Lots of Entries. I wonder who will be shown on ESPN.
The only top tier skaters among the men that I see are Chngjian LI, Min Zhang, Daisuke Takahashi, Evan Lysacek, Delmore (if you consider him top tier), Matt Savoie.
Among the Ladies: Yukari Nakano (don't know her), Yoshie Onda, Fumie Suguri; Amber, Jennie and Beatriza. Will there be a showdown between Jenny and Bebe?
There are some substitutes I'd like to see again.
Joe
Joe
Last edited by Joesitz; 02-08-2005 at 02:18 PM.
I predict a sweep of the pairs event for China and a possible sweep of the ice dancing event for the U.S.
It is strange that all the top ice dance couples from Canada have elected not to go. In the past they used to participate.
Yana
Originally Posted by Joesitz
Nakano was the Japanese skater who created a lot of buzz at SA a couple of years ago when she landed the 3axel in competition (1st since Midori Ito). She has some promise, but from everything I've seen, is still pretty unpolished and inconsistent (she does have more artistry than Ludmila Nelidina, the other woman who landed the 3axel at that SA, but that's really not saying much)
Definitely probable, but I still wouldn't rule out some of the Canadian teams (Senft/Gislason have been doing rather well on the junior circuit)
I'm interested to know if any of the teams/skaters from the other countries do well enough to be shown (I'd love to see some of the Mexican skaters make it up there for a change of pace; probably won't happen though, nor would ESPN show them if they did :sheesh: )
ITA and I would like to see them judged more fairly.
Joe
Inoue and Baldwin are Out of Four Continents
John Baldwin was injured (no official announcement yet) while practicing on home ice, and so Rena and John have withdrawn from 4CC.
They will be replaced by Brooke Castile and Benjamin Okolski.
Let's hope he recovers before worlds :sheesh:
Results Page:
http://www.isufs.org/results/fc2005/
Where in the WORLD is Song Gao? He had a good season last year, making the GPF and now he seems to have dropped off the face of the planet, rather similar to Binshu Xu, China's Ladies champion (tho she at least appeared in a few junior competitions.)
In the men's, I would LOVE to see Delmore on the podium, and with this field I think he might have a fair shot if he can hold it together.
I see Japan taking 2 out of 3 medals with Suguri and Onda, but I'm not sure I'd pick Nakano to complete a sweep. I'm with Joe thinking there's going to be a showdown between Kirk and Liang (hopefully Bebe will get the scores she deserves here, as opposed to being way undermarked the way she was at Nats). And I thought Mira Leung was going to be there as well, but she's not on the list.
Anything less than a sweep by the Chinese in pairs would be truly stunning.
I'm kind of thinking a possible US sweep in Dance as well, but I think it's more likely one of the Canadian couples will pick up the bronze. I'm rather rooting for Martine Patenaude & Pascal Denis -- I had no idea that Martine had been around so long (though not continuously); just LAST NIGHT, as a matter of fact, I was going through my Ice Dance History book and was startled to see her name in the standings from the 1990 Junior Worlds. Was also startled to see that Laura & Luke Munana (gee, do you suppose their mother was a General Hospital fan??) are now representing Mexico; I seem to recall they were US junior or novice medallists several years ago.
The showdown between Liang and Kirk will be an interesting one. But I think Jennifer will come out on top and she can even contest again Suguri for the gold if she skates a clean program. I'm interested in seeing how well 2nd tier Canadian team will do in 4CC.
Shen/Zhao have withdrawn, he is injured.
Thanks for posting, Coolio, and welcome. I agree, clean is the key for Jenny. She is capable of fine performances, but often makes just enough mistakes to keep her out of contention.
Mathman
I pray to god that Hongbo Zhao has a small injury so that he can have a full recovery by world. Otherwise Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin will definitely win their 2nd world title.
Hope someone has details to what happened to him
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