Grand Prix Final predictions | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Grand Prix Final predictions

StylishDreaming

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 22, 2014
Ladies:
1. Elena
2. Elizaveta
3./4./5. Yulia/Anna/Ashley
6. Rika

Elizaveta is the most experienced of the bunch as far as this season is concerned (she's done more competitions than any of the other girls, and seems to be more comfortable with her programs). However, Elena is equally consistent and might edge her out in TES, but it's going to be close for sure. Bronze could go to Anna, Ashley OR Yulia depending on who skates clean, but really given how unpredictable the ladies field has been of late I'm not making any bets. Though unless one of the other five has a splatfest, Rika's going to finish last but I don't think anyone will have a problem with that...
 
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leolion11

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
I think it would be a huge surprise if someone else other than Elena or Elizabeta wins GPF, though I would love for it to happen just so it screws up predictions for the entire GP circuit :laugh: And I really want to see Rika podium but meh not much chance of that happening tbh. It'll be an accomplishment if she can end up any higher than 4th, and to be able to podium would be very surprising.

As for the men's, I'm predicting that Yuzuru will end up in 3rd but I won't be surprised if he places higher, given that he generally peaks at GPF, though I DID say that he should have performed better at NHK (because he generally does better at his 2nd GP) but we all know what happened :( But who knows. At this stage he's such a huge wildcard it's unbelievable. There's always a chance he's going to skate great and win the whole thing but there's also a chance he'll end up last sighs when did men's skating become this unpredictable :bang:
 

Li'Kitsu

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
If I recall correctly, Kovtun's competition weren't the ones who helped him skate a perfect FS with 2 quads/2 axels at TEB... resulting in his win. :rolleye: If anyone's been the luckiest man in the Grand Prix it's Hanyu - a silver with two horrendous programs at CoC (yes, the collision was horrible, but still he shouldn't have been 2nd), and an even worse SP and a ho hum FS at NHK - 4 bad programs... GP berth.

If Kovtun skates an LP like at TEB, he'll be middle of the pack. But Hanyu cannot afford another bad SP and needs to tighten up his LP if he doesn't want to end up last.

Yes, having a horrible accident and dealing with several injuries and post-collision trauma really makes you the happiest man on the GP :rolleye:

And for Kovtuns "perfect" (yikes :shocked: ) LP... 166+ is a good score, but something Machida should have been able to beat anyway. Kovtun deserved the gold, but yes he was lucky that Machida (and Ten) skated bad enough to lose their big SP leads.
 

SashaJuliaSpins

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
If I recall correctly, Kovtun's competition weren't the ones who helped him skate a perfect FS with 2 quads/2 axels at TEB... resulting in his win. :rolleye: If anyone's been the luckiest man in the Grand Prix it's Hanyu - a silver with two horrendous programs at CoC (yes, the collision was horrible, but still he shouldn't have been 2nd), and an even worse SP and a ho hum FS at NHK - 4 bad programs... GP berth.

If Kovtun skates an LP like at TEB, he'll be middle of the pack. But Hanyu cannot afford another bad SP and needs to tighten up his LP if he doesn't want to end up last.

Yes, having a horrible accident and dealing with several injuries and post-collision trauma really makes you the happiest man on the GP :rolleye:

And for Kovtuns "perfect" (yikes :shocked: ) LP... 166+ is a good score, but something Machida should have been able to beat anyway. Kovtun deserved the gold, but yes he was lucky that Machida (and Ten) skated bad enough to lose their big SP leads.

I love Hanyu, but I do see what CanadianSkaterGuy means. On that particular day, Kovtun was better than the others so his performance should not be relegated to "gifting". Hanyu actually hung on by the skin of his teeth! Baring the horrific accident, he is indeed the luckiest man to have made the Grand Prix final with those skates. I would love to see him skate without the pain and stress from his collision.
 

Sabrina

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
It will be no surprise if any Russian win. It ill be a big surprise if Ashley or Rika win...though I think Rika is more dangerous than any American...
 

chloepoco

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
Ladies:
1. Elena
2. Elizaveta
3./4./5. Yulia/Anna/Ashley
6. Rika

. Though unless one of the other five has a splatfest, Rika's going to finish last but I don't think anyone will have a problem with that...

I don't know why everyone is down on Rika--if she skates lights out and the others make mistakes, not splat fest, just mistakes here and there--I don't see why she can't come out ahead of them.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Yes, having a horrible accident and dealing with several injuries and post-collision trauma really makes you the happiest man on the GP :rolleye:

And for Kovtuns "perfect" (yikes :shocked: ) LP... 166+ is a good score, but something Machida should have been able to beat anyway. Kovtun deserved the gold, but yes he was lucky that Machida (and Ten) skated bad enough to lose their big SP leads.

I didn't say happiest, I said luckiest... as in, with how Hanyu skated on the GP this season, he's incredibly lucky to make the GPF. Somebody like Kovtun indeed depended on his competitors not performing at their best but that shouldn't take away from the fact that he had a brilliant FS at TEB, literally skating as well as he could skate. He's only one of a handful of guys who has had a perfect FS. Hanyu on the other hand didn't have a single successful skate this season, and yet he qualified over skaters who weren't as good in terms of overall skating but were certainly much cleaner than him, like Ge and Nguyen etc.

Kovtun's a brat, but he should still be given credit for when he actually skates well, instead of chalking it up to "Oh, well the other guys didn't skate to their potential... so he's lucky." Kovtun winning was a combination of Machida/Ten skating imperfectly and himself skating cleanly. It's like saying Hughes deserved the gold, but she was lucky that Slutskaya/Kwan skated bad enough to lose their SP leads -- it's true, but it also trivializes Hughes' amazing FS herself.

I think with the state of the men's field, no lead is safe because many of the men on a good day can pull 10-15 points higher than if they skate on a bad day, which can nullify any SP lead (if they skate bad) or help them climb to the podium or even win (if they skate lights out).
 
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sbstien

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Men:
1 Fernandez ESP
2 Machida JPN
3 Hanyu JPN
4 Kovtun RUS
5 Mura RUS
6 Voronov RUS

Ladies :
1 Radionova RUS
2 Tuktamysheva RUS
3 Lipnitskaia RUS
4 Pogorilaya RUS
5 Hongo JPN
6 Wagner USA

Pairs:
1 Duhamel/Radford CAN
2 Stolbova/Klimov RUS
3 Peng/Zhang CHN
4 Kavaguti/Smirnov RUS
5 Sui/Han CHN
6 Yu/Jin CHN

Ice Dance:
1 Weaver/Poje CAN
2 Papadakis/Cizeron FRA
3 Chock/Bates USA
4 Ilinykh/Zhiganshin RUS
5 Shibutani/Shibutani USA
6 Gilles/Poirier CAN
 
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