Nebelhorn Men's Results-LP Results UP

Weee... So happy for Ponsero - that was one good skate for him, only messed up the Triple Loop and the Double Axel towards the end. I hope that gives him confidence for the season. Now he needs to get all the triples... But the Quad must have been great, 1.63 positive GOE.

Also very happy for Brezina. What a skate - what a guy.

Regarding Michal Brezina, I noticed that his overall TES and PCS scores were much higher than at JGP Merano. Was that a matter of inflation or did he have especially great performances (with harder technical content)? I'm just curious.

Whoaaaa.... Anyone's seen Ponsero's Quad? Incredible. I thought it was a Triple. He had so much time to land, it was better than most of Joubert's! I would love for Ponsero to have a great season, can't he do a Quad Salchow too? He has so much potential to be a real contender, he needs to get his nerves under control.

Brezina had a really good skate, 8 Triples (two Triple-Triple-combos), maxed out the combos, not one negative GOE. He got all level 3 and 4 except for his serpentine steps (level 2). Oda and Brezina had mostly the same techical content, Oda planned one more 2 Axel (but didn't complete it).

And about the PCS - Oda got 71 and in my opinion he isn't the king of artistic / performance skating (and he lacks extension / body tension). Brezina is not yet the king of artistic / performance skating - but he is not really worse or better than Oda and I guess the judges couldn't justify to give Oda more than 3 points plus on the PCS and therefore Brezina got probably more than at the JGP events. Just my theory.

Ponsero's quad was nice! Too bad he's not very consistent. It would be good if he could challenge Joubert.

IMHO Nobunari used to have great artistry/showmanship, and I hope he'll get back to his original form. And he usually has great extension, probably one of the best of the current skaters (especially visible in"Tosca", "FMTTM" and "Around the World".) Too bad he often wears hairdo, costumes and boot covers that totally spoil his lines. Maybe Morozov will beat it out of him, evetually, like he has Adam straightening his curls for competitions.

However, I don't think his current programs, especially the LP, suit him very much (except for the Gala program, which I loved). The music cut is sloppy, and the music itself is too gloom (the SP has a lot of potential, IMHO, but I would change the music cut a bit and the costume).I'm not surprised at this, as the programs were choreographed when he still struggled with mental trauma and resulting physical problems. I don't think that at the time he really cared to find a program that suit him, rather mindlessly losing himself in the training to keep the mental pain away.

I wouldn't be surprised if he changes his programs. His LP especially looks rather hastily rearranged to fit the current rules. The intro is from "Tosca", the SlSt looks almost identical as the one in "Masquerade". He still doesn't have a new costume and in his competition so far he skated in the "Tosca" outfit.

Morozov is known for taking care of everything from training, through choreo, to costumes. In two recent articles Nobunari mentioned that Morozov has him working on basics; reworking his jump technique, steps, etc. I sort of got a feeling that Nikolai wants him to improve his technique and stamina first, then give him a new program/s.

BTW, Nobunari's back with Nikolai now. He visited Japan after winning Nebelhorn, then went back to USA. There are a few cute photos at the bottom of this page (from Nobunari's fan website):
http://www.nobunari.com/report/Re-08Nebelhorn-p.html

And on the NT main page there are podium shots of all the medalists:
http://www.eislauf-union.de/NebelhornTrophy2008.html

Speaking of medalists, I loved Akiko's "Dark Eyes" LP! She is IMHO one of the most expressive skaters, and her steps were fab. She interprets music so well! Too bad her jumps weren't quite with her at this event.

The talent that Ponsero has is underestimated by the fans. He should be special. He needs a special coach.

I thought Oda had a very well choreographed Tosca. I'm not sure if Morozov did it or someone else. But I can understand your not liking his competitive routines. Morozov has to realise, imo, than nonRussian skaters have their own styles and he should enhance them - not change them

Brezina, imo, is a waiting Worlds and Olys gold champion. He doesn't yet have the experience of the others.

Ahh, thank you Medusa! Not one negative GOE? Pretty impressive I say. And though not the most artistic skater yet he's definitely developing-and well. Hope he can keep the momentum going.

Joesitz said:

Brezina, imo, is a waiting Worlds and Olys gold champion. He doesn't yet have the experience of the others.

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Joe, I agree 100%.

Joesitz said:

I thought Oda had a very well choreographed Tosca. I'm not sure if Morozov did it or someone else. But I can understand your not liking his competitive routines. Morozov has to realise, imo, than nonRussian skaters have their own styles and he should enhance them - not change them
.

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Joesitz, Nobunari's competetive programs were choreographed by Lori Nichol, before he switched to Morosov. That's one of the reasons I mentioned that a change of them was possible, because Morozov is known for packaging his skaters so it seems weird he would coach someone and not choreograph for him. I don't think that Lori did a horrible job... I think there were reasons why those programs don't look as good as they could and I mentioned them in my post above.
I also liked Tosca. It looked much more polished, used Nobu's strenghts and had a great, original music cut. And the costume was good.

Joesitz said:

The talent that Ponsero has is underestimated by the fans. He should be special. He needs a special coach.

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ITA, I always thought that with another coach, He'd be serious contender for medals.

inskate said:

Joesitz, Nobunari's competetive programs were choreographed by Lori Nichol, before he switched to Morosov. That's one of the reasons I mentioned that a change of them was possible, because Morozov is known for packaging his skaters so it seems weird he would coach someone and not choreograph for him. I don't think that Lori did a horrible job... I think there were reasons why those programs don't look as good as they could and I mentioned them in my post above.
I also liked Tosca. It looked much more polished, used Nobu's strenghts and had a great, original music cut. And the costume was good.

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Dropping Takahashi and taking on Oda is a mystery to me. Oda, Weir, Lambiel, Buttle - those musical male skaters are not the gangbuster types. He will, imo change the style of Oda to a more Russian look which he believes will win the competition. He did this with Adam Rippon and Adam won, so do we think changing Oda's style will win him a Worlds medal? Much of course, depends on the Field of skaters entered in the Worlds. Points win competitions and style is not one of the facets to be considered. Clean Quads and 3As do win competitions (even for the Ladies) together with hell-raising footwork sequences. Oda is/was a musical skater. We'll see.

btw, I think many factors in his personal life affected his skating.

I am really impressed with Yannick's new SP and LP and I feel they both fit his style and personality more than his programs from last year. The Caravan/Summertime/Swing Kids medley LP fits the character and personality he is known to show in his exhibition numbers and I notice a newfound comfort when he is performing this LP in competition. It's Ponsero portraying Ponsero and I love it!

As for his level of fitness, he is looking really good at this point in the season and he appears a little taller to me and looks to have lost a little weight. He is doing a better job of getting over his right side in the air positions on his jumps. I wish him so much luck and success and really love his skating!

GO YANNICK!

Joesitz said:

The talent that Ponsero has is underestimated by the fans.

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Agreed. He's incredibly talented.