2024-25 Senior Grand Prix Final Men's Short Program

[Sabsi]

Thank you all for the lovely get-well wishes I’m not entirely sure how today’s going to go for me, but some sleep definitely helped.

Now, let’s get down to business:

Boys, what was that!? I really thought we were past this point

Ilia excluded, he’s rightfully in the lead, and I really enjoyed his program, his performance keeps getting better and better. Regarding his new Outfit: He’s extraordinary, so why not go for an extraordinary costume too? If anyone can pull it off, it’s him.

Yuma gave me a heart attack first thing in the morning. It could’ve been worse, though… I really thought he’d completely fall apart after the 4S… but thankfully, he turned it around.

Thanks for crossing your fingers for him

 

[moonkat]

Soooo I gonna miss Ilia hoodie. It went so well his improving artistry. The new matching shirt has the same effect as the NBA In Season Tournament court being team colors, the players wearing team colors, and the seats being team color. It's harder visualize his body lines with those stripes.

 

[cailuj365]

Is it too much to ask the top guys with the lower BVs (who are renowned for their jump quality) to do the bare minimum and land all their jumps cleanly?

Landing a high-quality 4S like Yuma's is not the bare minimum. It's still an amazingly hard element. And Yuma is still human. He’s not gonna jump perfectly every time. So he nails his 4S just 95% of the time instead of 100%, oh well. Did he hurt his chances at the gold medal today, yes, but even Ilia majorly flubbed a 3Lz at Skate America and lost the FS to Kevin. It happens, and tomorrow is another day.

 

[cailuj365]

How is Shaidorov going to fit that bear AND his panda costume in his suitcase?! Not enough room! I love the lunge entry that he does into the quad toe. It’s his trademark.

I like Grassl’s costume. The colors go together very well. He has some very creative spins, more flexible than he looks.

Aymoz has two fantastic programs this year. He grabs you from the very beginning, just awesome. Shame about the jumps today.

Shun looked like he was going to throw up at the boards before he skated. He has some of the quickest, most compact jumps I’ve seen. This was a very introverted skate today. He needs to learn how to perform and connect to the audience.

Yuma is so, so talented, but the program definitely lost a bit of sparkle with the fall even though the rest of the elements were technically perfect. To me, even the step sequence felt just a little flat where normally it’s a glory moment. I love his bidirectional spin.

I like Ilia’s top and the concept, but the pants could use a revision. I love the lip syncing. He performs like this is his stage, and we’re at his concert. This could have been a 108+ score, but the q and loss of levels hurt a bit. He has one of the best blade heel spin features, so clear and clean.

Tomorrow will be really interesting. I would love to see Kevin skate well. We’ll see what Ilia brings and is able to deliver in terms of jumps. I feel like his stamina is more of a question mark this year compared to the last two years because he’s done relatively fewer quads in the FS so far. I think not only could Shaidorov stay on the podium… but he maybe could even challenge for silver now?! Could his potential tech overcome the PCS deficit to Yuma? He could be a future 4CC champion, especially if Ilia and Yuma skip.

 

[TontoK]

Here's the thing. I have a problem with Yuma's performance in the SP as a competitor, not a skater. If he wants to be competitive, if he wants to establish that he is the better skater than Ilia and should be scored as such, he simply CANNOT afford doing any mistakes in the SP especially with this layout. I would shut up if Yuma had skated clean here, like I do when he does, but he didn't, and so to me, him not going clean with the 4S 4T3T 3A layout against a reigning World Champion Ilia with a 4F 3A 4Lz3T layout is frustrating. Especially when the 4S is his best jump, he's a better jumper than Shoma ever was and he can rack those GOEs up to make it more of a match with Ilia.

You know what was similarly frustrating to this, for me? When Yuzuru made mistakes in either his 4S or 4T when he had to go against Nathan who either include 4F or 4Lz in his SP or both. Is it too much to ask the top guys with the lower BVs (who are renowned for their jump quality) to do the bare minimum and land all their jumps cleanly? If they had done at least a 4F or a 4Lo in their SP and fall on them, sure. Like Shun taking the fall on the 4Lz, he went for it like a champ.

As a skater, Yuma's quality is undeniable. As a performer, he's so-so but that's not a crime in this current field. It's why I'm finding myself perceiving him more as a competitor, thinking about what he can do to increase his points to better put up a fight on Ilia. He has the lowest BV attempt in the SP outside of Kevin. Mikhail Shaidorov is attempting harder jumps than him. So I want Yuma to separate himself and nail his program, deliver perfection, at least for the SP with only 3 jumping passes. And when he doesn't, it's frustrating to see the comments of "oh but his artistry, oh but his skating" well yeah, but he has to show up and put up his content out there.

I think you're being harsh here.

It's not as though Yuma falls all the time on that 4S. These are difficult elements, and nobody has a 100% success rate. Ice is slippery, as they say. But even more, the GOE that he rightfully earns for that 4S most of the time bridges the gap to a higher BV quad.

I'm sure his team game-plays the layout that will give him the highest score he can achieve on a consistent basis. This is especially important in the SP, where there are fewer elements to recover from a mistake. They're not YOLOing this. If Yuma had landed that 4S as he normally does, the program would be a 100+ program, which is all he could ask for. And then Ilia would do whatever he does (and that might include a major mistake, too), but Yuma is not in control of Ilia's program.

 

[Arigato]

Here's the thing. I have a problem with Yuma's performance in the SP as a competitor, not a skater. If he wants to be competitive, if he wants to establish that he is the better skater than Ilia and should be scored as such, he simply CANNOT afford doing any mistakes in the SP especially with this layout. I would shut up if Yuma had skated clean here, like I do when he does, but he didn't, and so to me, him not going clean with the 4S 4T3T 3A layout against a reigning World Champion Ilia with a 4F 3A 4Lz3T layout is frustrating. Especially when the 4S is his best jump, he's a better jumper than Shoma ever was and he can rack those GOEs up to make it more of a match with Ilia.

Sliding off an edge has nothing to do with competitiveness. It didn't with Shoma when he slid off his edge after completing his 3A in the 2017 GPF, and it didn't with Yuma and his 4S in this GPF. I don't blame Yuma or Shoma for either of their edge mishaps. It happens. It's not unusual. Shoma's was endearing when he got up and laughed at himself, but then that's why so many people love Shoma: Great sportsmanship. Zero arrogance. As for who can be a match for Ilia, that holds no interest for me. Nor does his skating. As someone who competed in sports, those of us who won knew who our competition was:

Ourselves.

You know what was similarly frustrating to this, for me?

Actually, I'm mainly concerned with Yuma's frustration. I hope he has cleared his mind and does well today. I'm sure many in this forum will join me in cheering him on.

 

[Magill]

Seems like some people are still so frustrated they just cannot let it go ....

 

[Ares]

...

 

[rabidline]

I think you're being harsh here.

Considering it really was his 4S fall that was the decider for the title, I feel justified by letting myself be a bit harsh on his result As you said, ice is slippery. It's slippery for everyone. But hey, it's okay because it has nothing to do with competitiveness right?