2014 Worlds: Who is the Dark Horse for the Men's podium? | Page 6 | Golden Skate

2014 Worlds: Who is the Dark Horse for the Men's podium?

Maria Victoria

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I am looking forward to breakthrough performances (ala Yuzuru's in 2012) which is in essence the query posed in this thread. Han Yan comes to my mind as a podium threat; hope he has learned from his GPF and Olympic experiences to level up.

Re the Japanese skaters, I hope the overwhelming media attention, the heavy burden of expectations (their own as well as that of the public) will not prevent them from skating their best. I think all of them, both male and female, have a personal story line which makes this particular World Championships special to them.
 

Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
Thank you Maria, for staying on topic! If others want to talk about the fairness of COP and other judging matters, please do start a new thread. :) I'm interested to see how Peter Leibers performs. I hadn't noticed him at all until Sochi. I really liked his music choices.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Deedee1, I absolutely agree with everything you said here. In fact, even one of the above coming to fruition would make me very, very happy. Unfortunately I'm not sure what the odds are, but certainly hope to be proven wrong.

:) Let's not lose our faith in them yet, and hang on to our wishful thinking, shall we? Please send your positive vibes towards Saitama during Mens comp. I will be cheering very hard for Taka Tomas and Jeremy on behalf of you and all other fans of them, I promise! :yes: If one of our wishes come true, A PARTY TIME together! :party2:
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Anyone else think that Yuzuru should get a clean performance with 2 quad toes and 2 triple axels out of the way?

I know he wants to challenge himself, but the 4S hasn't worked for him all season long... it might be worth his while to secure a Worlds win and train the 4S in the off-season, rather than have another inevitable splat at the start of his program? With Chan not competing, he no longer has to worry about having a considerable technical advantage to win.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I had to check the topic of this thread. Real dark horses are Max Aaron, kevin Reynolds and peter Liebers - I don't think Liebers has it. This is the time for one of the Czech boys finally to do it.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I predict Hanyu skates much like he did at the Olys. I think Liebers had the skate of his life at the Olys and will get the yips at worlds. I don't think Kevin Reynolds has anything more than jumps and actually think Max looks better on the ice (ohmygod, did I just say that? Golden, where are you?) I'm guessing if there is a dark horse it's someone we least expect and it will be a pleasant surprise. Wouldn't surprise me if it's one of the Japanese skaters.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
I hope Reynolds is a spoiler... I would hate for him to place out of the top 10 and sink us to 1 spot... A lot of pressure must be on him with Chan not being there and given his poor individual performance in Sochi.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I predict Hanyu skates much like he did at the Olys. I think Liebers had the skate of his life at the Olys and will get the yips at worlds. I don't think Kevin Reynolds has anything more than jumps and actually think Max looks better on the ice (ohmygod, did I just say that? Golden, where are you?) I'm guessing if there is a dark horse it's someone we least expect and it will be a pleasant surprise. Wouldn't surprise me if it's one of the Japanese skaters.

You rang, noskates? :)
Happy to read your positive comment re Max Aaron. :yay: :cool: :popcorn:
(You and I must hang around together more often. ;))
 

qwertyskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
I vote for Kovtun and Han Yan. Kovtun has great SP & LP, better than most of the others, and if he lands them all, he'll be right up there. His problem is consistency, but he just *might* hit one home one of these days, perhaps at Worlds. Han has one of the best SS I've seen among even the top flight, and I get such satisfaction watching him land his most difficult jumps as they are almost textbook, the speed, flow, height, coverage, etc..., just perfect. His problem is getting a good choreographer and training at performance, even though he is already a great dancer, with a fantastic sense of rhythm. If he were to skate to Chan's or Kovtun's programs, I think he would fare much, much better than his bizarre Valse Gourmand.
 

HanDomi

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Anyone else think that Yuzuru should get a clean performance with 2 quad toes and 2 triple axels out of the way?

I know he wants to challenge himself, but the 4S hasn't worked for him all season long... it might be worth his while to secure a Worlds win and train the 4S in the off-season, rather than have another inevitable splat at the start of his program? With Chan not competing, he no longer has to worry about having a considerable technical advantage to win.

The thing is in practice he is jumping it as easy as his 4T :p So I understand him. He will finally break this barrier in competition and I hope in coming worlds. Of course he could do 4T, 4T3T which would be easier for him propably, but he wants harder chellange, so for me it's ok.
 

Maria Victoria

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Thank you Maria, for staying on topic! If others want to talk about the fairness of COP and other judging matters, please do start a new thread. :) I'm interested to see how Peter Leibers performs. I hadn't noticed him at all until Sochi. I really liked his music choices.

You're welcome :) Re Peter Leibers, like you he only came to my attention at the Olympics. I hope he performs well at Worlds so European male figure skating will have strong representation besides Javier Fernandez.
 

Violet

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 2, 2010
Agree that people don't understand a few things.

However, "This is the problem of people" - strongly disagree. This is a problem if the IJS.

Im 100% with Dick Button on this. It should not be fall = deduction of 1 point. It should be fall = 0 points for element.

Hands down/step-out should get a 1 point deduction.

But this would mean that a fallen quad is worth less than a downgraded quad. I'm not sure if it's fair. Skaters who can make the 4 revolutions but fall usually have a stronger technique on the jump and greater success rate than those that underrotate it. For instance, Hanyu's 4S vs Takahashi's 4T. This rule will also give skaters an incentive to pop their jumps if they don't feel quite right at the take-off. I think a better rule is to still give the base value for fully rotated jumps, and -3 GOEs, but take more extra deductions out of the whole program for the falls, in an escalating manner. For example, one fall= -3; second fall= -5; third fall= -10. If someone fell twice, a deduction of 8 points, three times, 18 points. To take escalating deduction is because if you fall once, it may not be too big a deal. But as you fall more and more, the performance is affected exponentially.
 

usethis2

Medalist
Joined
Feb 11, 2014
You're welcome :) Re Peter Leibers, like you he only came to my attention at the Olympics. I hope he performs well at Worlds so European male figure skating will have strong representation besides Javier Fernandez.

His jumps are a little different, aren't they? He seems to use leg muscles more than speed when taking off. His jumps are kind of spring-y. I can't help but keep my eyes on his buttocks. XD
 
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