Ladies fight for silver; Men fight for gold

GPF entries are in! And soon the battle will begin!
Ladies:
Do I even have to say it? Everyone knows that a clean program from Evgenia will win the event. The gold is hers. Imho, there are several others competing who, with a clean program, I believe should win. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so.........anybody?
So the big question is, who'll get silver? Both Anna and Maria have shown consistency and HIGH PCS. That's a must. Satoko is also consistent but never receives THE HIGHEST marks. Kaetlyn is very inconsistent but gets high marks for what she does well, and deservedly so. (however, I don't think she will make top 3, her inconsistency may leave her at the bottom.) Elena is a fighter; this girl also gets high PCS and will never give up on a program. I refuse to count her out.
Honestly, it's just too hard to predict who will get silver and bronze. But I have to say, I'm thinking a Russian sweep is a definite possibility. Which makes it VERY interesting.....4 Russian ladies for 3 gpf medals turns into 4 Russian ladies for 3 world team spots.

Men:
Well, there's Hanyu, Patrick, Javier. Any of these 3 can grab the gold. None of these 3 is super consistent. And now I have to say it again: this makes things VERY interesting!
I'm not counting out Shoma, though. He has shown both high PCS and high TES. That's a must nowadays. He could challenge for the podium.
Nathan's high TES makes him a threat. Land all that planned content, and bam, Nathan is the big surprise of the event. Yet, he doesn't have the high PCS needed.
Adam......look how far he's come in consistency. A big achievement for making the final. A clean performance, and his high PCS may give him a personal best, no matter what place he finishes.

Bottom line is, ladies are battling for silver, and the men's field is totally up in the air.
What are you other skating fans predicting?

More or less the same. About ladies, Medvedeva looks like the clear winner, even with some minor mistake and all the others doing their programs perfectly.. Silver and bronze will depend on them. With perfect programs, Pogorilaya the silver but about the bronze, I don't know, maybe Radionova. With mistakes, if it's not a splash fest,...

In the men's field, the margin for error is minor; but I think a clean Hanyu beats the others, even if all of them skate clean. With mistakes, anything is posible and the winner would be that doing the cleanest program

Bluediamonds09 said:

Do I even have to say it? Everyone knows that a clean program from Evgenia will win the event. The gold is hers. Imho, there are several others competing who, with a clean program, I believe should win. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks so.........anybody?

Click to expand...

The thing that I concern the most is, she might probably win even she does not skate clean, like in Europeans earlier this year.

But anyway, I think the top 3 will be Anna, Satoko and Evgenia, in NO particular order. Elena may be a close fourth.


I think the top 3 will be a fight between Yuzuru, Javier, Shoma and Patrick. The final destination of the gold will really depend on Yuzuru's consistency on his quads. Since Javi has been really AWESOME in his free, Yuzuru has to get at least 5 out of 6 quads done to secure the gold, also provided that he doesn't make any major mistake (fall/pop). Besides, let's see if the supreme quality of Patrick's skating can bring him a medal over the quads battlers.


P.S. On top of everything, I am hoping for a more fair and logical scoring, esp the PCS.

It will be interesting to see everyone's prediction lists when the game is posted.

Evgenia is certainly a lock for gold unless she has more than one fall (even one fall didn't hurt her much at TEB). I prefer Anna's programs over hers this season, but I don't see Anna overtaking her - she is a good silver bet. Bronze will be interesting to me, could really be any of the remaining ladies, depending on how they skate and how the judging is. I do remember last year that the panel was handing out PCS like candy, so I wonder if that will continue this year.

Men is very interesting - it's really anyone's game for the top 4.

For Ice dance, I wonder if the tide has turned for P/C and V/M are now a lock for gold? And where do the American teams shake out? Shibs will probably get the bronze, since they missed out last year. And what of B/S? Do they have a chance to podium?

Pairs - a lot depends on whether S/M pull out. If they do, D/R will most likely win Gold with the Chinese pairs close behind. Not sure where the Russian team will place and S/B will probably be 5th or 6th.

apgold said:

Evgenia is certainly a lock for gold unless she has more than one fall (even one fall didn't hurt her much at TEB).

Click to expand...

As this season has proven, one can never assume or discount others in figure skating, or it will come back and bite you. Ice, as we all know is slippery and anything in one competition, can and will happen. To say that Med. is a sure thing for the gold is a pretty strong statement given the events of this season. Who would have thought in early October that Ashley, Gracie would not be in the Grand Prix final. Just sayin'...

Predictions will be interesting, as you say.

If Anna continues with strong skating, judges will have more and more respect for her- and give her better scores. Medvedeva is where she is because she was the only "good" russian skater last year. This year, there are more than just one. There are Anna and Sotskova as well.

I don't think Satoko will be on the podium :confused2:

I have the feeling the men's event is going to be more or less a disaster

Biellmann said:

I have the feeling the men's event is going to be more or less a disaster

Click to expand...

Reverse jinx!




I'm very interested in the GOEs for good-4F vs massively-pre-rotated-4F.

eta said:

Reverse jinx!




I'm very interested in the GOEs for good-4F vs massively-pre-rotated-4F.

Click to expand...

The ladies are not fighting for Silver. Medvedeva is not unbeatable, not in reality anyway. Perhaps the judges will join reality.

Biellmann said:

If Anna continues with strong skating, judges will have more and more respect for her- and give her better scores. Medvedeva is where she is because she was the only "good" russian skater last year. This year, there are more than just one. There are Anna and Sotskova as well.

Click to expand...

I agree that Anna can keep it close, and even one fall by Evgenia could see her get overtaken. However, Evgenia has so much content in the bonus that it really gives her a big edge over the others in the SP and LP.

Blades of Passion said:

The ladies are not fighting for Silver. Medvedeva is not unbeatable, not in reality anyway. Perhaps the judges will join reality.

Click to expand...

I have to disagree, respectfully. I think that an almost clean Evgenia is unbeatable. Its not fair at all, she is great but not so above everyone else. Look at her scores at TEB. If she's getting 78-plus for her sp now.......

really can't agree with you about the men.
hanyu's problem is not that he is inconsistent, he had a late start in the summer due to his injury besides that he is adding new jump. Basically he was not ready at SCI. And he literally had late start every single year so I'm really not worried about him now. especially saw how much he improved from SCI to NHK.
And I honestly don't think chan is still on the top 3 list. last year he didn't make the podium at neither gpf nor worlds. PCS is not gonna help him now, he has no advantage on PCS compare to hanyu and javier, and the young kids all have much higher bv.
I would say everything is possible, but my money is definitely on hanyu.

Wow. Ladies singles looks likely to be a Russian Sweep. Satoko could spoil that. So sad Ashley is not in the mix because she has been there for ? How many years??? Anyway so sad that two talented us skaters cannot get it together. Anyway I see Satoko or Katelyn as possibles for the podium. If they both do their best I think the judges will go with either of them because Sotskova may be beautiful she has yet to earn some rep points because she is not as spectacular as say Julia was in her debut season and she does not tano every jump nor does she throw triple triple triples in practice to show what she can do. So I don't think she will get the first year adulation that Julia and Evgenia got from judges their first year as senior but she sure is a contender. I kinda hope it is not a one country sweep to be honest.

I think Evgenia should be beatable and I think Anna is the one that might beat her but that would be an upset. Remember if Anna has one of her spectacular falls and Satoko nails it or Osmund then they get the silver. Anyway I do think there is a high likelihood of a Russsian sweep. But my hope is that Osmund really skates well as she is just lovely and a great talent that has been inconsistent and injured. So I hope she has great luck. As for the men well I think it will be in some order Javi Hanyu and Chan. I can't guess because all are inconsistent at quads and it will be a least mistakes thing. I have hopes Nathan Chen will step up and he has the goods but I think it will take another year with Zoueva. Artistically this well known bravura ballet music he skates his LP to is too tall an order and he really is not the performer that the other three are. I personally think that this music is wrong for his LP and it shows off his weaknesses. It is for a more mature man and he is still so young and skates young.

Ice dance seems like above predictions. I don't know who are the pairs because I have barely watched that but Duhamel Radford for Gold and ? I don't know but I assume Aliona and Bruno will be there? So third is ? It would be good if there were a list of qualifiers in each discipline in OP.

Osmond4gold said:

As this season has proven, one can never assume or discount others in figure skating, or it will come back and bite you. Ice, as we all know is slippery and anything in one competition, can and will happen. To say that Med. is a sure thing for the gold is a pretty strong statement given the events of this season. Who would have thought in early October that Ashley, Gracie would not be in the Grand Prix final. Just sayin'...

Predictions will be interesting, as you say.

Click to expand...

This!!! This is one of the reasons I love figure skating, the ice is slippery and there are no absolutes. This should be an exciting final no matter what happens.

I think a clean Medvedeva beats everyone with the way judging has been this season. I do think that if Med makes a mistake and Anna skates lights out then Anna could win. The most likely podium I see is Medvedeva, Anna P., Satoko with Osmond as a potential spoiler for bronze.

For the men, if they all skate clean then Hanyu wins. Javier is tremendous and no one doubts Patrick's skating skills but as a complete skater Hanyu wins. Of the entire group he is the one who really controls his own destiny- skate clean and no one beats him, mistakes open the door.

Ladies: Evgenia will likely be first. I'm predicting a Russian sweep, but I'm hoping Satoko will break in ! I don't think either Kaetlyn or Maria will be on the podium...but I could be wrong as I often am.

Men: Some variation of Hanyu, Chan, and Javier perhaps? But given the unpredictability of the men's field, one of them could implode, leading to a surprise bronze medalist. Adam won't touch the podium though.

I'm surprised that so many people are ruling Radionova out. The kid is a fighter. If all skate clean she will most likely end up behind Evgenia and Anna, but I can't see why she can't beat one or both if she skates clean and the other two have mistakes. I think she's a safe bet for at least a podium finish.

I think for men, it's between Javi and Yuzu for gold.

Patrick's goal is to get his 4S. I am afraid that until it's done, he will have jitters. If he gets a good, close to clean SP I will say mission accomplished. If on top of that, he gets a FS either like CoC or one with a landed 4S (no matter if there are flaws) then wow!!! Patrick is a skater who, since his comeback is going step by step, reaching goals one by one... result doesn't matter...

Shoma is the spoiler. I wouldn't be surprised to see him on the podium... any of the big 3 is at risk when the "4th man" is that strong.

Nathan : great experience for the kiddo. He will learn a lot. His BV is high but his GOE is low. His PCS will be the lowest in the field, especially when he is facing the best PCS earners in the field (minus Jason).

Adam : too many "if" to think about him on the podium... If he lands his quad (s)? If other people fail... If ... if ... if...

Ladies : it's hard not to give it to Medvedeva. I haven't been a fan of her programs... so I have a hard getting on the Medvedeva fan train. However, I recognize so many things about her skating. I just wish her jumps had more flow and then I would forgive her team for bad packaging... but yeah... it's hers to lose.. everything is hers to lose until she finally loses and then the game starts again from scratch....

Any of the other ladies can place anywhere on the podium. My two faves here are Anna and Kaetlyn because their jumps are big and impressive. I like powerful women.
Both of them have in the past, dealt with highs and lows. Anna seems to have conquered her demons. The only evil left in her skating is that hideous musical alteration in her sp... why???? remove it... you don't need it... Kaetlyn : i believe in you. At the same time, let's keep in mind that it's her biggest international competition in a very long time.... she didn't make worlds in 2016... she was out in 2015... so since worlds 2014 she hasn't faced all of the elite in one event. I wish her to do two great programs... as we saw, when she is on, she can score better than almost anyone.

Radio : i like her resiliency ... she is indeed a fighter as others have pointed out. However, fighting for landings equals little flow out of jumps and less GOE and overall positive impression. She will need great energy to make the podium.

Maria : new girl. Let's see if she deals with pressure as well as her GP outings.. I have been impressed with her. She is challenging Pogo in my heart for favourite Russian... but she needs to develop her personal style a bit more to get there... not as fierce but oh so gorgeous to watch.

Satoko : big question mark. I think she is the most refined of all 6 skaters there. Every detail is worked out. The issues are those of power and jump rotation. I think a tech panel like we have had in 3 out of the 6 GPs this year will nail her down if her jumps are not rotated enough... and we know what that can do... However, a clean and rotated Satoko deserves a podium IMHO. Maybe not gold... but a podium.

I find that Ice dance will be even more exciting to watch honestly... because mistakes on levels happen and they make or break. I will look forward to the rematch of the French and VM... honestly, I find it disappointing that all 3 american teams are there while Weapo, piper and paul (my faves this year) or the Italians are staying home... but that's the nature of the game and the draws. So congrats to the 3 american teams but I think only the shibs have a shot at the podium. bobrova soloviev... sorry but for me, as i am a very senstive person when it comes to music, I cannot stand by them with their FD. It's BY FAR : the worst musical alteration of a perfectly beautiful piece of music I have ever heard in figure skating... and to tag vivaldi at the end of it... OMG... no... makes absolutely no sense....

pairs... : battle for gold : D/R vs S/M
Battle for bronze : everybody else.

I think Hanyu will take it. His form is rising from even to event. I expect he will be even better at GPF
But his FP is mighty risky if he fails quad combo again. He loses on that huge TES points, so he needs to nail it this time

But if he fails to deliver then Fernandez and Chan will be there ( if they deliver )