Figure skating - Grand Prix Final 2015
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On the evening of Thursday & Igrave ;, you Alzer & agrave; the curtain on the end of the twenty-first edition of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The races will take place at the CCIB (Centre de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona) Barcelona plant with a capacity of 5,500 spectators adapted specifically to the & rsquo; occasion.
Monday 7 December 2015 10 minutes reading time
It should be remembered that for the seventh consecutive year the senior and junior finals will be played at the same time in the same resort & agrave ;. The junior races will begin in the afternoon of Thursday on Igrave ;.
On the sidelines, can not & ograve; that go unnoticed among the winners of the last edition will & agrave; absent alone Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.
AREA MEN
In the light of what is shown in the NHK Trophy in Nagano, l & rsquo; undisputed favorite is the defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu. The Japanese will have twenty-one & agrave; l & rsquo; yet another date with history as it could become the first man to dominate in three consecutive finals.
As was the case twelve months ago, as the main alternative will touch & agrave; the landlord Javier Fernandez, the truth & agrave; madrile & ntilde; or pure blood. The reigning world champion, still unbeaten this season, will try & agrave; to break the streak of three wins Japanese and bring Europe a title since back in 2007, when Stephane Lambiel won at Turin.
Not part threw the Canadian Patrick Chan, capable of defeating Yuzuru Hanyu at Skate Canada and, in the past, able to win two victories in the final.
The circle of participants will & agrave; supplemented by three athletes to debut in & rsquo; final act of the senior class. Besides Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan potr & agrave; rely on advanced and Daisuke Murakami of Shoma Uno, athlete pi & ugrave; young in the race as well as & eacute; winner of & rsquo; last final of the Junior Grand Prix. After a starting season with a bang, will & agrave; the game also Boyang Jin Chinese skater pi & ugrave; Extreme ever.
The technical rate of the competition promises to be stellar. The sum of the two programs, in fact, all the participants have announced at least three quadruple jumps.
FEMALE FIELD
Mao Asada & agrave prover; to become the first woman able to win five hits in the final. & nbsp; However, among the qualified athletes, all winners of a stage in the season, the Japanese & egrave; l & rsquo; only one not to have exceeded the threshold of two hundred points.
The forecast appears complex as any athlete presenter & agrave; Barcelona unbeaten from, not to mention that the results of direct clashes make the situation even more & ugrave; intricate.
The United States, short of victory from & rsquo; now distant 2010, pinning hopes important Gracie Gold, who & ograve; take & agrave; part in the first final of his career after the resignation last year due to physical problems. The pi & ugrave; sailed compatriot Ashley Wagner, it seems put on a step below, but & egrave; always on the podium between 2012 and 2014.
Russia, defending champion potr & agrave; count on sixteen elena radionova second twelve months ago, and Evgenia Medvedeva, another novice. In particular, the winner of the final of the Junior Grand Prix last season & egrave; It was the pi & ugrave; constant in qualifying, but the Russian national champion in office & egrave; It was the only one to go beyond the 210 points, establishing the absolute primacy of the Rostelecom Cup points of the circuit, including the final.
Japan potr & agrave; count on Satoko Miyahara, fresh from the triumph in the NHK Trophy in late November, the guaranteed presence in the first final of his career.
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PAIRS OF ARTISTIC
In absentia of the Chinese Sui / Han, had to retire because of physical problems of Wenjing Sui, three pairs would seem to have the edge on the competition. The first part of the season, in fact, proposed as favorites Canadians Meagan Duhamel / Eric Radford, defending champions and unique to have two acts set in qualifying, the Russians Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov, second in last year and returned to comment on levels of excellence in the Rostelecom Cup, & nbsp; and compatriots Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov, couple who collected the highest number of points in the two stages played.
A step below, place the associations Chinese Peng Cheng / Hao and Zhang Xiaoyu Yu / Yang Jin, fighting for the crown of the second pair of the Asian movement and both in the previous final.
The framework of qualified & egrave; completed by Canadian Julianne Seguin / Charlie Bilodeau, winners of & rsquo; last final of the Junior Grand Prix, and the US Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim, who, after eight years of absence, reported the movement of stars and stripes within that counts.
DANCE
On paper four couples should strive for success, although it is hard to say too much about who partir & agrave; with the underdogs. Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver / Andrew Poje, defending champions are the ones who have reached the final unbeaten by beating at Skate Canada Americans Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani, authors a few weeks after the score pi & ugrave; highest-ever qualifying stage, and in the Rostelecom Cup Italians Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte, to date the best of the lot in the free dance. Americans Madison Chock / Evan Bates, however, were the only ones to exceed seventy points in the short dance and, after having filed the qualifying losing in Cup of China by Italian couple, had access to an abundant month to fix what was not working in match programs.
Entrants Americans Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue and Russians Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev, taking advantage of the waiver to the qualifying stages of the World Champions Papadakis / CIZERON, managed to snatch a surprise pass to the final, but at the moment does not seem to have means to join the fight for the podium. Moreover, students of Alexander Zhulin have never gone beyond the fourth place in the four final appearances in the past.
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