Rostelecom Cup 2016 - Top 5 Men Short Programmes
Over in the men's event, my predictions were shook until they shattered to the ground. Well, actually, not really, but there were a few bittersweet surprises for me in the top five.
The first pleasant surprise came from France. Chafik Besseghier exceeded my expectations and landed himself in fifth place. His music was Seal's It's a Man's World. I find his spins very interesting - some he needs to work on (camel), others he's really good at (low spins). His score: 80.68.
Alexei Bychenko stayed true to his worth and ended right on the tails of the podium contenders. His quad Toeloop looked effortless and his personality on the ice was very endearing. The music, Chambermaid Swing, fit him like the gloves he was wearing. Again, some spins, like the umbrella spin, were not quite perfect, knees bent and all. He got 86.81 points.
I've said this before about Mikhail Kolyada, but it is still true - he needs to make sure his comedic body language reaches his face. In other words, he sometimes drops the funny facial expression, and I'd love to see him learn to master that. His only mistake was stepping out of the triple Axel. His music was Nightingale Tango and John Gray by Matvei Blanter. His score: 90.28.
Javier Fernandez continues to be one of the greatest ambassadors of his culture with a return performance of Malaguena. The technical was way off however - he stepped out of the triple Toeloop and tripled out of the quad Salchow. There is not much I can say about the presentation as his choreography always leaves me speechless when it comes to anything Spanish. He got 91.55 points.
Shoma Uno was the only top five skater with classical music and two landed quads. The first, a quad Flip, was not perfect as he put a hand down, but it was round. He also stepped out of the triple Toeloop. Nonetheless he beat the World champion in the short in Moscow with a technical score over 50 points and a total score of 98.59.
So the pressure is on for Japan's newest star, especially as Brian Orser told Javier after the short that seven points is totally beatable. Let's see if the Spaniard does indeed manage to save his gold in Moscow or if the Japanese is going to get his second Grand Prix win of the season.
The first pleasant surprise came from France. Chafik Besseghier exceeded my expectations and landed himself in fifth place. His music was Seal's It's a Man's World. I find his spins very interesting - some he needs to work on (camel), others he's really good at (low spins). His score: 80.68.
Alexei Bychenko stayed true to his worth and ended right on the tails of the podium contenders. His quad Toeloop looked effortless and his personality on the ice was very endearing. The music, Chambermaid Swing, fit him like the gloves he was wearing. Again, some spins, like the umbrella spin, were not quite perfect, knees bent and all. He got 86.81 points.
I've said this before about Mikhail Kolyada, but it is still true - he needs to make sure his comedic body language reaches his face. In other words, he sometimes drops the funny facial expression, and I'd love to see him learn to master that. His only mistake was stepping out of the triple Axel. His music was Nightingale Tango and John Gray by Matvei Blanter. His score: 90.28.
Javier Fernandez continues to be one of the greatest ambassadors of his culture with a return performance of Malaguena. The technical was way off however - he stepped out of the triple Toeloop and tripled out of the quad Salchow. There is not much I can say about the presentation as his choreography always leaves me speechless when it comes to anything Spanish. He got 91.55 points.
Shoma Uno was the only top five skater with classical music and two landed quads. The first, a quad Flip, was not perfect as he put a hand down, but it was round. He also stepped out of the triple Toeloop. Nonetheless he beat the World champion in the short in Moscow with a technical score over 50 points and a total score of 98.59.
So the pressure is on for Japan's newest star, especially as Brian Orser told Javier after the short that seven points is totally beatable. Let's see if the Spaniard does indeed manage to save his gold in Moscow or if the Japanese is going to get his second Grand Prix win of the season.
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