Skate America 2018 - Men SP - Twists and Turns
Watching a competition after it ended without knowing the results is not easy. There is information about what happened everywhere on social media; and I'm not just on social media in my free time, I work in social media, so it's double the effort. Luckily though, Everett, Washington is so far away from me, said competition happened while I was asleep. So as I'm writing this blog, I literally have no idea who finished on which position. Exciting!
Jimmy Ma started the shot programme. I've never seen Jimmy skate before, but I liked his enthusiasm. The tango-turned-latino routine set to Mi Gente, helped a lot, no doubt. He fell on the 4Toeloop, but otherwise made no notable mistakes. Score: 71.53.
I got really excited to see a skater from Malaysia, because that doesn't happen very often. Julian Zhi Jie Yee did a great job, which made it even better. Loved the arm details of the camel spin. It was quite an expressive rendition of Patrick Watson's To Build a Home. Score: 81.52.
I was expecting a contemporary piece when I read the title of Romain Ponsart's song: In This Shirt. Instead, I got a modern classical song that's really moving. I recommend it to anyone who loves the sound of violin. The Frenchman's only mistake was over-rotating the 3Axel. Score: 71.48.
I've been a fan of Michal Brezina since longer than I can remember. Style-wise, there's nothing he hasn't tried or can't do, but he's still struggling with the elements. Dare I say it was an improvement that his only mistake was singling out of the 3Flip? His 4Salchow - 3Toeloop combo was a hit. Score: 82.09.
Kevin Reynolds skated to Illusionary World, which is a truly beautiful song, but I got way too distracted by his mistakes to pay proper attention to the presentation. He double-footed the 4Toeloop and fell on the 3Axel. I did enjoy the step sequence set to the amazing sound of Scottish bagpipes. Score: 61.62.
Nam Nguyen missed the combination right after a good 4Salchow and 3Axel, so his 3Lutz was not taken into consideration. That was a real shame, but as Frank Sinatra was singing, 'that's life' sometimes? Score: 69.86.
The two biggest starts of American figure skating at the moment were both in the second group. Vincent Zhou was first and he didn't disappoint. Skating to Muse's Exogenesis Symphony III, he landed both a 4Lutz and a 4Flip. Score: 76.38 ... I've never been more confused by a score. I'm sorry, but what just happened?
Moris Kvitelashvili's falls looked worse than any others tonight. To top it all off, his second fall prevented him from doing a combination, so his 4Toeloop was not included in his points. Score: 68.58.
Matteo Rizzo skated to the classical version of Volare, a song I associate with my childhood. It was a good presentation, albeit not quite as good artistically as those of the two skaters before him. He didn't have a quad, so the technical will probably drag him down as well. Score: 78.09.
I remember saying a few seasons back that Nathan Chen needs to work on his presentation skills. Well, he was super expressive and energetic in Everett yesterday. He only had one quad (I know, I'm greedy, I was expecting two) and he stepped out of it. Score: 90.58.
Sergei Voronov is another old favourite of mine. He double-footed the 3Axel, but otherwise made no mistakes. His music was Prelude No. 5 by Rachmaninoff. Although the routine was as aggressive and dark as we're used to, coming from him, I didn't get as much into it as I had with his older routines. Score: 78.18.
Alexei Bychenko had a bad performance yesterday. However, I think Requiem for a Dream really suits him because he's always proven better at strong, assertive themes. His only mistake was over-rotating the 3Axel, but I think he might have meant to do a 4Flip at the beginning instead of a triple and he definitely should have had a triple, not a 2Lutz in the combination. Score: 69.69.
Well, I'm not quite sure what to make of the results here. My two main questions are: why is Kevin Reynolds 12th and why is Vincent Zhou all the way down to the 6th place? If someone more technical-savvy than myself could enlighten me, I'd be grateful.
I am quite stoked for Julian Zhi Jie Yee and Michal Brezina, both names I did not expect to see in the top three, if I'm being honest. Of course, no surprise when it comes to Nathan leading the rankings.
Here's the quote of the competition:
Want to know what else happened at Skate America 2018?
Jimmy Ma started the shot programme. I've never seen Jimmy skate before, but I liked his enthusiasm. The tango-turned-latino routine set to Mi Gente, helped a lot, no doubt. He fell on the 4Toeloop, but otherwise made no notable mistakes. Score: 71.53.
I got really excited to see a skater from Malaysia, because that doesn't happen very often. Julian Zhi Jie Yee did a great job, which made it even better. Loved the arm details of the camel spin. It was quite an expressive rendition of Patrick Watson's To Build a Home. Score: 81.52.
I was expecting a contemporary piece when I read the title of Romain Ponsart's song: In This Shirt. Instead, I got a modern classical song that's really moving. I recommend it to anyone who loves the sound of violin. The Frenchman's only mistake was over-rotating the 3Axel. Score: 71.48.
I've been a fan of Michal Brezina since longer than I can remember. Style-wise, there's nothing he hasn't tried or can't do, but he's still struggling with the elements. Dare I say it was an improvement that his only mistake was singling out of the 3Flip? His 4Salchow - 3Toeloop combo was a hit. Score: 82.09.
 |
| Michal Brezina, from the Czech Republic, is currently in 2nd place Photo: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images North America |
Nam Nguyen missed the combination right after a good 4Salchow and 3Axel, so his 3Lutz was not taken into consideration. That was a real shame, but as Frank Sinatra was singing, 'that's life' sometimes? Score: 69.86.
The two biggest starts of American figure skating at the moment were both in the second group. Vincent Zhou was first and he didn't disappoint. Skating to Muse's Exogenesis Symphony III, he landed both a 4Lutz and a 4Flip. Score: 76.38 ... I've never been more confused by a score. I'm sorry, but what just happened?
Moris Kvitelashvili's falls looked worse than any others tonight. To top it all off, his second fall prevented him from doing a combination, so his 4Toeloop was not included in his points. Score: 68.58.
Matteo Rizzo skated to the classical version of Volare, a song I associate with my childhood. It was a good presentation, albeit not quite as good artistically as those of the two skaters before him. He didn't have a quad, so the technical will probably drag him down as well. Score: 78.09.
 |
| Nathan Chen proving he is the hosts' golden boy for a good reason Photo: Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images North America |
Sergei Voronov is another old favourite of mine. He double-footed the 3Axel, but otherwise made no mistakes. His music was Prelude No. 5 by Rachmaninoff. Although the routine was as aggressive and dark as we're used to, coming from him, I didn't get as much into it as I had with his older routines. Score: 78.18.
Alexei Bychenko had a bad performance yesterday. However, I think Requiem for a Dream really suits him because he's always proven better at strong, assertive themes. His only mistake was over-rotating the 3Axel, but I think he might have meant to do a 4Flip at the beginning instead of a triple and he definitely should have had a triple, not a 2Lutz in the combination. Score: 69.69.
Well, I'm not quite sure what to make of the results here. My two main questions are: why is Kevin Reynolds 12th and why is Vincent Zhou all the way down to the 6th place? If someone more technical-savvy than myself could enlighten me, I'd be grateful.
I am quite stoked for Julian Zhi Jie Yee and Michal Brezina, both names I did not expect to see in the top three, if I'm being honest. Of course, no surprise when it comes to Nathan leading the rankings.
Here's the quote of the competition:
Want to know what else happened at Skate America 2018?
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| Pairs SP |
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