Senior Men's Free Skate

[mylastduchess]

Sandhu a shot at the podium this year. ROOTTFFFLLLL!!! You are nuts if you think Sandhu has any shot of a medal at Worlds this year. Lambiel, Joubert, Lysacek, Takahashi, Oda, Buttle, he doesnt have a prayer in hell of beating anyone of those guys unless they have a disaester or something. Sandhu has never been higher then 5th at Worlds and now that he is a has been who is going down he has a medal chance, you are in lala land my friend. Sandhu is going downhill, he is going downhill internationaly, you look at his protocals in his GP events they show this, he has now dropped to 3rd at Canadians. Mabee almost tied Sandhu's PC scores in the free skate with mistakes, and his strength isnt even PC scores, and Sandhu's PC scores were 9 full points below Buttle with a very good skate.

Sandhu is in the same boat Mabee or Sawyer would be at Worlds this year, no shot at top 5 or 6, and not a lock for the top 10. Maybe low top 10, maybe out of top 10, that is it. Medal contender at Worlds this year, Sandhu, hahah, you made my day with that laugher. Sawyer and Mabee are now in the same level as Sandhu, and Sandhu's level is well below that elite 6 or so in the World, his days of being up with that group are in the past.

Shandu is the only Canadian man capable of a quad, and even if he skates poorly internationally he still gets in the low 7's in the PCS marks unless he completely bombs, Mabee doesn't even get close to PCS Shandu is getting.

 

[iloveaxel]

Sandhu a shot at the podium this year. ROOTTFFFLLLL!!! You are nuts if you think Sandhu has any shot of a medal at Worlds this year. Lambiel, Joubert, Lysacek, Takahashi, Oda, Buttle, he doesnt have a prayer in hell of beating anyone of those guys unless they have a disaester or something. Sandhu has never been higher then 5th at Worlds and now that he is a has been who is going down he has a medal chance, you are in lala land my friend. Sandhu is going downhill, he is going downhill internationaly, you look at his protocals in his GP events they show this, he has now dropped to 3rd at Canadians. Mabee almost tied Sandhu's PC scores in the free skate with mistakes, and his strength isnt even PC scores, and Sandhu's PC scores were 9 full points below Buttle with a very good skate.

Sandhu is in the same boat Mabee or Sawyer would be at Worlds this year, no shot at top 5 or 6, and not a lock for the top 10. Maybe low top 10, maybe out of top 10, that is it. Medal contender at Worlds this year, Sandhu, hahah, you made my day with that laugher. Sawyer and Mabee are now in the same level as Sandhu, and Sandhu's level is well below that elite 6 or so in the World, his days of being up with that group are in the past.

I mostly agree with your analysis. Jeff's conditioning seems great, he's definitely in the medal hunt. Sandhu's goal should be top 10, instead of medals.
Even he nailed so many jumps tonight, it's still a very sloppy performance. A lot of jumps were not clean, plus horrible spins, footsteps, plus uninspiring music, he's going nowhere at worlds.

I'm not sure about Evan. Her programs are weak, but if others falter, he might have a shot although I seriously doubt this possibility since two Japanese and Brian have been extremely consistent this season.

Johnny weir will likely join Sandhu in battling the top 10.

 

[temperboy28]

Shandu is the only Canadian man capable of a quad,

So that makes him the best Canadian? Hardly. Scott Smith is the only American to do the quad consistently, is he the best American because of that over Weir and Lysacek? Naw. Buttle is way better then Sandhu now quad or no quad, Sandhu had one of his best long with a quad and only a couple minor mistakes and was skilled crushed by a quadless Buttle omiting atleast one triple-triple he could have done, and singling a triple axel. At Worlds last year Buttle had a heartbreakingly dissapointing competition, and still only finished 1 spot behind an inspired Sandhu. Sandhu will never come close to beating Buttle again, with or without his quad.

and even if he skates poorly internationally he still gets in the low 7's in the PCS marks unless he completely bombs, Mabee doesn't even get close to PCS Shandu is getting.

That doesnt make Sandhu special. Joubert, Takahashi, Oda, Weir, Lambiel, Lysacek, Buttle even with their worst skates get low 7's in PC scores. Buttle beat Sandhu by almost 10 points in the PC scores for their long programs here, even with Sandhu having an almost clean skate and a quad. That is a sign of something, be ready for Sandu's PC scores internationaly to keep going down.

Sandhu could only manage around a 70 in TES with an almost clean skate and a quad, very low considering. He will lose alot of TES to others through his now weak spins, and footwork, his poor jump layout, his not so high quality landings, etc....

 

[Tigger]

Mike, you do make good points about Eman, but...

It all hinges on if he lands those first two jumps. If he does, then usually the program follows suit. However, when's the last time he did that twice in the same competition? Sadly, I can't remember. Is he quad capable? Of course he is, but it's not consistant by a long shot. His spins and footwork these days...I don't know if it's age, conditioning or the fact he really doesn't care that much anymore because of the modelling, karoke, whatever else he does w/his time off ice is what he's more into these days. Whatever the reason, the quality that used to be there three or four years ago has gone downhill the last three, but especially the last two.

I once heard Kurt Browning say the saddest thing to watch is an athlete stay around too long regardless of the sport. I think Eman is on the edge of that very thing. He needs to sit down and really think about his skating once all is said and done this season. Patrick Chan and Joey Russel are on his heels and I honestly don't think Eman's heart is in it anymore.

A tough decision, but one that needs to be made. Because if Eman's heart is not in this thing anymore, then he is just keeping someone like a Shawn Sawyer or someone else off the World Team and from GP assignments.

 

[SailorGalaxia518]

Look, Bottom line is if Emanuel Sandhu can hit two clean programs he has the capability to win worlds but considering his track record that will be unlikely and if you consider the Japanese doing so well this season and the fact that the worlds will be in Tokyo, I think the odds are Emanuel even medalling or slim to none

There, I said my peace

 

[temperboy28]

I mostly agree with your analysis. Jeff's conditioning seems great, he's definitely in the medal hunt. Sandhu's goal should be top 10, instead of medals. Even he nailed so many jumps tonight, it's still a very sloppy performance. A lot of jumps were not clean, plus horrible spins, footsteps, plus uninspiring music, he's going nowhere at worlds.

Yeah I agree. Jeff looked in super condition even after so long off, in fact I think he used the time off to his benefit. I was very happy with what he showed here and definitely think he is in the game for another World medal this year. Super stoked and happy about that.

I agree on Sandhu. He should set his sights on a top 10 finish at Worlds this year, hoping for a medal or even a top 5 is not realistic for him anymore. If he comes in the top 10 it would be a super result for him and he could be very proud of it, it will be a battle to get into the top 10 for him for sure, and he will need 2 of his best skates. I agree with you about his skate, yeah landed the jumps pretty much, including some of the big ones. The spins and footwork were pretty awful though, the music and costume blech, he isnt going anywhere real at Worlds that is for sure.

I'm not sure about Evan. Her programs are weak, but if others falter, he might have a shot although I seriously doubt this possibility since two Japanese and Brian have been extremely consistent this season.

Johnny weir will likely join Sandhu in battling the top 10.

I agree with you about Lysacek. He wont medal without help from the others but Lysacek's strength is his consistency and competitiveness. I dont like his programs much either, they arent that strong this year. Still he can pull great determined skates out of the hat, he is alot like Mira Leung in that sense. The last 2 Worlds he wasnt supposed to medal and he did. So that is why I dont count him out, Joubert and Lambiel could have mistakes, Oda or Takahashi could feel the pressure skating at home, hopefully Buttle does great but he can miss some on the triple axel at times. Evan is very reliable, atleast in the long program, and if he has a good short at Worlds, will be right there if some of the other guys screw up.

I agree with you about Weir. Fighting for top 10 along with Sandhu and other guys like Preaubert, Chinese guys, Russian guy, etc...not up with the top guys though.

 

[temperboy28]

Look, Bottom line is if Emanuel Sandhu can hit two clean programs he has the capability to win worlds

You must be living in a time warp or something. That might have been true 3 years but it is a joke now. A more realistic statement is if Sandhu can somehow hit two clean programs he can surprise everybody with a 5th or 6th place finish at Worlds, but since that is not realistic one of his better outings to maybe squeek into the top 10 is what you can hope for.

Even in the crazy scenario Sandhu hit two clean programs every single one of Joubert, Lambiel, Oda, Takahashi, Buttle, and maybe even Lysacek would have to drop huge bombs on the ice for him to win even a bronze, too many mistakes to be realistic. His spins and footwork suck now, and those guys would dust him in points for that, their jump layout is way better then his and negates some of the points from a quad, his jump GOE would be way low compard to those guys even with a clean skate, those guys would all dust him in PCS now.

 

[SailorGalaxia518]

You must be living in a time warp or something. That might have been true 3 years but it is a joke now. A more realistic statement is if Sandhu can somehow hit two clean programs he can surprise everybody with a 5th or 6th place finish at Worlds, but since that is not realistic one of his better outings to maybe squeek into the top 10 is what you can hope for.

Even in the crazy scenario Sandhu hit two clean programs every single one of Joubert, Lambiel, Oda, Takahashi, Buttle, and maybe even Lysacek would have to drop huge bombs on the ice for him to win even a bronze, too many mistakes to be realistic. His spins and footwork suck now, and those guys would dust him in points for that, their jump layout is way better then his and negates some of the points from a quad, his jump GOE would be way low compard to those guys even with a clean skate, those guys would all dust him in PCS now.

Not really, Temper..................Have you seen results the past 2 years up to the present.........Emanuel Sandhu has one of the highest PCS in the world right next to Plushenko and Lambiel. It's his Technical ability (the jumps) thats holding him back. Even Terry Gannon of ESPN/ABC has said BEFORE the Olympics that Plushenko was afraid that if Sandhu could put down 2 solid programs that he could threaten the gold medal.

He has one of the best lines I have ever seen in a male skater due to his balletic and dance ability.

Let's get one thing straight, It's his inconsistency that's the problem not his artistry

 

[temperboy28]

Not really, Temper..................Have you seen results the past 2 years up to the present.........Emanuel Sandhu has one of the highest PCS in the world right next to Plushenko and Lambiel.

First of all scratch the 2 seasons before this season since I am talking about this season. Lambiel, Joubert, Oda, Takahashi, Lysacek, Buttle are all easily outscoring him in PCS this season. What happened in the past 2 seasons excluding this one doesnt matter since he is getting older and weaker, and the rest are getter better. His status and quality of skating is dropping and so what happened in the past 2 seasons means nothing, what scores this year show is what matters.

Anyway you still arent totally right. Buttle has also been regularly outscoring Sandhu in PC scores since the start of COP, often by significant margins, yet you didnt include his name.

It's his Technical ability (the jumps) thats holding him back. Even Terry Gannon of ESPN/ABC has said BEFORE the Olympics that Plushenko was afraid that if Sandhu could put down 2 solid programs that he could threaten the gold medal.

Terry Gannon is the dumb play by play guy who doesnt know jack about skating. No offence but cant you come up with a better quote reference then that.

He has one of the best lines I have ever seen in a male skater due to his balletic and dance ability.

Like I said the quality of his skating and programs are diminishing rapidly, I still think you are in a time warp that goes back 3 years since the things you are saying make more sense 3 years ago then now. He is slow as a snail now, his programs and choreography are a snooze, and very little he does anymore looks particularly flowing or precise. His skating also looks heavy now.

Also even skating cleanly, and even if his PCS did still compare favorably with the top guys anymore, which they dont, Buttle whipped him by 9 points in the PCS in Canadians long program, and Mabee almost tied him in PCS in that long program, skating cleanly and landing a quad does not mean your TES is of as high of standard even with the benefit to your TES of a quad and no mistakes. His spins and footwork wont score well at all the way they are now, his jump GOE will be low since even the jumps he lands are awkward and mostly not well done, his jump layout isnt the best to maximize points either.

 

[silver.blades]

An absolutly great night of skating. The top 5 all steped up and delivered. Jeffery's free WOW. I'm going to remember that program for awhile. Absolutly amazing. I really wish that Sawyer had made the podeum, but Sandhu did skate well enough for the bronze in the free, unfortunatly I'm still hoping Sawyer gets to go to Worlds over Sandhu. Yes Sandhu worked for the bronze but he's sooooo inconsistant. The chances of him skating that well at Worlds are more or less zip. (I would love him to prove me wrong) I say send him to 4CC if he can skate clean there, fine let him go to worlds, if he can't let Sawyer go and get the experience. He'll be around much longer than Sandhu will.
Congrats to Mabee on the silver. It was well deserved.
Has anyone found a video of Chan's free on Youtube? I'm glad he managed to make the national team.

 

[SailorGalaxia518]

First of all scratch the 2 seasons before this season since I am talking about this season. Lambiel, Joubert, Oda, Takahashi, Lysacek, Buttle are all easily outscoring him in PCS this season. What happened in the past 2 seasons excluding this one doesnt matter since he is getting older and weaker, and the rest are getter better. His status and quality of skating is dropping and so what happened in the past 2 seasons means nothing, what scores this year show is what matters.

Anyway you still arent totally right. Buttle has also been regularly outscoring Sandhu in PC scores since the start of COP, often by significant margins, yet you didnt include his name.



Terry Gannon is the dumb play by play guy who doesnt know jack about skating. No offence but cant you come up with a better quote reference then that.



Like I said the quality of his skating and programs are diminishing rapidly, I still think you are in a time warp that goes back 3 years since the things you are saying make more sense 3 years ago then now. He is slow as a snail now, his programs and choreography are a snooze, and very little he does anymore looks particularly flowing or precise. His skating also looks heavy now.

Also even skating cleanly, and even if his PCS did still compare favorably with the top guys anymore, which they dont, Buttle whipped him by 9 points in the PCS in Canadians long program, and Mabee almost tied him in PCS in that long program, skating cleanly and landing a quad does not mean your TES is of as high of standard even with the benefit to your TES of a quad and no mistakes. His spins and footwork wont score well at all the way they are now, his jump GOE will be low since even the jumps he lands are awkward and mostly not well done, his jump layout isnt the best to maximize points either.

Just stating my opinion, Temper

Just like you are stating yours...

 

[temperboy28]

Just stating my opinion, Temper

Just like you are stating yours...

Fine feel free to your opinion then, I would like to ask you though this, have you seen him skate at all "this season". Not last season, the season before, or most of all the season before that, but this season?

 

[rain]

Buttle was amazing. He is totally back. Would still like to see him with a quad. I have a feeling the triple flip was supposed to be followed by another triple rather than the double he did, but the landing of the flip wasn't secure enough. His choreography is unbeatable. The program is a masterpiece and proves once and for all that Buttle can skate to anything. He reminds me of Kurt Browning in that regard, his versatility is unmatched. He looked incredibly strong out there, particularly in light of the fact that was his first competitive skate of the season.

Sandhu had a good skate. Just when you think he's totally washed up, he surprises. However the costume, make-up and hair were very drag queen and too over the top for my tastes. And seeing him skate right after Buttle really hammered home how much his choreography is lacking in comparison.

So happy for Mabee. Good choice to go back to an old program that obviously works for him. I didn't think he was lacking in artistry at all. He may not be balletic, but he is expressive and worked very well with his music. The program was also well-choreographed.

 

[SailorGalaxia518]

Fine feel free to your opinion then, I would like to ask you though this, have you seen him skate at all "this season". Not last season, the season before, or most of all the season before that, but this season?

Yes I have.................I have seen his Free Skate and Cup of China on ABC. In fact, I have the whole season up to this point on tape and the entire last season on tape, so yes I do watch Sandhu's performances

 

[mike79]

The point I've tried to make has been summed up nicely by a couple of posters. Sandhu has all of the ability in the world and yes, he can finish on the podium. Will he? Probably not. His consistency is always an issue and always will be if he plans on sticking around.

However, he has a way bigger chance of having a high placement than Mabee, Sawyer, Chan, and whoever else anyone wants to name besides Buttle. It might just be me but I think a guy who just scored over 140 points with a flawed program has more than an excellent chance of possibly making the top five, let alone 10 as some think he's barely capable of.

Until Sandhu decides to step aside or the other guys get better, he is the best male skater in Canada, not counting Buttle.

I must say I'm really getting sick of the trolls around here. There's such thing as intelligent conversation with differing viewpoints and then there's outright bashing. What's worse is trolls who think that what they say is fact when it's nothing more than pure speculation.

 

[temperboy28]

First of all for Sandhu that kind of a performance is his absolute best performance. He has proven himself incapable of a squeeky clean long program so a long program with a quad and a triple axel with only a couple minor mistakes is his maximum performance. So basicaly with his best performance all he managed was a 142 score in front of Canadian national judges. Yes, remember that, this was under inflated Canadian national scoring, and yet with an almost clean skate and a quad that was all he could get even under inflated Canadian national scoring. At a Worlds you have to expect the score to drop atleast another 8 points from that so really that score shows nothing except he has a chance to be in the top 10 if he is on.

Oda and Takahashi and Lambiel and Joubert can score in the high 140s with pretty bad skates, lows 160 with great skates at INTERNATIONAL events in front of international judges. Lambiel's quite bad skate at Skate Canada, Oda and Takahashi's quite bad skates at the GP final, still scored higher then Sandhu almost clean skate under inflated Canadian National scoring. Lysacek does nothing but clean longs and scores over 150 in every one of them at international events, piece of cake, and he doesnt even do a quad. Buttle is obviously way out of Sandhu's league. So think again about what you are saying, a 142 for an almost clean performance with a quad, under inflated Canadian National scoring standards just shows how he is no longer in the league of these skaters, and instead is in a dogfight for top 10 and will need to be real sharp to even get that.

So what if maybe Sandhu is a bit more likely to do better then Sawyer or Mabee at the World level, he still is only fighting to barely be in the top 10, if he has one of his better competitions he finishes low down in the top 10, if he doesnt have one of his better competitions he finishes out of the top 10. That isnt worth keeping back young skaters who would grow from the experience.

 

[SailorGalaxia518]

First of all for Sandhu that kind of a performance is his absolute best performance. He has proven himself incapable of a squeeky clean long program so a long program with a quad and a triple axel with only a couple minor mistakes is his maximum performance. So basicaly with his best performance all he managed was a 142 score in front of Canadian national judges. Yes, remember that, this was under inflated Canadian national scoring, and yet with an almost clean skate and a quad that was all he could get even under inflated Canadian national scoring. At a Worlds you have to expect the score to drop atleast another 8 points from that so really that score shows nothing except he has a chance to be in the top 10 if he is on.

Oda and Takahashi and Lambiel and Joubert can score in the high 140s with pretty bad skates, lows 160 with great skates at INTERNATIONAL events in front of international judges. Lambiel's quite bad skate at Skate Canada, Oda and Takahashi's quite bad skates at the GP final, still scored higher then Sandhu almost clean skate under inflated Canadian National scoring. Lysacek does nothing but clean longs and scores over 150 in every one of them at international events, piece of cake, and he doesnt even do a quad. Buttle is obviously way out of Sandhu's league. So think again about what you are saying, a 142 for an almost clean performance with a quad, under inflated Canadian National scoring standards just shows how he is no longer in the league of these skaters, and instead is in a dogfight for top 10 and will need to be real sharp to even get that.

So what if maybe Sandhu is a bit more likely to do better then Sawyer or Mabee at the World level, he still is only fighting to barely be in the top 10, if he has one of his better competitions he finishes low down in the top 10, if he doesnt have one of his better competitions he finishes out of the top 10. That isnt worth keeping back young skaters who would grow from the experience.

Thank you. I actually agree with you

 

[mike79]

Did I say he didn't need to be sharp? No, so please don't put words in my mouth. You are right to point out all of the other skaters and where they stack up. But what if Sandhu skates clean? It almost assuredly puts him in the top 10, possibly around the 5-range when it's all said and done with the same shot at a medal as mostly everyone save Lambiel (who may not be there). Remember, several of the top guys are not the most reliable skaters on the planet. Sure, Sandhu is a headcase but isn't Johnny Weir similar in that regard? If we're being realistic the younger guys in Canada (Maybee, Sawyer, etc) would have to skate beyond their wildest dreams to be placed among the elite skaters. They may be able to down the road, but right now Sandhu is probably more capable.

The point is not that one has to rely on Sandhu, because everyone knows you can't. It's that you can't discount him. Regardless if his stock has fallen, he is a threat in every competition he enters. Sure he can screw up like at the Olympics and place really low. He also has the ability to place well.

This is not a case of 'holding down' other talent. Mabee finished 4th in the LP tonight, right where he should have, although he did have some generous PCS marks given to him. Sawyer finished 3rd in the LP but he made his bed in the SP and couldn't overcome the point difference, although he had a great skate tonight. In addition I didn't see Patrick Chan being held down. I saw him jump into the top 5. If these guys are going to move into the elite level of skaters they're going to have to do better than tonight. It was, however, a solid night of skating all around.

One other thing. If you check the protocols for tonight and add them up for Buttle and Sandhu they appear to be right in line with international judging. I do agree that skaters sometimes get inflated marks at National events. This doesn't seem to be the case with Sandhu and Buttle's free skates. I actually attended the event tonight and then watched it again when I got home. The marks seemed spot on with what transpired on the ice, unlike last night where it seemed everyone received inflated scores.

 

[iloveaxel]

First of all for Sandhu that kind of a performance is his absolute best performance. He has proven himself incapable of a squeeky clean long program so a long program with a quad and a triple axel with only a couple minor mistakes is his maximum performance. So basicaly with his best performance all he managed was a 142 score in front of Canadian national judges. Yes, remember that, this was under inflated Canadian national scoring, and yet with an almost clean skate and a quad that was all he could get even under inflated Canadian national scoring. At a Worlds you have to expect the score to drop atleast another 8 points from that so really that score shows nothing except he has a chance to be in the top 10 if he is on.

Oda and Takahashi and Lambiel and Joubert can score in the high 140s with pretty bad skates, lows 160 with great skates at INTERNATIONAL events in front of international judges. Lambiel's quite bad skate at Skate Canada, Oda and Takahashi's quite bad skates at the GP final, still scored higher then Sandhu almost clean skate under inflated Canadian National scoring. Lysacek does nothing but clean longs and scores over 150 in every one of them at international events, piece of cake, and he doesnt even do a quad. Buttle is obviously way out of Sandhu's league. So think again about what you are saying, a 142 for an almost clean performance with a quad, under inflated Canadian National scoring standards just shows how he is no longer in the league of these skaters, and instead is in a dogfight for top 10 and will need to be real sharp to even get that.

So what if maybe Sandhu is a bit more likely to do better then Sawyer or Mabee at the World level, he still is only fighting to barely be in the top 10, if he has one of his better competitions he finishes low down in the top 10, if he doesnt have one of his better competitions he finishes out of the top 10. That isnt worth keeping back young skaters who would grow from the experience.

Don't agree on the margins of inflation. I actually believe Canadian judges are quite mean compared to those horribly inflated PCS at Japanese and Russian Nationals. Take Mira Leung for example, she scored a PB short program of around 52 points at 'Skate Canada' with a clean but uninspiring performance. Her performance was much better with a new SP, but only scored 52 points at Nationals. So the inflation of PCS is not THAT dramatic. Her PCS is roughly in line with her international scores. . Especially when I saw the scores from Russian Nationals, a pair team M&T, who usually scored in 5s at GP events suddently scored 7s at Nationals, that's horrible inflation.

But on the other hand, Canadian judges are playing relative tricks to manipulate the rankings. I suspected they intentionally supressed Sandhu's PCS in long program to compensate their guilty performance which was booed by audience last night.

Sandhu's base PCS will be low 7s at international events depending on whether he could land those jumps. But Jeff. is sure to score big in PCS with his new program.

 

[mylastduchess]

First of all for Sandhu that kind of a performance is his absolute best performance. He has proven himself incapable of a squeeky clean long program so a long program with a quad and a triple axel with only a couple minor mistakes is his maximum performance. So basicaly with his best performance all he managed was a 142 score in front of Canadian national judges. Yes, remember that, this was under inflated Canadian national scoring, and yet with an almost clean skate and a quad that was all he could get even under inflated Canadian national scoring. At a Worlds you have to expect the score to drop atleast another 8 points from that so really that score shows nothing except he has a chance to be in the top 10 if he is on.

Oda and Takahashi and Lambiel and Joubert can score in the high 140s with pretty bad skates, lows 160 with great skates at INTERNATIONAL events in front of international judges. Lambiel's quite bad skate at Skate Canada, Oda and Takahashi's quite bad skates at the GP final, still scored higher then Sandhu almost clean skate under inflated Canadian National scoring. Lysacek does nothing but clean longs and scores over 150 in every one of them at international events, piece of cake, and he doesnt even do a quad. Buttle is obviously way out of Sandhu's league. So think again about what you are saying, a 142 for an almost clean performance with a quad, under inflated Canadian National scoring standards just shows how he is no longer in the league of these skaters, and instead is in a dogfight for top 10 and will need to be real sharp to even get that.

So what if maybe Sandhu is a bit more likely to do better then Sawyer or Mabee at the World level, he still is only fighting to barely be in the top 10, if he has one of his better competitions he finishes low down in the top 10, if he doesnt have one of his better competitions he finishes out of the top 10. That isnt worth keeping back young skaters who would grow from the experience.

Okay its obvious that you don't like Shandu, but claiming that he would be "lucky" to crack the top 10 at worlds even if he skates clean is hard to swallow since he never really skated well at worlds but still cracks the top 10 for the past 5 years! Look at the Pcs of Shandu in the Grand Prix this year where he didn't even skate well, compare that to Sawyer or Mabee He still get 7.00 and up! Look at of China even though Lysack outscored him technically by 16 points the Pcs difference is only 3 points - and look he gets level 3 and 4 with positive GOE for his "horrible" and "slow" spins. Heck Shandu might be inconsistent but Sawyer and Mabee and that consistent either!