ISU World Championships 2012: Thoughts

What a weird final! It's been a rather interesting finish to the season, what with Patrick Chan getting booed for winning (stealing) the gold medal, to Carolina Kostner actually skating good enough (for me anyway) to win her first World title. Here are my thoughts on the events that went down this week....mainly on the ladies' event, because Eurosport messed up the timetables that they ended up not showing anything on TV. I did find a stream for the ladies at the end and the videos for the men's have been available online, so fragmented though it has been, I managed to watch most of the Worlds. 

LADIES:

After making the GPF final, and then withdrawing because of the death of her mother...then finishing 2nd at Four Continents, Mao Asada (JAP) skated lackluster programs that ultimately placed her at 6th place. She missed fell on her opening triple axel in the short, which she went for in memory of her mother (it was Kyoko's favourite jump) therefore hurting her scores, and then in today's free programme, she only landed three triples (3FL-2T, 3L, 3Sal), a 2A-2T, and 2FL. She singled her opening axel and the final loop, and in the end she scored 164.52. From where I stand, its all psychological with Mao. It seems to be a mixture of trying to prove she's still a top skater hence all the triple axel attempts, a lack in confidence because of her jump training, and the loss of her mother. It's unfortunate that all of these elements caused another season off the podium, especially after a wonderful start at the Grand Prix and a promising return of her 3-3 combo...but we can forgive her for losing steam. In fact, through it all..as her PCS showed tonight (60.52), her skating quality was still top grass. Hopefully she will take the time off-season to reevaluate where she wants to be by next winter. She does not need the Japanese press harping down her neck on her failure to land triple axels....it's not the only thing that makes her a champion. Also, I think however stubborn she is, she needs to realise that there is nothing left to prove to the world. I kinda wish Yu Na was competing in the circuit again just push back Mao into old form like back in the old days. 

On a much brighter note, WELL DONE to Akiko Suzuki and Kanako Murakami, who finished at 3rd and 5th respectively. Team Japan came out strong, and the Suzuki earned a bronze medal after a fabulous skate to Die Fledermaus with only a singled Lutz tarnishing what was otherwise a gleaming performance. With a strong 180.68, she edged out Ashley Wagner (USA) who was also astounding with her clean Black Swan programme. After tumbling down to 8th in the short programme, Wagner restored the pride of the US team by hitting seven triples and earning 176.77, way ahead of her teammate Alissa Czisny who finished at 22nd place with 124.11 with a sloppy performance full of falls. Carolina Kostner (ITA) finished at the top with a nearly perfect performance that earned her 189.94 points. She hit five triples and capitalised on her component marks by upping the artistry, even with that hideous jumpsuit costume of hers (really, why is nobody commenting on her camel-toes this season!?). That was enough to take the lead from Alena Leonova (RUS) who was emotional after skating a solid programme, eventually finishing at 2nd place. 

MENS:

Surprise, surprise..Patrick Chan (CAN) takes the gold medal despite botching a planned triple lutz and falling on a double axel. With a collective score of 266.11, he takes his second World title ahead of Team Japan's Daisuke Takahashi and Yuzuru Hanyu, who was a surprising bronze medallist. Takahashi landed a beautiful quad and skated a beautiful programme for the ages, but obviously that wasn't enough for the judges. Seriously, what does it take to take Chan out? Personally, I feel that this season Takahashi has been robbed of many a gold medals, but whatever. I'm no judge so if they say Patrick in untouchable....then I'm sticking with the crowd with their booing. After a rocky short programme, Hanyu unleashed his inner Romeo and jumped ahead of veteran Brian Joubert (FRA) and fellow team member Florent Amodio (FRA) by landing a quad and eight triples. This boy has got such a bright and shining future ahead of him, I have nothing but love! I have adored that step sequence since the beginning of the season and he recovered and delivered effortlessly, I can only applause and smile. Another surprise was Joubert's comeback! After two less than desirable seasons, he serves us two clean programmes alongside gratuitous bum angles that remind us of why we love him so much. Woop woop! Jeremy Abbott (USA) did enough to secure a top ten finish, with only a fall out on a triple axel and a little flaw with his step sequence, he fought for his jumps enough to earn 226.19 points. That just made him so much more adorable to me. 

PAIRS:

Oh the joy! The joy on Takahasi/Tran's (JAP) faces when they finished with a bronze medal was priceless! I couldn't help but smile at Narumi's Tom-Cruise-at-Oprah's-couch reaction to their scores, wasn't it just heartwarming? They just beat Pang and Tong (CHI) and earned the first ever Pair's medal for Team Japan. That on it's own was reason enough to watch the competition. 

Actually, watching Maxim Trankov (RUS) fall on a pivot, dropping Tatiana Volosozhar on a death spiral was also a jaw-dropping moment. Team Russia did not have the best of luck going into the free programme, after unanimously falling everywhere on the ice. But the curse was countered by Mother Russia for they made up for it with a clean skate at the free, earning the silver medal with 201.38 points. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (GER) won their fourth World title, with a minutely flawed skate but considering how relatively....average? the field had performed, it did not take much to win. No, actually, it was .11 points that set them just ahead of the Russians. That's how good their comeback was. 

Overall, it was a rather surreal season finish. All week there was talk of how the quality of ice at Nice left more to be desired, and perhaps the warm weather proved a little too taxing for the skaters. But at the very least, with Mao being less than stellar, it gave Kanako, Akiko, Ashley and Carolina an opportunity to shine. Caro deserved her gold and it's about time for her. I never really peg Alena as a medal contender, mostly because I'm not her biggest fan and I find her programmes quite unbecoming, for lack of a better word. Kana-chan and Akiko came to win and they did..especially since Kanako had not medalled at all this season, at least she raised her season's best this week. Shame about Ashley, but she made up for Alissa's crap. I'm happy for the Japanese men for their medals but I stand on my ground that Chan was overscored and was not deserving of that title. Hopefully, next season will be more interesting and exciting. For some reason, this Championship felt a little under the weather, so to speak. With the Russian jumping babies debuting next season alongside the promising Gracie Gold of the US, the field might just be shaken with some fresh talent. Finally, here's hoping Mao gets it all together. If Sochi is her goal, she only has two more seasons before her time is up. I will be here to support all the way :)

Hope you enjoyed the season!

Asada Watch: Thoughts on the Rostelecom Cup 2011

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. 

Asada Watch: NHK Trophy 2011 (Part Two; Short Programme)

What a turnout! Most of the ladies brought their game despite a few errors and two-footed jumps. My heart was palpitating whilst waiting for Mao's turn on the ice as she skated 7th in the line-up. Her short programme to Rimski-Korsakov's nominal classic Scheherazade debuted at the NHK, and it was sublime. Dressed in an intricately bejewelled costume, she danced to a much lighter and contemporary arrangement of the music based on the 'Arabian Nights'. While Mao popped her opening, signature Triple Axel, she rounded off her performance with a beautifully lyrical interpretation and beautiful spins, and overall all landing a 3Fl-2L and a 3L. The choreography was light and coquettish at the same time, and it was hard not to smile with Mao as she skated because it was just great quality skating. Her speed is very much improved and she was light and fluid. She looked quite happy with her performance and currently she sits at 3rd place behind Russia's Alena Leonova and current leader and fellow Japanese compatriot, Akiko Suzuki with 58.42 points. As I watched and listened to the British Eurosport commentary, I agreed with them in that the final four ladies skated well in terms of their quality. Finland's Kira Korpii's errors were unfortunate and so was Canada's Cynthia Phaneuf's dismal skate but hopefully both ladies will at least hold on to their jumps and just relax at tomorrow's free skate. 

While I am all over Mao as you know, I think it would be very unfair of me not to scream and shout for both Leonova and most of all Suzuki. Suzuki's performance was spectacular and she deserved all 66.55 points that she garnered for her flawless programme. She landed all of her jumps (opening with a 3TL-3TL combination) with panache and received high levels on all of her spins and step sequences, while skating to 'Hungarian Rhapsody'. It was so cute watching her and her coach jump for joy to the sound of the home turf's cheers.  And to think that she was thinking of retiring! Absolutely not! This may just be her year if she keeps on going as she does. Leonova's programme to the 'Pirates of The Caribbean' soundtrack was also great. Not as polished as Suzuki's but there was high energy, a beautiful albeit quite busy step sequence and again, her jumps were there. I'd say that everything is set up quite well for tomorrow's free skate. Hopefully, Mao will land her opening 3A and the rest of her jumps to at least cinch the silver from Leonova. The competition is quite intense! 

xoxo