2017 GP Cup of China Mens FS

[Kittosuni]

Vincent needs to stop bombing his SP's he would have easily made the podium with just one fall in the SP. Also his coaches need to realize he can't do all those quads right now in the LP so take at least one out. No shame in realizing that he can't do that many right now. But 4th place and only 3 points out of a medal in your first GP even with all the mistakes is not bad and Vincent showed last season that he finishes strong.

Especially with the judges clearly willing to award him the PCS if he skates clean.

 

[xibsuarz]

Save for Boyang in second my predictions died so badly
Woke up at 5 on a Saturday to watch the final flight...and except for Max and Han I am left with a bitter taste. This kind of competition makes me sad because these skaters work so hard everyday, only to have subpar performances in competition Not their fault of course, and that’s how the sport is, but it’s still a pity. I’m specially heartbroken for Javi, I wonder if he has any injuries + not having his coach there must be tough. He is used to that on Nationals, but the competition is nowhere nearly as strong there. I also wonder if he might consider following what Patrick did and withdraw from France, focusng his efforts and training to get back on track in time for Europeans and the Olympics. I’m still not counting him out of the pool of Olympic medal hopefuls, there is still quite some time left.
Boyang takes his time to get in shape, so this is not too worrying. He shouldn’t have any trouble scoring a silver at SA and making the Final.
So, if we assume Nathan and Shoma will have 30 points, Yuzuru will have 28, Mikhail and Boyang 24, who will be the final skater to make the GPF? I’m personally rooting for Jason, he has every chance of a silver at NHK now, I would love to see him at the Final :yes:
Well, let’s just put this competition behind us (except for Mikhail’s short and Max and Han’s free) and move on to the pairs.

 

[gravy]

Mikhail already gotten Javi's spot.
Nathan, Shoma, Boyang and Yuzu remain in their own spots.

We are discussing Patrick's vacated spot. Thus Aaron or Rippon.

My math was screwy and forgot about Kolyada. In that case, I'd say it's Brown's spot to lose. If the rest of the Grand Prix plays out as expected, he just has to win the silver at NHK and he's in. But we all remember that he just had to be the normal Jason last year in Japan to make the final and imploded... so nothing is guaranteed.

 

[Hyena]

Also, U.S. has medal in every GP so far! 3 for 3. They're tied with Russia, who also had a man medal in every GP so far (well Mikhail taking two of them).

Which is a HUGE improvement compared to some recent seasons!

(Meanwhile, the three US women's spots are also competitive, but for the opposite reason...)

 

[labgoat]

Zhou pronounced as the English name 'Joe' but British uncles said Joo as in Boo.

Kudos to Tracy Wilson for getting it correct then.

 

[Mrs. P]

I've calculated the men here: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...d-Prix-Final&p=1835454&viewfull=1#post1835454

Here's what I got:
Mikhail Kolyada - 26; 550.44(COC) -- Qualified
Shoma Uno - 15; 301.10 (TdF)
Nathan Chen - 15; 293.79 (SA)
Yuzuru Hanyu - 13; 290.77 (NHK)
Boyang Jin -13; 264.48 (SA)
Jason Brown - 13; 261.14 (NHK)
---
Max Aaron - 11; 259.69 (TdF)
Alexander Samarin - 11; 250.06 (TdF)
Vincent Zhou - 9 256.66 (TdF)
Misha Ge - 9; 255.33 (TdF)
Patrick Chan 9; 245.70 (w/d from NHK)
Yan Han; 7; 254.61 - no other GP evenet
Moris Kvitelashvili 7; 250.26 (TdF)
Jorik Hendrickx 7; 237.31 (SA)

Still to compete:
Sergei Voronov (NHK+ SA)
Adam Rippon (NHK + SA)
Alexei Bychenko (NHK + TDF)

 

[whatif]

Yes, unfortunately, Brown's next event is much easier then Aaron's. But will Fernandez compete?

 

[Baron Vladimir]

I think most of these guys hit these difficult elements in practice every day. But, putting all of them together under the pressure of a competition is a completely different story. So, they need to expose themselves to this pressure in the first half of the season to be prepared for the second half.

Im not so sure. Ladies were in the same situation today and did very well. And last week was similiar situation. And the week before. Watching this after Ladies competition is just travesty. They should give medals they are keeping for men to more ladies

 

[frida80]

Vincent needs to stop bombing his SP's he would have easily made the podium with just one fall in the SP. Also his coaches need to realize he can't do all those quads right now in the LP so take at least one out. No shame in realizing that he can't do that many right now. But 4th place and only 3 points out of a medal in your first GP even with all the mistakes is not bad and Vincent showed last season that he finishes strong.

This is nearly word for word what people were saying about it’s about Nathan FS in TDF last year. I agree, he needs to take out one quad is it helps him become more consistent. I think it should be the flip until he can get it more consistent. The underrotations on it are obvious.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Chen is in. So is Uno. Unless Hanyu "pulls a Javier" in the next event, he is in. But i am not so sure about Jin. I say Jin, Aaron, and Brown will fight for the last two spots.

There's no way Hanyu will not get at least 2nd at NHK, especially with Chan having WD'ed. Jin also has a good shot to make the final with an expected silver (or better if Chen falters) at Skate America, even if he skates as rough as he did here (and you'd have to imagine he'll be better). Chen of course, is all but guaranteed to podium at Skate America and is in. Shoma is practically a shoe-in, especially with Javier like this. Brown has a very good shot with Chan out of NHK, too.

It will be very interesting to see if Javier bounces back at IdF and Max can keep up his momentum. Vincent could sneak into the final over Max if he beats him at IdF and on tiebreaker, but Javier could play spoiler for both even though he's most definitely taken himself out of the final.

 

[Yatagarasu]

but Javier could play spoiler for both

Unless he withdraws .... it'll be interesting to see what their choice will be.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

This is nearly word for word what people were saying about it’s about Nathan FS in TDF last year. I agree, he needs to take out one quad is it helps him become more consistent. I think it should be the flip until he can get it more consistent. The underrotations on it are obvious.

He got rotational credit for it in both programs though, so I don't think he's taking that out. He could move the 4Z up though and an easier quad to the 2nd half (although funny enough, the 4Z happened to be most reliable here).

I think Vincent is the first skater to attempt a 4Z in the second half, correct?

 

[Mrs. P]

I don't see Javier W/Ding from his second event. I think he's frustrated with his performance, but he didn't look downright dejected like Patrick did at SC.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Unless he withdraws .... it'll be interesting to see what their choice will be.

Hopefully not. Between him and Chan, that would be hugely disappointing for the fans. Not to mention, Javier needs his second GP to get back on track and get some confidence. This was worst FS since 2014 (even with the 90 PCS).

Mentally it's tough though... he's facing both Americans who beat him here and most likely will not even touch Uno, who's clearly the best man this year so far.

 

[cathlen]

Huge congrats to Max on winning FS and congrats to Mika on winning his first GP :luv17: :hap93:

 

[Yatagarasu]

Mentally it's tough though...

That's why I'm wondering if he may WD. It's not just this competition either, it's this competition on top of how his Worlds ended, which was yet another disappointing skate. Mentally it may just be better for him to skip and go straight to Europeans, where he can reset his season, for himself, and in terms of impressions. I don't know. It'd definitely be disappointing if he skips but I cannot say that I would not understand the choice.

 

[Tolstoj]

I disagree. In Rostelecom he was craaazy overscored, but even with reduced PCS and higher PCS for (a way underscored) Ge, he would have likely been still bronze. Also, he won CoC by almost 15 points (and was 23 points ahead of Zhou in 4th.... even with that hot mess of a FS.... mainly due to his flawless SP (with 4Z and 4T), and the other guys being far from their best.

We all know his 3-fall Rostelecom FS PCS was an absolute joke (and his FS here too should have been no more than 85), but he did a lot of great things in this competition, and credit should be given where due. And we need to acknowledge how the rest of the field skates.

I think a lot of people are underestimating his skating skills.

He skates very fast, he has good skating skills, he stays in character and the jumping technique is among the best or the best.

And this is something we say often in Men figure skating because with all these quads even Shoma, Yuzuru and Javi have their mistakes in the free skate but they win because of the overall quality.

While i love Ge's commitment, his skating is average: always kinda slow, not the best range of movements,... i can see why judges never gave him the big marks.

 

[evasorange]

Javi is different situation then Patrick to me...its been awhile since we've seen Patrick beat most of these guys right? Yet just 8 months ago Javi layed down an amazing short that was ahead of everyone at worlds. Also last week was the first we've seen of Patrick and it was a mess but we saw Javi in september look pretty strong and beat Yuzu. Maybe i'm just a delusional Javi fangirl but I'm going to hopefully chalk this up to a bad weekend and not a downward spiral.

 

[nekun]

Yuzu at ACI, Patrick at SC and now Javi at CoC...the World Champions from the last seven years just share solidarity here..

 

[QueenOfTheRoad]

Weeeeellll, this was not great. Not great at all.

Javier...what can one say, i think it is only the beginning of the season that ails him.

I don't feel Boyang's programs this year. I liked him last year a lot, but he seems one trick pony and quite boring this year.

With Vincent i am hot and cold. I like sometimes what he skates and sometimes i feel he is still too juniorish.

Kolyada, uffff.... I get from him more than in one way Kulik vibes. Kulik was also not good with the competition pressure and desperately prone to pop and falls (i remember his magnificent Romeo and Juliet program), but both have technique to die for! I hope till the next Oly that he will get the consistency he lacks. Positive facts: i start to like his Elvis -program, which i hated at the beginning. He still needs to work on it, but i like what i see now, he is with the music there. He also kept fighting after the two costly pops.