What I am looking forward to at the 2007 Worlds!

[slutskayafan21]

Picking Asada to win is not bold at all, picking anything other then that at this point would be bold. Picking neither Shen/Zhou or the Germans to win the pairs is indeed bold at this point though. Picking Joubert not to win the mens isnt that bold, with his recent foot injury, and his not-so-outstanding Europeans, and the fact he doesnt max out potential jump layout in his free skate despite all his quads, and has yet to do quad-triple in the short this year, the mens is still open to a number of potential winners.

 

[chuckm]

IDo Russia, the United States, and Canada have a judge on the [ice dance] panel at Worlds?

Here are the judges for the 4 disciplines

MEN:
(SP) BLR, BUL, GER, ISR, ROM, RUS, SRB, SVK, RSA, SWE, SUI, USA
(FS) CAN, FRA, GBR, SLO plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

LADIES:
(SP) AUT, CAN, CRO, EST, HUN, ITA, KOR, ROM, SVK, SWE, TUR, USA
(FS) FIN, FRA, JPN, RUS plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

PAIRS:
(SP) AUS, BUL, CAN, CHN, FRA, GER, POL, RUS, UKR, USA, UZB plus one judge chosen from a Singles panel.
(FS) same as SP

ICE DANCE:
(CD) AUS, AZE, CAN, CHN, GER, ISR, ITA, POL, RUS, UKR, USA, UZB
(OD/FD) BUL, CZE, JPN, LTU plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

Note that the ICE DANCE panel for the CD has 4 former SSR judges. If all 4 of those judges are selected for the OD and/or FD panels, the total number of SSR judges could be 5 (AZE, RUS, UKR, UZB, LTU). Note also that the AZE and UZB judges are both Russian, "on loan" to those countries. Some of the ISR judges (Katalin Alpern and Alfred Korytek) originally judged for former SSRs too. So potentially, the Dance panel could be 1/2 former SSRs.

That's one of the reasons why I feel that it is virtually certain that Domnina/Shabalin will be on the podium, perhaps on top.

 

[jennylovskt]

Since I nailed Kostner as the winner of Euros before, I'd like to make a couple of bold predictions based on some preliminary analysis and common sense.

In my opinion, we're going to see some surprises.

In men's, Brian is not going to get the gold medal.
In ladies', Asada is going to win.
In pairs, Shen & Zhao will not get gold medal, neither will S&S from Germany.
Dance, I know very little, and it's pretty much free for all.

Your prediction in men's is possible since Lambiel has come back. I think Lambiel will be gold and Joubert will be silver.

Shen & Zhao will be gold. Pray for them.

 

[chuckm]

In Pairs, who but Shen/Zhao or Savchenko/Szolkowy could possibly win the gold medal? Pang/Tong are a bit off this season due to her kidney infection. Zhang/Zhang haven't been great either. Petrova/Tikhonov have faded badly.

Shen/Zhao have won every competition they've entered so far this season. The only team who can challenge them are the Germans, and if they skate as well at Worlds as they did at Euros, there could be a very tight contest.

But past those two, I don't see any team that could challenge either of them in any way. Zhang/Zhang finished more than 10 points behind the Germans at the GPF, and the Germans finished more than 12 points behind S/Z.

 

[iloveaxel]

Your prediction in men's is possible since Lambiel has come back. I think Lambiel will be gold and Joubert will be silver. The bronze is wide open. Takahashi, Oda, Buttle, and Lysacek, depends on who skates clean and who has the quad. Evan may be pushed off the podium. Johnny, Johnny, I don't think he has the right set of the mind for even a great skating right now. Even though I really want to see him come back strong.

Asada might win because Kim's health is in question at this point.

In pairs, I still think Shen & Zhao will win. Pray for them.

In dance, Tanith & Ben will not get the gold. I picked the Canadian pairs to win but I actually don't know much about it either.

Brian's trajection is not good. He peaked too soon, coupled with injury. He's definitely medal though. No. I don't believe Lambiel will get gold either. His conditioning is far from ideal if you watched a clip of his recent touring. 3A is still AWOL, i doubt his quad is nearly as reliable as last year. The gold medal will likely go to Takahashi or Lysacek.My pick is Lasacek. Many 'diehards' don't like his skating. That's one reason I picked him. The less you want it to happen, the more likely it will happen.

Shen & Zhao are still the heavy favourite, but one pair may surprise us if they make some mistakes.

 

[jennylovskt]

Brian's trajection is not good. He peaked too soon, coupled with injury. He's definitely medal though. No. I don't believe Lambiel will get gold either. His conditioning is far from ideal if you watched a clip of his recent touring. 3A is still AWOL, i doubt his quad is nearly as reliable as last year. The gold medal will likely go to Takahashi or Lysacek.My pick is Lasacek. Many 'diehards' don't like his skating. That's one reason I picked him. The less you want it to happen, the more likely it will happen.

Shen & Zhao are still the heavy favourite, but one pair may surprise us if they make some mistakes.

:chorus: Lysacek gets gold?! Not a chance with all those names on the long list ahead of him.

 

[hockeyfan228]

I'm looking forward to the Men's competition, and to seeing a number of skaters who won't make US TV on FSVids.

 

[chuckm]

Shen & Zhao are still the heavy favourite, but one pair may surprise us if they make some mistakes.

And which pair do you think has the capability to surprise? At the GPF, S/Z finished 12 points ahead of the Germans and more than 22 points ahead of Zhang/Zhang. They'd have to make 3 or 4 mistakes to finish behind those two teams.

 

[slutskayafan21]

Here are the judges for the 4 disciplines

MEN:
(SP) BLR, BUL, GER, ISR, ROM, RUS, SRB, SVK, RSA, SWE, SUI, USA
(FS) CAN, FRA, GBR, SLO plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

LADIES:
(SP) AUT, CAN, CRO, EST, HUN, ITA, KOR, ROM, SVK, SWE, TUR, USA
(FS) FIN, FRA, JPN, RUS plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

PAIRS:
(SP) AUS, BUL, CAN, CHN, FRA, GER, POL, RUS, UKR, USA, UZB plus one judge chosen from a Singles panel.
(FS) same as SP

ICE DANCE:
(CD) AUS, AZE, CAN, CHN, GER, ISR, ITA, POL, RUS, UKR, USA, UZB
(OD/FD) BUL, CZE, JPN, LTU plus 8 judges drawn at random from the SP panel

Note that the ICE DANCE panel for the CD has 4 former SSR judges. If all 4 of those judges are selected for the OD and/or FD panels, the total number of SSR judges could be 5 (AZE, RUS, UKR, UZB, LTU). Note also that the AZE and UZB judges are both Russian, "on loan" to those countries. Some of the ISR judges (Katalin Alpern and Alfred Korytek) originally judged for former SSRs too. So potentially, the Dance panel could be 1/2 former SSRs.

That's one of the reasons why I feel that it is virtually certain that Domnina/Shabalin will be on the podium, perhaps on top.

Thanks for listing the judges of each event. Well the dance panel is interesting with so many former Soviet republic representatives. I always thoughts Domnina/Shabalin were in good shape for Worlds this year even before I was aware of the distribution of the panel. Now they look like in even better shape for Worlds, a gold medal is an even stronger possibility with that panel. No French judge for certain in the dance event, Isabelle and Olivier are already in big trouble. A Bulgarian judge for certain in the free dance, good news for the Bulgarians as well. Which one of Dubreuil/Lauzon or Belbin/Agosto gets their judge drawn for the free dance panel(although could end up being neither or both)could be critical in who rounds out the podium if the Russians and Bulgarians make it, and the French are left off.

A Japanese judge for certain in the womens free skate is good news for Asada and Ando, maybe even Nakano(although she is real long shot this year). Will be interesting which ones of the American, Canadian, and Italian judges gets picked for the free skate. No Swiss judge for even the short program, probably not good news for Meier.

Joubert and Buttle will be very happy to have a judge secured for the final free skate already. Lambiel and Lysacek will be hoping for one to be drawn probably.
No Japanese judge for certain in the mens event, very interesting to see what impact that potentially has.

Germany and China both have a judge in both SP and LP for the pairs event. Evens out there. Petrova/Tikhonov and the other russians have their judge for both programs too. The teams fighting for top 10 spots like Canada, U.S, and Poland all have one for both programs too. The pairs event will be the least influenced by the judging panel composition.

 

[slutskayafan21]

And which pair do you think has the capability to surprise? At the GPF, S/Z finished 12 points ahead of the Germans and more than 22 points ahead of Zhang/Zhang. They'd have to make 3 or 4 mistakes to finish behind those two teams.

The Zhangs definitely have not skated anywhere near their potential, except for the Skate Canada short program, yet this year. Granted there is a good chance they wont end up doing it at Worlds this year either, given how much they have struggled this season it seems very likely. However the GPF would definitely not reflect anywhere near their potential.

 

[slutskayafan21]

:chorus: Lysacek gets gold?! Not a chance with all those names on the long list ahead of him.

I am no Lysacek fan but I do believe he has a shot at the gold medal this year. He isnt the favorite by any means but he is a definite player this year going in. His free skate at the Four Continents was not quite clean and it still almost got a 159.23 That alone shows he is definitely capable of atleast a 160 free skate, and just as he was very consistent pulling off clean free skate or near-clean free skate after another pre-quad, his last 2 free skates give early signs he still has that consistency even with the addition of a quad. Lambiel has only scored a 160.90 in the free skate once, and that was in the qualifying round of Worlds last year, I definitely believe his scoring potential is alot higher then that, atleast if a triple axel is included, but that is the facts of now . Joubert has done it once this year but it was only a 160.13 even with 3 quads, and his jump layout was not maxed out enough to take advantage of those multiple quads; at Eric Bompard he in fact scored only a 153.73 with 2 quads and a pretty clean performance. Takahashi scored a 163.49 and Oda a 161.01 at NHK for pretty much optimum performances on home ice(although it will be home ice for both again at worlds). So in the free skate Evan is definitely competitive with all the contenders this year. In the short program I am not as sure, he has had trouble skating clean shorts, and I am not sure if he can score as high as the others in the short even if he does, still if he does a clean short he should atleast not be totally out of the running.

All those guys either have trouble putting back to back clean programs with a quad and triple axel. Takahashi has done it at both NHL and Japanese Nationals but will he under the pressure of Worlds. Lambiel almost never did a triple axel cleanly, even when he was having his best success and was fully trained. Oda is pretty consistent most of the time with jumps, but has no quad, he might be trying one at worlds, I have not heard confirmation either way yet. Joubert has been very consistent this season, but wasnt spectacular at Europeans and is coming off an injury, and is often not doing the quad-triple in the short, instead only a quad-double, as well as his jump layout in the long I spoke of earlier.

 

[gkelly2]

Thanks for listing the judges of each event. Well the dance panel is interesting with so many former Soviet republic representatives. I always thoughts Domnina/Shabalin were in good shape for Worlds this year even before I was aware of the distribution of the panel. Now they look like in even better shape for Worlds, a gold medal is an even stronger possibility with that panel. No French judge for certain in the dance event, Isabelle and Olivier are already in big trouble. A Bulgarian judge for certain in the free dance, good news for the Bulgarians as well. Which one of Dubreuil/Lauzon or Belbin/Agosto gets their judge drawn for the free dance panel(although could end up being neither or both)could be critical in who rounds out the podium if the Russians and Bulgarians make it, and the French are left off.
QUOTE]

I don't know why everybody thinks the 4 judges drawn for the OD segment will be for sure in the FD??The second segment is the OD for ice dancing and the Free skate for pairs,ladies and men events. In the ISU page it is written that If there is a third segment to skate (Free Dance), the panel of Judges will be drawn on site amongst all Judges present and available for this Championship with a priority of those Judges, who have already judged the previous segments

 

[Tinymavy15]

what i am looking foward to is....
The japanese ladies showdown

Brain battleing lambiel

evan and his wonderful quad

kimmie ( can she defend her title?)

Shen and Zhao winning a third world title

Guessing who will win the dance gold

alissa cizny's first worlds



let's face it... everything!!!

 

[Tinymavy15]

I agree about S/S being top 3, I just don't think it will be a Chinese sweep.

My predictions:

Mens:
1.) Brian Joubert
2.) Evan Lysacek
3.) Jeff Buttle
4.) Daisuke Takahashi
5.) Nobunari Oda

Ladies:
1.) Mao Asada
2.) Kimmie Meissner
3.) Yu-Na Kim
4.) Miki Ando
5.) Carolina Kostner

Pairs:
1.) Xue Shen/Hongo Zhao
2.) Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang
3.) Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy
4.) Qing Pang/Jian Tong
5.) Rena Inoue/John Baldwin

Dance:
1.) Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski
2.) Marie-France Dubreil/Patrice Lauzon
3.) Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin
4.) Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto
5.) Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder

.

i think these are great predictions... but what about stephane lambiel. he will probably mess up your top five somewhere. otherwise, i will agree with you!:yes:

 

[HCOSurfer]

My predictions:

Men
1. Brian Joubert
2. Stephane Lambiel
3. Evan Lysacek

I think Joubert will have a killer FS landing all 3 quads and if not all, most of his jumps. I dont really know about Lambiel, but I feel as if he wont come up on top, especially if he doesnt land his Triple Axel. I think Lysacek will fall in the short, but come back with a killer long landing all his jumps, even the Quad-Triple combo.

Pairs
1. Shen/Zhao
2. Savchenko/Szolkowy
3. Zhang/Zhang

Shen and Zhao have just been breathtaking this season so I'm pretty sure the gold is theirs. However, Savchenko and Szolkowy have also been amazing (Take a look at their 2007 Euro FS). Aside from their lifts, their program is also challenging as well. And although I would rather Pang and Tong to take 3rd, I feel as if Zhang and Zhang will take that spot, IF they have a good FS.

Ladies
1. Yuna Kim
2. Mao Asada
3. Kimmie Meissner

I really want Yuna Kim to win over Mao. She has the artistry and the jumps in which can give her the gold but I dont know if she's consistant enough and if she isnt, then the gold will most likely go to Mao. But I feel that Mao will possibly bomb her FS but still have a great SP to put her into 2nd. I also think Kimmie will come in 4th for her SP behind Miki, but will then come in 2nd for her FS nailing every jump perfectly (And hopefully nailing that Triple Axel of hers perfectly as well). I love Kimmie's FS this year and hope she at least gets a medal. Well that's just my opinion...

 

[slutskayafan21]

i think these are great predictions... but what about stephane lambiel. he will probably mess up your top five somewhere. otherwise, i will agree with you!:yes:

Any prediction made before the first day of the 26th would be not knowing Lambiel is in the event.

 

[goodbyemylover]

With Lambiel back, I'd say Evan's chance for gold has gone down considerably. Since his performance at Nationals, also, I think his ability has gone down a bit as well. Many might think I'm insane by this statement; yes, I know how incredible his technical side was. However, the Carmen program is now missing much of its more interesting choreography; it seems more like a series of jumps. It seems less interesting.

It is a good reminder that Evan has one quad under his belt at the moment; without making that quad, the chance he has disappears. He can be overtaken by any of the other men in this case. Even with a clean skate, Joubert and Lambiel only have to skate decently, with both quads in tow.

I won't discount Evan anymore than it seems I am. However, I do really believe his chances for gold, perhaps silver, have diminished considerably.

 

[slutskayafan21]

I love Lambiel but I have serious doubts about his chances this year. If he doesnt attempt a triple axel he will need all his quads. He hasnt been seen by the judges much this year, I am not sure if that helps him, but then again maybe that is balanced out by being the 2 time reigning World Champion. I am not sure what to expect from him but the events he has been in this year dont auger well.

 

[satorare]

I feel Lambiel is not serious this year. He may be pressured by his sponsor (Fuji Xerox) or begged by the Swiss federation to "participate".
Even with last year's performance, it's very difficult to have a medal, much less the gold.

 

[goodbyemylover]

With Lambiel, personally, I'm going to discard all thoughts of what he's done this year in competition. I think it really wasn't what he is truly capable of, a product of his loss of competitive fire. His face at Skate Canada when he won was something else; he knew he shouldn't have won there. It must have been a feeling like, "Why try anymore?"

He has been consistant in the past, though the triple jumps are usually his big "Whoops" elements. His presence will also be a pressure to his opponents. To a few of them, it was easy before. Now, there will be yet another to worry about; one who has won silver at the Olympics and the World title twice.

I do understand your doubts though! His slips and mistakes were very discouraging at the beginning of the season.