To Men, Their Own, Part 2

There is always drama in the Men's Final, but this year it seems to be more than ever and it doesn't even have to do with the winner. Who would've thought?

Patrick Chan starts the competition with the highest SP score in history - the gold medal, it seems, has already been claimed. But will Denis Ten, who last year finished the World Championship on 7th place, manage to stand his ground in front of his huge success in the SP, or will the more experienced Daisuke Takahashi take the silver medal? Kevin Reynolds and Brian Joubert have not given up on a medal either.
  • Misha Ge gets into character before even starting the program and wins the audience over in the process. Technically good, but artistically great, the skater from Uzbekistan gets 139.05 points. Overall: 207.50.
  • Yuzuru Hanyu gives everything he's got in this LP and literally runs out of breath at the end, but it's worth it. He is absolutely brilliant, landing jump after jump after jump. Who cares about the dodgy second quad? His score: 169.05. Overall: 244.99.
  • Florent Amodio can deliver quite impressive programs at times, and this would have been one of those times if it weren't for the numerous failed elements. As it is, we're left wishing he had skated better. The French gets 151.10 points. Overall: 216.83.
  • It's hard not to love everything Javier Fernandez does, even when it doesn't come out as you'd want it to. Unfortunately, this program was one good, one bad, and it kept on going like that, which made him lose focus on the presentation at times. Still a very good program though. His score: 168.30. Overall: 249.08.
  • Nan Song is the second skater literally running out of breath today. Although he had a clean skate, his program was only average in terms of execution and presentation. The Chinese gets 134.65 points. Overall: 207.68.
  • Max Aaron could have done a little better on his West Side Story costume, but otherwise he delivered a highly entertaining program. He made us jump from our seats though when he hit the board at the end of that Triple Axel. His score: 160.16. Overall: 238.36.
  • What a fabulous skate for Takahito Mura! Could he be the 'Jumping Machine' of the day? The Japanese gets 160.72 points. Overall: 234.18.
  • Daisuke Takahashi falls on the second Triple Axel in what was, artistically speaking, his best LP of the season. His score: 154.36. Overall: 239.03.
  • Michal Brezina's program was not 'untouchable' today. The Czech sold it perfectly, but the routine was peppered with major mistakes. Still, you have to give him credit for not backing down and trying another Triple Axel at the very end. He gets 145.91 points. Overall: 229.00.
  • Nobody saw that coming! Patrick Chan falls on two triples and messes up a combination. Will his astronomically scored SP save him? No, but another astronomical score does - 169.41. Overall: 267.78. This was highly over-marked.
  • Brian Joubert owns the ice rink! For the first time in years the Frenchman stands his ground under pressure, but something gets lost in translation for the judges. His score is inexplicably low: 148.09. Overall: 232.26.
  • Earlier this season, you would've been inclined to believe Denis Ten's days of glory were finished before they even started. Today, he is a step away from winning Kazakhstan's first medal in figure skating...and he does it with 174.92 points. Overall: 266.48.
  • Kevin Reynolds ends the night gloriously, although it's not the best performance of the season for him. His score: 154.82. Overall: 239.98.


This final is likely to leave a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths and should put some question marks near some of the scores given.
Congratulations to Mr Denis Ten for his Silver medal, congratulations to Mr Javier Fernandez for managing to comeback and snatch the Bronze, and finally, congratulations to the Canadian people for keeping the World title home. They deserve it for being the best crowd any World Championships have ever seen. That's all I've got to say on the matter!

To see the full results, go to: http://www.isuresults.com/results/wc2013/CAT001RS.HTM

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