Early predictions for Worlds 2015

[pangtongfan]

I know almost none of us will get these right but just for fun what would some of your early predictions for the 2015 worlds be. Here would be some of mine:

Pairs:

Gold- Volosozhar & Trankov- I think they will be back, and obviously near impossible to beat if still in shape.
Silver- Stolbova & Klimov- they could improve enough to challenge V&T or be challenged by the pack behind.
Bronze- don't really know. I hope moore-Towers & Moscovitch finally get it but not sure if they ever will.


Men:

Gold- Hanyu or Fernandez- I think it will be a toss up between them next year.
Bronze- not really sure. This could be a number of guys- Ten, Machida, one of the Americans.

Dance:

Gold- Weaver & Poje- they will be hungry to take next step next year after missing gold by 0.02 this time and they will.
Silver- Capellini & Lanotte
Bronze- Chock & Bates

Ladies:

wont even get started here, too hard to call with all the possible retirements/breaks, new age eligible Russians. I will wait until atleast November to type anything here.

 

[sky_fly20]

lol, I don't want to jinx injuries
so no comment hwell:

 

[HanDomi]

Really early

 

[Snow63]

TOO early predictions for Worlds 2015...

 

[koatcue]

1) V/T
1) Yuzuru
1) W/P
1) Mao :Р

 

[Snow63]

V/T
Sotnikova
B/S or I/K
Kovtun



Not gonna happen though.

 

[whatif]

Pairs:
K/S
S/K
a Chinese or a Canadians

Men:
Fernandez
Hanyu
Kovtun

Ladies:
Lipnitskaya
Sotnikova
Radionova

Dance:
W/P
C/B
a brand new team which currently does not exist

 

[Snow63]

I would say the likelihood is in the exact order you put it though. Starting with about an 80% for V&T and ending with more like a 2% for Kovtun.

I know. Ice dancing event will be hilarious. Can't wait.

 

[whatif]

Who is K&S or do you actually mean Kavaguti & Smirnov?

Yes, I do.

 

[Snow63]

Pairs:
K/S
S/K
a Chinese or a Canadians

Men:
Fernandez
Hanyu
Kovtun

Ladies:
Lipnitskaya
Sotnikova
Radionova

Dance:
W/P
C/B
a brand new team which currently does not exist

Just say Sinitsina/Katsalapov.

 

[blue_idealist]

Pairs..

Stolbova/Klimov (I don't think V/T will come back this early on).
Duhamel/Radford
Moore-Towers/Moscovitch (with S/S out of the picture, they naturally progress to this spot.. the Chinese teams aren't yet ready)

Dance..

Weaver/Poje
Cappellini/Lanotte (weaker programs than this year, that SD this year was one of the best and they performed the heck out of it)
Ilinykh/Katsalapov if no split, Chock/Bates if I/K split

Men..

Hanyu
Machida
Fernandez

Same order, but maybe the second two could be switched.

I can't say for ladies' right now since I haven't even watched the ladies' comp. from yesterday yet.

 

[Silvia451]

Pairs: V/T
S/K (but getting closer and closer to V/T)

Ladies: (if Mao retires)
Anna/Elena
Gracie
Adelina

Men: (if Patrick doesn't compete this season)
Yuzuru
Denis
Javi

I don't know what to say about ice dance. I liked C/L very much this season, but I don't think they can repeat the performance. With so many great skaters retiring (V/M, D/W and now P/B), I have no idea. I'm waiting for Hawayek/Baker

 

[NMURA]

Since it's in China, at least one Chinese pair will be on the podium

Han Yan will have a big push

 

[Miss Ice]

I actually think if Anna P. picks up on the PCS -- SERIOUSLY works on her artistry, no one can beat her. This is a girl who just showed she can land a 3Lz-3T and 3S-3L in the same program and still look as effortless and elegant as if she were 20, not 15. I actually wonder if perhaps an international choreographer would help since her LP costume and music were awful, although I quite liked the SP.

 

[HanDomi]

Hanyu skating his first clean LP with a clean quad salchow is bad news for everyone else though. Watch him shoot for being the first man to break 300 points (Chan did at Nationals once but I mean in an international event) next season.

Well, when he will feel 100 % confident with salchow I can even see him making two quads in SP, but I don't want even imagine what record for SP it would be. :sarcasm:



Fernandez is great in executing 3 quads, but then it comes to making mistake on something more easier and everything is almost lost :scowl: But I hope next year he and Hanyu will give us some great fights

 

[Ryan O]

I also could see the young NA teams, particularly Canadian- Gilles & Poirier and Paul & Islam further climbing the ranks, especialy Paul & Islam. I sort of think there is a limit to how far Paul Poirier can go with Piper Gilles, and hope he gets a stronger partner up to his level eventually, but they might prove me wrong.

You really think Paul should replace Piper? G&P just had their best season together - 8th place at the Worlds (as well as a silver at 4 Continents). And that was despite the fact that they missed several months due to a serious injury!

 

[Ryan O]

I dont think Piper is a world medalist caliber dancer. I think with her the best he will probably go is 5th place area. With a stronger partner up to his level he could do alot better IMO.

The field here was also weakened with D&W and B&S missing/withdrawing from worlds, and many teams who had gone to the Olympics (which P&G didnt) being a bit worn down and not as sharp here.

Well, it's hard to predict the future. I have no idea how high G&P will get. All I know is that they are 10 spots higher than they were a year ago at this time. That's a pretty big jump, even taking into account a few of the absences. (and that same argument could be applied to most of the other teams - P&I would not have been in the Top 10, W&P wouldn't have made the podium, etc.)

And not everything is just about placement - some of it is about whether you actually like the person you are with and whether you find the right chemistry. We've all seen that skaters who change partners every few years often end up worse off. If you've got someone you like skating with, you should think hard about changing it. Piper & Paul are not just skating partners - they have also become good friends who spend time together off-ice and have other projects they are involved with.