NHK Trophy 2018 - First Day Reflections

Who says you can't wear fake armour on ice? Not Natalia Zabjiako and Alexander Enbert

If you ask me what my favourite Grand Prix event is, I will say without a doubt that it's the NHK Trophy. Why? It's easy! The atmosphere in the ice rink is second to none. Japanese fans can appreciate great figure skating louder and more energetically than any other nation. That energy is felt even by far away viewers like me. So although it is always being held nine hours ahead of my timezone, I never fail to catch up on it.

Hosted by Hiroshima, this season's NHK Trophy was as exciting as ever, particularly in the ladies and men's events. Despite the fact Elizaveta Tuktamysheva was the main rival of all their best skaters (and indeed finished first with 76.17 points), the Japanese crowd rained gifts on her as soon as she finished her brilliant performance. She reminded me of Mao Asada, the last skater who got the crowd on their feet because of perfectly executed 3Axels. It somehow felt right to see the Russian succeed so well at this element here.

The crowd's favourite didn't do bad at all either, finishing only 0.09 points behind Elizaveta. The only thing Satoko Miyahara didn't have was the 3Axel. The loss of the first place was surely slightly alleviated by Mai Mihara's third placement. With lovely body language and level 4 on all her elements, the 19-year-old did her country proud today.

Sergei Voronov (Russia)

Speaking of making Japan proud, Shoma Uno took the lead in the men's event. He might have fallen on the 4Toeloop, but he made up for it with his presentation skills. The Spanish guitar of Stairway to Heaven provided the perfect backdrop for his super fast spins, step sequence and even jumps. If you didn't see it, watch his performance just for the unbelievable 3Axel.

The rest of the little podium might not have been Japanese, but that didn't stop the audience from screeching to the top of their lungs. Sergei Voronov's performance was sort of oddly similar to Shoma's by the singular fact the music revolved around a very angry piano (the Japanese had a very energetic guitar). Dmitri Aliev's routine was the only calm one out of the leading trio. He fell on the 3Axel, which was a bit of a surprise, but ending on third place behind the skaters at this event is by no means a bad result.

The only discipline so far that didn't see any of the host's skaters competing for a medal was the pairs. Instead, we saw a battle between the largest countries in the world: Russia, Canada and China. That was not the order they ended the short programme in though.

Russia came first with Natalia Zabjiako/Alexander Enbert's medieval tale. Wearing epic costumes, the two managed to earn a season's best (73.48 points). China was second via Cheng Pen/Yang Jin, despite her stumble during the step sequence and the temporary lack of synchronicity in the side-by-side spins, both small errors, really. Canada's third placement was all due to Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Marinaro. The duo was the most flawed of the leading pairs with a hand down on the side-by-side 3Toeloops and a double-footed landing of the throw 3Loop, but still put on a fantastic interpretation of Loena Lewis' The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.

Thus ended the first day of the fourth Grand Prix event, and what a day it was. The ice dancers will begin day two, and then it's up for all the skaters mentioned above to give it their best and win some medals.

My chosen quote of the competition has to be: