Opining on the Japan Open

Laura Lepisto at the Japan Open 2009
Photo: AP/Junji Kurokawa

A few thoughts on the Japan Open and what it may mean for the season.

Lambiel is not kidding around.
This was exactly the start to the season that Stephane Lambiel hoped for. Without the luxury of competing in the Grand Prix series, it was necessary for him to impress the judges early on to establish himself in the mix for the Olympic medals. And that he did. He started out last week at Nebelhorn with two solid programs and improved on his free skate effort this week.

But for Lambiel, not skating in the Grand Prix may end up being a big plus. It gives him from now until Europeans in January to train and not have to deal with the Grand Prix travel schedule. He may end up being the freshest one out there come February. He hasn’t peaked yet, and obviously, it’s not the time yet to do so.  If he finds that triple axel sometime in the next five months, he will be a surefire threat for the gold, contrary to some predictions.

Can Rochette keep it up throughout the season?
Last season, Joannie Rochette started out incredibly well, not only with her jumps but also with the spark and energy in her programs. And even though she took the silver at Worlds, that spark seemed to have been missing there. Once again, Rochette starts with a bang and her Samson and Delilah free skate at the Japan Open was full of life and attack. The ups and downs of the music works better for her than the more subdued Aranjuez did last year. Let’s hope that she can maintain it all the way through to the Olympics.

A dislocated shoulder? No problem.
What the judging protocols don’t show you is that Yukari Nakano actually attempted a triple axel-shoulder pop combination. After an underrotated axel, Nakano had to put her hand down to brace herself for a fall, which led to her shoulder popping out of its socket. Of course, this isn’t the first time that something like this has happened (remember Todd Eldredge at the 1997 Skate America). 

But it is something else that she was able to continue her program as if nothing happened after she popped it back in. My guess is that this shoulder issue is a common occurrence for her – there are some people who have had these dislocations so many times that it is just natural for them to fix it immediately and move on. But still, as someone who has dislocated joints on the ice before, I couldn’t help cringing when I saw it happen.

Asada and the triple axels
Mao Asada is hoping that her triple axels will give her an edge this year over World Champion Yu-Na Kim. Her attempts were unsuccessful at the Japan Open, but it is still way early in the season. But the way in which they are composed in the construction of the program is a risk choreographically. The two setup patterns alone take up 40 seconds of the four-minute program.  The success of that 16% of her free skate is completely dependent on how successful those triple axels are.  It is tough to save the rest of the program if those 40 seconds start it off poorly.

Triple axel setups aside, her new free skate is a vast improvement in performance quality already from her free skate last season. Both pieces of music are drama-filled but repetitive, but Asada is connecting with Prelude in C Sharp Minor much more than she did with Masquerade. She is still better off choreographically with more lyrical music that doesn’t overpower her. She has shown in the past that she is able to add nuance and interest to more minimal pieces, which is a skill that few skaters possess. 

A case for good music selection
The most well-interpreted programs are the ones in which the skater seems to embody the essence of the music seamlessly. That can be said about European Champion Laura Lepisto and her free skate’s arrangement of Adios Nonino. The music suits her skating well and highlights her power and precision, which is something new to my eyes this season.

The same thing can’t quite be said about Takahiko Kozuka and his music, which, as of right now, is merely something playing in the background while he is performing jumps and spins. He went from Romeo and Juliet, which was, at times, too powerful for him last season, to something that he is too powerful for this season.

Putting it all out there
After not competing the quad for all of last season, Jeremy Abbott is bringing it back early in hopes of having it competition ready for the big competitions later in the season. Same goes for Nakano and her triple axel. She left out her triple axel last year after getting it downgraded multiple times the season before. Both are huge risks, but it is certainly worth getting them in early in the season to rediscover them for when it really matters most.

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