SKATE AMERICA 2014: Mens Preview

The Skate America Mens event is shaping up to be a great battle. We have an interesting mix of veteran skaters like Ten and Abbott, skaters approaching their prime in Brown and Machida, and last year's junior world medalists Nguyen, and Pitkeev. I'm having a really hard time trying to predict the results, but I will do my best!

Podium Predictions:
Gold: Tatsuki Machida (JPN)
Silver: Jason Brown (USA)
Bronze: Nam Nguyen (CAN)

Tatsuki Machida (JPN) has been gradually improving in recent years, but last year he really stepped it up. He won Skate America and Rostelecom Cup. He finished an impressive 5th at the Olympics and won silver at worlds. He is a skater that starts off the season strong. He has all the goods and most importantly, is entertaining to watch. I look for him to defend his Skate America title.

Jason Brown (USA) is America's sweetheart and last year about this time was when he began his steady climb to Sochi. He is still working on the advanced jump content, but he has everything else, plus that X-factor that can't be quantified. I don't look for him to be perfect here, but I think he will lay down the ground work for a strong season. He will be well trained, having already won Nebelhorn, while others may not be quite tuned up in competitive shape yet.

Nam Nguyen (CAN) could be the next big thing. He was the junior world champ in 2014 and finished a respectable 12th on the senior level. With Patrick Chan's skating future uncertain, Nam will be Canada's best hope in the mens event moving forward. The past few years we have seen the young ladies make much stronger senior Grand Prix debuts, but I think Nam will be ready to go. Skate America tends to be a messy event, particularly in the mens event with the early season quad and triple axel attempts, so the most prepared will make the podium.

The Rest of the Field:
Jorik Hendrickx (BEL)-9th at 2014 Europeans, 16th at 2014 Olympics, 17th at 2014 Worlds
Chafik Besseghier (FRA)-12th at 2014 Europeans, 9th at 2014 Olympics, 3rd at 2014 Challenge Cup
Alexei Bychenko (ISR)-10th at 2014 Europeans, 21st at 2014 Olympics, 15th at 2014 Worlds, 7th at 2014 Nebelhorn, 5th at 2014 Finlandia
Denis Ten (KAZ)-4th at 2014 Four Continents, 3rd at 2014 Olympics
Michael Christian Martinez (PHI)-19th at 2014 Olympics, 1st at 2014 Triglav Trophy, 6th at 2014 Lombardia Trophy
Artur Gachinski (RUS)-8th at 2013 Skate America, 6th at 2013 Cup of Russia
Adian Pitkeev (RUS)-2nd at 2014 World Juniors, 3rd at 2014 Trophy Lombardia
Jeremy Abbott (USA)-12th at 2014 Olympics, 5th at 2014 Worlds
Douglas Razzano (USA)-2nd at 2014 International Challenge Cup, 4th at 2014 US International Challenge

2012 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships: Qualifying Round Results

Ladies Qualifying Round Results

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Kaetlyn OSMOND	CAN	97.36	52.10		45.26	5.75	5.50	5.71	5.61	5.71	0.00	#29
2	Q	Ziquan ZHAO	CHN	94.53	54.94		39.59	5.29	4.71	5.07	4.89	4.79	0.00	#34
3	Q	Hae-Jin KIM	KOR	93.97	54.00		40.97	5.46	4.82	5.21	5.11	5.00	1.00	#26
4	Q	Elizaveta UKOLOVA	CZE	82.09	48.48		33.61	4.50	3.96	4.25	4.36	3.93	0.00	#1
5	Q	Brooklee HAN	AUS	82.05	43.14		38.91	5.07	4.54	4.96	4.82	4.93	0.00	#32
6	Q	Joshi HELGESSON	SWE	80.36	41.30		40.06	5.36	4.75	5.04	5.00	4.89	1.00	#30
7	Q	Patricia GLESCIC	SLO	79.69	46.40		34.29	4.57	4.00	4.32	4.36	4.18	1.00	#27
8	Q	Anita MADSEN	DEN	76.70	41.27		35.43	4.71	4.14	4.61	4.32	4.36	0.00	#35
9	Q	Anine RABE	NOR	75.26	38.18		38.08	4.86	4.43	4.93	4.79	4.79	1.00	#28
10	Q	Angelika DUBINSKI	GER	74.88	39.61		35.27	4.86	4.00	4.64	4.36	4.18	0.00	#2
11	Q	Alina FJODOROVA	LAT	71.52	37.01		34.51	4.61	4.07	4.43	4.32	4.14	0.00	#31
12	Q	Isadora WILLIAMS	BRA	71.30	38.03		35.27	4.68	4.18	4.29	4.43	4.46	2.00	#12
13		Inga JANULEVICIUTE	LTU	71.21	42.28		28.93	3.86	3.54	3.68	3.68	3.32	0.00	#16
14	Q	Kristina ZAKHARANKA	BLR	70.12	35.95		34.17	4.39	4.04	4.29	4.43	4.21	0.00	#14
15		Alexandra KAMIENIECKI	POL	69.11	37.01		34.10	4.64	3.89	4.21	4.36	4.21	2.00	#24
16		Sila SAYGI	TUR	66.38	31.25		35.13	4.54	4.14	4.43	4.39	4.46	0.00	#33
17		Margot KRISBERG	ISR	66.11	34.82		32.29	4.32	3.68	4.07	4.11	4.00	1.00	#8
18		Katie POWELL	GBR	65.01	33.29		32.72	4.14	3.89	4.21	4.00	4.21	1.00	#15
19		Elena MANGAS	ESP	63.61	33.03		30.58	4.00	3.61	4.00	3.79	3.71	0.00	#22
20		Eline ANTHONISSEN	BEL	61.31	32.22		29.09	3.82	3.32	3.86	3.50	3.68	0.00	#23
21		Melanie SWANG	THA	60.86	32.77		29.09	3.75	3.43	3.86	3.57	3.57	1.00	#25
22		Oliya CLARKSON	GRN	60.75	31.73		29.02	3.82	3.32	3.68	3.57	3.75	0.00	#10
23		Sandra RISTIVOJEVIC	SRB	58.43	32.75		26.68	3.50	3.21	3.39	3.36	3.21	1.00	#3
24		Kim BELL	NED	56.98	31.62		27.36	3.71	3.25	3.32	3.39	3.43	2.00	#4
25		Isabella SCHUSTER	GRE	55.30	31.14		25.16	3.36	2.96	3.18	3.29	2.93	1.00	#6
26		Alina MILEVSKAIA	UKR	54.00	23.27		32.73	4.39	3.82	3.89	4.25	4.11	2.00	#36
27		Regina GLAZMAN	KAZ	53.36	27.80		26.56	3.39	2.96	3.43	3.32	3.50	1.00	#21
28		Vasilena YAKIMOVA	BUL	53.23	27.74		25.49	3.43	3.07	3.32	3.11	3.00	0.00	#11
29		Michelle QUINTERO	MEX	53.07	26.96		26.11	3.50	3.11	3.32	3.32	3.07	0.00	#13
30		Amanda SUNYOTO-YANG	TPE	50.79	25.17		26.62	3.36	3.14	3.39	3.43	3.32	1.00	#19
31		Madelaine PARKER	NZL	49.37	24.24		26.13	3.29	3.36	3.25	3.25	3.18	1.00	#7
32		Raisa RJENOVSCHI	ROU	49.17	25.85		23.32	2.93	2.71	2.96	3.04	2.93	0.00	#9
33		Kai Jing LEONG	SIN	46.57	21.85		25.72	3.54	3.04	3.00	3.18	3.32	1.00	#5
34		Regina BORBELY	HUN	45.39	21.26		26.13	3.50	3.29	3.00	3.43	3.11	2.00	#18
35		Maral-Erdene GANSUKH	MGL	44.20	22.23		22.97	2.96	2.75	2.96	2.93	2.75	1.00	#20
36		Ema LIPOVSCAK	CRO	40.40	18.29		24.11	3.32	2.89	2.75	3.11	3.00	2.00	#17

Pairs Qualifying Round Results

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Xiaoyu YU / Yang JIN	CHN	96.37	53.82		44.55	5.89	5.46	5.46	5.57	5.46	2.00	#13
2	Q	Haven DENNEY / Brandon FRAZIER	USA	91.58	47.26		45.32	5.93	5.43	5.61	5.71	5.64	1.00	#9
3	Q	Meiyi LI / Bo JIANG	CHN	88.48	50.90		38.58	4.96	4.79	4.79	4.86	4.71	1.00	#15
4	Q	Hayleigh BELL / Alistair SYLVESTER	CAN	81.11	41.67		40.44	5.21	4.89	5.04	5.07	5.07	1.00	#1
5	Q	Magdalena KLATKA / Radoslaw CHRUSCINSKI	POL	75.75	40.68		35.07	4.39	4.21	4.39	4.50	4.43	0.00	#11
6	Q	Camille MENDOZA / Christopher BOYADJI	FRA	73.64	38.07		36.57	4.86	4.32	4.54	4.64	4.50	1.00	#10
7	Q	Stina MARTINI / Severin KIEFER	AUT	71.49	36.81		34.68	4.64	4.18	4.29	4.32	4.25	0.00	#12
8	Q	Bianca MANACORDA / Niccolo MACII	ITA	67.49	35.70		31.79	3.93	3.86	4.04	4.04	4.00	0.00	#5
9	Q	Rachel EPSTEIN / Dmitry EPSTEIN	NED	66.63	32.17		34.46	4.39	4.11	4.39	4.29	4.36	0.00	#2
10	Q	Julia LAVRENTIEVA / Yuri RUDIK	UKR	65.23	31.76		33.47	4.46	4.14	3.96	4.29	4.07	0.00	#8
11	Q	Maria PALIAKOVA / Mikhail FOMICHEV	BLR	63.35	29.52		33.83	4.25	4.18	4.29	4.29	4.14	0.00	#14
12		Alexandra RODRIGUEZ / Aritz MAESTU	ESP	59.19	30.37		29.82	3.71	3.71	3.71	3.79	3.71	1.00	#3
13		Veera KESTILA / Callum BULLARD	AUS	56.16	31.08		25.08	3.07	2.96	3.18	3.25	3.21	0.00	#4
14		Linda WENZIG / Matti LANDGRAF	GER	52.61	23.00		31.61	4.39	3.79	3.68	4.11	3.79	2.00	#7
15		Anjelika ILIEVA / Pavel Petrov SAVINOV	BUL	51.53	25.79		26.74	3.57	3.18	3.43	3.32	3.21	1.00	#6

Men's Qualifying Round Results

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Nam NGUYEN	CAN	116.33	61.31		55.02	5.54	5.29	5.57	5.50	5.61	0.00	#23
2	Q	June Hyoung LEE	KOR	110.48	57.42		54.06	5.46	5.21	5.39	5.43	5.54	1.00	#16
3	Q	Michael Christian MARTINEZ	PHI	109.42	58.14		51.28	5.04	4.96	5.32	5.00	5.32	0.00	#18
4	Q	Luiz MANELLA	BRA	107.41	57.13		50.28	5.18	4.82	5.07	4.96	5.11	0.00	#17
5	Q	Martin RAPPE	GER	106.93	58.27		49.66	5.36	4.75	4.93	4.93	4.86	1.00	#21
6	Q	Harry MATTICK	GBR	105.17	55.39		50.78	5.21	4.75	5.14	5.11	5.18	1.00	#15
7	Q	Maurizio ZANDRON	ITA	101.47	50.97		50.50	5.11	4.79	5.07	5.07	5.21	0.00	#25
8	Q	Matthias VERSLUIS	FIN	97.05	48.69		48.36	5.07	4.75	4.82	4.75	4.79	0.00	#22
9	Q	Pavel IGNATENKO	BLR	92.05	47.41		45.64	4.89	4.39	4.54	4.54	4.46	1.00	#20
10	Q	Brendan KERRY	AUS	89.76	44.46		46.30	4.93	4.43	4.54	4.68	4.57	1.00	#19
11	Q	Slavik HAYRAPETYAN	ARM	88.31	40.17		48.14	4.96	4.43	4.96	4.68	5.04	0.00	#24
12	Q	Chih-I TSAO	TPE	85.15	45.31		39.84	4.32	3.71	3.89	4.11	3.89	0.00	#7
13	Q	Kamil DYMOWSKI	POL	84.89	43.03		42.86	4.50	4.00	4.36	4.21	4.36	1.00	#11
14	Q	Carlo RÖTHLISBERGER	SUI	79.93	40.63		41.30	4.29	3.93	4.04	4.18	4.21	2.00	#10
15		Victor BUSTAMANTE	ESP	78.33	36.61		41.72	4.29	3.89	4.29	4.18	4.21	0.00	#3
16		Osman AKGÜN	TUR	77.76	43.00		35.76	3.89	3.39	3.57	3.57	3.46	1.00	#13
17		Florian GOSTELIE	NED	69.25	30.39		39.86	4.14	3.86	3.93	4.11	3.89	1.00	#14
18		Suchet KONGCHIM	THA	67.31	31.81		35.50	3.89	3.36	3.57	3.54	3.39	0.00	#12
19		Arturas GANZELA	LTU	61.54	29.58		31.96	3.43	3.04	3.11	3.29	3.11	0.00	#6
20		Julian Zhi Jie YEE	MAS	61.26	33.34		28.92	3.14	2.61	2.89	2.86	2.96	1.00	#2
21		Armen AGAIAN	GEO	59.73	30.23		32.50	3.64	3.04	3.07	3.36	3.14	3.00	#1
22		Zsolt KOSZ	ROU	57.06	20.42		38.64	4.04	3.50	4.07	3.71	4.00	2.00	#8
23		Wayne Wing Yin CHUNG	HKG	54.38	23.74		30.64	3.32	2.79	3.00	3.21	3.00	0.00	#9
24		Bernhard PAULI	AUT	54.15	26.79		27.36	2.82	2.36	2.82	2.89	2.79	0.00	#5
WD		Kristof FORGO	HUN											#4

Ice Dance Qualifying Round Results

Pl.	Qual.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Q	Shari KOCH / Christian NÜCHTERN	GER	72.36	37.50		34.86	5.96	5.67	5.83	5.83	5.83	0.00	#13
2	Q	Karolina PROCHAZKOVA / Michal CESKA	CZE	70.58	35.73		34.85	5.83	5.58	6.00	5.83	5.96	0.00	#12
3	Q	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	70.40	35.49		34.91	5.75	5.67	5.92	5.92	5.96	0.00	#9
4	Q	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	69.24	35.16		34.08	5.75	5.46	5.79	5.79	5.75	0.00	#17
5	Q	Yiyi ZHANG / Nan WU	CHN	64.94	31.92		33.02	5.71	5.29	5.58	5.58	5.46	0.00	#10
6	Q	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	64.24	33.59		30.65	5.25	4.88	5.21	5.17	5.17	0.00	#16
7	Q	Olivia SMART / Joseph BUCKLAND	GBR	61.19	29.67		31.52	5.33	4.96	5.42	5.38	5.38	0.00	#8
8	Q	Sara AGHAI / Jussiville PARTANEN	FIN	59.81	30.42		29.39	5.08	4.71	4.88	5.04	4.88	0.00	#15
9	Q	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	58.99	29.33		29.66	5.13	4.79	4.96	5.08	4.83	0.00	#14
10	Q	Cagla DEMIRSAL / Berk AKALIN	TUR	58.31	31.33		27.98	4.67	4.58	4.71	4.83	4.58	1.00	#4
11	Q	Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	58.04	28.74		29.30	5.08	4.71	4.88	5.00	4.83	0.00	#18
12		Johanna ALLIK / Paul BELLANTUONO	EST	57.30	30.15		28.15	4.88	4.50	4.75	4.75	4.67	1.00	#2
13		Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	56.10	28.83		27.27	4.75	4.42	4.50	4.63	4.46	0.00	#1
14		Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	54.36	25.42		28.94	5.04	4.63	4.83	4.88	4.83	0.00	#11
15		Stephanie BAADSGAARD SNIDER / Stepan DUBROVSKI	DEN	54.21	27.25		26.96	4.58	4.29	4.63	4.63	4.46	0.00	#7
16		Szidonia MERKWART / Adam LUKACS	HUN	44.68	22.75		21.93	3.79	3.46	3.75	3.75	3.63	0.00	#5
17		Ayesha YIGIT / Shane SPEDEN	NZL	40.53	23.58		17.95	3.17	2.83	3.04	3.17	2.83	1.00	#3
18		Hannah SPARKE / Lochran DOHERTY	AUS	27.46	14.47		13.99	2.58	2.17	2.29	2.42	2.25	1.00	#6