I was dismayed by what I felt was engineered judging, which in every discipline except ladies, ensured two Canadians on the podium. It couldn't be pulled off in ladies because Chartrand was in 6th after the SP and the tech team couldn't find enough nits in Tuk's and Miayahara's FSs to move Alaine up to 3rd.
I especially felt bad for Denney/Frazier who skated even better than they had last week, with two clean skates, but got lowball scores so that they were kept behind Iliuschechkina/Moscovitch, with falls. D/F had a chance to make the GPF final with a medal, but not now. And I/M, with 11 points, have no chance at the GPF at COC against three strong Chinese teams---no home ice for them there.
I was looking forward to the men, which turned out to be the most disappointing. Yuzuru obviously is still having problems with his sore foot, and can't perform at his best, but what is going on with Chan? Was he not practicing at all while coachless? He seemed to be totally lacking in stamina, folding halfway through the FS, doubling and singling jumps in the second half. Yet he got HUGE PCS scores much higher than Yuzuru's, and shockingly high GOEs from some judges for the doubled jumps. The tech team, which was incredibly vicious with the other men, handled Kevin Reynolds with kid gloves, even though Reynolds is a habitual underrotator and flutzer. Kevin got just one UR, on the jump he fell on.
I hope Hanyu skips SC next year and comes to SA, where he'd get a warm welcome and no skewed judging. We loved Shoma Uno this year and would love Yuzuru even more if we had the opportunity to host him.
In Dance, I loved Chock/Bates' FD even more than their SD, which I liked a lot. They deserved to win the FD and came near to taking the whole thing (V/M won by just 0.82 and Scott did not look pleased). You have to wonder how this competition would have turned out had it happened on neutral ground.