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Opining on Cup of China (2 of 2)
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After a poor short, Joannie Rochette (CAN)
should have gotten the silver with her
free skate, but settled for the bronze by just
0.09.
Photo: AP/Elizabeth Dalziel
The ladies field great in the short, but a hot mess in the free skate.
With three 60+ scores in the short program, the Cup of China ladies event was shaping up to be a potentially exciting one in the free skate. But falls, popped jumps, and downgrades abound in the free skate, and it was a bit deflating.
Suzuki’s win was well-deserved. But really, Rochette should have taken the silver over the mess that was Korpi’s free skate (her second place standing after a botched triple lutz combination in the short was pretty ridiculous in the first place). Flatt had a – dare I say it? – flat performance, and it was reminiscent of her original free skate last season, which she never seemed to get into. It wasn’t until she went back to Romantic Rhapsody that she was able to find her way again, and just in time for that fifth place at Worlds.
Nagasu was disheartening to watch. We have seen that she is not a fragile competitor when the music is on, but she sometimes looks to be on the verge of falling apart before (see last year’s Nationals) or after (see kiss and cry, and interview at Cup of China) her programs. She is talented, she is introspective, and she knows what she has to do. Let’s hope that both she and Alissa Czisny can fix those underrotations, for the sake of the American ladies.
The Olympic team selection for the Japanese ladies just got a lot more interesting.
Here comes Akiko Suzuki, who has been flying under the radar under yesterday. With Asada, Ando, Nakano, and Suguri (more on her later), the Olympic selection committee now has a bona fide fifth name to consider. Suzuki’s free skate performance at Cup of China was very good, but if they all skated perfectly, she is still behind Asada, Ando, and Nakano in terms of technical and skating ability. But of course, out of the five ladies, Suzuki is the only one this season to have skated a clean free skate.
It is difficult to imagine a Japanese ladies team that isn’t Asada, Ando, and Nakano. But with Asada’s mental block, Ando’s conservative skate in Moscow, and Nakano’s ok performance in Paris, Suzuki does stand a chance to be the spoiler. I never thought I would be saying this, but Asada’s Olympic hopes are in jeopardy right now unless she can get her act together soon, especially with The Japan Times’ report that the Japanese Skating Federation has requested a meeting with her to discuss her season.
Have Suguri and Kostner lost their groove?
Both are multiple World medalists, both made a coaching change, but both are having a tough time figuring out what to do with themselves this season. Kostner’s change to Frank Carroll is likely a better long-run move. They are tweaking with her jump technique, which generally takes more than a season to get correct (see Rochette’s lutz edge fix a few years ago). Kostner is going out there without confidence in her new technique and her poor performances are just kicking her while she is down – and this is a skater who is not known for being mentally tough. Maybe she will make her usual sprint toward the finish near the end of the season.
Suguri made the switch to Alexei Mishin, but it was after somewhat of a revitalized last season in which she made the World team for the first time since the last Olympic season. She has never had the most emotive facial expressions, but it seems to me like she doesn’t really look terribly happy to be out there this season so far. It is really tough to see her making the Olympic team this year.
The overhead camera needs to go.
I understand that it’s cool to see people spinning from an overhead point of view, but it was just annoying. That is not how you view or judge skating, and it was frankly a bit disorienting. I’d rather see a stationary camera with the whole rink in the viewport than see that overhead thing again.
Rinkside Power Rankings
Now that enough competitions have happened, the first edition of the Rinkside Power Rankings will make its appearance this coming week. Stay tuned.
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