Number four is done. Japan dominated the singles disciplines at NHK Trophy, and now there are only two events left to go to decide the qualifiers for the Grand Prix Final. My final thoughts on the event turn to the ladies’ competition, where Akiko Suzuki and Mao Asada went 1-2 after Daisuke Takahashi and Takahiko Kozuka went 1-2 in the men’s competition. And we finish with some opining on Wagner vs. Leonova.
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The rebirth of Asada.
There was a confidence and ease to how she looked in warm-ups. For the past couple of seasons, you kind of expected one-time wunderkind Mao Asada to fall or single a jump at least once during her programs. You expected her to look tentative going into her jumps. You expected her to just look like she was dreading her time on the ice.
WATCH: Asada NHK Trophy free skate
That wasn’t the case at NHK Trophy. She looked happy to be out on the ice, likely a result of her jumps finally coming together again after a few seasons of insecurity. Even at the Olympics, where she took the silver, and at 2010 Worlds, where she won, I found myself holding my breath because she just didn’t have the ease about her skating like she did during the 2007-08 season, when she won her first Worlds.
It is, however, too early to proclaim her ascension back to the top. Her game-changer element, the triple axel, was not around in Sapporo (she singled it in the short and opted for an intentional double in the free skate). Without the axel, she doesn’t blow the field away. She no longer has the program components advantage that she did pre-inconsistency. But I have a feeling that if she can string a couple clean shorts and five- or six-triple free skates together, she may start pulling away again. But that’s no easy task.
Either way, NHK was her best season opener, jumps-wise, since 2007, when she won Skate Canada. (Her silver at the 2008 Trophee Eric Bompard came with a messier showing than she had this past weekend at NHK.) The lutz looked strong, though with the same wrong-edge issue (though it’s a lesser flutz that it was back a few seasons ago). It was great to see the satisfaction in her demeanor, as if she were saying, “Yeah, I know I can do this and now everyone else knows too.”
Now she needs to back it up, and more importantly, show improvement. But based on NHK alone, it’s for sure possible that she will be a favorite for the World title again this season. But that’s just one competition. We will have a better idea come Rostelecom Cup in a week and a half.
Suzuki becomes a World podium contender.
At 26, you would think that Akiko Suzuki would have been a tad discouraged at a minor dip in her results after storming up the ranks during the Olympic season. After placing eighth in Vancouver, she failed to qualify Worlds last season. I, for one, certainly didn’t expect her to come back this season stronger than ever – bigger jumps, landing what I believe is her first triple-triple in competition (a toe-toe in the short at NHK), and stronger skating in general.
WATCH: Suzuki NHK Trophy skate program
With the ladies in a bit of disarray like they have been early in the season in the past few, Suzuki has emerged as the leader of the bunch so far. And, provided that she doesn’t peak too early (and in some ways, she did just that during the Olympic season), she’s a got a great shot at the podium for the first time in her career come March at Worlds.
She’s also one of those skaters who feeds off the energy of the crowd, and there was no better demonstration of that than her short program, which is, numerically and subjectively, the best short done by any of the ladies this season so far.
A new season, a different Wagner.
There was certainly a sense of wuz-robbed-ness with Ashley Wagner at NHK Trophy. How Wagner’s well-composed and well-skated free skate can score at least a quarter-point lower than Leonova’s free skate in each of the five program components on average is beyond me. She is a different skater this season – stronger jumps, more confident execution, a more commanding presence on the ice. But it does go back to the regaining-respect argument that I made earlier in the season.
WATCH: Wagner NHK Trophy free skate
But Wagner’s got a lot to be happy and confident about, but she has to be aware of the fact that to make herself competitive with the top ladies, she will need to add the backend triple combos in both the short and the free skate to maximize her base values. Her deficit in program components in the eyes of the judges can only be made up, at this point, by a stronger technical score. And even domestically, her PCS would be deemed third best behind Czisny and Nagasu, all else equal.
I think for Wagner, the best way for her to pull her PCS up is to skate a couple of six- or seven-triple programs in front of the international judges, get the crowd revved up. And once that happens, her PCS will get to where they deserve to be. Again, easier said than done. Figure skating is sometimes cruel about upward mobility that way.
If her and John Nicks’ game plan materializes, we should expect higher technical content at Nationals. Stay tuned.
Two sides of Leonova.
For a season or two, all we saw was the bubbly and extroverted, if young, side of Alena Leonova. But the more she became inconsistent, the more the energy seemed forced, and then for a while, she just looked completely out of it in every program. She found her groove at Worlds and whether or not you actually like her skating, it’s been great to see the joy in her skating again.
WATCH: Leonova NHK Trophy short program
WATCH: Leonova NHK Trophy free skate
At NHK, we saw both versions, the smile during the short and the frown during the free. A great short program gave her a 60+ score and put her in second going into the free skate. But after a shaky warmup, she seemed resigned to a so-so performance from the start in the free skate, and nothing ever really materialized. Leonova was still able to take the bronze, though, as I wrote earlier, for me, Wagner should have taken the bronze.
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