2022 Worlds Pre-Game Chat | Page 4 | Golden Skate

2022 Worlds Pre-Game Chat

I don't think You is without medal chances. Kawabe was unstable on both GP and OG, despite the JSF/Hamada push. If Kawabe brings her 3A and all her jumps, then she could podium, but frankly, her skating still looks a bit juniorish and mechanical to me compared to skaters like You or Hendricx. If You lands her jumps comparably to Kawabe, I'd much rather see the Korean medal, and I hope the judges will score her PCS accordingly. Same for Yelim. And let's not forget about Karen Chen who might deliver and finally get a WC medal. Last season, she beat everyone except the Russian trio. Liu is a wildcard too. Her medaling is not out of the realm of possibility.
Young You almost beat Wakaba at Olympics. Young You has excellence chance in winning silver/bronze medal. Based on Olympics result, 5th - 10 th finish (Wakaba, Young You, Alysa Liu. Leona, Kim and Mariah) are actually very close. Actually all of them have good chance in winning medals. Young You and Alysa are particularly close to each other this season.

Cranberry:
Alysa Liu 205.74
Young You 182.88

NHK Trophy GP:

Young You 203.60
Alysa Liu 202.90

Olympics:

Young You 213.09
Alysa Liu 208.95

Honestly, I don't think Karen and Mana are medal contenders this time around. Karen lost international reputation since Olympics team event. Lost to Canada and Georgia teams are not good signs. Karen's has lost her PCS advantage. Her PCS score at Olympics international event is pretty low compared to her previous competitions. Mariah has better chance than Karen to win medal at this point.
 
Karen's PCS has been impacted more by falls than anything else. She will get better scores if she remains on her feet.
Karen skated clean during Olympics team event (free program). However, she still lost to Madeline at team event. That is a bag sign among international judges. Nothing against to Karen, I'm just pointing to the fact. I'm not Mariah fans either. However, I do think Mariah has better chance than Karen this time. Don't forget that Leona still earned big pcs score even she fell/popped the jumps at Olympics. Leona was placed head of Alysa during short program because of her PCS advantage.
 
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As an avid follower of Japanese ladies skating, I am not expecting a sweep of the podium. Kawabe can be a hot mess and has issues with the second mark. She’ll struggle to break 210 even if she’s clean. I think Higuchi and You are close, but Higuchi definitely has the better 3A. But You can beat her. I’m thinking the podium will be 2 Japanese, 1 Korean with Silver and Bronze being close.

Korea should finally gain a much-deserved third spot and the Americans should keep theirs when they were on-course to lose it.

I agree with the men’s podium: 1 American, 2 Japanese, with Kagiyama beating Uno. Kagiyama’s better than Uno and only loses to him inside Japan. Uno’s very messy in the free skate so I can see him losing to the second American or someone like Grassl. I’m very interested in how Malinin stacks up in this field. His goal is to apparently make the podium and if that happens then we’re in for some very…. fascinating skating. I think he’ll make top 10 and that’s even with the Russian men in the field as he’s better than Semenenko who was 8th last year. Top 5 if he’s really on.

Some other cool things may happen, like Italy finally gaining a third spot and Latvia gaining a second spot…. that probably can’t be used.

I really really hope Russia is allowed to just keep their quotas from this year. The Russian men worked hard to gain that third spot and to see that work get undone for things outside their control is just nasty.
 
I believe USA has the most to gain with Russia not being allowed to compete or ROC. Two medals in dance. A medal in ladies and pairs. And two medals in men. They are the new Russia. With Russia's absence the US will have a full entry of 3 competitors in each event. I suppose even two female medallists is possible. Liu and either Mariah and Karen. Japan could medal in pairs now too more easily. Japan could even sweep the ladies but more likely max out at two medals. China's Sui and Han who narrowly won OGM would also have an easy path to world gold if they want another title. I wonder if Italy or Canada could snatch the bronze from one of the Americans.

ON other notes I wonder if Roman Sadovsky will skate at worlds. Will the German pairs team skate - I still think they should not have been allowed to skate at the olympics. That was far too dangerous and scarey - not brave at all. I realize it is the olympics but safety first. ONe wonders if Nathan will be there considering how buy he has been. Spain now has it easy to qualify two team in dance and it is now much easier for Canada to regain 3 spot in dance. L oena and Olga could make a move more easily and the Koreans could easily secure 3 spots in ladies now. Also with Russia gone Canadas female skater could make top ten if she does what she did in the team event.
 
Karen skated clean during Olympics team event (free program).
Sure, she was "clean" in that she didn't fall, but still got +GOE on only 3 of 7 jumping passes. I should correct my original statement to say she needs to stay on her feet and attack her jumps like she did at Worlds last year to earn better PCS.
 
I'm so excited for the singles! Especially because I hope this event will be drama-free.

If anyone is going to knock Shoma off the podium, my money is on Junhwan, who is having the season of his life, or Vincent, if he delivers like he did at SkAm. Honestly, after all he's been through, he deserves it. I've never been a Vincent fan but that poor boy has been to hell and back over the past few years. I could see Ilia with a top five finish if he skates clean, and sneaking onto the podium only if others have serious mistakes. I think Nathan and Yuma are pretty solidly 1-2 barring a disaster. Yuzu was the only one scoring close to them this season.

For the women, I so badly want Rino or Mai at Worlds, but I also hope Mana can have a redemptive skate. I appreciate that JSF is taking a gamble, but I would have given her either Worlds or Olys, not both. I think the only person who can challenge Kaori for gold based on scores and consistency will be Wakaba, but no matter who wins I will be thrilled. Bronze (and maybe silver?) is a whole other matter. I think Young, Yelim, a 100% clean Mana, Loena, and Alysa will all be challenging for bronze, which will make the event so exciting.
 
No! I refuse to hear that.
Sui said that they will continue to grow together!

Someone around here said he retired and was going to get into coaching or choreo? I would be happy to see him on ice again.

Okay, it seems I understood @Arigato correctly and the post I reacted to was about Han Yan, so Sui/Han are safe I guess? :biggrin:
 
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