Crystal Skate

The odds are incredibly high for Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernandez and Denis Ten, who are currently occupying the three podium positions. While the Japanese will look to keep his World title, the Spanish will want to upgrade last season's bronze, going head-to-head against the Khazakh. Good luck! Maxim Kovtun 's problems with the quad Toeloop continue; they might need to have a chat because for whatever reason, he can't land it. He also steps out of the triple Axel, but otherwise his performance is on the up since yesterday. His score: 159.98 . Overall: 230.70 . Nam Nguyen, the event's underdog Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia What a performance from Nam Nguyen ! The Canadian training alongside the top two contenders enjoys himself out there, which sends off a nice vibe to everyone watching. La Strada  is a story dominated by two opposite genres - comedy and tragedy - and he pulls both of them off fabulously. One detail of the choreography that gets my attentio...

It's a Russian world at the ladies' free skate this year as Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Elena Radionova have set themselves up to occupy the first two positions of the podium. Japan is close behind though with all their three skaters currently on places three, four and five. Gracie Gold  looks more confident today than she did in the short programme. Her only mistake is stepping out of the second triple Lutz. She makes such good use of her body language too. The music is from Phantom of the Opera . Her score: 128.23 . Overall: 188.96 . France's Mae Berenice Meite Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia Mae Berenice Meite  is experiencing some issues with her knee, which is why so many of her jumps look sketchy. The only big mistake though is double-footing the landing of the triple Loop. Presentation-wise, I'm not convinced by the costume - it looks rather generic and not entirely fit for the music. She gets 105.67  points. Overall: 162.75 . Ashley Wagner 's M...

The men's event is usually the most high-profile, and that does not change here, where we've got skaters like Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernandez and Denis Ten striving to get as high on the podium as they can. We're bound to get a show out of this short programme. Jason Brown, from the US, gets groovy Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia China's poster boy Han Yan  makes him homeland proud with a programme set to If I Were a Rich Man . I've said before that this needs to be funnier, and I stand by it - perhaps mouthing the words or expressing the audible sighs that punctuate the song might help. He also steps out of the quad Toeloop. His score: 84.45 . Jason Brown  knows that costumes are an important part of the showmanship, which is why he always takes great care in choosing them. He's got so much going for him artistically, but until he lands a quad, he can't play with the 'big boys' at the top, I'm afraid. Love the triple Lutz jumped with...

The ice dancers' short programme left us reminiscing the results Chock and Bates received at the Four Continents Championships, when they finished ahead of Weaver and Poje, despite the fact that the Canadians had begun the competition as favourites. Will history repeat itself and help them snatch their first place back from the Americans? The Shibutanis' fifth place doesn't take anything away from their talent Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani 's elegant waltz is set to Roses from the South  and The Blue Danube . Their twizzles are diverse and different than others', but the programme as a whole is too similar to a short dance for me. Their score: 102.71 . Overall: 172.03 . Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje try to do their best on Max Richter's arrangement of The Four Seasons , but it does come off as rather uptight. There are no mistakes though, just pure lyrical magic for three and a half minutes. They get 106.74  points. Over...

One of the most anticipated events of these championships is the ladies'. Two of the youngest superstars to ever emerge out of Russia will be battling it out with the more-experienced Ashley Wagner, who is determined to give her best shot at winning the title. Polina Edmunds  comes here fresh from her surprising victory at the Four Continents Championships, and proves that her winning the title was not about luck, but about talent and hard work. I absolutely love the blue costume and her spins. Her presentation is not as spectacular as other skaters', but she's got time to improve it. Her score: 61.71 . If they gave fashion awards in figure skating, Polina Edmunds would win one for this gorgeous blue dress Source: Xiaolu Ghu/Getty Images Asia Zijun Li 's elegance is a natural extension of her delicacy, two attributes that Waltz of the Flowers  helps emphasize. She waltzes around the rink beautifully and with no technical mistakes. She gets 61.83  points. Kan...

The pairs' final is undoubtedly the one China has been waiting for the most. Pairs is, after all, the discipline in which they thrive. If that's not enough of a reason, today is the last competitive day of Qing Pang and Jian Tong. The whole of Shanghai is going to be willing them to retire with a third World title, but it is more likely that they will finish their careers with a second World silver medal. The gold medal looks to be heading to Canada, in which case we will witness Duhamel & Radford's first World victory. Harry Potter on ice, but not really Source: Xialo Ghu/Getty Images Asia Amani Fancy/Christopher Boyadji  bring an all-British story on ice: Harry Potter. It is a story I never thought I'd see in figure skating despite the gorgeous soundtrack, because it's too complex to condense in three and a half minutes. There's barely any elements of it in the choreography, which proves my point. They make a mess of it on a technical level as well:...

The pairs competition looks to be more predictable than the ice dancers'. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford are untouchable technically, so unless something goes awfully wrong, they have this in the back pocket. Maria Paliakova/Nikita Bochkov 's Corpse Bride  looks good on paper; this is a Tim Burton story, after all, and it should look fabulous on ice. In actuality, it falls short of my expectations. They have no mistakes technically, but the presentation is just not accurate enough. The costumes are good, but the story is filled with gaps; for one, where is the sadness of the woman who falls in love with a man she can never be with because she is dead and he is alive? Their score: 46.17. Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres  manage to transmit the angst of Tango de Roxanne  through variations on elements such as the broken leg side-by-side spin. Their phasing is clever too with the death spiral performed on the frantic last bit of the song. She doubles the side-by-side triple ...

The first event of these World Championships is the ice dancers' short programme. The main contenders for the gold medal seem to be Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, but they will have to skate better than the new European championships, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, to win it. Madison Chock and Evan Bates are also looking for as high a place on the podium as possible. Let's see how they do. Elena Ilinykh/Ruslan Zhiganshin 's debut at the Worlds is not as explosive as we've seen their routine be. Perhaps it's because of the early morning (it's about 10 am), but they seem slower and more cautious than before. Their twizzles are not in perfect unison either. Their score: 69.46 . Rising stars Federica Testa/Lucas Csolley  are beginning to make themselves noticed. The curve lift that made the audience gasp at the Europeans because it looked as if he had dropped her is a roaring success in Shanghai as well. Their side-by-side step sequence is slightly ...

Patricia Marx once said about Shanghai that you don't have to spend much time in it before you start to think about the meaning of authenticity. China's most populated city is a hub of innovation, which is why it makes sense that when time came for China to host its first ever world figure skating championships, Shanghai was picked as the host city. Over the next few days, the city will see a fair share of originality and innovation, as the world's best figure skaters will step on the ice of the Shanghai Oriental Sports Centre. Most of them are incredibly young and are looking to win their first world title, so the audience will get the chance to see history being made. Out of all the favourites for the gold medal, Yuzuru Hanyu is the only one who has won the World Championships before. He comes here after a nightmarish season filled with health problems and a nasty collision that occurred in the very venue the Worlds are held in. Let's hope that doesn't affect ...