Patrick Chan should have no problem winning gold here and qualifying for the Grand Prix Final. The only question is if his scores will be as high without home field advantage. With this field, he can likely make a few mistakes and still wind up on top the podium. Jeremy Abbott should also find himself on the podium again if he can continue to skate clean programs. Tomas Verner was on the podium earlier this season and that should give him the confidence to continue his comeback after his disastrous season last year. Alban Preaubert, Samuel Contesti and Javier Fernandez also have the goods to medal. Also look out for Hanyu and Machida, both young Japanese skaters who are looking for a chance to prove themselves internationally to stand out from a deep field at home.
Podium Predictions:
Gold: Patrick Chan
Silver: Jeremy Abbott
Bronze: Tomas Verner
My USFSA Fantasy Team is:
A) Patrick Chan
B) Alban Preaubert
C) Anton Kovalevski
Information on all of the skaters is below.
Patrick Chan, CAN: Chan finished 5th at the Olympics and won silver at worlds. He is the 2009 Four Continents Champion and World Silver Medalist. He is the 2007 World Junior Silver Medalist. He placed 6th at his lone assignment last season at Skate Canada. He started his season with a gold medal win at Skate Canada with a personal best free skate score.
Tomas Verner, CZE: Verner placed 10th at Europeans and finished 19th at the Olympics. He was the silver medalist at Europeans in 2007 and won the title in 2008. Last season on the Grand Prix, he finished 5th at Skate America, 2nd at Trophee Eric Bompard and 6th at the Grand Prix Final. He won bronze earlier this season at Cup of China.
Alban Preaubert, FRA: Preaubert finished 7th at Europeans with a personal best short program score. He placed 7th at his first Grand Prix in Paris last season before winning bronze at Skate Canada. He started his season with a 6th place finish at Skate Canada.
Samuel Contesti, ITA: Contesti placed 7th at Worlds with personal best scores in the Short and Free programs. He also placed 18th at the Olympics and 5th at Europeans. He won a silver at Europeans in 2009. His 2009 Grand Prix Season included a 4th place finish at Cup of China and 5th at Skate Canada. He finished 6th earlier this season at Cup of China.
Yuzuru Hanyu, JPN: Hanyu is the reigning World Junior Champion. He won both his Junior Grand Prix assignments and the Junior Grand Prix Final last season. He started his season with a 4th place finish at NHK Trophy with personal best scores across the board.
Tatsuki Machida, JPN: Machida finished 2nd at last year's Four Continents with personal best scores in the Short and Free. He finished 5th at his Grand Prix debut in China.
Artur Gachinski, RUS: Gachinski is the reigning World Junior Bronze Medalist. He won gold and silver at his Junior Grand Prix assignments last year and placed 6th at the Junior Grand Prix Final. He finished 7th at his Grand Prix debut Skate Canada with personal best scores across the board.
Konstantin Menshov, RUS: Menshov is making his Grand Prix debut at this event.
Ivan Tretiakov, RUS: Tetiakov finished 10th at Rostelecom Cup last season with personal bests across the board.
Javier Fernandez, ESP: Fernandez finished 14th at the Olympics, 12th at Worlds with personal best short and total scores, and 8th at Europeans. He finished 11th in Paris last season. He started the season with a 5th place finish at Skate Canada with a personal best free skate score.
Anton Kovalevski, UKR: Kovalevski finished 24th at the Olympics, 16th at Worlds with a personal best short program score, and 13th at Europeans with personal best free skate and total scores.
Jeremy Abbott, USA: Abbott finished 9th at the Olympics and 5th at Worlds. He is the 2007 Four Continents Bronze Medalist. Last season he placed 5th at NHK Trophy and won Skate Canada to qualify for the Grand Prix Final where he placed 4th. He won silver at his first event in Japan this season.
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