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Opining on NHK Trophy (1 of 2)
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A much happier and relaxed Brian Joubert
(FRA) winning the gold at NHK Trophy.
Photo: AP/Koji Sasahara
A few thoughts on the fourth event in the Grand Prix series.
Joubert is probably glad that Albertville was in 1992.
NHK Trophy winner Brian Joubert has made it no secret that he is not a fan of competing in his home country. It is the second year in a row that he was unable to medal at his home Grand Prix event. But a different skater showed up at NHK Trophy than the one who looked a bit lost at Trophee Eric Bompard.
Joubert may be lacking the musicality of, say, a Patrick Chan or a Johnny Weir, but his two programs this year are allowing him to do what he does best. I’d rather see him play to the audience with his Safri Duo short program than figure out a way to be elegant skating to the Blue Danube. And it is often overlooked how much he has improved as a skater – especially in his basic skating, his spins, and his footwork. He is much more precise in his skating these days, something that is a bit underappreciated.
Who is going to step up to challenge Yu-Na Kim?
The top ladies in the world are practically putting the Olympic gold medal in a box and gift wrapping it for Yu-Na Kim. Mao Asada has yet to find her form, the American ladies are getting downgraded left and right, and even Miki Ando, who just won her second Grand Prix event yesterday, hasn’t looked all that great. Granted, Kim has only competed once this season, and her performances at Skate America will be very telling of how her form is in relation to the other ladies this season.
I read something about Ando being “resurgent” this season, and I’m not sure where she is resurging from, especially considering that she is the reigning World bronze [Edited from "silver" - thanks, Wheetwoot] medalist. Choreographically, she is making strides this season with her two programs. But I never thought that she would be backing down technically during an Olympic season.
Maybe she is still getting her legs under her this season, but you have to remember she is the first and only female skater to be credited with a clean quad jump (though its full rotation was a bit questionable) and she used to pull out triple-triple combinations like they were nothing. It seems like the downgrades that she was getting starting a couple of seasons ago were messing with her mentally, but let’s hope she can get some of that technical content back before the Olympics.
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