Entry Lists/Predictions

[gardenernaga]

Just for reference only
To know better Click 10/11SB on the top
http://deep-edge.net/list.php?s=2010&no=12

[bigsisjiejie]

Kexin Zhang from China is too young to compete here. Her listed age is 10/17/1995 which would have her as only 14 by the cutoff date of July 1st. After the whole third pair at Junior Worlds debacle, this is quite, well, suspicious.

You are correct, and if the JW debacle taught anything, it is that the other federations should be speaking up in protest right now to the ISU, and not wait until the competition starts or is over.

[oleada]

True. But to be fair, the Chinese federation shouldn't be sending these entries in the first place.

[SkateFiguring]

Just for reference only
To know better Click 10/11SB on the top
http://deep-edge.net/list.php?s=2010&no=12

Thanks for the link. This site makes it easy to rank the competitors by records.

Mens by SB:

1 Takahiko KOZUKA
2 Daisuke TAKAHASHI
3 Adam RIPPON
4 Kevin REYNOLDS
5 Jeremy ABBOTT
6 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH
7 Yuzuru HANYU
8 Jinlin GUAN
9 Shawn SAWYER
10 Jialiang WU
11 Nan SONG
12 Denis TEN

By WS:

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI
2 Jeremy ABBOTT
3 Takahiko KOZUKA
4 Adam RIPPON
5 Kevin REYNOLDS
6 Denis TEN
7 Yuzuru HANYU
8 Nan SONG
9 Shawn SAWYER
10 Abzal RAKIMGALIEV
11 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH
12 Jinlin GUAN

These lists suggest Takahashi, Abbott and Reynolds have slipped this season but the top 5 of both list are the same. So these are the podium contenders. Possible spoilers could be Swayer, and Hanyu, appearing in the 5 - 10 positions of both list. And maybe Mahbanoozadeh just by the rise with his SB.

[SkateFiguring]

Ladies:

By SB

1 Alissa CZISNY
2 Miki ANDO
3 Akiko SUZUKI
4 Mirai NAGASU
5 Rachael FLATT
6 Amelie LACOSTE
7 Cynthia PHANEUF
8 Myriane SAMSON
9 Mao ASADA
10 Bingwa GENG
11 Kexin ZHANG
12 Min-Jeong KWAK

By WS

1 Akiko SUZUKI
2 Miki ANDO
3 Mao ASADA
4 Rachael FLATT
5 Alissa CZISNY
6 Cynthia PHANEUF
7 Mirai NAGASU
8 Amelie LACOSTE
9 Myriane SAMSON
10 Min-Jeong KWAK
11 Cheltzie LEE
12 Bingwa GENG

Suzuki, Ando, Czisny and Flatt stay in top 5 in both list. Mao is the reigning champion with a comeback started. So I would say these 5 are contending for the podium, with possible spoilers from Nagasu and Phaneuf.

[SkateFiguring]

PAIRS

By SB

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG
2 Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH
3 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT
5 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN
6 Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG
7 Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS
8 Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD
9 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG
10 Huibo DONG / Yiming WU

By WS

Qing PANG / Jian TONG
Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT
Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN
Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN
Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG
Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG
Huibo DONG / Yiming WU
Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH
Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS
Meagan DUHAMEL / Eric RADFORD

Here Pang/Tong, Takahashi/Tran, and Yankowskas/Coughlin make top 5 of both list and have to be the forerunners. MT/M is the team to have had a quick rise and the momentum whereas Duhame/Radford is a new team with seasoned skaters so they could be the dark horse. P/T is a sure bet while the other teams mentioned will have to battle for 2nd and 3rd.

[SkateFiguring]

DANCE

By SB

Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI
Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE
Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN
Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG
Xiaoyang / Chen WANG
Corenne BRUHNS / Benjamin WESTENBERGERYU
Viktoria KUCHERENKO / Viktor ADONIEV
Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR
Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN
Maria BOROUNOV / Evgeni BOROUNOV

By WS

Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR
Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER
Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE
Xintong HUANG / Xun ZHENG
Madison CHOCK / Greg ZUERLEIN
Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI
Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG
Xueting GUAN / Meng WANG
Maria BOROUNOV / Evgeni BOROUNOV
Danielle OBRIEN / Gregory MERRIMAN
Corenne BRUHNS / Benjamin WESTENBERGER
Viktoria KUCHERENKO / Viktor ADONIEV

Ice is less slippery for dancers so Davis/White is the best bet, followed by virtue/Moir with potential to surprise and stun, while the two Canadian teams will battle with the quick rising Shibutanis for 3rd. I predict a N American sweep. The Chinese teams are sneaking up there with little notice here in N America so they should be watched for the future or maybe even a spoiler dark horse this season.

[CARA]

True. But to be fair, the Chinese federation shouldn't be sending these entries in the first place.

I couldn't agree more. This is the kind of "win at any cost" attitude that make a whole lot of people cynical toward our sports.
First Chinese gymnasts Olympic under age controversy. Then the underage figure skater controversy the last year, and now this. I am really running out of patience and what little respect that I still have toward the Chinese federation.

I hope Chinese figure skate fans speak out against their own federation.

[Sylvia]

I've been told that the ISU is aware of Kexin ZHANG's birthdate situation and are in touch with the Chinese federation about it.

[SkateSkates]

Pairs:
1.) Pang/Tong - they should have no problem
2.) Takahashi/Tran
3.) Yankowskas/Coughlin if they skate like Nationals.

Dance:
1.) Davis/White, obviously
2.) Virtue/Moir, but they are a question mark - could be great, could need work
3.) Crone/Poirier, but there will be competition from the Shibutanis if they skate like Nationals

Men:
1.) Kozuka - he is the most consistent, and takes advantage when others falter
2.) Rippon - he has something to prove after placing 5th at Nationals
3.) Takahashi - will make many small errors in the LP

Ladies:
1.) Asada - she is on the upswing and has her confidence back
2.) Ando - she has been skating solid LPs all season
3.) Czisny - this is her year, but if she falters, Nagasu has something to prove after placing 3rd at Nationals

[CARA]

I've been told that the ISU is aware of Kexin ZHANG's birthdate situation and are in touch with the Chinese federation about it.

Good! Let's hope both ISU and the Chinese federation do right by us fans and especially skaters who adhere to rules.
No more cheating. Gosh, enough's enough!

[FlattFan]

The international judges really like T/T. They seem to pull points out of no where. They only do double lutz twist and her sbs jumps aren't that impressive but they placed above the top american teams in all competitions.
The win at JGPF only helps. Can't wait to see how it will play out.

[bigsisjiejie]

I couldn't agree more. This is the kind of "win at any cost" attitude that make a whole lot of people cynical toward our sports.
First Chinese gymnasts Olympic under age controversy. Then the underage figure skater controversy the last year, and now this. I am really running out of patience and what little respect that I still have toward the Chinese federation.

I hope Chinese figure skate fans speak out against their own federation.

I don't disagree with you. The Chinese Federation will do whatever it feels it can get away with.
However, most Chinese fans, assuming they are even aware of a rules breach, will normally take a defensive posture and default to nationalism rather than fairness when it comes to sports.

[Joesitz]

doesn't IN also have a list of Bests? maybe we should prefer one over the other. Maybe you could make your own list.

[BackStage Barbie]

I am so excited for 4 Continents this year because the Nations involved are sending their top skaters for the most part. I've done my predictions/previews for Ice Dance and Pairs so far on my blog http://backstagebarbie.blogspot.com/

I will be posting my ladies and mens previews later this week.

Ice Dance: Pairs:
Davis/White Pang/Tong
Virtue/Moir Yankowskas/Coughlin
Shibutanis Moore-Towers/Moscovitch
Crone/Poirier Denney/Barrett
Weaver/Poje Evora/Ladwig
Chock/Zuerlein Takahashi/Tran