NHK Trophy 2018 - Men's Final - Bad Days

Italy's Matteo Rizzo was the underdog of the night

The men's final might not have been the main event of the competition in Hiroshima (see the ladies' for that), but there were still some amazing skaters - rising stars, solid veterans or established prodigies - to look forward to.

June Hyoung Lee started the event with a couple of big mistakes - a fall on the 3Axel, another on the 2Loop and a hand down on the 3Salchow. The music was Piano Concerto Number 2 by Rachmaninoff. Score: 122.10 -> 188.26.

Kevin Reynolds has a lot of fans in Japan, and they cheered him on, despite his doubling out of the 3Axel and 4Toeloop, as well as stepping out of the 3Lutz. Kevin has had a bad Grand Prix experience all season long, and the performance in Hiroshima was unfortunately not an exception. Score: 121.53 -> 182.67.

Hiroaki Sato received loads of support as well, but he would have also probably liked to do much better. He doubled out of a 3Toeloop, fell on the 3Axel, fell on the 3Lutz, doubled out of the 3Flip and finally fell on the 3Salchow. Score: 117.80 -> 185.18.

Yaroslav Paniot did a great job at keeping his smile after having one of the worst skates of the first group. He fell on the 4Flip, doubled out of the 3Toeloop, double-footed a 2Axel, doubled out of a 4Toeloop, fell again on the 3Lutz, double-footed once more a 2Lutz and ended on a double instead of a 3Loop. Score: 105.05 -> 173.64.

Alexander Johnson started off in the same manner as those before him - a double-footed 3Axel, doubling out of the second 3Axel, a double-footed 3Lutz and doubling again out of the 3Loop - but got himself back together in the second half. Score: 127.72 -> 199.75.

Deniss Vasiljevs was another case of disappointing skating. He double-footed the 4Toeloop, doubled out of the 3Toeloop, fell on the 3Loop, double-footed again the 3Axel, and then doubled out of the 3Salchow, Flip and Lutz. Score: 127.72 -> 197.60.

Vincent Zhou used the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger. Hidden Dragon. He doubled out of the 4Lutz and double-footed the 3Lutz - not the best of performances by his standards, but miles better than those that came before him in Hiroshima. Score: 147.52 -> 223.42.

Matteo Rizzo showcased really difficult footwork during his step sequence. He over-rotated the 3Lutz and doubled out of the 3Salchow. His chosen music was a medley by the Rolling Stones, who definitely influenced his costume. Score; 147.71 -> 224.71.

This was the first time I saw Sota Yamamoto skate. Although I enjoyed his music, costume and choreographic sequence, he had a lot of empty transitions, particularly in the first half. He also singled out of the 3Axel and Salchow, as well as doubled out of the 3Toeloop. Score: 138.42 -> 213.40.

Dmitri Aliev surprised everyone when he doubled out of both 4Toeloops and singled out of the 3Lutz. His choreography is quite sophisticated though, following the background sound of the piano. Unluckily, he lost his podium placement with that performance. Score: 138.36 -> 219.52.

Shoma Uno looked so focused throughout the routine, he made me focus on his performance as well. Only great interpretation can do that to you. He did step out of the 4Toeloop and 3Salchow, but everything else was astonishing. Gorgeous costume mimicking the night sky. Score: 183.96 -> 276.45.

The look of determination never left Sergei Voronov's face, even after tripling out of the 4Loop and stepping out of the 3Salchow. His interpretation of Way Down We Go was way on point and his costume was super suggestive. Score: 162.91 -> 254.28.

Albeit this final was not perfect - in fact, it was one of the worst we've seen this GP series - I have to admire the fight a lot of skaters put to do the best they could. The top trio was of course quite the exception. The gold went to Shoma Uno, the silver to Sergei Voronov and the bronze to Matteo Rizzo.

Quote of the competition:


More from the NHK Trophy 2018:

Ladies Final

Pairs Final

Rhythmic Dance

First day

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