Skate America 2010

I thought Carolina being top was fine. It was nice to see such a clean skate from her. Her jumps were really good today and I also think her flamenco is a great program. Her score might be a little high but she deserved to be first after the short.

Also watched mens competition and I'm just so sad for Nobu. I'm rooting for him this season because of his baby. I really hope he's gonna win Nationals!
and I have to say I'm really happy for Armin being on the podium!!!

Kanako singling the axel is actually quite a big mistake as the required element in the SP is a 2A or 3A. She takes an automatic -3 deduction on that element because it's invalid, I think. If she had been clean on that element, she would have scored higher than Carolina in TES but I don't think it would have translated to a much higher PCS, though we can never be sure about that one. Despite her easy layout, I think Carolina is clearly the class of this field. We have to be patient with Kanako... She is new to the senior circuit and needs to build a reputation with the judges, however sad it is that the system works this way. But she's making a fine job of it! I hope she medals here

I really liked Carolina here. That program is beatiful and mature, in a class of it's own in this weak field. And we must remember that yes, she won NHK and this SP with very simple jump layouts, but she only won because the other ladies let her. She has easy but clean jumps and racks up points on her other elements. Pretty much everyone but her had a meltdown in the LP at NHK. I have a feeling the GPF will be between her and Miki, with Kanako, Akiko and maybe Alissa (keeping my fingers crossed) battling for third. Am I forgetting someone who has been having a good GP so far and could possibly threaten at the GPF? I'm pretty sure Mao will not make it there, even if she manages to win TEB... And I think it's a good thing too because that way, she gets plenty of rest and practice time before Nationals to work on her jumps and get her confidence rolling.

And poor Nobu... Zayak'd himself out just like Nationals 3 years ago and Worlds 2006.

Very funny picture, SAKURA

Question:
Why does Kanako Murakami's ISU bio page lists her pb records as the scores she obtained at NHK even though she has received higher scores both during the past season and this particular competition (SA)? If one takes a look at the general pb scores list at the ISU web page her "real" scores are still there (?)

ETA: I'm so happy she won!!

Kanako wins!!

Congrats to Kanako with the first Gold medal from Senior season.

Whoa, someone already updated Murakami's results at wikipedia. They sure are fast..

Yey Kanako! So happy for her!!!!!!!!!!!

Protocols are up... She got +2 across the board for her 3T-3T. She got many URs though...

http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpusa2010/

Holy cow! Congrats Kanako on winning Skate America!

I am SO annoyed that the Ladies FS was only on NBC and couldn't be viewed though IN today.
Well, time to check Tivo and watch the performances!

ETA: Johnny sure is fast when it comes to congratulating Yuzuru and Kanako.

Kostner's pcs saves her again. Not that she doesn't deserve them (I'm not a fan but objectively I think she does) but I don't know how I feel about someone medalling with that kind of jump content - two triples in an entire program.

Kanako beats Rachel in PCS. The judges are clearly sending Rachel a message.

Congrats to Kanako. Well-deserved. But frankly, I have mixed feelings on her win. I fear the media is going to hype her up now (if they haven't already) while Mao's struggling.

Yay! I am very happy that Kanako won, congratulations to her! I was also very happy with the men's podium yesterday
And I just hope there will be some working streams for Cup of Russia and TEB. It's so annoying not being able to watch the competition at all

aoi88 wrote:

Congrats to Kanako. Well-deserved. But frankly, I have mixed feelings on her win. I fear the media is going to hype her up now (if they haven't already) while Mao's struggling.

The Japanese media have been surprisingly tame regarding the ladies so far, so I'm hoping Kanako's win won't create a bizarre media field day. I'm sure Ryo Ishikawa will provide some of that as usual. That, and the Japanese girls won bronze at yesterday's Volleyball Worlds so I'm hoping that will sort of balance things out.

Rachel's lack of strong elements is really starting to get to her. She could barely squeeze out +GoE for her jumps and even less for her spins.

clovera wrote:

Rachel's lack of strong elements is really starting to get to her. She could barely squeeze out +GoE for her jumps and even less for her spins.

Also, I've never seen either of them live but having finally got time to watch a skating broadcast on a big tv screen instead of on a grainy internet feed, the difference in speed is what jumped out at me. Even though Rachel's program was supposed to be upbeat and entertaining, I just felt like she was crawling from one element to the next. I had to keep myself from switching channels twice during her skate. Kanako, on the other hand, just flew across the ice. She's so tiny you would think she'd struggle to get good speed, but no, she's so fast and exciting and it really showed since even though she made two visible errors, she scored more in PCS than the US National Champion, who went "visibly" clean at home. I think the judges are indeed sending a message to Rachel. Caroline is not the only US skater who could use some work on skating skills.

clovera wrote:

aoi88 wrote:

Congrats to Kanako. Well-deserved. But frankly, I have mixed feelings on her win. I fear the media is going to hype her up now (if they haven't already) while Mao's struggling.

The Japanese media have been surprisingly tame regarding the ladies so far, so I'm hoping Kanako's win won't create a bizarre media field day. I'm sure Ryo Ishikawa will provide some of that as usual. That, and the Japanese girls won bronze at yesterday's Volleyball Worlds so I'm hoping that will sort of balance things out.

I hope so too! Also, I don't think the hype is good for Kanako either. She has some technique issues with her flip/lutz that I fear may deter her if she doesn't get them fixed soon. Another thing that concerns me is that Yamada recently remarked that the 3A may be in their future plans. I'm not sure if that's a good idea before fixing her flutz first.

http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101112&content_id=16084402&vkey=ice_news

Congatulations Kanako!!

Congrats to Kanako! I didn't finish seeing the competition but I am glad she won.

And Japanese Team got "ABECK CHAMPION" (Pair Champion) again, after Cup of China.
Hope Mao and Takahiko will be the next.

Congrats to Kanako, I was rooting for her the whole way through

I think Kanako is really connecting to the music. Rachel Flatt could use some help in that area. All her jumps were clean but her program lacked real performance quality to me.

Cup of russia and then TEB, really looking forward to seeing Mao perform again! I've really missed her skating! Even with flaws in her program i still feel that she is better than most the other skaters

True dat, true dat- Figure_skating_love!

Congratulations Kana-chan!
Good luck to Miki and Akiko next week!

Congrats to Kanako! She sort of saved this event as far as I was concerned, since everyone else was rather disappointing.

Aibhlin wrote:

Kostner's pcs saves her again. Not that she doesn't deserve them (I'm not a fan but objectively I think she does) but I don't know how I feel about someone medalling with that kind of jump content - two triples in an entire program.

Lepisto won the bronze at Worlds with only 3 triples, so medal at Skate America with 2 triples doesn't sound so bad

I'm happy of Kanako's gold She always looks so happy when she takes the ice- she really enjoys herself. I hope Muraki, Mao and Miki will compete at Worlds. I can even imagine world champs without any of them. Reigning World champion, reigning junior world champion and well...if Miki wins GPF then also reigning GPF champion.

europeanfan wrote:

I'm happy of Kanako's gold She always looks so happy when she takes the ice- she really enjoys herself. I hope Muraki, Mao and Miki will compete at Worlds. I can even imagine world champs without any of them. Reigning World champion, reigning junior world champion and well...if Miki wins GPF then also reigning GPF champion.

That'll leave out Akiko.

I don't think we'll see a shake-up for the men - there's still a substantial gap between the Olympic trio of Dai, Tono, and Kozu vs. the up-and-comers like Yuzuru, Tatsuki, and DaiM. It's a bit different for the ladies though, and a lot of it will come down to how Kanako and Akiko perform at GPF and Nats.

We still have to see how the remainder of the GP events play out though.

ETA: DaiM posted this photo of former Morozovians.
http://twitpic.com/36zyum

Congratulations Kanako! Yay!! She's going to GPF.

clovera wrote:

ETA: DaiM posted this photo of former Morozovians.
http://twitpic.com/36zyum

So cute.

Quote :

Lepisto won the bronze at Worlds with only 3 triples, so medal at Skate America with 2 triples doesn't sound so bad Razz

Which I wasn't altogether comfortable with either. Oh, I don't know, maybe I'm just disappointed our Swedish girl came so close to the podium (4th place).