Men free skate

Results Already In Phil Hersh's Column

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com...-bobsleding-and-weaving-bib-messand-more.html

Phil was quick to pick this up.

Medusa said:

Well, I hope we see the chinese guy again sometime. Because with those Chinese guys there are new ones every year in juniors - what happened to the guy who won Bronze last year? The only name I really remember and connect to something is Chengjiang Li, that guys keeps coming back. But the rest...

Click to expand...

I heard Guan (last year's bronze medalist) is out of competition this year due to injury.
I always respect and cheer for the veterans. As someone pointed out before, Li has jumped quads for over a decade in competition, that must be a record of some sort:thumbsup:

I think if Adam improves as much from this year to next and he did last year to this, he will be a podium threat for next year's Nationals. Those are big numbers for a Jr. especially the PCSs.

Denis Ten of Kazakhstan was fourth, his highlight was a combination triple Axel and triple toeloop.

Click to expand...

from Icenetwork

The Triple Toeloop was downgraded...

He has shown some great improvement over the years though - 26th in 2007, 16th in 2008 and 4th in 2009. If he qualifies for the Olympics, which should be possible, I'll doubt that he will be back next year; he will be busy with 4CC, the Olympics, Worlds... And he is just 15, the youngest guy to place in the Top Ten.

In constrast to that, Kevin Reynolds never placed lower than this year.

Medusa said:

. If he qualifies for the Olympics, which should be possible, I'll doubt that he will be back next year; he will be busy with 4CC, the Olympics, Worlds... And he is just 15, the youngest guy to place in the Top Ten.

In constrast to that, Kevin Reynolds never placed lower than this year.

Click to expand...

It will be easy for Ten to qualify for Olympics. The top 24 skaters at worlds will automatically advance to Olympics, right? He was 7th at 4cc.

I'm very happy that Adam skated so well, and defended his title!

Reynolds was low-balled yet again. Lands 2 quads (one with step out), and six triples, yet was 10th in the long. Beautiful quad toe, solid first triple axel. He was absolutely slaughtered in downgrades, losing more than 20pts for the 3 which he landed.
His first two downgrades on the quad and axel alone cost him 15pts, the difference between 9th and 3rd right there!!

He only had two days to prepare, of course his performance level wouldn't have been there. There wasn't one other competitior who had less preparation time than him.

luvsasha said:

I'm very happy that Adam skated so well, and defended his title!

Click to expand...

I'm happy that you're happy, but I'm not. Adam, as a Senior Skater won over a cast of Juniors. I am not happy that there isn't a new Junior World Champion. Let's see how Adam does next year with so many US skaters in Nats, eyeing the Olys. Maybe Orso will do it. Meanwhile we will check out Weir, Lysacek, Abbott, and Mroz.

COP said:

It will be easy for Ten to qualify for Olympics. The top 24 skaters at worlds will automatically advance to Olympics, right? He was 7th at 4cc.

Click to expand...

I wish it worked that way...

Each country gets a certain amount of spots based on the Worlds results from the year before. You need a total of 13 or less for 3 spots and 20-something for 2, I think.

yelyoh said:

I think if Adam improves as much from this year to next and he did last year to this, he will be a podium threat for next year's Nationals. Those are big numbers for a Jr. especially the PCSs.

Click to expand...

if Adam does make the 2010 Nats and goes to the Olys, and then beats Oda, what will Morozov say?

and if Dai beats Oda. Oh Morozov.

sarukou said:

Reynolds was low-balled yet again. Lands 2 quads (one with step out), and six triples, yet was 10th in the long. Beautiful quad toe, solid first triple axel. He was absolutely slaughtered in downgrades, losing more than 20pts for the 3 which he landed.
His first two downgrades on the quad and axel alone cost him 15pts, the difference between 9th and 3rd right there!!

He only had two days to prepare, of course his performance level wouldn't have been there. There wasn't one other competitior who had less preparation time than him.

Click to expand...

I watched the competition and he wasn't low-balled at all. A lot of his jumps were very obviously under-rotated, he was slow, his edging was poor and PCS wise he wasn't even close to the rest in the final group.

Joesitz said:

I'm happy that you're happy, but I'm not. Adam, as a Senior Skater won over a cast of Juniors. I am not happy that there isn't a new Junior World Champion. Let's see how Adam does next year with so many US skaters in Nats, eyeing the Olys. Maybe Orso will do it. Meanwhile we will check out Weir, Lysacek, Abbott, and Mroz.

Click to expand...

Remember that there was a host of senior skaters at Europeans who skated as Juniors; case in point Michal Brezina among others. There is some parity here.

Morozov

Joesitz said:

if Adam does make the 2010 Nats and goes to the Olys, and then beats Oda, what will Morozov say?

and if Dai beats Oda. Oh Morozov.

Click to expand...

C'est la vie. One makes one's bed and then one gets to lie in it.

Joesitz said:

I'm happy that you're happy, but I'm not. Adam, as a Senior Skater won over a cast of Juniors. I am not happy that there isn't a new Junior World Champion. Let's see how Adam does next year with so many US skaters in Nats, eyeing the Olys. Maybe Orso will do it. Meanwhile we will check out Weir, Lysacek, Abbott, and Mroz.

Click to expand...

Well, it's ok for you to feel that way. And it's also ok for me to be glad that Adam, who had a rough year, had such a great competition with Brian Orser.

efreedman said:

Remember that there was a host of senior skaters at Europeans who skated as Juniors; case in point Michal Brezina among others. There is some parity here.

Click to expand...

Březina also competed as a senior at Nebelhorn (and would have done the same at KSM had he not had to withdraw) so his senior experience is comparable to Rippon's.

sarukou said:

Reynolds was low-balled yet again. Lands 2 quads (one with step out), and six triples, yet was 10th in the long. Beautiful quad toe, solid first triple axel. He was absolutely slaughtered in downgrades, losing more than 20pts for the 3 which he landed.
His first two downgrades on the quad and axel alone cost him 15pts, the difference between 9th and 3rd right there!!

He only had two days to prepare, of course his performance level wouldn't have been there. There wasn't one other competitior who had less preparation time than him.

Click to expand...

Kevin stepped out on the 4S--his one and only quad, and got -3.20 GOE on it, so it was worth only 7.10 points.

He got a UR call on the 4T and got - 1.60 GOE, yielding him only 2.4 points.

Both of his 3As got UR calls, and so did the 3T on his 3S+3T combo.

The fact is his 3As have OFTEN called UR at other competitions. His technique on the axel is appalling, and it hasn't been at all unusual for him to fall on the 3A (as he did at JW). He also fell on a 3Z.

There was nothing beautiful or well-executed about Kevin's FS. It was a mess from start to finish.

As the #4 man on the National team, Kevin would be the first alternate if any of the 3 men going to Worlds was ill or injured, so he was required to be competition-ready all the way up to Worlds. It shouldn't have made any difference that he only had a few days' notice about going to JW. And it wasn't just two days' notice. Reynolds substituting for Rogozine was officially announced on 2/19, and I'm sure he would have known about it well before the initial announcement. Reynolds had at least a week's notice, maybe more.

sarukou said:

Reynolds was low-balled yet again. Lands 2 quads (one with step out), and six triples, yet was 10th in the long. Beautiful quad toe, solid first triple axel. He was absolutely slaughtered in downgrades, losing more than 20pts for the 3 which he landed.
His first two downgrades on the quad and axel alone cost him 15pts, the difference between 9th and 3rd right there!!

Click to expand...

Sorry , I have to agree with oleada and chuckm on this one. I let them comment first because they actually saw the junior worlds. My comments are based on repeated viewings of Kevin at other competitions.

None of Kevin's jumps are beautiful. His jumps , even when rotated and landed, have no height, no distance and poor run out. Kevin can do quads mainly due to his ability to rotate very quickly in the air. His axel technique is particular is dreadul to watch ( stalking the jump).

Kevin's basic skating skills are so weak that I have seen pre-novice skaters with better skills. He is so slow and his edges are weak. Because of this lack of speed, he gets no distance on his jumps at all.

Even if he had the best choreography in the world, it would mean nothing as Kevin does not have the basic skills to execute that choreography properly.. He does not even have proper edge control so that he can time his movements to the music properly.

Joesitz said:

if Adam does make the 2010 Nats and goes to the Olys, and then beats Oda, what will Morozov say?

and if Dai beats Oda. Oh Morozov.

Click to expand...

I think Morozov is over rated anyway so I would have no problem with that. Mr. M would probably be taking a lot of stomach pills.

Joe you seem a bit down on Adam. I like him and am glad he's finally (I hope) solved his triple axel problems. My ideal Nats podium next year and therefore my Oly hopes would be Weir, Abbott and Rippon - at least at this point.

I am interested in seeing how the younger international skaters develop, especially Denis Ten.

Step by step I get to see the programs (with Chris and Nicky - German Eurosport didn't broadcast).

Nan Song
Talk about high jumps. I mean really high, like huge... I love high jumps. Solid skater apart from that, spins a bit average, steps a bit generic perhaps. But basics look good and the jumps are high. I hope he doesn't go away like all those other Chinese skaters. And I hope I'll manage to remember his face / name for the future.

Curran Oi
You can look the costume up under "We are Americans and don't wear sparkly velvet with frills". Oi looked so tense, so nervous - all his movements were abrupt and somehow short. It was like watching one of those people eat who cannot sit still, you know, they scratch their heads, clean their nails, bite on their nails, keep touching the plate, the knife etc. I haven't seen him before, is that typical for him or was it just today? Jumps were landed, but they also looked tense and nervous. I don't know. Strange guy.

Chao Yang
Good quality skating (actually reminds me of the other Chinese guy from last year), solid jumps, good spins. There are two things he needs in my opinion: Triple Axel and some more personality, something more distinctive.

Ross Miner
"We are Americans and don't wear sparkly velvet with frills" - No.2. Also looked nervous, his skating skills seemed somehow better to me, he has loads of speed out there - but also lots of movement, there was no calmness. Jumps, well, we all saw the deductions. I enjoyed the spins a lot. Good speed, nice positions - really an excellent spinner.

Elladj Balde
I love him. He has such a distinctive personality, so much spunk. He is like the Canadian Joubert. Excellent basics; good speed, great edging. Spins are mediocre - but hey, others became European and World Champion with mediocre spins. The power of his jumps is great, too. His landings are somewhat erratic, as if he needs some more control over his power. Plus the guy is musical; he was a bit behind the music after the first two jumping passes, perhaps he lost time on the Axel - but by the time the 3R came around it was great to the music. And the last step sequence was quite effective.

Yuzuru Hanyu
Perhaps he would have been better off with a "We are Americans and don't wear sparkly velvet with frills"-costume. Ugh! Looked like pyjamas combined with velvety sweat pants and a classical Nutcracker-costume. But the skater is cute. He looked awkward at times, which had perhaps a bit to do with the pants, that just looked too big for him. His spins are great, good over the ice - so much potential. I loved the inabauer, excellent arch for a male representative of the human race. I am looking forward to more Hanyu. Last year I was a bit worried that there would be some kind of void in Japanese men's skating after the great trio (Dai, Nobu, Taka), but this guy is certainly a great talent.

--------

I am still waiting for the rest of the videos. China has three spots next year, by the way (as have the US). Good for them. France lost a spot, Kazakhstan got a second one.

I'm not surprised Ross looked nervous. I don't think he has ever skated internationally before.