Skate Canada International 2018 - Ladies Final

Skate Canada International 2018 - Ladies Final - The Afterglow

October 28, 2018

Mako Yamashita, the girl who almost defeated two Russian powerhouses

The first leg of the ladies' competition might have turned some worlds upside down, but you never say it's done until it's done in figure skating. Starting off well in the short programme is one thing, but maintaining positions after the free skate is the real test. And so, here is how the skaters did in Laval yesterday.

The first skater was Daria Panenkova from Russia. She skated to Lara Fabian's You're Not From Here, and unfortunately finished behind the music. Not a lot of speed for Daria, but she did end most of her jumps beautifully. Score: 117.13 -> 168.54.

Yura Matsuda had better presentation skills than the Russian, but the technical content is not at the same level yet. Even though she made no mistakes, she had too many doubles in her routine compared to Daria. Score: 104.24 -> 157.59.

Alaine Chartrand brought the arena to their feet with her rendition of Sunset Boulevard. I loved how she went into the change combo spin straight from the 2Axel. The only tiny mishap that I saw was doubling out of the 3Lutz. Score: 111.70 -> 172.17.

Alaine Chartrand's starting pose
Photo: Getty Images North America

Alicia Pineault skated to Women. There were a lot of moments when she used her hands to emphasise points in the music, which was a nice touch. Technically, she doubled out of the first 3Toeloop and 3Salchow, stepped out of the 2Loop and put a hand down on the second 3Toeloop. Score: 99.27 -> 158.29.

I don't want to say something was missing from Evgenia Medvedeva's presentation of her tango medley, but she looked more nervous than she used to. The fact she started the final on 7th place is probably the reason why. Regardless, she made no mistakes this time and I really liked how there was a tango-like entrance into every jump. Score: 137.08 -> 197.91.

Elizabet Tursynbaeva started her routine with a fall on the 3Lutz, but then the only other mistake was over-rotating the 2Axel. This shows growth in character to me as she used to fall apart so easily when elements went south. Her choreographic sequence was absolutely lovely. Score: 124.52 -> 185.71.

Starr Andrews faced the same problems at the beginning of her programme as the Kazakh skater, but with a hand down on the 3Lutz and a fall on the 3Flip. Things went up from there though. I really like the colour combination of her costume and the tribal motifs running along her left leg. Score: 109.95 -> 174.72.

Elegant and delicate, Mariah Bell from the US

The series of double mistakes continued with Mariah Bell's double-footed landing of the 3Toeloop and fall on the last 3Lutz. Really beautiful routine though; the musical transition that occurs during the step sequence is seamless - the only reason I caught it was that Experience is one of my favourite songs. Score: 126.90 -> 190.25.

Same as in the short, I felt that Wakaba Higuchi's interpretation suffered because of her focus on the technical side. The mistakes made it even worse - doubling out of the 3Salchow, double-footing the 3Loop and stepping out of the 3Flip. Really liked her costume though and how the four seasons were all represented by different colours. Score: 114.78 -> 181.29.

The only constructive criticism I have for Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is that it would make such a difference to see her smile throughout this routine, which is meant to be fun. In terms of looks, she definitely won best costume of the night for me. Score: 129.10 -> 203.32.

Mako Yamashita should be super proud of her performance in Laval. First of all, she defeated a flawless Medvedeva on the technical side, which is a feat in itself. Then her interpretation both of Madame Butterfly and the short programme was breathtaking. I'm really looking forward to the rest of her season. Score: 136.76 -> 203.06.

I don't know about you, but I really didn't know who was going to win this competition until the very last second of it. In the end, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva managed to keep her 1st place, but only by 0.26 points. The biggest revelation of the night was Mako Yamaguchi, who almost beat the Russian, but had to settle for the silver. Evgenia Medvedeva's incredible rise from 6th to 3rd place is also of course worth mentioning.

Quote of the competition is: