2012 Cup of China Mens Free Skate

[LuCN]

Good news! Song looks much better on Sunday evening ) (according to the evening dinner reports and photos)

and in the lottery draw during the dinner,Dai's coach got a mobilephone and he and Daisuke gave it to Song to wish him recover soon,so warm

btw，some fans met Joubert,he's very kind to everyone,but looked really tired,hope he can recover soon too.

[doctor2014]

This bad decision by JFS may result in worst case that either one of them cannot go to a final. As the way JFS and garbage media are pushing Hanyu, I guess this unfortunate one can be Takahashi. He needs to get back his quad and performs perfectly to win against Judge`s favorite Hanyu.

Still, I think he should not have been assigned to NHK. Daisuke was the winner of the 2011 Japan Nationals and thus has all the rights to be at NHK this year.

If JFS insists Yuzuru be at NHK, then they should have assigned Daisuke elsewhere, albeit non-traditionally. It's sickening how they treat Daisuke year after year. But he never complains...he just comes back stronger than ever!!

I agree that the JSF has made a stupid decision, but I don’t think Niki2012 should be so worried and even posted that “this unfortunate one can be Takahashi.” As kiri433 posted, Daisuke always came back stronger than ever, especially at NHK. Remember last year he didn’t do well at SC and placed only 3rd there. Then he came back stronger than ever at NHK and beat a clean Kozuka by more than 10 points in the SP. He’s capable of achieving the same thing this year. And his silver at CoC means he has a better chance to get into GPF than last year, when he placed 3rd at SC.

As for Hanyu, I think he would be better off if he was assigned to TEB. But the French fed is smart in avoiding strong competitiors, e.g. Mirai and Hanyu, so the French skaters have better chances to win at home. The JSF needs to learn from the FFSG.

Also, I disagree with kiri433 that “it's sickening how the JSF treat Daisuke year after year.” This is not true. The JSF actually treated Daisuke very well. Last year Daisuke had a meltdown at the 2011 Worlds and Kozuka was the reigning World silver medalist, but the JSF clearly favored Daisuke over Kozuka at NHK and the Japan Nationals. Daisuke’s PCS were 16 points higher than Kozuka at NHK. Normally a fed wouldn’t lowball its reigning world silver medalist that way, but that was what JSF did at 2011 NHK.

Then at 2011 Japanese Nationals the JSF lowballed Kozuka and Hanyu again to make Daisuke the national champion. Even though I’ve always preferred Daisuke’s presentation much more than Kozuka’s and was glad that Daisuke beat Kozuka at the 2011 Japanese Nationals, I can still understand Kozuka fans’ complaint that Kozuka should have won the Japanese Nationals because Daisuke was overscored and should not have received 86.90 in PCS when he fell 3 times in the FS.

At Japan Open on Oct. 6 the JSF showed again that Daisuke is their favorite when they lowballed Hanyu and Kozuka again for Daisuke’s sake. Kozuka actually beat Daisuke on TES, but Daisuke got 91.06 in PCS and beat Kozuka 8 points there and thus won. I also think Daisuke should have won the JO, but his I Pagliacci program did not deserve 91.06 in PCS, so Kozuka was lowballed in comparison.

The JSF lowballed Hanyu even more and did not even give him the chance to compete at JO, so he had to go to the Finlandia Trophy. If the JSF and garbage media were pushing Hanyu, then they should have invited him to compete with Daisuke at JO instead of inviting Kozuka, as Hanyu is the reigning world bronze medalist and had a much better 2011-12 season than Kozuka. Hanyu competed on the same day (Oct. 6) at the Finlandia Trophy and his score there would have beaten both Daisuke and Kozuka at the JO. So the JSF did Daisuke and Kozuka big favor by denying Hanyu the chance to skate at JO.

Thus, the hierarchy according to JSF is 1) Daisuke, 2) Kozuka, and 3) Hanyu.

[FSGMT]

I agree that the JSF has made a stupid decision, but I don’t think Niki2012 should be so worried and even posted that “this unfortunate one can be Takahashi.” As kiri433 posted, Daisuke always came back stronger than ever, especially at NHK. Remember last year he didn’t do well at SC and placed only 3rd there. Then he came back stronger than ever at NHK and beat a clean Kozuka by more than 10 points in the SP. He’s capable of achieving the same thing this year. And his silver at CoC means he has a better chance to get into GPF than last year, when he placed 3rd at SC.

As for Hanyu, I think he would be better off if he was assigned to TEB. But the French fed is smart in avoiding strong competitiors, e.g. Mirai and Hanyu, so the French skaters have better chances to win at home. The JSF needs to learn from the FFSG.

Also, I disagree with kiri433 that “it's sickening how the JSF treat Daisuke year after year.” This is not true. The JSF actually treated Daisuke very well. Last year Daisuke had a meltdown at the 2011 Worlds and Kozuka was the reigning World silver medalist, but the JSF clearly favored Daisuke over Kozuka at NHK and the Japan Nationals. Daisuke’s PCS were 16 points higher than Kozuka at NHK. Normally a fed wouldn’t lowball its reigning world silver medalist that way, but that was what JSF did at 2011 NHK.

Then at 2011 Japanese Nationals the JSF lowballed Kozuka and Hanyu again to make Daisuke the national champion. Even though I’ve always preferred Daisuke’s presentation much more than Kozuka’s and was glad that Daisuke beat Kozuka at the 2011 Japanese Nationals, I can still understand Kozuka fans’ complaint that Kozuka should have won the Japanese Nationals because Daisuke was overscored and should not have received 86.90 in PCS when he fell 3 times in the FS.

At Japan Open on Oct. 6 the JSF showed again that Daisuke is their favorite when they lowballed Hanyu and Kozuka again for Daisuke’s sake. Kozuka actually beat Daisuke on TES, but Daisuke got 91.06 in PCS and beat Kozuka 8 points there and thus won. I also think Daisuke should have won the JO, but his I Pagliacci program did not deserve 91.06 in PCS, so Kozuka was lowballed in comparison.

The JSF lowballed Hanyu even more and did not even give him the chance to compete at JO, so he had to go to the Finlandia Trophy. If the JSF and garbage media were pushing Hanyu, then they should have invited him to compete with Daisuke at JO instead of inviting Kozuka, as Hanyu is the reigning world bronze medalist and had a much better 2011-12 season than Kozuka. Hanyu competed on the same day (Oct. 6) at the Finlandia Trophy and his score there would have beaten both Daisuke and Kozuka at the JO. So the JSF did Daisuke and Kozuka big favor by denying Hanyu the chance to skate at JO.

Thus, the hierarchy according to JSF is 1) Daisuke, 2) Kozuka, and 3) Hanyu.

I agree that, at National Championships, the interests of the federation are always observed and that, in 2011, Dai was obviously overscored (86 with three falls!!), but at JO the judges are not Japanese, they are from all over the world, so they did overscore him (91...) but it was not JSF's fault I suppose...

[let`s talk]

Voronov was a little underscored in PCS, especially in SP, but it wouldn't affect the general result. As much as I liked Machida's SP, as much I disliked his FS. It's ridiculous, in some circus artist costume, that btw caused Voronov to get "caught" by Machida's feathers on the podium, Dai had to keep everyone's flowers to let the guys free themselves: http://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kkfksen...13703/?page=11 Well, after three major events JO, SA and SC Machida is the first winner with no clean quad.

N.Song is fine, it seems :
http://i623.photobucket.com/albums/t...yjdpi5560j.jpg
http://i069.radikal.ru/1211/4d/1d50025a0207.jpg

[Bluebonnet]

Wondering if Song's neck could recover by TEB?

[doctor2014]

I agree that, at National Championships, the interests of the federation are always observed and that, in 2011, Dai was obviously overscored (86 with three falls!!), but at JO the judges are not Japanese, they are from all over the world, so they did overscore him (91...) but it was not JSF's fault I suppose...

Well, the Japan Open is not a serious ISU GP event. It’s like a commercial event funded mainly by Japan, and its main goal is to entertain the local audience and the winner takes $45,000, a big prize. So I can understand that Daisuke going in as the clear Japan #1 would be given a lot of home bonus at that event.

as much I disliked his FS. It's ridiculous, in some circus artist costume, that btw caused Voronov to get "caught" by Machida's feathers on the podium… Well, after three major events JO, SA and SC Machida is the first winner with no clean quad.

Machida’s FS and that costume are indeed unaesthetic, and he is the only Japanese man who’s not attempting a quad in the short program. I respect Daisuke for always going for the quad. He would have won without the 4T, but he still went for it. Machida is just so lucky that he competed at a weak CoC while Oda, Kozuka, and Hanyu are assigned to 2 strong competitions. I so wanted Daisuke to win CoC. Well, I’m still confident that he’ll come back stronger than ever and win NHK.

[Victura]

Good news! Song looks much better on Sunday evening ) (according to the evening dinner reports and photos)

and in the lottery draw during the dinner,Dai's coach got a mobilephone and he and Daisuke gave it to Song to wish him recover soon,so warm

btw，some fans met Joubert,he's very kind to everyone,but looked really tired,hope he can recover soon too.

Thanks for the update. Uplifting to read on all three skaters.

[Ice Diva]

Machida's firebird was ridiculous. Seriously. Everyone in the arena was expressing disbelief at his costume before the Rippon/Song clash happened.

But Dai's fp was a bit of a let down too. At this point if he isn't going to make GPF, he should change the program completely....

My thoughts too about the Machida costume! As for DT's program - it was awful. I hated the music; it seemed to completely overpower him & magnify his difficulty with his nemesis: the quad - often two-footed & under-rotated. But it's his first real competition of the year so plenty of time yet.