2023 Skate Canada: Men's Thoughts?

[gsk8]

Sota Yamamoto captures first Grand Prix gold in Vancouver

2023 Skate Canada: Men Japan’s Sota Yamamoto captured his first Grand Prix gold medal at 2023 Skate Canada on Saturday evening in Vancouver. Teammate Kao Miura rose from fourth place to […]

www.goldenskate.com

This was a tough event with many disappointed skaters. I'm sure this is not how Rizzo (good comeback) and Yamamoto wanted to medal, but they'll take it. There were few highlights for me.

I did like many of the programs and would have enjoyed them more had they been clean. Damn those quads!!!

 

[el henry]

The men menned.

I am happy for Sota, who was the best skater of the men's comp overall, IMO, and deserved his victory.

I hope Jun is OK, and that the free was simply a garden variety disaster skate and not anything serious.

 

[4everchan]

Awful event. It happens. The unfortunate part is that it was the last event of the weekend. I think I will go rewatch dance/pairs and women highlights to end the evening on a good note

 

[rain]

Awful event. It happens. The unfortunate part is that it was the last event of the weekend. I think I will go rewatch dance/pairs and women highlights to end the evening on a good note

It's frankly bizarre that they wouldn't have put ice dance or pairs last, as these were the disciplines Canada was most likely to win. And did.

 

[4everchan]

It's frankly bizarre that they wouldn't have put ice dance or pairs last, as these were the disciplines Canada was most likely to win. And did.

Tradition? Men has always been "our" favourite discipline??? (A bit like women in the USA)
I think it's the same order for worlds btw.

 

[rain]

Tradition? Men has always been "our" favourite discipline??? (A bit like women in the USA)
I think it's the same order for worlds btw.

Silly. Not you. The event organizers who can't move with the times.

 

[4everchan]

Silly. Not you. The event organizers who can't move with the times.

It was the same thing at ACI... but the event organizers moved the events over three days and we didn't get to see any of the pairs and women... (i know.. still not over it).

 

[DancingCactus]

I'm afraid to even watch the men's event after taking a look at the results this morning....

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

This was a tough event with many disappointed skaters. I'm sure this is not how Rizzo (good comeback) and Yamamoto wanted to medal, but they'll take it. There were few highlights for me.

I did like many of the programs and would have enjoyed them more had they been clean. Damn those quads!!!

Just a mess from the top skaters, in one and/ or both programs. Because it was not a great event, the judges get rattled. They have a perception, in my opinion, of what they expect to see, and when it's a messy event, questionable judging shows up more.

For some of the early guys, there seemed to be a bit of holding back on the scores. I think Conrad could have had a bit more for what he did well. I realize he doesn't have the best presentation skills, and his jumps are not the prettiest, but he could have been given a bit more credit. He had a 'q' on one jump landing, but I thought he skated fairly well with the two quads. He landed a 2-axel rather than the 3-axel (which he fell on in the sp). Maybe a solid 3-axel in the fp would have helped Conrad. He didn't skate badly, yet he dropped from 6th to 10th. Maybe that was moreso due to better presentation skills by guys he dropped behind.

Selevko did not have a good event. He's a better skater than he showed. Yet, he was fairly decent in the fp, especially compared to mistakes by top guys. Mark G is a very good skater He simply had bad luck when his blade slipped on the axel takeoff in the sp. Mark was excellent in the fp, but he doesn’t yet perform quads, which limits his points. Still, I think he should have been given more for PCS. He's a very smooth, precise skater, with excellent SS. Mark truly skates with confidence.

Wesley Chui, OTOH lacks presence and confidence, despite being a talented skater, with quads. When Matteo Rizzo is on, he's great. He made a valiant comeback from the sp, but I didn't see where he deserved to be ahead of Mikhail Shaidorov. Yet, when I checked protocols, MS had three 'q' marks on jumping passes, and one edge call. Looking at slo-mo, I think one jump may have been slightly under-rotated. A couple of others were close. Still, I enjoy Shaidorov's skating - the judges give the impression that they do not. Judge #1 from Japan gave Shaidorov 6.50, and 6.75s on PCS.

I feel Kao Miura was overall better than Sota Yamamoto, but Miura had a couple of minor mistakes in the sp, where Sota skated clean. The choreographers Japanese fed retains for their talented jumpers who lack presentation (i.e., Shun Sato; Kao Miura; Sota Yamamoto) really helps these less well-rounded quadsters. Judges truly love Sota, for better or for worse -- good, bad, or ugly. I'm not sure what's the reason for Tomono and Cha coming undone. Does Cha miss assistance from the Cricket Club? Or, is this just a bad start to the season? Tomono's fp is not a musical theme that matches his normally joyous personality.

 

[4everchan]

I'm afraid to even watch the men's event after taking a look at the results this morning....

that's the one event i am not watching again.... i recorded the TV coverage of Skate Canada... I like to live stream and then, watch highlights on TV a few days later... Skipping all men.

 

[lariko]

The event was unfortunate, save for Yamamoto's short, Rizzo's free and both Shaidorov's programs. Shaidorov takes the wuzrobbed prize of the season so far here, that's for sure.

 

[saine]

For some of the early guys, there seemed to be a bit of holding back on the scores. I think Conrad could have had a bit more for what he did well. I realize he doesn't have the best presentation skills, and his jumps are not the prettiest, but he could have been given a bit more credit. He had a 'q' on one jump landing, but I thought he skated fairly well with the two quads. He landed a 2-axel rather than the 3-axel (which he fell on in the sp). Maybe a solid 3-axel in the fp would have helped Conrad. He didn't skate badly, yet he dropped from 6th to 10th. Maybe that was moreso due to better presentation skills by guys he dropped behind.

With popping the 3A into a 2A, he lost around 8 points in base value since it meant he did too many 2As thanks to the sequence. I think it also took the oomph out of his performance and he really needed it to pull off the choreographic sequence at the end. He scored 146 at 4CC with a similar pop into a 2F on his backloaded sequence, so that's probably around what he would've scored with a 3A here.

If he doesn't get a second international assignment (either another GP or Zagreb), then I hope he does Skate Canada Challenge. He really needs another competition with his free. I'm wondering if he's running into the same issues that Maddie had last year with her free, where she said that she couldn't keep up with it no matter how much she trained after she switched back to her old free. His free this year is more challenging in the back half with the choreographic sequence.

I'm rooting for him to at least repeat as the silver medalist at Nationals. It's good that he's challenging himself more this season in the free, but he's not in the same position that Maddie was last year where she was the only choice for Worlds. He's having a better start with his free this year than he did last year and has settled on a jump layout that he can pull off cleanish-ly. But it'd be a shame if his season ended at Nationals due to his free, I want him to get another chance at Worlds.

 

[eppen]

The music choices funnily reminded me of the 1990s when the biggest movie hit OSTs were the thing. Attack on Titan is far too popular among men considering how uninteresting the music is. Like women, men did not do great. I have a hard time trying to think of any highlights.

I do think Kao Miura can become an interesting skater, let's see how he goes forward. He is beginning to learn how to control his speed and the Benoit short was ok for him. Shaidorov I almost liked with the Carmina Burana - partly unusual cut and good choreo - he seemed skating to the music most of the time. Tomono not trying to perform frantically made him look almost credible as a performer.

I am not quite sure what David Wilson thought when he offered the 70's jazz-funk piece for Yamamoto for his short, because I have a hard time trying to come up with a worse pairing of skater and music. He was not quite as lost with it as when I saw it the first time, but his inability to skate to the music makes me wanna close my eyes.

I hope next week is better, because I will be in Angers watching it all go down live...

 

[gsk8]

Sota Yamamoto captures first Grand Prix gold in Vancouver

2023 Skate Canada: Men Japan’s Sota Yamamoto captured his first Grand Prix gold medal at 2023 Skate Canada on Saturday evening in Vancouver. Teammate Kao Miura rose from fourth place to […]

www.goldenskate.com

Miura said that Shae-Lynn Bourne came up with the music to his FS

"She asked me about what I do in my free time," he recalled. "I told her I usually lay around on my bed and watch anime. She was like 'great!' and suggested this piece."

I think it's a great routine and am looking forward to seeing it more througout the season! I also love Cha's "Batman" routine.

 

[purplecat]

Yeah, this was a tough comp but there were some moments to enjoy. Congrats to Sota - not perfect but best over two day of the men. Rizzo's freeskate and Shaidorov's freeskate were highlights. Tomono's presentation is always enjoyable despite the errors. Gorodnitzy's freeskate was also lovely. And though it wasn't perfect Liam Kapekis' had a nice free too - a step up from his most recent outings.

 

[lariko]

The music choices funnily reminded me of the 1990s when the biggest movie hit OSTs were the thing. Attack on Titan is far too popular among men considering how uninteresting the music is. Like women, men did not do great. I have a hard time trying to think of any highlights.

I do think Kao Miura can become an interesting skater, let's see how he goes forward. He is beginning to learn how to control his speed and the Benoit short was ok for him. Shaidorov I almost liked with the Carmina Burana - partly unusual cut and good choreo - he seemed skating to the music most of the time. Tomono not trying to perform frantically made him look almost credible as a performer.

I am not quite sure what David Wilson thought when he offered the 70's jazz-funk piece for Yamamoto for his short, because I have a hard time trying to come up with a worse pairing of skater and music. He was not quite as lost with it as when I saw it the first time, but his inability to skate to the music makes me wanna close my eyes.

I hope next week is better, because I will be in Angers watching it all go down live...

Can't wait to read your notes from live performances!

 

[el henry]

I loved Sota's jazz SP. I thought he did a very credible job trying to sell it, it was outside his "comfort zone", and it sure beat one more sadboi emo tune.

I thought Sota was superior to Mikhail S. in presentation, in artistry and of course in skating skills. I kept waiting for Mikhail to "wow" me and it never happened. The SP was disjointed and unconnected, which is not his fault, but he looked like, "I am raising my arm for a millisecond here because my choreographer told me to", not as though he believed in what he was doing. Carmina Burana was a better fit, but it doesn't require severe staring every second of the program, and that is all Mikhail offered. I think he wants to do more, and I hope someone is there to guide him on how to do it.

I know that they are trying to show that Kazuki can do different pieces, but that boring tinkly LP music did him no favors. He is a performer and he should be allowed to showcase it. Not everyone has those qualities, and it is a shame to hide them.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

Some people are bothered by excessive posing while invading the judges' personal space, some people are bothered by severe staring. Different strokes for different folks.

Personally, I really liked Shaidorov's gloomy expression for CB. I liked it even better when he wore dark eye make-up to underline the staring like at Universiade. Given how his competitors performed I would have seen him with a medal, but then again I'm biased - I've been a fan of his great technical skills since his Junior days. I'm also not bothered with the score he received here. Judging by Nik Memola's example, whose PCS and GOEs "magically" increase from week to week as long as he keeps landing his quad lutz this season, Shaidorov too will have his medals soon.

And for those who want to learn a little bit about how the choice for CB was made, from an interview for Goldenskate:

It’s always been a dream of my coach Alexei Urmanov that one of his skaters would skate to this music as it’s one of his favourite pieces. Back in the days when he first had the idea it was still forbidden to have vocals. Now I am happy to skate to this piece!

 

[noskates]

Two thoughts - generally speaking I thought the music choices in all the disciplines were really awful. There were some exceptions but it just seemed like the music had nothing to do with the choreography. I realize maybe some are tired of the warhorses but at least find a piece that's skateable. Secondly, the biggest disaster was Junwhan Cha. I think maybe leaving Brian Orser was not the best decision. Maybe he was sick or injured but that free skate was beyond disappointing. He looked like his heart wasn't in it, he didn't want to be out there on the ice, and I'm honestly surprised he finished the program. Sad. It was fun to see Scott Davis coaching. I always loved his Westside Story free skate and he could spin with the best of them.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Just caught up on all the free skates today.

Wow. That was dramatic. Results absolutely all over the shop. I know people might complain about the quality shown today, but you can't say that was boring to watch!

Well done to Sota Yamamoto. Though not a clean skate, he held his nerve enough to get the gold (I was worried that he won the short in case the pressure got to him). I think that Muse piece has been done to death but I actually really liked his free skate. Great comeback for Matteo. I'm liking this more dramatic and expressive side to Kao Miura's performance and loved the ending to his free skate. Kazuki's free is lovely, shame the technical side didn't quite match today. Mikail Shaidorov has brilliant jumps and you can tell he's been working on the PCS side of things.
Poor Junhwan. It wasn't the first fall that made my heart sink.. it was how long he took to get up after. He looked utterly dejected. About halfway through I had to pause the video and go get a strong drink..