TEB Ladies free skate. Ashley Wagner shines again

              

 

Ashley Wagner was superb today and is proving to be very consistent this season. She did six triples with a couple of flips, a lutz, and two loops. Maybe she was supposed to do a double axel-triple toe combo but she didn't land the double axel well enough for it so, even considering how magic her program was, there's still room for improvement. She was superior to anyone interpretation wise and got a season best of 127.54.

 

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva had a terrific free skate as one of those that helped her win the two grand prixs last season. She landed seven triples featuring triple lutz-triple toe, triple lutz, triple flip, double axel-two footed triple toe, triple salchow-double toe-double loop, triple loop, double axel. She was very satisfied at the end of the program and scored 121.36

 

Julia Lipnitskaya had some ups and downs in her program. She started very well with a stunning triple lutz-triple toe,then singled the toe of a meant to be double axel-triple toe, but then repeated it and nailed it with an extra double toe after the triple.Other mistakes were a hand down on a triple lutz and doubled a salchow. She scored 115.76 and got the bronze.

 

Christina Gao skated brilliantly today. She had a disappointing short program ranking seventh but shined in the free skate landing six triples: triple flip-double toe, double axel, triple lutz-double toe, triple flip, triple salchow, triple loop, triple toe-double toe-double loop. 112.16

 

Mae Berenice Meite was surprisingly in fourth after the short program. She did a big mistake at the beginning of the program with a fall on a under rotated triple flip but then regrouped and landed 3lz, 3lo, 2a-3t, 3f-2t, 3t-2t, 2a but she couldn't save her fourth place and was outskated by Christina Gao and scored 102.75.

 

Polina Korobeynikova double flip, double axel-triple toe, triple loop-double toe, triple loop with step out, fell on triple salchow, single salchow. 90.32

 

TEB: Men free skate

 

I think anyone thought that Japan wouldn't have medal here, after medaling at any gp men competition with five different skaters (and very likely will medal at NHK Trophy too), instead Takahiko Mura had a superb free skate after ranking second in the short program and got the gold medal winning his first grand prix. He nailed his quad toe, triple lutz-triple toe, triple axel, triple loop, triple axel-double toe, triple salchow, triple lutz, his only mistake was a single flip at the end of the program. 154.03

Jeremy Abbott's free skate was an absolute piece of art but struggled technically and did triple lutz, two footed his quad toe, triple flip-double toe, triple axel, single axel-double toe, triple lutz-triple toe with a tough landing, triple loop, doubled his salchow and got silver here. 146.45

Brian Joubert struggled at the beginning of his program: he fell on quad toe and made his second quad a triple, but then landed some good jumps as triple axel-double toe, triple flip, triple lutz, triple loop, triple salchow-double axel, triple flip with a turn-double toe. I think that his free program is kind of different from what he used to present improving his interpretation. Anyway he scored 134.70 and ranked behind Amodio.

 

Florent Amodio performed very clean after a disastrous short that put him in seventh. He would have been a perfect program if he didn't miss the combination after the second triple axel that had to be followed by another jump and for not doing it he received a -3 on its grade of execution. Anyway he nailed his quad salchow in which he struggled yesterday and a triple flip, triple lutz, double axel, triple salchow-triple toe. 154.12

 

Nan Song had to withdraw from Cup of China due to a collision with Adam Rippon during the Free skate warm up and his paticipation at TEB was uncertain but he performed very well here landing quad toe, triple axel-double toe, triple axel, triple lutz-triple toe, triple flip, triple loop hand down, double axel-double toe, triple salchow. He had a very good Technical elements score but got more than ten points less than Amodio in the components score for a total of 139.73.

TEB: Pairs Free skate

Kavaguti/Smirnov had a four points lead after the short program on Duhamel/Radford. They struggled in their side by side triple toe double axel with slight step outs on both jumps as often seen from them (Yuko two footed the toe that maybe could be under rotated) , but then performed an incredibly elegant program with throw triple loop, triple twist, double axel side by side, throw triple loop. They won the competition but ranked second in the free with 121.21.

Duhamel/Radford had a very technically ambitious program as usual and it was well done. They did a triple twist, triple lutz side by side, side by side triple salchow-double toe-double toe in the second half of the program. Megan fell on throw triple loop but regrouped on throw triple flip that was perfect. They scored 124.43

Berton/Hotarek fought in their free and made some mistakes. They did a very good side by side triple toe-double toe-double toe, then doubled a throw salchow, and Stefania held on her throw triple loop. Anything else had a very good quality especially a beautiful carry lift. They scored 112.19 and got bronze here.

Peng/Zhang opened with an outstanding quadruple twist that caused the gasp of the crowd, fell on throw triple loop singled the double axel side by side, then had a good throw triple salchow. They skated to the same music as Berton/Hotarek and they ranked behind them. 107.84

Stolbova/Klimov struggled in their short program getting the fifth place. They had a good free skate with difficult elements in the second half of the program, especially a throw triple salchow at the very end of it. They struggled a little bit in their triple twist,since Fedor get his arm around Ksenia's wrist in the landing and on side by side double axel that Ksenia turned into a single. They got 113.09

TEB Ladies short program

Julia Lipnitskaya was affected by an ankle injury and it wasn't sure she would have competed but she didn't show anything of it in her short program. The jumping quality wasn't good as usual, but that was really good. She completed a triple lutz-triple toe combo, a triple flip and a double axel and super spins. She got 63.55 and won the short program.

Ashley Wagner shined in this performance and showed a superb confidence and strenght. She nailed all she was supposed to do, from jumps to spins and interpretation. She did a triple flip-double toe, a double axel and a triple loop in the second half of the program. For me she deserved to be in first because her quality was superior to anyone else but Lipnitskaya's technical base value was higher so, despite Ashley was three points above Julia in the components score, the US champion ranked second with 63.09

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva changed her "Love Story" short showed at Skate Canada into a Tango program. She wasn't so solid as usual in jumping but she nailed her triple toe-triple toe combo (a lot easier combo than   the one she used to do last year) a good triple lutz and great double axel. She scored 58.26

Mae Berenice Meite wasn't supposed to be a contender here, but she was clean and her actual program suits her and highlights her qualities more than other she have had in the past. She did a triple toe-triple toe combo, a triple lutz and double axel all executed very well with power and ease. She got 54.48 and now she is in fourth place.

Trophee Eric Bompard schedule

Times are GMT +1

Friday 16th november
15.00: Pairs short program
16.30:Men short program
18.15: Ladies short program
20.00: short dance

Saturday 17th november
13.40: Pairs free
15.25: Men free
18.30: Ladies free
20:30: Free dance

TEB: Men's preview

 

The men’s event at Trophee Eric Bompard is kind of weak, especially in comparison with NHK Trophy next week that will host Fernandez, Takahashi and Hanyu. None of the skaters listed here have medaled in a grand prix this year yet. On the other hand some of them withdrew, or could withdraw later, due to different injuries.

Jeremy Abbott could be the winner here as he is basically the best in this competition. He debuted at Skate America and ranked third in the short program but struggled in the free skate because of a spine problem.

Jeremy Abbott is one of those skaters you really want to have a successful program because his quality and commitment to the music is supreme. However he is not that consistent as anyone would like and rarely shows all his potential at the beginning of the season. But this competition is not very challenging and he could go for gold.

Florent Amodio could be a gold contender. He is not as sharp as Abbott, but he has a great charisma on the ice.

As Amodio is a loved skater, the heart of French crowd beats for former World champion Brian Joubert. Brian debuted at Cup of China but, as saw in the previous years too, he withdrew after the short program, so he could possibly withdraw here too. He is a good skater, I am not sure he will be competitive in the next few years on the world stage because he is not so good at components, but in some competitions he could be a top skater for his great jumping content.

Someone would probably name Tomas Verner for a podium prediction. Maybe we’re going to see a Brezina-like competition getting a bronze here, but Verner is dramatically unconfident about his jumping since three years and didn’t seem more solid on his previous grand prix. I would rather consider Nan Song as a podium contender despite his accident at cup of China. He seems to have had a good recovery after the collition with Adam Rippon and he has all the qualities for being on the podium.

 

PODIUM PICKS

Gold: Jeremy Abbott

Silver: Florent Amodio

Bronze:Nan Song



TEB: DANCE PREVIEW Pechalat Bourzat on the rise

In the French Grand prix event, a “French top” will be reached in the dance event with Pechalat/Bourzat trying to get their second Bompard victory this week. Last year they got silver in the same competition behind Virtue/Moir who seem to be unbeatable by anyone except Davis/White. The French team won’t compete against the Canadian champions until the grand prix final (I am assuming that they will qualify, but that’s pretty sure considering they already have 15 points and will need just 11 more) so I don’t think they will have any problem going for gold. Anyway, as Pechalat/Bourzat said in a interview published on icenetwork.com, being third in the world is not enough for them. From this year they are challenging the first positions trying to get closer and closer to the Zueva’s team. What they showed at Cup of China two weeks ago was really promising. They had a 69 points short dance, 3 points less than Davis/White and just a point less than Virtue/Moir, and a 100 points free dance, 4 points less than both teams.

Future competitions will show if they are truly challenging other couples, for sure they are challenging themselves with difficult and intricate programs.

At Skate Canada, another team was very close to beat Virtue/Moir in the short dance. Cappellini/Lanotte scored just 0.01 point less than the Canadians in the short getting their personal best. The competition got hotter in someone’s mind as both teams were skating to Carmen in the free dance, one team coached by Marina Zueva, the other by Igor Shpilban. Actually Virtue/Moir were on another level and the short was a bad accident for them. However the Italians have improved a lot both technically and artistically and have a chance for a silver at Trophee Bompard and for the final.

The bronze medal could be assigned to Riazanova/Tkachenko of Russia who medaled at Skate Canada well behind Cappellini/Lanotte, or maybe Hubbel/Donohue who were fourth at Skate Canada as well.

Both teams had some troubles on technical elements, but I personally judge Hubbel/Donohue artistically superior so if they have fixed those elements in the past weeks, I think they will be in front.

 

PODIUM PICKS

Gold: Pechalat/Bourzat (FRA)

Silver: Cappellini/Lanotte (ITA)

Bronze: Hubbel/Donohue (USA)