ISU Worlds Entries *SPOILERS*

[Isk8NYC]

Entries are up on the ISU site: http://www.isufs.org/events/fsevent00009369.htm


LARK: I SEE FUMIE'S NAME ON THE LIST, BUT AS A SUBSTITUTE/ALTERNATE, I THINK.
Knew you'd want to know!

[Lark]

Entries are up on the ISU site: http://www.isufs.org/events/fsevent00009369.htm


LARK: I SEE FUMIE'S NAME ON THE LIST, BUT AS A SUBSTITUTE/ALTERNATE, I THINK.
Knew you'd want to know!


Thanks for the link!

Yeah, I think only the numbered people on the list are the competitors. Everyone else is an alternate.

It is cool to click on the competitors names and see things like their birthdays, placements in different competitions and hours a week of practice (it is interesting to note that some of the less proficient skaters, like Sokolova, claim to practice twice as long as someone like Emily Hughes. It is not helping)! :giveup:

[Lark]

With Takahashi, Oda, Joubert and Lambiel (who I think will win) at Worlds, I fear Evan and Johnny are SOL! 8O

[Isk8NYC]

Bring out your crystal balls and make some predictions!

No prizes or glory, unless someone wants to go back and tally the thread after the event.

[Lark]

I am gonna say for Men:

Lambiel
Takahashi
Joubert
Lysacek
Oda
Weir

Ladies:

Yu Na Kim or Miki Ando in 1st and 3rd, not sure of the winner (they have a hot-or-cold history, so whoever is on will win).
Asada in 2nd (will choke too much to win).
Meisner and Hughes in 4th and 5th

Pairs:

I am not sure, I think it will be a Chinese sweep.

Ice Dancing:

I am not too familiar with names, I just think Belbin and Agosto will not medal.
Most likely the Canadians will win, with last years winners (Bulgaria???) in 2nd, and the Russians in 3rd.

[Lark]

C'mon, surely someone else has predictions!?! :frus:

[skatingsis]

men
Lambiel
buttle
Oda
Takashi

[Artemis]

Given Lambiel's recent "I'm too bored to compete" phase, I wouldn't be so sure to see him atop the podium (though nothing would surprise me with him, he seems able to pull an amazing performance out of nowhere).

So my combo predictions/wishful thinking for the men would be:
1. Takahashi
2. Buttle
3. Lysacek

Joubert is skating really well this year technically, but I think his programs are boring as hell, so I'm not rooting for him to be on the podium.

For the women, I think:
1. Kim
2. Ando
3. Meisner

For dance, I hope/think:
1. Dubreuil & Lauzon
2. Denkova & Staviski
3. Delobel & Schoenfelder

(Sorry to Tanith & Ben, your programs just aren't up to it this year.)

And for pairs:
1. Shen & Zhao
2. Zhang2
3. Siudek2

Val & Craig have some fabulous programs this year, good enough on paper to be on the podium, but they've never been able to skate them clean. And as for Rena & John, IMO they don't have enough outside the quad to keep them in the top without someone else faltering ... although they have been very highly rewarded this season, so it's possible they'll make the podium.

[Lark]

Oh, I want to do wishful thinking too:

Men:

Weir
Lysacek
Bradley

Ladies:

Hughes
Czisney
Meisner

B&A can win Dance and I&B can win Pairs. The rest of the medals can go to North America, I do not care who gets them specifically! LOL :bow:

[♥Feel the Rain♥]

Oooh, this will be a very interesting competition!

I don't want Mao Asada to win. Despite her fantastic jumps, she annoys me. Don't get me wrong, I think she is a very sweet, talented girl, and her jumps are like 8O, but her artistry or lack thereof/costume and hair choices put me off. She has no artistry, and unlike Tara Lipinski, who also had no artistry, but did have that "cute little girl who's having the time of her life" charisma, Mao has neither. (I love Tara, though) I am not too fond about all this anxiety over the 3axels, because both Mao and Meissner have barely done it - they keep popping it! (Though Mao has landed it more than Kimmie.) It reminds me of all the Midori Ito and Tonya Harding rivalry, and in the end, their 3axels became thuds on the ice and Yamaguchi's steady triple lutz won her the gold medal. As a skater, Mao is like Plushenko would be without his footwork (and artistry).

My predictions (which are obviously slightly off):

Ladies:
1) Yu-Na KIm
2) Mao Asada
3) Miki Ando

I am sure Kimmie, Hughes, Czisny, Kostner, and Elene (Gedevanishvili) will get in the top 10. ;)

Mens:
1) Stephane Lambiel
2) Jeff Buttle
3) Brian Joubert

I love Johnny, but it's pretty unrealistic he'll make the top 3 - I think he'll get in top 5, though. I don't care about Lysacek.

[Lark]

I am amazed that people mention Buttle as a possible medalist!

I just do not see him cracking the Top 5 IF the other guys are on.

Lambiel, Takahashi, Joubert, Oda and Lysacek have quads. And not JUST quads, but very nice presentation.

When Buttle won the Bronze at the 2006 Olympics, Takahashi was not the same skater that he is today; Lysacek bombed the SP, otherwise he would have won the Bronze; Oda was not there; and Joubert bombed the LP.

I just do not see Buttle making Top 5, IF he even makes Top 8. I might be wrong, time will tell. :giveup:

[skatingsis]

I am amazed that people mention Buttle as a possible medalist!

I just do not see him cracking the Top 5 IF the other guys are on.

Lambiel, Takahashi, Joubert, Oda and Lysacek have quads. And not JUST quads, but very nice presentation.

When Buttle won the Bronze at the 2006 Olympics, Takahashi was not the same skater that he is today; Lysacek bombed the SP, otherwise he would have won the Bronze; Oda was not there; and Joubert bombed the LP.

I just do not see Buttle making Top 5, IF he even makes Top 8. I might be wrong, time will tell. :giveup:

I don't admire Lysaceks' skating. I don't find him in the same league as Buttle in terms of skating a program all he does is a few mohawks and crossovers for transitional work. There is no difficult footwork into his jumps. In a competition it is all about who gets the job done. Buttle got it done at the olympics some of the other skaters didn't. I don't think Bradley or Lysacek can beat Buttle but we all like different skaters.

[Isk8NYC]

That's okay. For whatever reason, the US Mens and Ladies entries are missing from the ISU lineups. LOL

[NoVa Sk8r]

They're not missing; they're just on "page 2." At the bottom of the linked page, click "Next."

[Isk8NYC]

Ahhh. When I printed it, I did get two pages without the second "web page."

Thanks!

[Lark]

That's okay. For whatever reason, the US Mens and Ladies entries are missing from the ISU lineups. LOL

You scandelous thing, you! LOLOLOL You scared me for a second. :lol:

I agree that Buttle is good at presentation. But this is a sport, and unless he lands a quad, or has 8 clean triples and attempts a quad, I do not see him making it into the Top 5.

I could be wrong, I have been before. :bow:

[Lark]

I don't think Bradley or Lysacek can beat Buttle but we all like different skaters.

Oh, I am not the biggest fan of Lysacek, and I adore Buttle.

Me not thinking a skater is going to medal has very little to do with liking them personally. I do not know them. Nor does it have everything to do with my liking their ability.

If it came down to my preference, Johnny Weir would be 3 time World Champion, Olympic Champion, and would be on the same level of Plushenko technically. My dream skater! LOL

As for Bradley, with the skate of his LIFE, I could not see him making Top 8. He is way too rough in his skating. I love his personality on the ice, though.

Here is to a North American sweep, LOLOLOLOL, of all disciplines. :P

[tidesong]

There is a curious timing thing going on, they've split the men and ladies short program into earlier and later groups... wonder why they did that... would it be any easier on the judges/tv or something?

this link which lists the timings will potentially include spoilers!!!!
http://www.isufs.org/results/wc2007/

[Isk8NYC]

I thought they always broke the big groups into 2 or more sections, to allow each group a warmup before their event in a reasonable, fair time.

[Virtualsk8r]

I would suspect this splitting of the men and women into two groups is a result of the new format --- no qualifying rounds at World's. The ISU must be 'seeding' skaters into early and late groups based on their rankings - and although the entire group will be technically judged as one, I would think the earlier group will probably have lower scores than the later group of well-ranked competitors. Haven't seen the skating orders yet but based on other competitions where the qualifying round was removed - that's how the draw was arranged.

:lol: Maybe the judges are going for Japanese tea ceremony between the two flights???

[Lark]

Now I am assuming the SP is not being broadcast anywhere on American tv? I have not seen it on any schedules. That bites!

As for the earlier skaters getting judged lower, how is that? If the first skater does a 3axel, then it is worth as much as the 30th skaters 3axel, based on quality.

[icedancer2]

Now I am assuming the SP is not being broadcast anywhere on American tv? I have not seen it on any schedules. That bites!

At least according to Heather's site, they are only showing the Ladies SP and Dance OD, but it wouldn't surprise me if they showed a few of the men's SP on the program with the LP:

http://heatherw.com/mk/sch.htm

Also might want to check on youtube - some Canadian viewers might be posting over there as they record stuff.

As for the earlier skaters getting judged lower, how is that? If the first skater does a 3axel, then it is worth as much as the 30th skaters 3axel, based on quality.

If they can actually do a triple axel, then the first skater will get the points. When you have 45 skaters, the lowest ranking skater often doesn't have anywhere near the skating skills to pull off a real triple axel, and so the scores will be lower. I haven't seen the divisions of the two groups yet, so who knows? When they had a QR, the top skaters would be seeded into groups one and two and usually after the event was over, you would see their names at the top of the list, but sometimes they would lose it in the QR.

Heading over to FSU right now to get more info.

[Isk8NYC]

Heather's Schedule was different from the USFSA's version when I made up the schedule post for this board (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=23100).
Just FYI: you might want to check your local listings.

ETA: Rats! I thought I had posted my predictions, but I guess I was distracted.

[icedancer2]

Heading over to FSU right now to get more info.

Okay, this is how it works, apparently:

Top 12 in the ISU rankings draw for the last 2 groups -- explanation of how the SP draw works: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...18&postcount=2 (http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/showpost.php?p=1309518&postcount=2)

Copied over relevant parts:
42 men means 2 SP groups of 21 (flights would be 4-5-6-6). The top 12 ISU-ranked guys will draw to skate in the final 2 flights of the later group. The top 12 ISU-ranked men currently entered for Worlds are: Joubert, Takahashi, Buttle, Oda, Lambiel, Lysacek, Sandhu, Weir, Preaubert, Verner, Davydov, Mabee.
#13-21 (draw for the rest of the later group): Voronov, Lindemann, Jialiang WU, Othman, Berntsson, Lutai, Urbas, Bradley, Kovalesky.
There is also a separate draw for the Men's earlier SP group of 21.

I think that they put the top skaters in the last group specifically for places where they are showing the event live on television. From what I've experienced watching how these competitions are run, television basically rules the scheduling.

Can't wait to see some of this!!