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Mel's Editorial#26: March 14, 2007Worlds Preview In less than a week, the World Championships will open in Tokyo. With the competitors making final preparations for their trips and the buzz surrounding the favourites increasing, I thought it was a good time to do a Mel-version of a preview for Worlds. As always, a disclaimer applies: the opinions expressed below are my own and although I try hard to be as well-rounded and open as possible, I generally see things through a Canadian lens. And I live in Michigan. Go figure. With the Grand Prix, National Championships, as well as the prequels in the ISU Championship category, Four Continents and Europeans, all behind us, skaters are entering Worlds with varying levels of momentum. From the comebacks to the ones who are trying to stay on top, from the favourites to the underdogs, I'll try to cover it all as briefly as I can. Be sure to tune in to the action from Tokyo next week! Men: For many, the men's event is the most exciting. I admit, I don't belong to that category, but I'm certainly finding the men more interesting than I did several years ago, when the competition had been reduced to the Battle of the Quads. The quad is still important, especially at the World level, but I think that many of the top competitors have more to offer than a well-executed quadruple jump. If one favourite had to be picked, Brian Joubert would be it. Finishing second last year appeared to motivate him to be the one to beat this year. So far, no one has met his challenge. He has more momentum than anyone, boasting a perfect season that featured victories at Europeans and the Grand Prix Final. Unfortunately, a foot injury has come at a most inopportune time, but I'm still fairly sure that he's going to bring his game. Joubert will likely receive strong challenges from Jeff Buttle, Nobunari Oda, Evan Lysacek, and Daisuke Takahashi. Takahashi has been such a wild card in the past, but he finished second to Joubert at the Grand Prix Final and he turned in impressive performances to win both Japanese Nationals and the Winter Universiade, both over Oda. Perhaps this will finally be his year, although skating at home in the bright light of the Japanese media will increase the pressure on both him and Oda. Buttle, rebounding after missing the Grand Prix due to injury, easily won Canadian Nationals, but was bested at Four Continents by Lysacek, who will certainly be a factor. Evan Lysacek climbs higher in the standings every year and with a quad combination under his belt this year, he has another great shot at the medals. Men's skating's two favourite wild cards cannot be counted out, either. Emanuel Sandhu has not had a great season, by his standards, but he certainly has (and has always had!) the skills to win a world title. I never dismiss him, because even when he forgets to bring his jumps, he's still usually very pleasant to watch. This season, he seems to have lost some of the fire, but perhaps he has regained some of his fighting spirit after falling to an unexpected 9th place at Four Continents. The other wild card is, of course, Stéphane Lambiel, who has only competed twice this season, skipping a second Grand Prix assignment and missing the chance to make the Final. He says that his competitive spirit has been renewed, but to be honest, although he's one of my favourites, I had kind of dismissed him from the podium this year. Then I wandered onto youtube and found his new free program. I sat there, open-mouthed, mesmerized. It's phenomenal. If he skates this program to its highest potential at Worlds, in my opinion, there is no one that should deserve to beat him. Still, given that he's coming back from time off, I'm not expecting perfection. And on a couple of purely personal notes, I've been a fan of Ryan Bradley for seven years, and I'm thrilled that he's been skating so well and will be making the trip to Tokyo. I've also been following Chris Mabee for quite a few years, and I wish him the best of luck as well. Podium prediction: Joubert, Lambiel, Lysacek or Takahashi, but let's face it - Lysacek is such an easy pick for the bronze medal. Ladies: Once my favourite discipline, I haven't been too excited about ladies in the past few years. I don't want to take anything away from Kimmie Meissner's win last year, because she deserved it, but I still am not used to the phrase "World Champion Kimmie Meissner." While I believe the men have stepped up to the task of creating exciting programs within the Code of Points, I don't see the same passion in the ladies' competitors. I'm not even sure where to begin. I suppose that there will be a lot of hype surrounding the rematch of Yu-Na Kim and Mao Asada, but I can't even get into that very much. They're both excellent skaters and they have above average presentation, but I think that they both lack the connection that truly draws the audience into the performance. I prefer Asada's skating, but I have to say that I enjoyed her most during the 2004-05 season, when she dominated the junior ranks. Kim is coming back from an injury, so she's kind of a wild card right now, but I have a lot of confidence in her abilities to perform well. Asada's teammate, Miki Ando is also on the rebound, after a disappointing Olympic season. She looked like a completely new skater when she showed up at Campbell's Cup, just before the Grand Prix began last October. She lost some momentum at the Grand Prix Final and at Nationals, and she didn't compete in Four Continents or the Asian Winter Games, like Yukari Nakano did, but perhaps she will arrive at Worlds with the fire that I saw in her last fall. I think that, of all the competitors, it is Ando who has shown the "look" of a World Champion this season. Of course, one can never count out the Americans, who boast Meissner, the defending champion, who turned in an excellent free program to come from behind and win the Four Continents title last month. Meissner's teammates, Emily Hughes and Alissa Czisny, are not as strong of competitors as she is, but the judges have shown in the past that they are not afraid to award high marks to Czisny, when she delivers. Sarah Meier has proven this season that Switzerland has more than one world-class skater, and I would not be surprised to see her in the top five. My personal favourite is Joannie Rochette, and while she has struggled a bit recently, she has the programs to propel her to the podium if she skates them to her potential. A prediction is really difficult for me to do, but here's a shot: Ando, Asada, and Rochette, with Kim just barely missing the medals. Pairs: It seems like pairs has taken over from dance as the most predictable discipline, but even still, it has its (small) share of suspense. The obvious favourites are Shen & Zhao, and I don't see anyone who is worthy of challenging them. They're one of the best pairs in the history of skating, and I don't think they're going to be relinquishing their 'best in the world' status at this time. Defending champions are their teammates, Pang & Tong, who were second to Shen & Zhao at both the Asian Winter Games and Four Continents. I think they'll definitely be in the mix for the silver and bronze medal, but I also think they're overrated and sloppy, so perhaps I don't have the best perspective for judging their medal prospects at this time. Another team that I find overrated and will also challenge for the medals is Savchenko & Szolkowy, and let's go ahead and add Zhang & Zhang to the mix, although I prefer them to Pang & Tong. Teams with lackluster seasons that should have retired after last year include Inoue & Baldwin and Petrova & Tikhonov. Inoue & Baldwin landed the first throw triple axel in history, and then landed several more. They finished fourth at Worlds and could have ended their career on a wonderful high note, but instead, they returned this year and lost their U.S. title to Castile & Okolski. Petrova & Tikhonov told everyone that they were going to retire, made a big deal of switching back to their "signature" free program to "Four Seasons" at Worlds, and then....showed up again this year. I guess they were under pressure from the Russian federation, but the Russian federation should stop harassing their skaters and just let them make their own decisions! So all of these teams have made me very unexcited for what used to be my favourite discipline, and I wish that wasn't the case. Marcoux & Buntin are my favourite pair and while I know they have their faults, I don't think they have ever received proper credit for the quality of their elements, and I'm not too optimistic about that suddenly starting, unfortunately. They're also trying to come back from a disappointing Nationals, when they lost their title to Dubé & Davison. Dubé & Davison, meanwhile, are coming back from injury - Jessica's face was gashed open on side-by-side spins at Four Continents during their free program. She's back on the ice after surgery, though, and I expect them to do well. Podium prediction: Shen & Zhao, Savchenko & Szolkowy, then Pang & Tong or Zhang & Zhang. If both teams are clean, Pang & Tong will edge Zhang & Zhang. Dance: Ah, finally. I've saved the best event for last, in my opinion, of course. The past five years have been building to this moment: a completely predictable discipline has finally reached the point where I cannot even say with certainty which teams will be on the podium, much less in which order! I'm so excited. Let's break this down, one by one. There are five teams that I believe will be challenging for three medals. Three of those teams have the initials of D&S and a fourth at least has the D going for them. Denkova & Staviyski are reigning world champions and known for their avant-garde approach to dance. They're also known for having the same haircut. Their dramatic free dance this year could propel them into the lead, or it could leave the judges cold. It leaves me a little cold, to be honest. They won the Grand Prix Final, but were only third at Europeans. Delobel & Schoenfelder (or D&S2) are hot, hot, hot after their first European title, and I'm excited about the idea of them finally reaching the World podium! I think they definitely deserved it in 2005, as well as at the Olympics, so perhaps this is finally their time. Delobel & Schoenfelder are known for being theatrical and a little cold as well, but feel like they have improved in this area. She, in particular, is known for having great hair, in my opinion. D&S3 are Domnina & Shabalin are known for being Russian and for their meteoric rise to the top once the last Russians were at the end of their era (who had a similar meteoric rise in 2003 as well). They're also theatrical (it's a theme with the D&S teams), and I find their free dance this year to be a little over the top. She's known for her hair and having an extreme braid. They won the free dance at Europeans and were third in the Grand Prix Final, so they are definitely on the radar. Dubreuil & Lauzon are on the upswing after a victory at Four Continents, when they finally skated their free dance the way I have wanted to see it all season. Hopefully, this will be a case of them waiting for Worlds to peak. They're known for flaunting their romantic relationship, cute as it may be, and for their brilliant lifts. In the past, they were criticized for doing material that was too difficult for them, and this year, they're being criticized for having a program that is too easy. Belbin & Agosto were the "it" kids a few years ago, but they seem to have lost "it." After ditching their first free dance, they débuted a new free dance to music from Amélie at Nationals, and then went on to finish behind Dubreuil & Lauzon at Four Continents. They're known for being cute and perky, and for trying to change that image. Also worth mentioning is the senior Worlds début of two very impressive young teams: Virtue & Moir and Davis & White. Davis & White became the first team to receive level four on all of their elements in their free dance at the NHK Trophy this season. Virtue & Moir recently finished third at Four Continents and en route to their bronze medal, posted one of the highest technical elements scores in the world this season in the original dance. Both teams should be in the top ten if they perform at their best. Podium prediction: Dubreuil & Lauzon, Delobel & Schoenfelder, Denkova & Staviyski, although Domnina & Shabalin will beat Denkova & Staviyski in the free dance. Archives -- Contact -- Features -- Guestbook -- Links -- Webmistress (c)2004-7 Melanie L. Hoyt All rights reserved. |