shabby. A silver for them was a bit of redemption after their awful showing at Skate America. The winners were China's Pang and Tong. They too had some side-by-side issues but the throws were amazing and they breezed pass the field. I'm still not sure I like the program...I warm up to it about the time it switches from that bland tango music into Concerto de Aranjuez.

Last season, the Japanese ladies didn't fare well at all, with Nana Takeda barely pulling off a bronze. This season it was a clean sweep of the podium for the Japanese women. Poor Ashley Wagner after a promising start in the short got bit by the same bug that got her at Cup of China...wrong edge here, downgraded jump there, and lower than expected component scores and she again finishes just off the podium. In her defense, I just love this 'Spartacus' program and I think she's getting undermarked on the component side of things. Again, how Laura Lepisto can beat her continues to baffle me. Yukari Nakano pulled of a comeback performance to rally back to the bronze (and make the Grand Prix Final). After a clean skate, she was visibly emotional as scores of flowers, teddy bears, and other goodies rained down upon her as she took her bows. These Japanese ladies are under such stress from the press (rhymed!), especially when they compete at home, and it is a relief when they skate well. A lesser known Japanese lady whose actually been around for sometime took the silver. Akiko Suzuki, who actually won the Finlandia Trophy early this season, had a solid performance of her own, showed some flair, and was genuinely pleased with herself and I think a bit surprised when her result came up. But the show stopper was without a doubt Mao Asada who oblitereated the competition. She opened up with a gorgeous triple axel and then...decided to do a second in combination (a separate post is coming on this combo alone), ridiculous! She went on to land everything else she was planning with no wrong edge deductions and nearly all positive grades of execution across the board...this is not the Mao we saw in Paris...this is a Mao that can take on Yu-Na Kim. she was absolutely stunning.

So the Grand Prix Final is set. I'll do a separate post later to talk about that in greater detail. The competition in Korea is going to be fierce. If per chance you missed Mao's amazing performance, fret not...I have it here!

A new approach

Pang and Tong have 2010 in there sites and they plan on doing everything possible to be on the podium there.

A new article from the China Daily chronicles the steps they are taking to be on the Olympic podium in Vancouver. "Since the very beginning, our graceful and classic performances moved the judges and that was our advantage. But now those judges are expecting changes," Tong said. "If we want to move the judges again, we have to try something new to arouse their interest in us."

How exactly does a team accomplish this feat? For Pang and Tong it's changing everything. They've relocated to downtown Beijing for their training. New choreographers have been tapped. For this upcoming season Nikolai Morozov and Sarah Kawahara are the choreographers. And the music, no flowing classics this year. The Blues and the Tango are their choices this time around. "We have listened to various types of music and finally decided to apply the styles that are a departure from our past," Tong said. "We hope the new program attracts the attention of the judges."

All of this while completely revamping their jump technique to get rid of those of those nasty negative GOE's the judges have hammered them with this past season. "We have had a hard time adapting to the new music while at the same time improving our techniques," Tong said. "We will try hard to change the bad impression judges have of our jumps."

A lot of hard work ahead for this team...hopefully it will pay off!

Four Continents Cup

Things wrapped up in South Korea for the Four Continents Cup...some expected results and a few surprises to share with you.

In ladies the clear front runner won easily. Mao Asada posted a score of 193.25, a score of nearly 14 points better than her closest competitor. She received solid GOE scores on all her elements except the lutz which was given a wrong edge takeoff deduction. Both her technical and component scores were leaps ahead of the competetion and without Yu-Na Kim in the competition, it seemed an easy victory for her. Joannie Rochette of Canada punched through to earn the silver medal edging out Miki Ando on the technical score. It appears the reigning World Champion struggled just a touch with her jumps at the beginning of her program. Miki's season has been up and down and hopefully, for her, this is a down before an up in Sweden. Trouble for the U.S. ladies...more on this in another post.

The Ice Dance competition went as expected. Virtue and Moir won, but not easily. The American team of Davis and White pushed them all the way through the competition. Tessa and Scott appear to have an advantage when it comes to the program component score, but Davis and White were about dead even with them technically. These two teams will continue to push one another, probably past 2010 and onward towards 2014. The bronze went to the American team of Navarro and Bommentre who continue to have a ground breaking season. In fact, the Americans were able to go 2-3-4 with Wester and Barantsev placing fourth.

I was slightly shocked to see that Pang and Tong won the pairs competition after the decent sized lead that the Zhangs had opened up after the short program but Pang and Tong were able to put down solid component and technical scores and make up the difference in the free skate. Moving up from fourth to capture the bronze is reigning U.S. bronze medalists Castile and Okolski, however, they still lack side-by-side triple jumps in their free skate. Newly engaged team of Inoue and Baldwin slipped to fourth after struggling with their side-by-side triples and miscue that lead to a poor throw single axel instead of a triple.

In the men's event, Daisuke Takahashi killed it! Now armed with two quads in his free skate, on in combo, and seven triples to boot, I don't know if this guy can be stopped! Besides having a component score that is 4-5 points better than his closest competitior, his technical score was sick, about 20 points better than anyone else! He received positive GOE's on everything except his triple loop and won by over 30 points! Jeffrey Buttle won the silver with what has to be one of his best performances this season despite the fact that he is still struggling a bit with the jumps. He continues to try and reestablish himself as Canada's best (as opposed to Chan who didn't compete here). Evan Lysacek dropped from second after the short to capture the bronze. A fall on the quad and then some lacking technical merit from that point left him with his worst performance of the season...not the direction you wanted to be heading at this critical point in the skating season. Carriere was 4th and Abbott was 5th.

Full results here.

Cup of China is in the Bag...

In a complete reversal from last week when not a single American made the podium at Skate Canada, an American was on every podium at Cup of China with either the Gold or Silver Medal.

In pairs, Pang and Tong got it together and won the gold, securing a place at the Grand Prix Final in Torino, Italy (Dube and Davison have also locked a spot). Reigning Junior World Champs McLaughlin and Brubaker skated to the silver and became the first U.S. pairs team to make a Grand Prix podium this season. Miller and Moram of Canada took the bronze.

Amongst the ladies, Yu-Na Kim of South Korea shattered the competition by winning by more than 24 points despite her 3rd place finish in the short program. American Caroline Zhang took the silver (she took two falls in free as well) and goes on the bubble for the Grand Prix Final. Leader after the short program, Italy's Carolina Kostner settled for the bronze.

In Ice Dance we almost thought the days of Russian dominance were back. Domnina and Shabalin were leaders over Americans Belbin and Agosto after the Compulsory Dance and then extended that lead after the OD. But a costly mistake on a dance spin causing no credit to be awarded on a later lift put them behind the Americans when all was said and done. Tanith and Ben are a lock for the Grand Prix Final with the max points (30) with their two wins. Italians Faiella and Scali (who in fact also beat the Russians in the Free Dance) took the bronze and go to the bubble for the Grand Prix Final...they'll have to wait and see if their two bronze performances hold up.

The closest competition was the men's event where Americans Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek went 1-2! Evan held the lead after the short program over Johnny by less than 2 points. A costly fall and Johnny's slightly higher component scores secured the gold for Johnny and Evan had to settle for silver...but again it was close, less than 3 points difference! Evan Lyscaek joins the list of competitors that have secured a spot at the Grand Prix Final. Two time World Champ Stephane Lambiel settled for bronze after a mistake filled free skate.

The Grand Prix moves on to the City of Lights, Paris, for Trophée Eric Bompard next weekend.