Just gotta say, Yuzuru Hanyu - Holy crap!!! 95!!!! His program was so good, and he just keeps amazing me. However, I do have to agree with some of you who said 95 seemed a little high. His program was great, but was it the greatest short program that's ever been done in the history of the current scoring system, therefore deserving the world record? I'm not so sure...
Just gotta say, Yuzuru Hanyu - Holy crap!!! 95!!!! His program was so good, and he just keeps amazing me. However, I do have to agree with some of you who said 95 seemed a little high. His program was great, but was it the greatest short program that's ever been done in the history of the current scoring system, therefore deserving the world record? I'm not so sure...
Plus, Hanyu received bonus points for his jumps. Great job tonight!! Actually, all the Japanese guys did great!! And they deserved their scores--no politics involved!!
Just saw Kozuka's program. I like what he is doing with Exodus. I don't think Hanyu was 10 points better.
Just gotta say, Yuzuru Hanyu - Holy crap!!! 95!!!! His program was so good, and he just keeps amazing me. However, I do have to agree with some of you who said 95 seemed a little high. His program was great, but was it the greatest short program that's ever been done in the history of the current scoring system, therefore deserving the world record? I'm not so sure...
You are correct in one aspect in that it is NOT the greatest SP ever done in the history of the COP.
But remember one important factor: The half-way bonus mark is now integrated into the COP.
And Hanyu has 2 jumps after the half-mark, two of them garnering approximately 10 points each.
Multiply each of those elements by 10% and account for those insanely difficult transitions and high-level spins, and you have a new WR score.
Yes, back to the points-grabbing of the current judging system, rather than looking at the overall program's value artistically and technically.
Sorry, I didn't meant it like that.
Honestly though, his transitions and steps inbetween just leave me in awe, I have never witnessed such elegance and grace throughout the transitions, especially the ones right before the jumps.
Granted, I do believe that Kozuka should've been much closer to Hanyu, same goes for Abbott
95 is a high score, but were you guys paying any attention at all to his elements? All of his jumps were not only clean as a whistle, but they were also all preceded by steps (and the axel came out of nowhere immediately following A COUNTER!!!). (I will concede, though that the new jump bonus added the 2 points that made the difference between record-matching and record-breaking.) The merits of his program components are harder to demonstrate in writing, but I never found the former record holder's particularly unmatched, so I think the PCS score wasn't out of the question.
I think it's a bit of a stretch to assume that a visiting federation, however, influential got an overwhelming score boost above and beyond the host federation...
Rewatching, I'm seeing more of the genius of that 3A (Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but those with more technical knowledge will hopefully get me.)
Did you all see how the counter, the airtime, and the exiting edge were, exactly on the music? Getting a 3A that big is praiseworthy, adding a counter immediately preceding it is mind-boggling, but doing all of that exactly to the music (allowing no room for error/hesitation)? Unheard of.[/QUOTE
I agree Serpentine that his jumping technique is there and this is a great start to the season. But on the flip side, you don't want an athlete to peak too early and you hate to say this but you hope that with all these quad attempts for both the short and long programs - we are potentially looking at some injuries.
Rewatching, I'm seeing more of the genius of that 3A (Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but those with more technical knowledge will hopefully get me.)
Did you all see how the counter, the airtime, and the exiting edge were, exactly on the music? Getting a 3A that big is praiseworthy, adding a counter immediately preceding it is mind-boggling, but doing all of that exactly to the music (allowing no room for error/hesitation)? Unheard of.
I agree Serpentine that his jumping technique is there and this is a great start to the season. But on the flip side, you don't want an athlete to peak too early and you hate to say this but you hope that with all these quad attempts for both the short and long programs - we are potentially looking at some injuries.
The second half bonus has been mentioned - this season's scores will likely be on the high end compared to previous years.
Hanyu, in addition to being crazy talented and with a huge repertoire of skills, is very young - meaning that he was trained exclusively for IJS skating and can make any adjustment that will get higher points. The second half jumps, doing a solo quad with actual steps into it (too often skaters skip the steps part when they make the 4T the "jump out of steps"), the spins, the transitions - he checks off every box. And while I was not a huge fan of this coaching change, it certainly signaled to the judges that his federation is very, very serious about his prospects. As they should be. He is a Plushenko-level talent without being encumbered by Mishin's taste or years spent under 6.0. When I saw Hanyu at 2009 JW, I thought he'd be going places, I just didn't think he'd do it so fast (I can dig up the three and a half year old post where I said he'd more likely contend in 2018). Keep proving me both right and wrong, Yuzuru
I hate the music though, and am not fond of the program. It makes him look like a Dai wannabe rather than a skater with his own (developing?) style, and he's not the performer Dai is. To that end, I think he was overscored in some of the components. But this was a 90+ skate, no doubt about it. I hope Nanami Abe will get a ton of credit for all the work she did with him, rather than his success being attributed to Orser à la Yu-Na Kim.