There has been one for every other discipline, so here it is. I knows pairs gets little love... Pairs is usually not as volatile as some of the other 2 disciplines, usually by the first season there is a clear idea of who is a top contender for the next Olympic title. Consider these predictions for Worlds 2019.
1. Sui and Han - I don't believe a team should be excluded from power rankings because they skip the Grand Prix series in an off year. As long as we know for sure they are not retiring, which I am sure they, a young team, are not, they should be here. And their position here really needs no explanation. They are the favorites to win Worlds 2019, and the only team that is an early favorite to win Gold in Beijing.
2. James and Cipres - Their skate at skate Canada was amazing. I think they will do extremely well this season, they seem to be in great form--this will be their breakout season as a truly top pair. However similar to Duhamel and Radford, I think their fundamental skating skills as a pair is a little rough in places, and they are not super young, so I have my doubts beyond this season.
3. Tarasova and Morosov - Their early outings this season have been really disappointing. They could have established themselves as a dominant force and make Sui and Han knock them off when they return, but they still have subpar programs and somewhat inconsistent sbs and throws. Skating skills are not enough. Still, incredible potential. If I were predicting for this season J/C just look stronger, but they definitely still have more hope for 2022.
4. Yu and Zhang - I have no doubt that they will come back with a bang, they are training hard but I have no doubts they will be ready for worlds.
5. Zabiiako and Enbert - great in Japan, won both GP events which is a great feat, but what they put out already seems to be their upper bound
6. Peng and Jin - they have really done well this season, although there are a couple of favorable conditions (there are no other Chinese pairs, and they are doing a 2S in the long)
7. Boikova and Koslovskii - their skate in Canada was honestly one of the best skates this season for me, obviously the score was not there because they are still new but they remind me of T/M in 2015. They may need the other Russian teams to encounter some issues if they want to viewed as an elite pair, though.
8. Moore-towers and Marinaro - they certainly have a lot of good qualities but again their scoring potential seems very limited
9. Della Monica and Guarise - kind of a holdover...again their potential seems limited but they do have pretty high PCS for an off year
10. Pavliuchenko and Khodykin - another strong, young Russian pair with great pair elements...there are just too many Russians for them to stand out though
1. Sui and Han - I don't believe a team should be excluded from power rankings because they skip the Grand Prix series in an off year. As long as we know for sure they are not retiring, which I am sure they, a young team, are not, they should be here. And their position here really needs no explanation. They are the favorites to win Worlds 2019, and the only team that is an early favorite to win Gold in Beijing.
2. James and Cipres - Their skate at skate Canada was amazing. I think they will do extremely well this season, they seem to be in great form--this will be their breakout season as a truly top pair. However similar to Duhamel and Radford, I think their fundamental skating skills as a pair is a little rough in places, and they are not super young, so I have my doubts beyond this season.
3. Tarasova and Morosov - Their early outings this season have been really disappointing. They could have established themselves as a dominant force and make Sui and Han knock them off when they return, but they still have subpar programs and somewhat inconsistent sbs and throws. Skating skills are not enough. Still, incredible potential. If I were predicting for this season J/C just look stronger, but they definitely still have more hope for 2022.
4. Yu and Zhang - I have no doubt that they will come back with a bang, they are training hard but I have no doubts they will be ready for worlds.
5. Zabiiako and Enbert - great in Japan, won both GP events which is a great feat, but what they put out already seems to be their upper bound
6. Peng and Jin - they have really done well this season, although there are a couple of favorable conditions (there are no other Chinese pairs, and they are doing a 2S in the long)
7. Boikova and Koslovskii - their skate in Canada was honestly one of the best skates this season for me, obviously the score was not there because they are still new but they remind me of T/M in 2015. They may need the other Russian teams to encounter some issues if they want to viewed as an elite pair, though.
8. Moore-towers and Marinaro - they certainly have a lot of good qualities but again their scoring potential seems very limited
9. Della Monica and Guarise - kind of a holdover...again their potential seems limited but they do have pretty high PCS for an off year
10. Pavliuchenko and Khodykin - another strong, young Russian pair with great pair elements...there are just too many Russians for them to stand out though