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2013-14 ISU Figure Skating Season: The Road to Sochi


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Olympics: Asada to delay decision on retirement until after world c'ships

SOCHI, Russia, Feb. 22, Kyodo

Japanese figure skater Mao Asada said Saturday she will make up her mind on retirement after competing in the world championships in Japan next month.

"I still don't have anything in mind," she told reporters after practicing for the exhibition skating gala at the Sochi Winter Games.

Asada had said she would retire from competitive skating after Sochi. But after a below par short program that left her trailing in 16th, the 23-year-old Vancouver Games silver medalist recovered with the third-best free skate for a sixth-place finish and appeared to changed her mind.

Kyodo

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With the importance of "loss of face" for the Japanese,

#1 - Mao has to. The WCs are being held in Japan; so she cannot bow out.

#2 - she will try to use the Worlds as a means to make up for her poor showing in the O's to her country. And the 'home ice' advantage will work to her favor. So even if she doesn't have an Olympic medal this year, her chances are so much better at home than in Sochi.

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More latest info (subject to change!):

Carolina Kostner: going

Akiko Suzuki: not going (a bit surprised on this one)

Meanwhile, in weird figure skating news, you can watch Evgeny Plushenko's latest back surgery live online on March 2!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/report-star-skater-evgeni-plushenkos-back-surgery-to-be-broadcast-live/

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So is Kotun competing in the Worlds so Russia can have at least 1 male skater next year?

It's not confirmed yet, but most assume Kovtun would be their representative.

Entries are due to the ISU March 3, but I believe there may be some possibility of substitutions even after that. Still, we should know more quite soon.

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The US entries are in general the same as announced in January, except Davis/White will not be competing (they have not made a definitive statement on whether they are retiring though - a good deal of speculation out there that they may be announced as part of the Dancing with the Stars cast tomorrow). Many expected Hubbell/Donohue to replace them, but Madison has had to go in for surgery to her hip. Therefore, Aldridge/Eaton have been assigned.

With Virtue/Moir and Davis/White both sitting out, ice dance should prove to be one of the most interesting competitions at Worlds, I believe.

I've seen many expressing surprise how many of the top contenders are sticking around for Worlds. I'm sort of surprised too.

Not going:

Chan

Virtue/Moir

Davis/White

Kim

Pang/Tong

Virtually all the other major players seem to intend to go, although there are still a few question marks, for example Volosozhar/Trankov.

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I'm hoping for a breakthrough for Weaver and Poje for the Canadians.


world-fs-champs-2014-logo.png?mode=pad&w

This was also the emblem for the canceled Tokyo 2011 Worlds


1300667112-world-figure-skating-champion

Original 2011 Worlds logo when it was still scheduled for Tokyo. Moscow ended up hosting 2011 Worlds at a later date.

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I'm hoping for a breakthrough for Weaver and Poje for the Canadians.

A lot of insiders seem to believe the US and Canada will be penalized for their successes over the last 8 years this next quad. I don't want to believe that, but so many people are saying it...

I do think at some point the Zoueva monolith will fall. There has to be some variety and creativity across the field - she can't coach everyone.

Also wanted to add: a lot of buzz this morning that Volosozhar/Trankov are set to withdraw from Worlds.

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Whoa. Is anything actually decided on the ice? Or are all the results created by the ISU & broadcasters beforehand? First the Canadian allegations over Davis/White, then the Yu-Na incident, now what you're saying about countries being 'penalised', it sounds like you can almost know the results before the start :lol:

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Whoa. Is anything actually decided on the ice? Or are all the results created by the ISU & broadcasters beforehand? First the Canadian allegations over Davis/White, then the Yu-Na incident, now what you're saying about countries being 'penalised', it sounds like you can almost know the results before the start :lol:

I don't think that the results are created beforehand. That said, Ice Dance is probably the most subjective discipline and definitely the one where we have seen politicking the most over the years. Honestly, the past 7 years or so in Ice Dance have been a huge departure. Whether you attribute it to the advent of the new scoring system, the rise of Marina Zoueva as the dominant coach, or a decline in Russian politicking power, for the first time we've seen dominant teams from outside of Russia, and Europe more broadly. In the 90s, you had some very deserving Ice Dancers who never achieved the medals they probably deserved. I feel that's less the case now.

My personal opinion and hope is that something has changed permanently with Ice Dance, and that it's now an open field for the 5-6 young teams that have hovered below the likely retirees Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, and Pechalat/Bourzat.

The cynical view is that we are set for a return to Russian dominance. I find that really hard to believe, honestly, because Zoueva is so dominant and powerful right now, and she has no top Russian teams. (She has a reputation as a strong politicker.) Of course, it's possible Russia may send someone to her now.

On another note, a piece of maybe-exciting news about skating broadcasts in the US:

http://blogs.wsj.com/dailyfix/2014/03/05/a-new-figure-skating-deal-for-tv/

ABC now has the rights to the Disson skating show series.

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I'm surprised the Philippines chose Caluza over Martinez.

It's a good question. I asked on GoldenSkate and no one had the answer but someone linked me to this article:

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/82145/20140305/michael-christian-martinez-sochi-performance.htm

The article says at the end that they're sending Martinez to Junior Worlds. He's age-eligible and perhaps they think he has a chance to medal or even win gold at Juniors, and they want to give Caluza a chance to earn points for world rankings? Just my speculation. I don't know enough about Caluza to know if he's aged out of Junior Worlds.

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It's a good question. I asked on GoldenSkate and no one had the answer but someone linked me to this article:

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/82145/20140305/michael-christian-martinez-sochi-performance.htm

The article says at the end that they're sending Martinez to Junior Worlds. He's age-eligible and perhaps they think he has a chance to medal or even win gold at Juniors, and they want to give Caluza a chance to earn points for world rankings? Just my speculation. I don't know enough about Caluza to know if he's aged out of Junior Worlds.

I chatted with Caluza after Martinez qualified at the Nebelhorn; and he was disappointed but seemed to understand. So I think they (the Phil FSA) is just making it up to him for being so understanding in NOT standing in Martinez's way when MCM was picked to go to Sochi and not him. That's how I read it in between the lines. CC is already 22 whereas MCM is still 17.

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logo-wjc-sofia-2014.jpg?mode=pad&width=3

Results

Junior Men

1. Nam Nguyen, Canada

2. Adian Pitkeev, Russia

3. Nathan Chen, USA

Junior Ladies

1.Elena Radionova, Russia

2. Serafima Sakhanovich, Russia

3. Evgenia Medvedeva, Russia

Junior Pairs

1. Xiaoyu Yu/Yang Jin, China

2. Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Russia

3. Maria Vigalova/Egor Zakroev, Russia

Junior Dance

1. Kailin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker, USA

2. Anna Yanovskaya/Sergey Mozgov, Russia

3. Madeline Edwards/Zhao Kai Pang, Canada

Next stop: Saitama for 2014 Worlds

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