Of course, the Russians are always better. Griazev will beat Talkehashi, Joubert, Oda, Weir and Lysacek at worlds. Am I correct?
Joe.
Griazev won the Russian National Championship, then finished 16th at Europeans. Bronze medalist Dobrin placed 18th. So far, the only Russian man certain to go to Worlds is Lutai, based on his 5th place at Europeans.
There is to be a skate-off next week in Russia to determine the Men's and Ladies' teams. Both Men and Ladies have had such bad results this year that no matter who gets picked, it's a crapshootl.
Most likely Petrova/Tikhonov and (if her injury is healed) Kawaguchi / Smirnov will be the main Pairs team in Tokyo, but they will have a hard time medaling when there's 3 Chinese teams and the German team to deal with.
There is no hope of a medal in Singles, and only a very faint hope in Pairs. The only sure-fire medalwinner for the Russians is DomShabs, and that's why I feel they will be pushed hard for the gold medal.