ANAHEIM, California – Before both the ladies and men's short programs at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2019 on Thursday, Feb. 7, our panelists on Bridgestone Ice Desk –
Ashley Wagner, Michael Weiss, Sinead Kerr and Brooke Castile – saw things rather clearly:
- It was going to be hard to deny the Japanese ladies a podium sweep for a second straight year at this event;
- And Shoma Uno was the odds-on favorite for the men's title.
Turns out we were rather wrong. On two fronts.
We all know to expect the unexpected when it comes to international skating events, and day one here inside Honda Center was no different.
Bradie Tennell and
Vincent Zhou are your leaders after their respective shorts. Who out there can say they called that?
As the host of Bridgestone Ice Desk (you're watching, right? We're live on
Facebook and
YouTube), I'm watching closely from inside the arena for the best storylines each day. Here's five things to know from our inaugural day of competition.
1. Bell, Tennell on a Mission
Let's be frank: It wasn't the 2019 GEICO U.S. Championships that either Tennell or
Mariah Bell wanted. Both of them came into Detroit wanting to skate off the ice as national champion, and both fell on a triple Lutz in their respective free skates.
But that helped the lightning quick turn-around for Four Continents feel like less of a burden and more like an opportunity. And come Thursday afternoon, each took advantage: Tennell recorded a career-best 73.91 in the short while Bell equaled the best short program she's ever done, coming in at 70.02 and sitting in third.
"(My short) was exactly how I practiced," Tennell offered, matter-of-factly. And when Tennell competes like she practices, it's deadly for everyone else. "When you look back at your experience, it helps you prepare for times like this," added Bell, who's skated with more maturity this 2018-19 season.
As those knockout performances for the two Americans came, the potential Japanese sweep in the ladies' event dissipated (though it's still feasible if unlikely).
While defending Four Continents champ Kaori Sakamoto was solid (she's currently only 0.55-points behind Tennell in second), Grand Prix Final winner Rika Kihira popped her famed triple Axel to finish fifth and the 2017 winner here Mai Mihara was downgraded on her triple toe in her combination, dropping her to eighth.
How about this: It's the first time two American women are in the top three after the short program at Four Continents since 2006 (
2006!), when Bebe Liang led and Katy Taylor was second. Not since 2012 have two U.S. ladies finished this event on the podium, when
Ashley Wagner was champ and Caroline Zhang finished third. We'll see how the event unfolds this year with the ladies free skate Friday, Feb. 8.
2. In-VINCE-ible
We'll get to more on Wagner in a moment, but the moment of the night in the men's short program really did belong to Zhou, still only 18 and with a season of challenges these past five months.
Hampered by underrotation calls at Skate America (and, before the season started, a bad back), he spent much of the year working with his team in Colorado Springs on getting completely around his eye-popping quad Lutz-triple toe combo and subsequent quad Salchow (changed out from a quad flip) and triple Axel.
He did just that in skating after a shaky Shoma Uno, performing beautifully to his "Exogenesis" short. He told Brooke Castile backstage that it's simple, his process: "I work so hard," he said. He added that the repetition they've put in in practice makes his brain work like a machine, something he needs as he fights against what he calls big-time nerves. It paid off as he broke the elusive 100 points for the first time internationally in the short program.
Really, the only thing to be nervous about (for everyone else) is if he skates that well again in the free.
3. Ashley Wagner, Reporting for Duty
While Tennell and Zhou were must-see on the ice, three-time U.S. champion and 2014 Olympic Team Event bronze medalist Wagner was off of it, as part of our Ice Desk family this weekend for the first time.
There was plenty of swag and sass (would you expect anything else?), but also insight that only someone with her experience and a freshness from competing would have. She said she especially didn't miss that moment on the ice when her name was called and it was just her on the ice, alone, with a short program ahead of her.
"It's nice to be able to just enjoy the skating," she said on the desk as we wrapped the ladies short. "Lucky me… the ladies brought it. It's been a great event."
4. Great Expectations
While the ladies will skate their free Friday night, it was a delight to watch 16-year-old
Ting Cui skate a redemptive short herself, after what was a disappointing one at the U.S. Championships just two weeks prior. There could be good things to come for the teen, who sits in seventh, and just over three points behind third-place Bell in her ISU Championship debut.
She's set to headline the
World Junior Team next month for the U.S., as well.
Tomoki Hiwatashi will join Cui on the World Junior Team, an event he was third at in 2016. It's been a season of big developments for the 19-year-old, who now has a stronger triple Axel and was eighth in the men's short, having come straight from the World Junior Team Camp in Ohio.
Perhaps the only great frustration for the U.S. was
Jason Brown's short, the great performer called for an underrotation on his triple Axel, which he needed to put a hand down on to save.
"It's been a season of adapting," Brown said in the mixed zone. "I'm in this new form of growth and getting used to the change, but I'm getting more confident as the year goes on."
5. Alysa in the House
Lastly, we all know that 13-year-old U.S. champ
Alysa Liu isn't age-eligible for senior internationals quite yet (well, it's gonna be a while, guys…), but that didn't stop her from making her mark on Four Continents Thursday.
She was the star of the opening ceremony festivities, doing her triple Axel with no warm-up and under a spotlight. She called her whirlwind press trip to New York post-Detroit as "really fun," even though she hasn't been sleeping her usual 10 hours a night.
She did, however, get home to see her friends, and hang out by riding bike around the neighborhood.
If only we could all be as chill as
Alysa Liu, right? See you all Friday on the Desk! Once again, we'll expect the unexpected…
