Saturday, November 5, 2011

2011 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: Cup of China Mens Free Skate LIVE BLOG

1) Richard Dornbush (USA)
     Music: A Fistful of Dollars, The Lone Ranger
  • Nice Quad toe, just a hand down
  • Solid triple lutz
  • 3a-3t combination, stumble out of the 2nd jump
  • He's a good spinner as well
  • He really does have the whole package and he'll continue to grow and improve as he matures
  • Nice big triple axel there
  • I really do love this program
  • So far so good on the technique
  • He really goes after this footwork, I love the choreography of the whole piece
  • It's a very American program, how will it hold up in International competition?
  • Good set Ricky!
FS Score: 76.78 (TES) + 65.56 (PCS) = 142.34
Total Score: 62.93 (SP) + 142.34 (FS) = 205.27

2) Kevin Reynolds (CAN)
     Music: Chrono Trigger
  • A struggle on the jumps, two falls thus far
  • Jumps are his strength, he's in for a tough ride if he can't land them
  • That was a tough program for him
  • After the falls on the jumps he couldn't get himself back into it
  • The audience was really wowed by his final headless scratch spin
FS Score: 79.30 (TES) + 62.80 (PCS) - 2.00 (DED) = 140.10
Total Score: 64.31 (SP) + 140.10 (FS) = 204.41

3) Jialiang Wu (CHN)
     Music: Tango
  • I'd love a costume deduction
  • Huge 3 axel combo, shaky in the air but he found his feet
  • Stumble and fall on 2nd 3A attempt
  • I wouldn't call this a program, it's really just a string of jumps
  • I thought the music stopped there for a minute
  • 2A-2-2 sequence, the landings are getting really messy at this point
  • A designer needs to come in and re-costume the entire Chinese team
  • He kind of looks like Hao Zhang
FS Score:  (TES) +  (PCS) - (DED) =
Total Score: 65.06 (SP) + (FS) =

4) Nan Song (CHN)
     Music: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
  • A really good jumper this guy
  • Huge Quad toe combo and solo Quad toe
  • Plus he attempts to actually put together and perform a program unlike the other Chinese men
  • He really is quite a charming skater to watch
  • He'll need more speed and better choreography if he ever hopes to contend for medals
  • It's good to see the Quad is alive and well in China
  • The upside down butt spin is big in China, I wish it would die
FS Score: 86.46 (TES) + 67.58 (PCS) = 154.03
Total Score: 72.72 (SP) + 154.03 (FS) = 226.75

5) Nobunari Oda (JPN)
     Music: Les Parapluies de Cherbourg
  • To Quad or not to Quad?
  • His attention to artistry and interpretation has improved greatly
  • Huge 3a-2-2 with the softest knees of anyone out there
  • 3lz-3t
  • I love the footwork out of that triple loop
  • Huge stumble, not sure if it was quite a fall or not
  • He needed to perfect to win without the Quad, now he needs to hope for mistakes from the rest of the field
  • Great triple axel, lands so low in the knees I just die for it
  • He lands so low, he practically get's eaten up by the fog
  • I appreciate that he is now paying attention to things other than just the jumps
  • Fast steps into a very abrupt ending
FS Score: 74.30 (TES) + 76.16 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 149.46
Total Score: 77.65 (SP) + 149.46 (FS) = 227.11

6) Jeremy Abbott (USA)
     Music: Exogenesis
  • Went for a Quad toe and sat it down, it looked rotated to me
  • Nice glide out of the triple axel
  • I'm dying over his toe point on the low sit spin
  • Wonderful use of the upper body and overall carriage
  • Triple lutz into footwork
  • This is wonderful choreography, not a moment is wasted
  • Doubled the 2nd triple axel attempt
  • 3lutz-2-2 combo
  • He is carrying really nice speed and overall flow across the ice
  • He seems to be in great shape, doesn't look tired at all here in the final section
  • This is a really well paced, smartly composed program
  • Yuka will be pleased!
FS Score: 69.67 (TES) + 80.50 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 149.17
Total Score: 79.32 (SP) + 149.17 (FS) = 228.49

7) Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN)
     Music: Romeo & Juliet
  • Huge Quad there
  • Huge triple axel
  • He is skating like a bat out of hell, he needs to calm down or he'll run out of gas
  • This kid is amazing, he has the whole package and he may be the one to challenge Chan once he can learn to reign in his power
  • Very hard fall there, nearly a face plant and a hard time getting up, lead to another hard fall that he struggles to get up from
  • Two major splats and he'll still score quite well on the strength of the rest of the program
  • I think he is the only man doing a Bielmann nowadays
FS Score: 72.80 (TES) + 75.36 (PCS) - 2.00 (DED) = 145.16
Total Score: 81.37 (SP) + 145.16 (FS) = 226.53

8) Artur Gachinski (RUS)
     Music: Interview with a Vampire, Bram Stoker's Dracula
  • Eats it on his opening Quad
  • Wild triple axel, stumble out
  • At this point he's given away the 2 point lead he had in the short on the fall and the steps out
  • This step sequence is so slow, he's practically walking out there
  • Opened up another jump
  • He is just like Plushenko, cat-like in that he can save many jumps that are really ugly and contorted in the air and still find his feet
  • He looks really tired whereas Jeremy maintained his energy level throughout 
  • That was a very messy program, if Jeremy doesn't win this is a problem
FS Score: 69.04 (TES) + 72.86 (PCS) - 1.00 (DED) = 140.90
Total Score: 81.64 (SP) + 140.90 (FS) = 222.54

No comments:

Post a Comment