European's almost upon us, a lot of new singles skaters taking part in Zagreb, will be interesting to see nearer the time if they turn up or not and also year by year the pairs and ice dance disciplines are becoming very multi cultural. I was surprised to see 15 entries for the pairs, the way the pairs are depleting, honestly I only expected 8 pairs to take part, again interesting to see if these new pair combinations are properly trained and if they turn up or not.
In Pairs S&S are overwhelming favourites to claim their second title, they just need to turn up, their PCS scores in particular will be too strong for the others. Interesting battle for silver and bronze, the 3 couples in battle should be V&M, M&T and K&S, most are hoping that the longevity of V&M will finally medal?. I have to say the third ranked couple in russian nationals could be the spoilers as they have nothing to lose.
In Men's I would say that Joubert is the slight favourite but we have not seen too much of him lately and could be a bit rusty, Lambiel is in form but can be inconsistent, Verner has so much potential and his programs have always been geared to COP but again can be inconsistent, Van Der Perren has the technicalaties but his PCS scores are not that good this year and his choreography is lacking somewhat this year, spoilers have to be Lutai and Voronov and I have a feeling that either of these 2 will medal this year.
In Ice Dance Delobel and Scheonfelder should be the slight favourites as Domnina and Shabalin have lost a lot of training time through Shabalin's surgery, AND WE ARE NOT SURE IF DOMNINA AND SHABALIN WILL COMPETE?. Kohchlova/Novitski should claim the bronze and it will firmly put russian ice dances back on track. If Domnina/Shabalin are no shows watch out for Pechlat/Bourzat who have improved immensley this year and will challenge along with Faiela/Scali. As Iam a british forum member I was hoping that Kerr/Kerr would move up but I feel they are slipping downwards and I forsee the other italians Cappellini/Lanotte and Carron/Jost to take over them as well as Pechalet/Bourzat.
In Ladies Carolina Kostner has the full package to recliam the title, if she hits her SP like she has done all season I forsee a 6-10 point cushion from say Sarah Meier who would be Kostner's closest challenger to have room for errors in her free to keep her title, Korpi will be contending for medals and her PCS should keep her within touching distance of bronze. Glebova was going well early in the season and she has the jumps necessary to challenge technically but there have been rumours she is carrying an injury. The Finn's Lepisto and Vahamaa have potential and should be in the top 10, if Lepisto nails her SP like she did in Skate Canada she will be in for a chance of a bronze medal. Marchei, Sebestyen and Gedevanashvili seem to have lost their edge this season. The spoiler could be Ksenia Doronina who could surprise everyone.
Zagreb would be a good indication of the skaters who will challenge the Asians and North Americans for the World's in Gothenberg.
Good luck to all
In Pairs S&S are overwhelming favourites to claim their second title, they just need to turn up, their PCS scores in particular will be too strong for the others. Interesting battle for silver and bronze, the 3 couples in battle should be V&M, M&T and K&S, most are hoping that the longevity of V&M will finally medal?. I have to say the third ranked couple in russian nationals could be the spoilers as they have nothing to lose.
In Men's I would say that Joubert is the slight favourite but we have not seen too much of him lately and could be a bit rusty, Lambiel is in form but can be inconsistent, Verner has so much potential and his programs have always been geared to COP but again can be inconsistent, Van Der Perren has the technicalaties but his PCS scores are not that good this year and his choreography is lacking somewhat this year, spoilers have to be Lutai and Voronov and I have a feeling that either of these 2 will medal this year.
In Ice Dance Delobel and Scheonfelder should be the slight favourites as Domnina and Shabalin have lost a lot of training time through Shabalin's surgery, AND WE ARE NOT SURE IF DOMNINA AND SHABALIN WILL COMPETE?. Kohchlova/Novitski should claim the bronze and it will firmly put russian ice dances back on track. If Domnina/Shabalin are no shows watch out for Pechlat/Bourzat who have improved immensley this year and will challenge along with Faiela/Scali. As Iam a british forum member I was hoping that Kerr/Kerr would move up but I feel they are slipping downwards and I forsee the other italians Cappellini/Lanotte and Carron/Jost to take over them as well as Pechalet/Bourzat.
In Ladies Carolina Kostner has the full package to recliam the title, if she hits her SP like she has done all season I forsee a 6-10 point cushion from say Sarah Meier who would be Kostner's closest challenger to have room for errors in her free to keep her title, Korpi will be contending for medals and her PCS should keep her within touching distance of bronze. Glebova was going well early in the season and she has the jumps necessary to challenge technically but there have been rumours she is carrying an injury. The Finn's Lepisto and Vahamaa have potential and should be in the top 10, if Lepisto nails her SP like she did in Skate Canada she will be in for a chance of a bronze medal. Marchei, Sebestyen and Gedevanashvili seem to have lost their edge this season. The spoiler could be Ksenia Doronina who could surprise everyone.
Zagreb would be a good indication of the skaters who will challenge the Asians and North Americans for the World's in Gothenberg.
Good luck to all
She still has problems wiht knee. For Olga Ikonnikova it is a first chance: she is a good skater (she can do all triples) but skating skills is not good. And unfortunately her triple jumps are often downgraded. So many reviews for technical controllers :agree:
