Japan Open June 2012 | Golden Skate

Japan Open June 2012

NMURA

Medalist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Initial list of the participants announced
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/japanopen2012/

Ladies
Suzuki
Wagner
Gold
Leonova

Men
Takahashi
Kozuka
Chan
Buttle

Quite disappointing that Hanyu is not in! Nice worlds has shown Hanyu's presence is not beneficial for Takahashi. That should be the reason.
 

evangeline

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Quite disappointing that Hanyu is not in! Nice worlds has shown Hanyu's presence is not beneficial for Takahashi. That should be the reason.

Do you mean that the JO organizers would purposely not invite Yuzuru in order to protect poor little Daisuke's sensitive feelings? Or did Daisuke throw a diva fit and threaten to quit if Yuzuru shows up? :laugh:
 

NMURA

Medalist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
In Nice, Takahashi's best effort was "beaten" by Hanyu with one fall. I can understand that was a big humiliation for Takahashi. If it was Japanese Nationals, Takahashi's FS could be 10 points higher than Hanyu's. Takahashi received super inflated score at WTT because Hanyu was not there. Their consideration would be obvious. Kozuka is no threat for Takahashi. The organizer (TV tokyo) and IMG have their preferences, but the JSF has the say as far as Japanese skaters are concerned.
 
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Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
Exciting! When is it held again? Too bad Joannie isn't competing in it, next to Buttle, it'd be great if there was another 'professional' skater (though Joannie is still considering a comeback?). Really excited about seeing Ashley compete! She's going to have a busy season!
 

phaeljones

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2012
Initial list of the participants announced
http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/japanopen2012/

Ladies
Suzuki
Wagner
Gold
Leonova

Men
Takahashi
Kozuka
Chan
Buttle

Quite disappointing that Hanyu is not in! Nice worlds has shown Hanyu's presence is not beneficial for Takahashi. That should be the reason.


It is disappointing that Hanyu is not there. I hope that he is doing well and continuing with his amazing trajectory of talent. It would be nice to see both him and Chan at the top of their game for Sochi for the one of the best Olympic competitions ever.

Regarding the Takahashi and Hanyu rivalry, the meeting at Sendai is not that far off. For the Japan Open, there may have been other considerations for not having Takahashi and Hanyu skate off against each other. It is, at least to me, even surprising that Hanyu and Takahashi are being slated to skate against each other at Sendai.

I was not aware that Takahashi had any anonymousity toward Hanyu and thought of him as the type who liked to meet competition head on. He does let drop a few comments that suggest he is a cold-blooded competitor (that is the norm for that level of skater), but he doesn't seem to show, as far as I can tell, characteristics of being a hot-blooded hissy-fit-prone diva. If he has a bad side, he seems to keep it very well hidden. I always thought of him as very classy and one of the bette ambassadors for the sport.

It would be nice to see Kozuka bounce back. He certainly has the talent within him. He can be a podium skater (that silver was not a fluke), and on a good day (which I know he has not really had in over a year) he can give Takahashi a run for his money.

It will be interesting to see Chan's choreography, and nice to see Buttle again.
 
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demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Do you mean that the JO organizers would purposely not invite Yuzuru in order to protect poor little Daisuke's sensitive feelings? Or did Daisuke throw a diva fit and threaten to quit if Yuzuru shows up? :laugh:

:laugh:

Also did you hear that Dai can be quite demanding in his Diva behavior. Did you know that he demands white roses in his dressing room after every competition and they have to be flown
in from a special florist and that no other skater can look him directly in the eye before he skates. (This is a joke people) :laugh:

Good news about Gold!
 

heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Interesting that both Gold and Wagner are going and no Rochette? Hmmm...seems like Gold will be getting the golden treatment until Sochi, LOL....Any possibility that Rochette gets that Skate Canada slot? The plot thickens...

ETA: Well it seems that Ms. Rochette is listed as a participant at the Medals Open event in Japan - which is the day before the Japan Open...my bad...:biggrin:
 
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doctor2014

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 21, 2010
Regarding the Takahashi and Hanyu rivalry, the meeting at Sendai is not that far off. For the Japan Open, there may have been other considerations for not having Takahashi and Hanyu skate off against each other. It is, at least to me, even surprising that Hanyu and Takahashi are being slated to skate against each other at Sendai.
Why are you surprised to see them both skating in Sendai, Miyagi? It’s Hanyu’s hometown, and everyone there loves him. Sendai has gone through many hardships after it was struck by the earthquake and tsunami, and Hanyu’s amazing performance and bronze medal at the Worlds brought the Governor of Miyagi to tears. Sendai would try its best to take Hanyu. And Daisuke is the reigning national champion of Japan, so he has to skate at NHK. This is why both Daisuke and Hanyu will skate in Sendai.

Also did you see let’s talk’s post in the “2012-13 Grand Prix Speculation” thread?
The one who will have the hard word is His Majesty Television. And those guys no doubt will want to see as many famous J-skaters as possible. I am more than sure that Dai, Hanyu, Mao will be all at NHK in Sendai.
Back on April 16 let’s talk correctly predicted that Daisuke, Hanyu, and Asada will all skate in Sendai because s/he knew that NHK TV would want all the famous J-skaters in order to have higher TV ratings. This is another reason why both Daisuke and Hanyu will skate in Sendai.

In fact, I don’t know if the JO organizers deny Hanyu the chance to skate at JO for Daisuke’s sake. But I do know that the JSF has often favored Kozuka—they’ve given him too many chances and overscored him, and they even purposely lowballed Daisuke for Kozuka’s sake. I’m not surprised that the JSF would favor Kozuka again after his less-than-stellar season—they start doing so by giving him the chance to skate at JO over Hanyu.

I’m just really disappointed. It should be Daisuke and Hanyu at JO. And since Kozuka and Hanyu will face each other at Skate America, by favoring Kozuka over Hanyu at JO the JSF could send a message to ISU that Kozuka is still much more important than Hanyu and thus help prepare Kozuka for SA…
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Gold is an interesting invitee. The NA competitors are balanced this year with American Ladies and Canadian Men.

So far Buttle is the only retired/pro skaters invited. I wonder if Plushenko will be there as he is a favorite of Japan Open.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Joannie has chosen to do the Medalwinners competition (pro skaters) the day before the Japan Open. That is a free skate only competition where the skaters will be judged on artistry only (technical content will not count).

I doubt very much that she would be the TBA at Skate Canada. If she has any thoughts of skating in Sochi, it wouldn't be wise for her to give up her 'returning' status for one GP event this year when she would be guaranteed two sure assignments in the 2013-2014 GP.

IMO, she probably won't return for Sochi. Her choice of Medalwinners over the Japan Open is just one indication.
 

heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Joannie has chosen to do the Medalwinners competition (pro skaters) the day before the Japan Open. That is a free skate only competition where the skaters will be judged on artistry only (technical content will not count).

I doubt very much that she would be the TBA at Skate Canada. If she has any thoughts of skating in Sochi, it wouldn't be wise for her to give up her 'returning' status for one GP event this year when she would be guaranteed two sure assignments in the 2013-2014 GP.

IMO, she probably won't return for Sochi. Her choice of Medalwinners over the Japan Open is just one indication.

You are probably right that she won't return for Sochi...
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
Joannie has chosen to do the Medalwinners competition (pro skaters) the day before the Japan Open. That is a free skate only competition where the skaters will be judged on artistry only (technical content will not count).

Jeff will be doing both MW and JO, a good economy of time and travel for 2 consecutive single program competitions.

Its name notwithstanding, JO is invitational. So it's really the organizer's choices who will skate there. Of course Joannie could have chosen to decline the invitation. We don't know.
 

LeCygne

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
What is the date for this event? And it's great that Gold got invited.. It'll be a long season for her though, with 2 GPs, Nationals, and potentially 4CC/Worlds/Junior Worlds.. Hopefully what happened to Tuktamisheva last season won't happen to Gracie. Though she did have a pretty long season last year too.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Jeff will be doing both MW and JO, a good economy of time and travel for 2 consecutive single program competitions.

Its name notwithstanding, JO is invitational. So it's really the organizer's choices who will skate there. Of course Joannie could have chosen to decline the invitation. We don't know.

When you look at it, top North American skaters over the past cycle have been Rochette, Czisny and Flatt. Czisny is injured and Flatt is in college. Wagner and Gold have been ascendant only this past season. So obviously, Rochette would have to have been top choice for a JO invitation. She could have opted to do both MW and JO, like Buttle, but she chose MW only.
 
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heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
What is the date for this event? And it's great that Gold got invited.. It'll be a long season for her though, with 2 GPs, Nationals, and potentially 4CC/Worlds/Junior Worlds.. Hopefully what happened to Tuktamisheva last season won't happen to Gracie. Though she did have a pretty long season last year too.

Glad to hear that I am not the only one thinking that this may be too many events for Gold....but it will be a positive experience for her as well....I also think that Wagner should start being selective about events...yes she has momentum but she needs to also think about pacing herself (ie prevent injury)....
 

DianaSelene

Medalist
Joined
Aug 2, 2011
As much as I would love to see Liza show her program before gp, I don't think she should go if invited. One reason why she began to skate poorly at gpf onwards was because her season started too early and she quickly became tired.
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
As much as I would love to see Liza show her program before gp, I don't think she should go if invited. One reason why she began to skate poorly at gpf onwards was because her season started too early and she quickly became tired.
It was her first year doing senior programs and she wasn't used to it. I think that this year shed be fine. Although I'd rather her wait and peak at Worlds
 
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