Mao-chan won, and this means she's in the Grand Prix Final! This is her first time in two seasons, and the GPF sure has missed her long enough. What a comeback! In any case, I'm going to try and rationalise this all so my emotions won't cloud my opinions on the event this weekend. Yesterday at the short programme, Mao skated just before RUS Alena Leonova, and instead of attempting a triple axel she opted for a double and it was a good call. She skated cleanly landing an additional triple flip-double loop combination and a triple loop, with the only nitpicking flaw being her slow camel spin. She finished with 64.29 with just a slim lead ahead of Leonova. She was spirited and her programme was sensational. It was fun, light and at times alluring with that smile that she has kept on since leaving Tarasova. Being in the lead was the first step into her second chance at winning her first Grand Prix title in three years.
Today at the ladies' free event, everybody brought their A-game. I was already sort of not feeling RUS Adelina Sotnikova because she was also skating to Liebestraume but Mao's was superior. Tarasova's choreography for Adelina was disjointed and the musical arrangement was not good. Maybe Adelina is just too young to skate to a musical piece that is too emotionally mature? Even so, she has not performed as expected this reason, lagging behind her compatriot and rival Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, whose dynamic debut earned her two titles and is currently the favourite to win. She's young though, so she has such a great future ahead of her, and perhaps it was that pressure of being the face of Russian skating that got to her. In a recent interview, Tatiana said that when Mao first looked at skating to Liebestraume, she also offered to create the piece for her. Mao-chan said no, and looking at Adelina's programme, I'm very happy that she did. It's not Tarasova's thing and if Sotnikova's piece is any indication of what could have been Mao's, it would not be as good as it is now with Lori Nichol's touch. Just a thought. Plus, I was not a fan of her Tango SP last season. Scheherazade is beautiful, but in the future I think it would be great for Mao-chan to stop with Tarasova and go with Lori like she did back in the day.
Fellow teammate, Alena on the other hand skated beautifully. I'm not a big fan of her short programme, in fact I think it's very tawdry and, for lack of a better word, tacky. In spite of that, skating under Nikolai Morozov had obviously flipped a switch in her and she has never skated better in her life. Skating to Adagio for Strings/Requiem for a Tower, she landed a triple toe-triple toe combination but double a planned triple flip and fell on a double axel. I did like her programme. It was dramatic but not overly emotive, she skates with power and good speed, overall she was sensational. Plus she didn't look like she needed a wash.
Skating last, with a very slim lead Mao took on the ice, again opting for a double axel instead of a triple in her first element. Everything was fine until she underrotated a triple flip and then she stepped out of her second double-axel missing out on the planned triple-toe combination. She also doubled a triple salchow, overall just landing three clean triples. Obviously I was already gasping for air, but despite her errors, her lyrical presentation garnered her enough marks to win the free and claim the title. The victory was just by under three points at 183.25! Coming off the Kiss and Cry, she was surprised and so were the Russians. With those errors, Mao had to rely on her pedigree and milk the PCS, but even then I was ready to give to gold to Alena. The silver medal would have gotten Mao to the final anyway (I think) but still, I couldn't help but feel bad for Alena who skated so passionately in front of her people! I guess it just goes to show just how much presentation matters in skating, especially under the current scoring system.
Either way, they can battle it out at the GPF, where Mao and Leonova will once again vie for the title. Alongside them will be USA Alissa Csizny, ITA Carolina Kostner, fellow teammate JAP Akiko Suzuki and RUS dynamo Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. Realistically, without the triple axel, I don't think Mao will win. She said it herself, she's still not where she wants to be in terms of progress. I think the victory here comes with qualifying for the final and getting over her horrendous season last year. Tuktamysheva is chomping at the bit to win all the way, Carolina is a judges favourite, Akiko is dominating this season, Alena is powerful and good (in her FP!) and Alissa is just fantastic when she hast her wits with her. It's a tough mix but Mao is a skating legend. Being the only rival of Yu-na's to have kept it going, the two-time World Champion has a great pedigree over her competitors. I guess we'll see it all in Quebec.
Stay tuned!
xoxo
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