Predictions

[aemeraldrainc]

I meant to actually try my hand at predicting results for Cup of China,
but got distracted after Skate Canada and missed my chance...
Sooo I know it's way early, but I wanted to make sure I did it while it's on
my mind.

Predictions, anyone?

http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent00011299.htm

[FTnoona]

It might help for people to know who is competing at NHK this week

Men
1 Tomas VERNER
2 Samuel CONTESTI
3 Takahiko KOZUKA
4 Tatsuki MACHIDA
5 Daisuke TAKAHASHI
6 Konstantin MENSHOV
7 Armin MAHBANOOZADEH
8 Ross MINER
9 Brandon MROZ

Ladies
1 Cynthia PHANEUF
2 Kiira KORPI
3 Mae Berenice MEITE
4 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI
5 Mao ASADA
6 Shoko ISHIKAWA
7 Akiko SUZUKI
8 Alena LEONOVA
9 Ashley WAGNER
10 Agnes ZAWADZKI

Pairs
1 Natasha PURICH / Raymond SCHULTZ
2 Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY
3 Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK
4 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN
5 Lubov ILIUSHECHKINA / Nodari MAISURADZE
6 Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV
7 Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR
8 Caydee DENNEY / John COUGHLIN

Ice Dance
1 Alexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE
3 Nelli ZHIGANSHINA / Alexander GAZSI
4 Lorenza ALESSANDRINI / Simone VATURI
5 Cathy REED / Chris REED
6 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV
7 Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT
8 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI

[aemeraldrainc]

Sorry. I meant to edit after I first posted, but it's a bit hard to cut and paste on my iPod.
Thanks for posting the entries.

[FTnoona]

Sorry. I meant to edit after I first posted, but it's a bit hard to cut and paste on my iPod.
Thanks for posting the entries.

naw that's cool.
For ladies I want to see Mao skate a clean program. I don't care if she wins or not. I just want her to go clean even if that means water down tech content.
1. Akiko
2. Wagner
3. Leonova

I think the Japanese men have a relatively easy field that they are up against. As long as Takahashi and Kozuka don't mess up too bad they will podium.
1. Takahashi
2. Kozuka
3. Verner

[burntBREAD]

MEN
1. Kozuka
2. Takahashi
3. Verner
4. Mroz
5. Miner

LADIES
1. Suzuki
2. Asada (a complete question mark, her training has not been as publicized as usual)
3. Zawadzki
4. Korpi
5. Wagner

PAIRS
1. Savchenko/Szolkowy
2. Kavaguti/Smirnov
3. Takahashi/Tran
4. Iliushechkina/Maisuradze
5. Denney/Coughlin

DANCE
1/2. Shibutanis or W/P (if the Shibutanis get low levels again they'll definitely be behind a clean W/P)
3. Lynn/Logan (predicting an upset! They've scored higher than both P/I and Z/G this season, shame they don't have two GPs; I/K seem to be struggling a bit)
4. I/K
5. Z/G or P/I

[aemeraldrainc]

1. Takahiko Kozuka
2. Daisuke Takahashi
3. Tomas Verner
4. Samuel Contesti
5-7. the Americans in whatever order
8. Konstantin Menshov
9. Tatsuki Machida


1. Mao Asada
2. Akiko Suzuki
3. Either Wagner or Agnes
4. Wagner or Agnes
5. Elene Gedevanishvili
6. Kiira Korpi
7. Alena Leonova
8. Cynthia Phaneuf
9. Mae Berenice Meite
10. Shoko Ishikawa

I'll do pairs/ice dance next.

[aemeraldrainc]

naw that's cool.
For ladies I want to see Mao skate a clean program. I don't care if she wins or not. I just want her to go clean even if that means water down tech content.
1. Akiko
2. Wagner
3. Leonova

I think the Japanese men have a relatively easy field that they are up against. As long as Takahashi and Kozuka don't mess up too bad they will podium.
1. Takahashi
2. Kozuka
3. Verner

And I'm going to be completely optimistic and maybe unrealistic and say Asada wins it.
But I wouldn't mind if Akiko does instead.

I agree with your men's result. Either Kozuka or Takahashi have it in the bag.

[JDLutz]

Here are mine....

Ladies
1.Agnes Zawadzki
2.Akiko Suzuki
3.Ashley Wagner
4.Mao Asada
5.Kiira Korpi
6.Elene Gedevanishvili
7.Mae Berenice Meite
8.Alena Leonova
9.Cynthia Phaneuf
10.Shoko Ishikawa

Men
1.Takahiko Kozuka
2.Brandon Mroz
3.Daisuke Takahashi
4.Tomas Verner
5.Armin Mahbanoozadeh
6.Ross Miner
7.Tatsuki Machida
8.Konstantin Menshov
9.Samuel Contesti

Pairs
1.Kavaguti/Smirnov
2.Savchenko/Szolkowy
3.Iliusheckina/Maisuradze
4.Takahashi/Tran
5.Castelli/Shnapir
6.Denney/Coughlin
7.Berton/Hotarek
8.Purich/Shultz

Dance
1.Weaver/Poje
2.Shibutani/Shibutani
3.Kriengkrairut/Giulietti-Shmitt (must suck to be an announcer when theyre on,lol)
4.Ilinykh/Katsalapov
5.Paul/Islam
6.Zhiganshina/Gazsi
7.Reed/Reed
8.Alessandrini/Vaturi

[loren]

Men
1.Takahiko Kozuka
2.Tomas Verner
3.Brandon Mroz
4.Daisuke Takahashi
5.Armin Mahbanoozadeh
6.Ross Miner
7.Samuel Contesti
8.Tatsuki Machida
9.Konstantin Menshov

Ladies
1. Akiko Suzuki
2. Mao Asada
3. Agnes Zawadzki
4. Ashley Wagner
5. Kiira Korpi
6. Alena Leonova
7. Elene Gedevanishvili
8. Cynthia Phaneuf
9. Mae Berenice Meite
10. Shoko Ishikawa

[NMURA]

Men
Takahashi
Mroz
Verner

Does Kozuka go for a 4T(<) in the SP? I think he does and that will assure Takahashi's win. I'm more interested in Mroz's quad lutz attempt.

Ladies
Asada
Suzuki
Leonova

Foreign ladies have never scored higher than 165 points at NHK trophy. The winner will be Asada or Suzuki. In past, Asada has no bad performance at the same competitions with Suzuki and never lost to her. The biggest question is whether Suzuki can handle her nerves. Past records show that she performs well only when there is not much pressure.

Pair
S / S
K / S
T / T

Takahashi/Tran should be placed two notches above where they actually deserve.

[MikiAndoFan#1]

Ladies
1. Akiko
2. Ashley
3. Kiira

I don't know what to expect from Mao, but I'm really hoping she does well!

Men
1. Daisuke
2. Takahiko
3. Tomás

Pairs
1. Savchenko & Szolkowy
2. Takahashi & Tran
3. Kavaguti & Smirnov

Ice Dance
1. Weaver & Poje
2. The Shibutanis
3. Ilinykh & Katsalapov

[koatcue]

Ladies
1. Mao
2. Akiko
3. Ashley

Men
1. Daisuke
2. Takahiko
3. Tomás

Pairs
1. Savchenko & Szolkowy
2. Kavaguti & Smirnov
3. Takahashi & Tran

Ice Dance
1. The Shibutanis
2. Weaver & Poje
3. Ilinykh & Katsalapov

[snowflake]

So Adrian Schultheiss has withdrawn because of injury practicing at Coupe de Nice.

Sadly, due to back injury, Adrian will not be competing at the NHK Trophy, which will be held in Sapporo, Japan from 11th to 13th November. Adrian had an X-ray at a hospital a few days ago, and it has turned out that he has a spinal disc herniation, which means he has to rest his back for two weeks, avoiding movements such as forward bending that can cause further pain. At the moment Adrian is allowed to walk and just slide around on the ice, and he will see a doctor again for a follow-up in two weeks.

Sad for him. This guy doesn't need more troubles.

I wish there could be a substitute. Who is next in turn? What is the time limit?
Just eight men in China and now nine in Japan so far.

Excited to see what Asada and Verner will do this season!

Men:
Menshov
Kozuka
Verner

Ladies:
Suzuki
Wagner
Leonova

Pairs:
Savchenko/Szolkowy
Kavaguti/Smirnov
Takahashi/Tran

[Okami]

Asada (a complete question mark, her training has not been as publicized as usual)

Some clips from Mao's practice sessions (recently aired but filmed most likely in September):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2dfoMDZh30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3nD0eIIlG8

Mao and coach Sato say that right now their goal is to gradually improve Mao's speed (aiming for Sochi) and master 3Lz.

For those who missed it earlier, a fan montage of Mao's practice clips posted in September: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngNnV_a-420

[burntBREAD]

Some clips from Mao's practice sessions (recently aired but filmed most likely in September):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2dfoMDZh30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3nD0eIIlG8

Mao and coach Sato say that right now their goal is to gradually improve Mao's speed (aiming for Sochi) and master 3Lz.

For those who missed it earlier, a fan montage of Mao's practice clips posted in September: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngNnV_a-420

Thank you! Hope she does well this season

Edit: Is that Ai Sugiyama? (retired tennis player)