Well I honestly think Javier Fernandez should have won. He was the ONLY guy today who had a real program and his jumping was just fine. Yes, he popped a couple, but let's not forget he was attempting the hardest jump layout of the entire competition and 6 out of 8 of his jumping passes were gorgeous (including two Quads and a Triple Axel).
Denis Ten was indeed bland, with a typically empty Frank Carroll program, and he even totally broke the flow and interpretation of the performance by halting and doing those ridiculous fist pumps before going into the last spin. He doubled two jumps as well. It was a strong technical effort, enough that he deserved to also go ahead of Chan, but he wouldn't have been a good World Champion either.
Hanyu was technically the best of the night and I would have put him 2nd in the LP. 4th place overall was correct for him after that massively flawed SP, though. I hope he gets a more interesting LP again next year. Something that allows him to display his heart and passion.
I'm very glad Kevin Reynolds was only in 5th place. Those < calls were deserved. He probably should have placed one slot lower, even.
Joubert probably should have been in 5th place. I don't agree with the two < calls he received and his Zayak violation should have resulted in a 3S being called as a 2S, rather than what CoP voiding the entire last element out...I still can't believe they haven't fixed this yet. It's inexcusable. He was basically screwed out of at least 8 points here.
Max Aaron did a solid job at this competition, with two credible performances. His jumping is excellent and he has great confidence and energy. Needs to get better choreography now and work on improving the fluidity of his body. Consistently putting a 3Toe onto the end of a jump also seems to be the one flaw in his jumping right now, so he should work on getting that more consistent. Please don't be a Joubert and ignore it. His 7th place was deserved.
Takahito Mura skated so well in the LP, I was impressed! I would have put him 4th in that segment, actually. 8th place overall is correct since he had that huge mistake in the SP.
Takahashi...it's too bad his Quad jump left him after Japanese Nationals. I think undeservedly losing the National title to Hanyu this season, after skating PHENOMENALLY, really hurt his confidence. I hope next season he can keep his programs together better even if he messes up on the Quad(s). That mistake on the second Triple Axel in this performance was a disastrous one and the Loop was wobbly too. After all of those jump mistakes, not selling the program nearly as much as he's capable of, and the program not being great to begin with...there's not enough to score him on. I'd have him 10th in the LP and only 9th overall.
I like COP, even if I think that some changes could be good...
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