2017 4CCs Men's Recap

[gsk8]

If anyone had a doubt of who the new quad king is, they know it now: USA's Nathan Chan won his first championship title at the 2017 ISU Four Continents Championships on Sunday landing a total of seven quads en route. Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan settled for the silver medal and the bronze went to his teammate Shoma Uno.

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"There were some mistakes here and there," said the U.S. champion. "There are definitely things I need to work on, but I'm certainly happy with the way everything went and I'm so happy that I got the gold medal today."

"I feel like I challenged myself," said Hanyu. "My priority was to land four quads, ..."

"I felt okay at the beginning of the program, then I made a mistake in the middle and I felt bad about it," said Uno.

"I started great with a strong quad toe and the triple Axel," said Chan. "The Sal (Salchow) and the second toe, looking on the video it seemed a little underrotated...."

"Kori (Ade, coach) said that going to this event was like building a house," explained Brown.

What are your thoughts on the men's competition?

 

[karne]

PB central for Team Australia:

Brendan: new SP PB, new FS PB, new total PB

Mark: new SP PB, new FS PB, new total PB

Andrew: new FS PB (I might have yelled a lot when he went above 100), new total PB

Still a little bummed about Brendan's overall placement, but I can't wait to see him go 80+ SP and 150+ FS. He totally can, and I really think that that will be a huge turning point. He got 149 with one clean quad and several errors, so if he could just up that to two and everything else clean, he could even push 160 this season.

 

[viennaskater]

Chen: impressive and a very strong skater, but Hanyu is at the top of his game and still should reign supreme.

Hanyu: see above.

Chan: his usual flawed, soulless performance. *Yawn*.

Uno: not perfect but so great to watch! Liked the concept of the program.

Jin: like him but was over-scored in the FP.

Brown: wonderful to see such elegance and lyricism. Shame about the mistakes towards the end. Really hope to see him at the Worlds.

Reynolds: fabulous music choice. His bodyline is superb. Loved it!

Ge: not his usual flamboyance but what a superb program! Again, elegance and finesse. More please.

Kerry: good to see him do so well. He put a lot into that performance and should indeed have been placed higher.

 

[gsk8]

USA’s Jason Brown missed the triple Axel in the short and stood in ninth place, but pulled up to sixth with a good free skate that included six clean triples. The national bronze medalist, who had been injured, decided to take the quad out.


“Kori (Ade, coach) said that going to this event was like building a house,” explained the 22-year-old. “The pieces from what I did at nationals are building up to what I will do at the World championships. Today the quad wasn’t ready, so we built up a different part of the house. We built up the rest of the program around the decision to take it out and focused on making the most out of the other points I could get. It’s a decision that we made today. Because of my leg injury, I couldn’t start doing them (quad toes) again until this week. My hope was that it would be ready to put in the program, but unfortunately it wasn’t at the point where it was worth doing under the circumstances.”

Let's hope he stays healthy for Helsinki!!

 

[Mrs. P]

^^ Agreed, gsk8! :yes:

Two questions:

* Did the quadfest 2017 live up to your expectations?
* Which quad did you like the best at this competition?
- Boyang Jin's 4Z?
- Nathan Chen's 4Z?
- Nathan Chen's 4F?
- Shoma Uno's 4F?
- Yuzuru Hanyu's 4Lo?
- Shoma Unos's 4Lo?
- Patrick Chan's 4T?
- Other?

Shoma Uno's 4Loop looked super good for being a first attempt! Love Yuzu's 4Loop so much though. Watch those hips, guys!

 

[MaiKatze]

I probably am the only one but if I'm not watching live, I prefer a nicely executed triple axel over any quad. If I have to choose I choose Shoma's 4Lo! (Surprise, surprise)

 

[Mrs. P]

I probably am the only one but if I'm not watching live, I prefer a nicely executed triple axel over any quad. If I have to choose I choose Shoma's 4Lo! (Surprise, surprise)

Just gave some love to the Shoma's 4Lo too..

Here' s the stats I have for the 3A (free skate; I can compile something for the SP):

Triple Axel -combos
Yuzuru 16.51 (3A-3T)
Boyang 15.60 (3A-1L-3S)
Nam 14.08 (3A-3T)
Misha 13.69 (3A-1L-3S)
Keiji 13.62 (3A-2T-2Lo)
Brendan 13.17 (3A-1L-3S)
Julian 11.74 (3A-2T-2Lo)
Brendan 10.80 (3A-2T)
Michael 10.09 (3A-2T)
Jason 9.80 (3A-2T)
Nathan 9.49 (3A-2T-2T*)
Shoma 5.94 (3A-REP)
Patrick 5.41 (3A-REP)

Triple Axel
Yuzuru 11.78
Patrick 11.07
Boyang 10.21
Jason 10.07
Nam 9.50
Keiji 9.21
Misha 8.50
Michael 7.93
Nathan 7.49
Jinseo 7.49
Shoma 6.35
Han 6.07
Grant 5.50
Julian 5.50
Chih-I 5.50
Mark 5.50
June 2.90 (3A<)
Leslie 1.80 (3A<<)

Which one of these did you like best MaiKatze? Yuzuru's 3As are among my faves. It was nice to see Jason do a nice one in the FS after struggling with it in the SP. And Shoma's 3A in the SP was really nice also!

 

[gsk8]

i probably am the only one but if i'm not watching live, i prefer a nicely executed triple axel over any quad. If i have to choose i choose shoma's 4lo! (surprise, surprise)

I agree. I will always take a huge, flowing triple Axel out of footwork over a quad any day.

 

[cathlen]

Usually I enjoy good triple Axels the most, but I must say that Patrick 4T-3T in FP was awesome. I don't remember him jumping this combo so well. I didn't watch extensive covergere of Men event though, so my opinion might've been different If I did.

 

[Mrs. P]

Usually I enjoy good triple Axels the most, but I must say that Patrick 4T-3T in FP was awesome. I don't remember him jumping this combo so well. I didn't watch extensive covergere of Men event though, so my opinion might've been different If I did.

:agree: It's a shame the rest of the program did not go as well, but he got some awesome points for that element!

 

[MaiKatze]

Just gave some love to the Shoma's 4Lo too..

Here' s the stats I have for the 3A (free skate; I can compile something for the SP):

Triple Axel -combos
Yuzuru 16.51 (3A-3T)
Boyang 15.60 (3A-1L-3S)
Nam 14.08 (3A-3T)
Misha 13.69 (3A-1L-3S)
Keiji 13.62 (3A-2T-2Lo)
Brendan 13.17 (3A-1L-3S)
Julian 11.74 (3A-2T-2Lo)
Brendan 10.80 (3A-2T)
Michael 10.09 (3A-2T)
Jason 9.80 (3A-2T)
Nathan 9.49 (3A-2T-2T*)
Shoma 5.94 (3A-REP)
Patrick 5.41 (3A-REP)

Triple Axel
Yuzuru 11.78
Patrick 11.07
Boyang 10.21
Jason 10.07
Nam 9.50
Keiji 9.21
Misha 8.50
Michael 7.93
Nathan 7.49
Jinseo 7.49
Shoma 6.35
Han 6.07
Grant 5.50
Julian 5.50
Chih-I 5.50
Mark 5.50
June 2.90 (3A<)
Leslie 1.80 (3A<<)

Which one of these did you like best MaiKatze? Yuzuru's 3As are among my faves. It was nice to see Jason do a nice one in the FS after struggling with it in the SP. And Shoma's 3A in the SP was really nice also!

I adore Yuzuru's 3A. I think they are the best in the World, the way he jumps them out of absolutely nowhere. I remember being in love with Han Yan's fabulous 3A a few seasons ago, but it left him completely. It's such a shame, I have no idea what happened to him. He has the skating skills but it never comes together for him. If you look at that list it seems like Shoma is bad at axels, but it is usually his stablest jump. I adored the one he did in his SP. His SP in general was a thing of beauty in this competition. I didn't exactly dislike it before, but at 4CC it was the first time I really felt connected to it. I think that he cracked 100 with this performance was the right call.

And I agree with cathlen, Patrick Chan's 4T-3T combi is also a thing of beauty. Really, it wasn't the splatfest everyone thought it would be and that's something right?

 

[bixby]

Nathan Chen - with his WIN, he put everyone on notice he cannot be denied! His impeccable technique on quad jump is unmatched.

Yuzu Hanyu - his almost perfect long program is no longer enough like he's used too. His reaction after Nathan's score says it all. He didn't own the thunder and glory this time around. The BUZZ around the figure skating world was definitely on the young phenom.

Shoma Uno - he's definitely a great performer and great outing!

Patrick Chan - I'm kind of sad for him... His performance here was definitely disappointing. Got me thinking that his technical content even if he goes clean can no longer compete for the top spot. He only knows two kinds of quad which is no longer newsworthy nowadays.

 

[Yatagarasu]

Yuzu Hanyu - his almost perfect long program is no longer enough like he's used too. His reaction after Nathan's score says it all. He didn't own the thunder and glory this time around. The BUZZ around the figure skating world was definitely on the young phenom.

That an almost perfect program? He left a good 10+ BV points on the table there, that was less than 90% of his original BV when counted. Not even close. So after two huge mistakes in the SP and the FS, he was 3.75 points behind Chen.

You can keep your BUZZ. I'll stick to the math

I don't even want to get into the they are so over thing. Just no.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Oh, 3As over quads, yes! Quads are exciting and all, but there's just something about that forward takeoff that is both more beautiful and more daring. Forever the best jump of them all!

And of course, I can't get away here without pointing out how unbelievably amazing Yuzu's 3A is. I don't have all the stats in my head, but he got (another) perfect +3 for it in the SP too

 

[xeyra]

I think Patrick has the most stable and beautiful 4T-3T in the business. (well, whenever he doesn't run into the boards ) I really do love watching that jump from him. I don't know if I'd give him the best isolated 4T, because I think it's hard to beat some of Yuzuru's, but no one jumps it in combination like Patrick does.

I completely agree that 3As are awesome and basically one of my favorite jumps, and it only has a little bit to do with the fact it was the easiest jump to identify when I started paying attention to figure skating a couple of months ago.

 

[bixby]

That an almost perfect program? He left a good 10+ BV points on the table there, that was less than 90% of his original BV when counted. Not even close. So after two huge mistakes in the SP and the FS, he was 3.75 points behind Chen.

You can keep your BUZZ. I'll stick to the math

I don't even want to get into the they are so over thing. Just no.

Ya, you can stick to your math and BV. But don't forget what counts is the aftermath of what was landed/executed. For me, I think it's why "sport competition" is fun to watch.

 

[Yatagarasu]

Ya, you can stick to your math and BV. But don't forget what counts is the aftermath of what was landed/executed. For me, I think it's why "sport competition" is fun to watch.

Yes, I'll stick with the math, thanks and math says that was no-where near a perfect program. Which was your original premise

Yuzu Hanyu - his almost perfect long program

which then segued into

is no longer enough like he's used too

Once he skates a near perfect program and that's not enough, then statements like that become factually correct. As it is, it's just wishful thinking.

 

[bixby]

Yes, I'll stick with the math, thanks and math says that was no-where near a perfect program. Which was your original premise


which then segued into


Once he skates a near perfect program and that's not enough, then statements like that become factually correct. As it is, it's just wishful thinking.

Got your point. But here's what I'm saying; it was almost perfect because he didn't fall or popped another jump aside from doubling his quad sal. With that one minor error compare to the rest of his technical content, indeed, in my view it was "almost perfect". That's the only one and he won the long as a matter of fact.

Put that performance in past competition, he would still come out a winner even if he's behind in the short. That's how dominating he was because the gap is so wide. That's all.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Got your point. But here's what I'm saying; it was almost perfect because he didn't fall or popped another jump aside from doubling his quad sal. With that one minor error compare to the rest of his technical content, indeed, in my view it was "almost perfect". That's the only one and he won the long as a matter of fact.

Put that performance in past competition, he would still come out a winner even if he's behind in the short. That's how dominating he was because the gap is so wide. That's all.

I'm really not sure why people continue to call popping a quad a 'small error' - a fall with this system is actually a way smaller mistake than popping a jump (especially a quad).
But more than that, I'm not sure Yuzu would have, for example, won worlds last season over Javis LP if he had 'only' popped a quad (if he had been behind after the SP by around 6 points that is). Yuzu was always dominant in the sense of 'clean, nobody touches him', but if he messed up it wasn't too rare someone came around to snag the big medals. Which is why I'm so irritated at the 'Nathan now has all the buzz, all Pooh fans be frightened' ra ra I'm seeing around, there were always other skaters around who are big factors too.

 

[sallycinnamon]

I think
major mistake = popping a quad
mistake = enough rotations, no < or <<, but a fall
minor mistake = enough rotations, no < or <<, no fall, shaky landing, step-out