MEN: Javier Fernandez comes to Rostelecom as the heavy favorite this week. After winning at Cup of China, the World Champ looks to punch a ticket to the Grand Prix final with a win here. Though he was a bit messy at his first event, Javi is really in a scoring league of his own here; he scored a 270.56 at Cup of China. Hoping to grab a medal this week will be Canada’s Nam Ngyuen and the U.S.'s Adam Rippon. Both skated at Skate Canada as their first event, where Rippon came out on top with a fourth place score of 239.69, just ahead of Ngyuen’s 238.82 fifth placement. Nam Ngyuen doesn’t get the PCS of Rippon, but you can always count on him to land those quads, which rack up points. Rippon had a great start at Skate Canada and could create quite a stir if he finally rotates that 4Lz. Neither of these men will likely make the Final, but are looking to build a solid foundation for the tough competition they will face at their respective national championships. Three Russian men will look to make an impact on home ice- Sergei Vornov, Mikhail Kolyada and Adian Pitkeev. We’ve seen Vornov (222.17 at Cup of China) and Pitkeev (230.75 at Skate America) skate already this season and Kolyada scored a huge 239.77 at the Ice Challenge. Coupled with some home PCS, any of these men could make a splash and land on the podium. Podium predictions: Javier Fernandez Nam Ngyuen Adam Rippon Adian Pitkeev Mikhail Kolyada Sergei Vornov
0 Comments
USFSA has made no communication regarding what will happen with their fantasy points after TEB, but perhaps they are waiting on an official ISU decision until they make their own arrangements.
TSL went with the short program results as the final results for their fantasy points. I am ranked #193 with 267 points. I got 5/12 athlete picks correct and three bonus points. The entire skating world has been on “pause” since Saturday, waiting for the ISU council’s decision on what to do with the results from 2015 Trophee Eric Bompard, after the long programs were cancelled due to the tragic attacks in Paris. I was hoping that the event would be safe enough to continue, but it was the appropriate call by the French government to respect the country's official days of mourning and state of emergency.
Since the event, fans and experts alike have been guessing at what decision the ISU Council may make now and rumors are swirling about proposals from many different federations. I will follow in the footsteps of many and not officially recap #TEB15's short program out of respect for the greater situation. I will,however, blog an analysis of the decision once it is finalized. No matter what, some skaters are unfortunately going to be impacted and they have to do the "least unfair" thing. Mostly, I just want a decision so that we can all move forward and most importantly-so we can get back to a full weekend of skating at Rostelecom! Two teams look to grab their second victory of the season on their way to the Grand Prix Final, as Canada’s Weaver/Poje and Italy’s Capellini/Lannotte compete this week in the ice dance event. The two teams posted *very* similar scores at their first stop on the series, with the Canadians posting a 173.79 at Skate Canada and Italians posting a 173.30 at Cup of China. Honestly, I can see either team winning here. I wish we'd seen Weaver/Poje at a non-home event with their two programs before this, as they may have benefited from some hometown PCS at Skate Canada. The Italians fell short last season, but the judges seemed very impressed with them at Cup of China. Both of these teams should make the Final with a first or second placement here. An exciting storyline to watch here will be the three home teams competing at the same event: Sinitsina/Katsalapov, who made a splash at Skate America with a silver medal and a score of 162.21(a personal best); Ilinykh/Zhigashin, who came away from Cup of China with a third place finish and a score of 159.00; and Monko/Khavalian, who earned a 147.57 at Skate Canada. These teams look to make a statement against their rivals before their battle begins at Russian nationals for 2 World spots. It will be a close race between S/K and I/Z for that bronze medal. Podium predictions: Cappellini/Lanotte Weaver/Poje Sinitsina/Katsalopov I just finalized these minutes ago...
USFSA: Tuktamysheva Chan Volosozhar/Trankov Gilles/Prioir Murakami Uno Seguin/Bilodeau Coomes/Buckland Kuchvalska Besseghier Della Monica/Guiarse Fourner Beaudry/Sorensen TSL: Tuktamysheva Chan Volosozhar/Trankov Gilles/Prior Gold Uno Peng/Zheng Hubbell/Donahue Murakami Aaron Tarasova/Morosov Coomes/Buckland Daleman Murakami Seguin/Bilodeau Stepanova/Bukin Lipnitskya Kovtun Castelli/Tran Yanovskya/Mosgov Wang Ten James/Cipres Fourner Beaudry/Sorensen Okay- here I am with ladies picks! Better late than never, yes? Opinions (mine and others) were very mixed on this field, and I took my time to *really* think about this one... so here's a look at who we'll see and who I think will make it on the podium: LADIES: Looking at the field here- let's be honest-it's a two horse race between Gracie Gold and Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. Both received silver medals in their first assignment and both could solidify a spot at the Final with a win here. The race for the bronze medal is actually harder to predict with several skaters who could grab it.
Elizaveta Tutkamysheva had a hell of year last year but so far this season, she's been slow to warm up to peak form. She started her season at Cup of Nice with a total score of 179.23 (poor for her), and had a bad short at Skate Canada. But, she had a *much* better free skate there and received 188.99 at that event. I saw some fire from her in that free program, and you know she has a chip on her shoulder after losing to Ashley Wagner. I think she comes into this event with something to prove. Similarly, after watching Ashley win Skate Canada, you know Gracie Gold wants to do the same here. What we saw from her at Skate America was much improved from last season- she skated two programs, back-to-back, that were strong and solid. She certainly has the potential to outscore Tuktamysheva if the World Champ skates with mistakes. Now, the real question is- would Gracie beat a clean ( or mostly clean) Tuktamysheva-Especially if we see a rotated triple axel from her? In the race for bronze, we have Kanako Murakami (171.51 at Skate Canada), Julia Lipnitskya (170.63 from Skate America), and Gabrielle Daleman (170.33 at Skate Canada). Jumping inconsistencies is really what keeps all three of these skaters from the top, though they each have great skills- Gabby's power, Julia's spins and Kana's skating quality. If anyone is coming in on a high note, it would be Gabrielle Daleman, who had a fantastic free skate at her home event, though I thought Kana made good improvements at Skate Canada. If I'm going with my gut, I expect all three of them to skate and score similarly here to what they did at their previous events. Shoutout to one of my faves, Angela Wang, whose short program I love and who is coming off a personal best performance at the US Classic of 166.80. Rooting for her! Podium Predictions: Gold- Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Silver- Gracie Gold Bronze- Kanako Murakami Here we are in our fourth Grand Prix event- I can't believe it's already half over! Trophee Bompard this week promises some good competition with great fields- especially men's and pairs. I would love to share my fantasy picks, but to be quite honest- I haven't figured them out yet, so here's a look at who we'll see and who I think will make it on the podium: This competition got blown wide open today, after news that reigning World champs Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron have withdrawn from their home event, presumably due to the team dealing with lost training time after Gabriella's concussion. I'm sure those attending are quite disappointed, but I wish her the best in healing quickly! They have also withdrawn from their second event, so if we see them this season, it would not be until Europeans. So let's look at the rest of the field who now have a great opportunity at this event!
I know Gilles/Prioir were disappointed with their third place finish at Skate America, which left them questionable for a spot at the Final. But in the absence of the French team, they really have a golden opportunity here. They are the highest ranking team at the event and have the highest season's score (159.14) of the field. I think their quirky style will go over better in France and I look for them to take advantage of this opportunity. Hubbell/Donahue have A LOT to gain from the WD of Papadakis/Cizeron, as they are scheduled to compete at BOTH events that the French were. Even if they don't make the Final, grabbing some hardware would be great for them. They have the third best season score of the field (153.62), but the highest personal best (166.74). I think they'll score higher than they did at US Classic here and get a medal. The team with the second best season score coming into this event is Great Britian's Coomes/Buckland. They scored a 156.22 at Nepela. Their personal best is 158.65. Podium Predictions: Gold- Gilles/Prioir Silver- Hubbell/Donahue Bronze- Coomes/Buckland Here we are in our fourth Grand Prix event- I can't believe it's already half over! Trophee Bompard this week promises some good competition with great fields- especially men's and pairs. I would love to share my fantasy picks, but to be quite honest- I haven't figured them out yet, so here's a look at who we'll see and who I think will make it on the podium: Men: This field promises to be exciting to watch! Two men look to solidify a spot at the Final after winning their home event- Patrick Chan and Max Aaron (winners at Skate Canada and Skate America, respectively). Japanese men Shoma Uno (silver medallist from Skate America) and Daisuke Murakami (bronze at Skate Canada) also look to land on the podium here. Maxim Kovtun makes his season debut.
Patrick Chan didn’t skate perfectly at his first event, but the quality of his skating was truly rewarded by the judges. I anticipate him to skate better at this event than we saw at Skate Canada and there’s been talk we’ll even see some harder jumps from him. Shoma Uno from Japan will be hot on Chan’s heels and certainly has gold medal potential if Chan should underperform. Uno technically has harder jump content, but I wouldn't underestimate the power of Patrick's PCS if I were you. Max Aaron had quite the breakthrough moment at Skate America, so this event is really important for him to continue that momentum. It could mean a lot to his career to make it to the Final this season for the first time. Max has made improvements in his components, but I still feel the judges will put him below Chan in that category- and Shoma too. Daisuke had a solid event at Skate America, and he has enough technical firepower to get to the podium, but he lacks the PCS and can be an inconsistent jumper. Russia's Kovtun makes his debut here, after scoring a 236.28 at a Russian preseason event that was highly overscored. But even that score falls beneath the other four men's first event scores Podium picks: Gold- Chan Silver- Uno Bronze-Aaron Here we are in our fourth Grand Prix event! Trophee Bompard this week promises a good competition with great fields- especially in men's and pairs. I would love to share my fantasy picks, but to be quite honest- I haven't figured them out yet, so here's a look at who we'll see and who I think will make it on the podium: PAIRS: I am very excited for this lineup! Perhaps the favorites, returning Olympic champions Voloshozhar/Trankov will be looking to start their comeback off strongly with a win here. We saw them compete at Nebelhorn earlier in the year, where they did not skate perfectly but still received a total score of 202. 79. What this says to me is that they will get Olympic Champ PCS even with mistakes. This makes them a gold medal threat based on numbers alone.
We haven't seen Peng/Zheng compete yet this season, but I did find these videos on YouTube for a preview of what we may see from them (Short Program Free Skate). Everyone talks about this team's huge age difference, but there's a quality about them that I really appreciate. I hope she's grown into the partnership over the summer and we'll see them progress this season. Their personal best is 206.63 (Worlds 2015). Russians Tarasova/Morosov look to put themselves in good stead for a Grand Prix Final spot with a first or second place finish (They finished second at Skate Canada with 191.19). We will get our second look of the season at Seguin/Bilodeau and Castelli/Tran. Seguin and Bilodeau will look to continue momentum after a strong third place finish at Skate America (189.49). They have a really great connection on the ice, but are in a tough field here. A top four finish would be great for them. Castelli/Tran got 173.40 at Skate Canada, placing fourth. I really like this team and I just want to see them improve on their score from Canada as they set themselves up for Nationals. PODIUM PICKS: Gold- Voloshozhar/Trankov Silver- Peng/Zheng Bronze- Tarasova/Morosov USFSA: I placed 138T (yuck!) for Cup of China, with 2217 points. I got 7/12 picks correct, with 0 correct in dance : (. Overall, I'm in 40th with 6805 points. Last week incorrectly didn't update the standings- I was 48T with 4558 points TSL: I placed in 161th place with 226 points. I got 6/36 picks correct (haha) and 7 bonus questions!
Hopefully it's up from here! |
About the Blog:Reviews, predictions and opinions in the magical, sparkly and dramatic field of figure skating. Archives
November 2017
Categories |