NHK Trophy 2010

Finally, the season begin. It's Mao 1st event. I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. Can't wait to see her new SP. Wishing her the best! Go MAO


Friday, Oct. 22

2 a.m. - Short dance

4:05 a.m. - Pairs short program

6:05 a.m. - Ladies short program

11:20 p.m. - Men's short program

Saturday, Oct. 23

1:30 a.m. - Free dance

3:35 a.m. - Pairs free skate

5:30 a.m. - Ladies free skate

11 p.m. - Men's free skate

　


Date

Segment

LIVE Online (ET)

UniSports TV (ET)

Friday, Oct. 22

Dance Short Dance

2:00 AM

6-7:30 pm

　
Pairs Short Program

4:05 AM

6-7:30 pm

　
Ladies Short Program

6:00 AM

10:30-11:30 pm

Saturday, Oct. 23

Men's Short Program

11:20 pm (Fri. night)

5-7 pm

　
Dance Free Dance

1:30 AM

5-7pm

　
Pairs Free Skate

3:35 AM

3-4 pm

　
Ladies Free Skate

5:50 AM

TBD

Sunday, Oct. 24

Men's Free Skate

11:00 pm (Sat. night)

6-7 pm


***NBC Sports will air Grand Prix of Japan (to include Ladies Free Skate) on Sunday, Oct. 31 from 4-6 p.m. ET.


Italian tv will broadcast the competitions live: http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raispo...e-9ba21f61eb07

With the reigning world senior and junior champions hailing from Japan, it seems fitting that the figure skating season kicks off this week in the Land of the Rising Sun. Here are four things to watch at Grand Prix of Japan.

All reigning (singles) world champions...all at home

We're sure you have heard by now that skating is popular in Asia and rightfully so. The season kicks off in Japan with an impressive lineup of Japanese skaters, who by the way are the reigning world junior and senior champions.

2010 world champion Mao Asada takes on reigning world junior champion Kanako Murakami. In addition to both winning their respective world titles last season, they both are from host city Nagoya and also went to the same high school. Asada even gave Murakami her old school blazer to wear. How will mini-Mao fare in her senior Grand Prix debut against her idol? With Asada's recent struggles at the Pro-Am event Japan Open, the competition may be closer than you think.

On the men's side, reigning world champion Daisuke Takahashi takes on world junior champion Yuzuru Hanyu. We give Takahashi the edge here with his maturity and overall consistency. But don't count Hanyu out for a spot on the podium. The 15-year-old is capable of a quad toe and with a little more experience, could be Takahashi 2.0.

No - they're not from Japan, but it's worth mentioning that Pang Qing and Tong Jian of China are also on the roster. That makes three of four reigning world (senior) champions at the first event of the season.

All the U.S. champions

If world champions weren't enough, add all four reigning U.S. champions to the list. Jeremy Abbott, Rachael Flatt, Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett and Meryl Davis and Charlie White all make their season debuts in Nagoya. Should we call this Grand Prix Japan vs. USA?

A mini U.S. Nationals in ladies?

Rachael Flatt is the reigning U.S. champion, but she'll face competition from two motivated teammates. With Ashley Wagner and Caroline Zhang competing, it's like a mini U.S. Championships. The teenagers are both world junior championship and national medalists who are hoping to bounce back from disappointments in the Olympic season.

Young dance talent

We look forward to seeing new material from Olympic silver medalists Davis and White, but are also excited to see their training-mates Maia and Alex Shibutani face-off against reigning world junior ice dance champions Yelena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov of Russia. (Add that to the list of world champions!)

Both young teams are looking to make a statement in their senior debut and prove they are the next wave of talent from their respective countries.

And did we mention that the ice dance competition has an entirely new format? In case you missed it, the ISU eliminated the compulsory dance and mashed it together with the "dance formerly known as" the original dance. What do you get? The "Short Dance." Now, like the rest of the disciplines, there are only two segments to ice dancing. The revamped dance event makes its Grand Prix debut in Japan.

Let's review the numbers

- 3 of 4 world champions
- 3 of 4 world junior champions
- 4 of 4 U.S. champions

...Lots of good skating to look forward to at the Grand Prix of Japan.

Here is my prediction, I can't no longer wait til tomorrow

1. Mao ASADA (JPN)

2. Kiira KORPI (FIN)

3. Caroline ZHANG (USA)

What about you guy? What are your prediction?

The 2010/2011 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating opens this Friday with the NHK Trophy in Nagoya, Japan. The NHK Trophy is the first of six events in the series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements.

The prize money is awarded to winners and placed skaters/couples as follows:
1st place US $ 18,000
2nd place US $ 13,000
3rd place US $ 9,000
4th place US $ 3,000
5th place US $ 2,000

The points are awarded as follows:
1st place 15 points
2nd place 13 points
3rd place 11 points
4th place 9 points
5th place 7 points
6th place 5 points
7th place 4 points
8th place 3 points

Pairs collect points up to 6th place. According to the ranking order by points, the top six skaters and couples from each discipline will proceed to the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Beijing, China (December 9 to 12). The global prize money for the Grand Prix Final is US $ 272, 000.

The skaters are seeded and invited to the Grand Prix of Figure Skating according to the results of the most recent ISU World Championships. Skaters/couples who have placed 1 to 6 in each of the four categories are considered to be seeded and are assigned by draw to skate in two events. Next priority is be given to those skaters/couples who have achieved a seasonal best (as posted on the ISU website for season 2009/2010) score equal to or better than the top six from the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2010. Skaters/couples who have placed 7-12 at the most recent ISU World Championships will be selected for two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events.

Three out of four current World Champions will start their season at NHK Trophy this week.

In the Ladies’ event, reigning World Champion Mao Asada (JPN) will face competition from 2008 World silver medalist Carolina Kostner (ITA) and World Junior Champion Kanako Murakami (JPN). Other contenders include Caroline Zhang (USA), Kiira Korpi (FIN) and Elene Gedevanishvili (GEO).

Reigning World Champion Daisuke Takahashi (JPN) headlines the Men’s field at NHK Trophy. Grand Prix Final Champion Jeremy Abbott (USA), 2010 World Junior Champion Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN), two-time European bronze medalist Kevin van der Perren (BEL), Denis Ten (KAZ) and Florent Amodio (FRA) are looking to challenge the World Champion.

In the Ice Dance event, reigning World and Olympic silver medalists Meryl Davis/ Charlie White (USA) will compete against Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA), Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje (CAN) and up and coming young teams such as 2010 World Junior Champions Elena Ilinykh/Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) and 2009 World Junior silver medalists Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani(USA).

Two-time and reigning World Champions Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN) lead the Pairs. Competition should come from Vera Bazarova/Yuri Larionov (RUS), Caydee Denney/ Jeremy Barrett (USA) and World Junior silver medalists Narumi Takahashi/ Mervin Tran (JPN).

The full list of entries is available at www.isu.org.

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CC IT Ded.
- StN.

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 66.97 32.28 34.69 8.64 8.50 8.75 8.64 8.79 0.00 #10
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 58.69 31.15 27.54 6.89 6.64 6.86 6.93 7.04 0.00 #8
3 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 56.89 29.79 27.10 6.82 6.50 6.82 6.82 6.86 0.00 #5
4 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 55.68 27.57 28.11 7.07 6.75 7.11 7.04 7.11 0.00 #9
5 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 53.68 28.57 26.11 6.57 6.32 6.32 6.75 6.61 1.00 #7
6 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 45.20 22.07 23.13 5.86 5.61 5.82 5.86 5.75 0.00 #6
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 44.90 21.86 23.04 5.79 5.46 5.75 5.93 5.82 0.00 #4
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 43.52 22.36 21.16 5.39 5.07 5.21 5.36 5.36 0.00 #3
9 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 43.50 22.85 20.65 5.21 4.82 5.21 5.21 5.29 0.00 #2
10 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR HUN 32.68 15.81 16.87 4.46 4.18 4.21 4.32 3.96 0.00 #1

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 67.10 34.23 32.87 8.29 7.86 8.32 8.25 8.36 0.00 #8
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 60.16 34.36 25.80 6.64 6.29 6.50 6.54 6.29 0.00 #1
3 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 57.23 31.70 25.53 6.43 6.14 6.43 6.54 6.39 0.00 #7
4 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 55.03 30.22 24.81 6.36 5.86 6.21 6.32 6.25 0.00 #6
5 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN 54.28 31.00 23.28 5.89 5.43 5.86 6.00 5.93 0.00 #5
6 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 54.19 29.93 24.26 6.32 5.64 6.18 6.07 6.11 0.00 #3
7 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 50.49 28.40 22.09 5.71 5.25 5.61 5.50 5.54 0.00 #2
8 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 49.72 27.63 22.09 5.75 5.29 5.50 5.54 5.54 0.00 #4

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 57.27 27.52 29.75 7.50 7.11 7.46 7.54 7.57 0.00 #11
2 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 56.10 29.81 26.29 6.61 6.18 6.79 6.61 6.68 0.00 #6
3 Rachael FLATT USA 53.69 28.29 25.40 6.50 6.07 6.36 6.39 6.43 0.00 #9
4 Ashley WAGNER USA 52.93 27.34 25.59 6.50 6.14 6.43 6.43 6.50 0.00 #5
5 Kiira KORPI FIN 52.60 23.89 28.71 7.18 6.86 7.29 7.18 7.39 0.00 #10
6 Caroline ZHANG USA 50.71 25.93 24.78 6.36 6.04 6.18 6.29 6.11 0.00 #8
7 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 49.07 26.36 22.71 5.96 5.25 5.82 5.64 5.71 0.00 #4
8 Mao ASADA JPN 47.95 20.00 28.95 7.57 6.96 7.07 7.32 7.25 1.00 #12
9 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 44.51 18.65 25.86 6.61 6.00 6.54 6.54 6.64 0.00 #7
10 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 43.66 21.49 23.17 5.89 5.54 5.86 5.79 5.89 1.00 #3
11 Lena MARROCCO FRA 41.67 22.99 19.68 5.18 4.64 5.00 4.96 4.82 1.00 #1
12 Diane SZMIETT CAN 31.90 14.04 18.86 5.14 4.50 4.61 4.79 4.54 1.00 #2

I can't believe Mao is in 8th place I hope this will not affect her mental as she go to the long program. I hope she will do better in FS.

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 78.04 36.83 41.21 8.18 7.89 8.32 8.36 8.46 0.00 #11
2 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 74.62 36.27 38.35 7.75 7.46 7.71 7.68 7.75 0.00 #12
3 Shawn SAWYER CAN 70.15 36.58 33.57 6.64 6.46 6.79 6.75 6.93 0.00 #7
4 Florent AMODIO FRA 70.01 37.18 32.83 6.57 6.11 6.79 6.57 6.79 0.00 #5
5 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 69.31 37.85 31.46 6.46 5.96 6.36 6.39 6.29 0.00 #6
6 Denis TEN KAZ 68.74 35.67 33.07 6.54 6.32 6.71 6.68 6.82 0.00 #8
7 Ross MINER USA 64.85 34.88 29.97 6.21 5.79 6.07 6.04 5.86 0.00 #2
8 Jialiang WU CHN 64.06 35.48 28.58 5.86 5.43 5.79 5.93 5.57 0.00 #4
9 Takahito MURA JPN 63.20 33.74 29.46 6.32 5.46 6.07 5.79 5.82 0.00 #3
10 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 62.24 30.92 31.32 6.43 6.14 6.07 6.39 6.29 0.00 #9
11 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 55.31 25.38 29.93 6.36 5.61 5.96 6.14 5.86 0.00 #10
12 Jeremy TEN CAN 54.48 26.87 29.61 6.11 5.64 5.93 6.07 5.86 2.00 #1

Daisuke is in 1st place

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CC IT Ded.
- StN.

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE USA 98.24 46.22 52.02 8.71 8.46 8.71 8.79 8.82 0.00 #10
2 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI USA 83.25 42.67 40.58 6.86 6.57 6.89 6.82 6.79 0.00 #6
3 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE CAN 82.88 40.34 42.54 7.18 6.89 7.18 7.18 7.14 0.00 #9
4 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV RUS 78.16 36.85 42.31 7.14 6.79 7.18 7.21 7.11 1.00 #8
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE ITA 71.75 32.64 40.11 6.86 6.54 6.61 6.79 6.68 1.00 #7
6 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK CZE 69.97 34.16 35.81 6.11 5.71 6.07 6.07 6.04 0.00 #5
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED JPN 69.62 34.38 35.24 6.00 5.57 5.96 5.96 6.07 0.00 #4
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND GBR 66.28 33.50 32.78 5.50 5.21 5.61 5.71 5.46 0.00 #3
9 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG CHN 59.15 28.65 30.50 5.25 4.82 5.18 5.18 5.14 0.00 #2
10 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR HUN 54.72 30.47 25.25 4.32 4.00 4.25 4.46 4.14 1.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SD FD

1 Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE
USA
165.21 1 1
2 Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE
CAN
141.57 2 3
3 Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI
USA
136.93 5 2
4 Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV
RUS
135.05 3 4
5 Anna CAPPELLINI / Luca LANOTTE
ITA
127.43 4 5
6 Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK
CZE
115.17 6 6
7 Cathy REED / Chris REED
JPN
114.52 7 7
8 Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND
GBR
109.80 8 8
9 Xiaoyang YU / Chen WANG
CHN
102.65 9 9
10 Dora TUROCZI / Balazs MAJOR
HUN
87.40 10 10

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG CHN 122.27 57.58 64.69 8.25 7.89 7.93 8.25 8.11 0.00 #8
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV RUS 113.67 58.81 54.86 6.96 6.71 6.86 7.07 6.68 0.00 #7
3 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN USA 100.69 52.66 49.03 6.25 5.71 6.25 6.25 6.18 1.00 #3
4 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN JPN 98.43 49.50 50.93 6.50 6.29 6.11 6.61 6.32 2.00 #6
5 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE GER 97.82 53.70 44.12 5.79 5.29 5.57 5.57 5.36 0.00 #2
6 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL CAN 97.69 52.01 46.68 5.96 5.71 5.75 5.89 5.86 1.00 #4
7 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT USA 97.35 47.42 49.93 6.46 6.00 6.21 6.32 6.21 0.00 #5
8 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG CHN 88.83 46.99 41.84 5.54 5.07 5.11 5.36 5.07 0.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Qing PANG / Jian TONG
CHN
189.37 1 1
2 Vera BAZAROVA / Yuri LARIONOV
RUS
173.83 2 2
3 Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN
JPN
155.66 3 4
4 Caitlin YANKOWSKAS / John COUGHLIN
USA
154.88 6 3
5 Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT
USA
152.38 4 7
6 Mylene BRODEUR / John MATTATALL
CAN
151.97 5 6
7 Maylin HAUSCH / Daniel WENDE
GER
148.31 7 5
8 Yue ZHANG / Lei WANG
CHN
138.55 8 8

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Rachael FLATT USA 107.35 54.87 52.48 6.68 6.29 6.54 6.61 6.68 0.00 #10
2 Carolina KOSTNER ITA 107.34 47.80 59.54 7.61 7.14 7.46 7.57 7.43 0.00 #12
3 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI GEO 97.01 46.97 50.04 6.43 5.89 6.39 6.25 6.32 0.00 #4
4 Kiira KORPI FIN 95.84 40.00 55.84 7.18 6.68 6.89 7.11 7.04 0.00 #8
5 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 94.06 44.54 52.52 6.75 6.39 6.54 6.61 6.54 3.00 #11
6 Ashley WAGNER USA 90.80 40.32 51.48 6.57 6.21 6.32 6.54 6.54 1.00 #9
7 Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 86.45 41.32 46.13 5.96 5.43 5.86 5.79 5.79 1.00 #3
8 Mao ASADA JPN 85.45 32.23 56.22 7.46 6.86 6.64 7.21 6.96 3.00 #5
9 Caroline ZHANG USA 83.15 36.11 47.04 6.14 5.54 5.75 6.11 5.86 0.00 #7
10 Lena MARROCCO FRA 80.36 40.00 40.36 5.25 4.61 5.14 5.11 5.11 0.00 #2
11 Jenna MCCORKELL GBR 72.45 29.41 44.04 6.00 4.96 5.64 5.54 5.39 1.00 #6
12 Diane SZMIETT CAN 56.43 22.30 37.13 5.07 4.39 4.39 4.86 4.50 3.00 #1



FPl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Carolina KOSTNER
ITA
164.61 1 2
2 Rachael FLATT
USA
161.04 3 1
3 Kanako MURAKAMI
JPN
150.16 2 5
4 Kiira KORPI
FIN
148.44 5 4
5 Ashley WAGNER
USA
143.73 4 6
6 Elene GEDEVANISHVILI
GEO
141.52 9 3
7 Caroline ZHANG
USA
133.86 6 9
8 Mao ASADA
JPN
133.40 8 8
9 Viktoria HELGESSON
SWE
130.11 10 7
10 Lena MARROCCO
FRA
122.03 11 10
11 Jenna MCCORKELL
GBR
121.52 7 11
12 Diane SZMIETT
CAN
88.33 12 12

Pl. Name Nation TSS
= TES
+ PCS
+ SS TR PE CH IN Ded.
- StN.

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 156.75 74.17 83.58 8.39 7.93 8.36 8.50 8.61 1.00 #12
2 Florent AMODIO FRA 143.76 73.74 70.02 6.89 6.54 7.18 7.04 7.36 0.00 #9
3 Jeremy ABBOTT USA 143.57 67.15 76.42 7.79 7.39 7.64 7.68 7.71 0.00 #11
4 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 138.41 72.57 65.84 6.64 6.32 6.68 6.71 6.57 0.00 #8
5 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 134.10 74.26 59.84 6.21 5.46 6.25 6.07 5.93 0.00 #2
6 Takahito MURA JPN 128.65 69.03 59.62 6.39 5.32 6.14 6.00 5.96 0.00 #4
7 Jialiang WU CHN 125.52 66.72 58.80 6.00 5.68 5.86 6.04 5.82 0.00 #5
8 Shawn SAWYER CAN 123.65 57.45 67.20 6.64 6.64 6.71 6.86 6.75 1.00 #10
9 Jeremy TEN CAN 122.00 61.20 60.80 6.11 5.68 6.29 6.14 6.18 0.00 #1
10 Ross MINER USA 121.77 59.49 62.28 6.29 6.21 6.14 6.36 6.14 0.00 #6
11 Adrian SCHULTHEISS SWE 119.23 57.81 62.42 6.14 6.11 6.14 6.39 6.43 1.00 #3
12 Denis TEN KAZ 102.94 45.16 60.78 6.25 5.96 5.82 6.29 6.07 3.00 #7



Pl. Name Nation Points SP FS

1 Daisuke TAKAHASHI
JPN
234.79 1 1
2 Jeremy ABBOTT
USA
218.19 2 3
3 Florent AMODIO
FRA
213.77 4 2
4 Yuzuru HANYU
JPN
207.72 5 4
5 Shawn SAWYER
CAN
193.80 3 8
6 Takahito MURA
JPN
191.85 9 6
7 Jialiang WU
CHN
189.58 8 7
8 Kevin VAN DER PERREN
BEL
189.41 11 5
9 Ross MINER
USA
186.62 7 10
10 Adrian SCHULTHEISS
SWE
181.47 10 11
11 Jeremy TEN
CAN
176.48 12 9
12 Denis TEN
KAZ
171.68 6 12

Congratulations Daisuke on his victory. I'm so happy for him

Hey Rezev: Im back from my off season sabatical . Quite a summer. Hope everyone had a good one. Thanks for keeping us up to date even off season. Whats up with Mao and 8th in the SP & FS? A rocky start but I bet she'll be fine as the season progresses. I hope Miki starts strong and Im impressed with Kanako, I think she's going to be a star. .

Bill508 wrote:

Hey Rezev: Im back from my off season sabatical . Quite a summer. Hope everyone had a good one. Thanks for keeping us up to date even off season. Whats up with Mao and 8th in the SP & FS? A rocky start but I bet she'll be fine as the season progresses. I hope Miki starts strong and Im impressed with Kanako, I think she's going to be a star. .

Hi Bill508,

It's great to see you back. It was heartbreak to see Mao perform like that. She is in process of trying the technique to fixing her jump. I guess that is why she perform poorly. I hope she can overcome that and wishing her the best. BTW, I love her long program costume. It's just so beautiful.

Agree, she looked beautiful as always. Light Lavender goes well on her. She's gonna' be fine. She'll get those jumps right. A lot of pressure starting out in Tokyo in front of the home crowd. I really feel sorry for her but wait till Paris. Mao always comes through in the end as in the Olys and Worlds. Mao + Sochi = Gold.

i'm still so depressed about Asada's performance in the NHK's. she fell apart in the shorts. and i thought she was going to pick up in the free, but she did bad as well. it was her worst performance to date, and it is just so sad. it just makes me more and more eager to see her in her next event.