General Yuzuru Chat

[Melodie]

 

THAT outside edge from a different angle *right in the kokoro* 

 

(and still, his expression as he eased out was that of an artist in the zone and not of an athlete who just landed a monstrous jump at all)

This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

[JanMary]

3 minutes ago, SeimeiOrigin said:

 

ok, as a newb, please tell me what's the protocol or rules around why people get to choose or not get to choose where they compete? 

And is any competition better than some other one for some reason?

I think i get the idea that the comps are by invitation only but i don't understand what the criteria are and why some get to choose and some don't.

And what is the value of a particular comp that someone might not choose it if they were offered it?

Sorry for being a newb

Cheers

The medalists of previous year's WC have the rights to choose the GP series they want to compete in, but they are not allowed to choose the same competition as other medalists. Like this year, Chen, Yuma and Yuzu are the medalists. Chen can choose two competitions first, then Yuma 2, and Yuzu will take the 2 left. 

 

But the host country can reject them, like in 2019, Chen is rejected by NHK. 

 

Normally athletes would avoid choosing back to back competitions and they prefer the location near their training bases. 

[lajoitko]

If I remember right, Asian Open will be the test event for Olympics. I don´t remember when it is, somewhere in October I guess. I think it is the one competition in the next season which will tell us whether he thinks the Olympics as a possibility or not.

 

My English is very bad and I don´t know if I can convey my thoughts properly, but I try. Since Saitama I have had this worry when I think about Yuzu. After last week I no longer have it and I feel so light. Of course I still worry but they are normal stuff (health, ankles etc). I feel that he is now in the right place regarding the mentality. He has a clear goal and he is staying true to himself and his priorities. He wants to skate meaningful programs in the way that he himself feels right and doesn´t necessary care about winning and medals. Of course this can change when the world hopefully returns to (kind of) normal again.

 

What I most like about this "new" Yuzu is that he is giving himself options: training, Olympics... He is breaking the pattern (or the world and fate did it for him, but anyways). Without the pandemic I fear that all would have continued as same (summer shows, ACI, GPs...). Now he had time to really think and reinvent himself. As a elite skater and the member of team Japan he won´t have many options regarding the meaningful competitions and he´s going to need competitions for nessie, but at least there is for now an illusion of many options.

 

I just feel that right now the world is (figuratively, not in reality) open to him and he can choose his own path more freely than before. And I enjoy it very much and can´t wait to see where he is taking himself and us along with him.

[shanshani]

9 hours ago, shanshani said:

That would be logical, so I guess the odds of ACI are still higher than the odds of anywhere else. Still a lot of pandemic-related ifs though.

 

I think Yuzu will probably get SCI because Nate won't pick it since it's back to back with Skate America, and Yuma has no reason to pick it either. That makes CoC unlikely, because CoC is right after SCI (and I'm not sure I would want to go to CoC if I were Yuzu--not necessarily because of collision memories, but because air pollution levels tend to be high in Chinese cities and I'd be worried about triggering asthma again). I'm not sure whether NHK will go to Yuzu or Yuma--Yuma did place higher at Worlds so he gets to choose before Yuzu, but a lot of this stuff is probably negotiated behind the scenes, so Yuzu might get it anyway (plus, he's still the Jnats champion).

 

If Yuma gets NHK, then that leaves Idf or Rostelecom for Yuzu if we exclude CoC. Blech, I wouldn't want to go to either of those places. Idf because Idf is always a mess and Rostelecom because Rusfed has been the worst about managing covid, and even if the pandemic has died down somewhat I'm doubtful it'll be entirely extinguished. Rostelecom is also the last GP event so it won't leave that much time to recover before the Final. The pandemic situation is still pretty bad in France as well. Thinking about it, both Rostelecom and Idf actually make CoC look like an attractive option by comparison, since at least the pandemic is under control there. But it's still back to back with SCI, so unless Yuma picks SCI for some reason, or Yuzu is just kind of screwed on his GP picks, CoC is still unlikely.

 

So fingers crossed for SCI and NHK I guess. If Yuma wants to be really nice he could take CoC (close to Japan, pandemic under control, afaik Yuma doesn't have asthma so he doesn't have to worry about that, so it's not really an unattractive pick for him) and Rostelecom (he's young so he'd have an easier time with the short time interval between that and the Final, but if I were any of the top men I'd be trying to avoid Rostelecom like, well, the plague), but that's maybe a little much to hope for/ask 😅

 

Now that I think about it I think there's a high likelihood that Yuma picks CoC regardless of whether he gets NHK. It's the most convenient GP for him other than NHK, and CoC and NHK aren't back to back or anything. So:

 

	Option 1:	Option 2:	Option 3:
Skate America	Nathan	Nathan	Nathan
Skate Canada	Yuzu	Yuzu	Yuzu
Cup of China	Yuma	Yuma	Yuma
IdF	Nathan	Nathan	Yuzu
NHK	Yuzu	Yuma	Yuma
Rostelecom	Yuma	Yuzu	Nathan

 

Edit: Orr Nathan might pick CoC actually. In which case, nevermind about this 

 

eep I misread the schedule, NHK is actually before IdF. in which case Yuma would not do CoC and NHK

 

8 hours ago, SeimeiOrigin said:

 

ok, as a newb, please tell me what's the protocol or rules around why people get to choose or not get to choose where they compete? 

And is any competition better than some other one for some reason?

I think i get the idea that the comps are by invitation only but i don't understand what the criteria are and why some get to choose and some don't.

And what is the value of a particular comp that someone might not choose it if they were offered it?

Sorry for being a newb

Cheers

So there are two different series of competitions we're talking about/trying to make predictions about. First, there's Senior Bs (ACI, Yuzu's traditional first competition, is this type of competition). Most elite skaters will do one of these competitions at the start of the season in order to give their programs an outing, and I think this is mostly just a matter of preference. I'm not really sure what the criteria are for Senior B selection, but there's not a single Senior B which would turn down Yuzu, so this is pretty much just up to him. 

 

The second series is the grand prix series, which has specific rules. There are 6 events prior to the final, and the three medalists at worlds can't meet at any of them, so you can be 100% certain that an event with Nathan won't have Yuzu, etc. Winners get to choose which events they want to do, followed by silver medalists. The top skaters do two grand prix events, so basically you can sort of predict who on the podium will go to which grand prix event based on the podium order/where they train/which country they represent/the order of events. Since Yuma placed before Yuzu he gets to choose first, which is why he might get NHK, but it's possible that Yuma/JSF/Yuzu will talk and Yuzu will get NHK instead.

[LAY]

14 minutes ago, LAY said:

I think landing a quad axel successfully at olympics would be so cool for yuzu than an extra gold in his pocket (i do hope he win gold though).

First axel was landed by Axel Paulsen in 1882. Who will be the first to land the quad axel in international competition? 139 years (2021) is definitely a looong wait

[Sombreuil]

I really appreciate a journalist asking straight questions that we want the answers to rather than burbling on about Pooh bears

[yuzuangel]

30 minutes ago, lajoitko said:

If I remember right, Asian Open will be the test event for Olympics. I don´t remember when it is, somewhere in October I guess. I think it is the one competition in the next season which will tell us whether he thinks the Olympics as a possibility or not.

 

Winning the test event is a curse. I suggest he not go

[Melodie]

18 minutes ago, hananistellata said:

A curse? Is there some kind of superstition behind this? Please enlighten me. 

You can ask Dai and THE 3-time World Champion  

 

PS: 3-peat at Worlds before Olys is also a curse 

[wildstrawberry]

wasn't NHK said to be the competition where the champion of Japan has de facto priority regardless of any other usual factors/rules? And if that champion of Japan happens to be ratings-magnet Yuzuru Hanyu.....I mean they did choose ppl other than even the worlds gold medalist if that medalist presence was not compatible with whom they really wanted at their competition in the past so why not now,especially if the pandemic still goes on and the travelling and additional quarantine complicates things.

[Melodie]

....

 

(And then Liza Tuktik skating to something JPN with a sort of JPN costume is cool and innovative because apparently everyone will get it ....)

 

 

[kiches]

1 hour ago, JanMary said:

The medalists of previous year's WC have the rights to choose the GP series they want to compete in, but they are not allowed to choose the same competition as other medalists. Like this year, Chen, Yuma and Yuzu are the medalists. Chen can choose two competitions first, then Yuma 2, and Yuzu will take the 2 left. 

 

But the host country can reject them, like in 2019, Chen is rejected by NHK. 

 

Normally athletes would avoid choosing back to back competitions and they prefer the location near their training bases. 

 

I think the annoying thing about GP selection is that there's actually no clearly written rules about it, but I think you've outlined how some of it works. From what I've read the matter of who gets what GP are:

 

1. Host country choice

2. Skater preference (with highest ranked skater usually getting first priority)

3. Making sure the seeded skaters (1-3, and 4-6) don't meet in any of the GP prior to the final (there are exceptions)

 

Basically host countries usually get the final say and what they want can overrule #2 and #3. Sometimes it's so they can have a skater at their home country GP. I think this is also how Helsinki managed to get all the competing Olympic gold medalists at their GP when Cup of China cancelled in 2018. This is also why Yuzu and Daisuke both ended up at 2012 NHK Trophy even though both were seeded #2 and #3 at Worlds in 2012. NHK Trophy that year was in Sendai, and Japan usually sends their national champion (Daisuke in 2011). This is not typical since putting two of your top/seeded skaters in the GP usually means you have more competition qualifying for the final.

 

Depending on the situation in the fall, I think there's a chance Yuzu may choose to skip out on the GP again. Otherwise I think chances are he'll end up assigned to Skate Canada and NHK Trophy. NHK Trophy since he's the national champ (unless the JSF want to push Yuma and have him compete at home) and Skate Canada since I think they may actually want him there after the success of 2019 Skate Canada in Kelowna. Personally I also hope he doesn't get IdF or CoR. He hasn't been back to CoC since 2014 and I think in 2014 as the World Champion he selected it as a preference since it was being held where Worlds in 2015 would be. I just hope COVID will slow down enough to allow safe international travel by summer but I think fall is more realistic for the entire world.

[BWOZWaltz]

1 hour ago, shanshani said:

 

Now that I think about it I think there's a high likelihood that Yuma picks CoC regardless of whether he gets NHK. It's the most convenient GP for him other than NHK, and CoC and NHK aren't back to back or anything. So:

 

	Option 1:	Option 2:	Option 3:
Skate America	Nathan	Nathan	Nathan
Skate Canada	Yuzu	Yuzu	Yuzu
Cup of China	Yuma	Yuma	Yuma
IdF	Nathan	Nathan	Yuzu
NHK	Yuzu	Yuma	Yuma
Rostelecom	Yuma	Yuzu	Nathan

 

Edit: Orr Nathan might pick CoC actually. In which case, nevermind about this 

 

 

NHK will be held at Yoyogi athletic arena where JNats 2019 was held. Don't know if Yuzu still has bad flash backs from then but NHK held other than Osaka should be okay... I'm inclined to the option 1 but then like @shanshani mentioned, Nate may want to test the water for Oly so he may choose to go CoC  I don't think Nate has ever been to CoC with his senior gp? But then again, JSF being JSF, they may refuse Yuzu at NHK and have Yuma instead as he's the winner of the event last year (as a good luck). That leaves CoR for Yuzu but considering Rus fed's track record of COVID measures, I really don't think Yuzu'd like to risk his health...

 

With all these assignment talks, we really can't say anything unless the pandemic situations dramatically changes for the better. Vaccination program in Japan is very slow in progress as my elderly parents (dad's over 90 and mum over 85) haven't even got notifications from the local authorities. So with Tokyo Oly in sight, COVID situation in Japan could turn for worse by the autumn which I'm really dreading.

 

 

 

[SeimeiOrigin]

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

[Purple]

25 minutes ago, Melodie said:

....

 

(And then Liza Tuktik skating to something JPN with a sort of JPN costume is cool and innovative because apparently everyone will get it ....)

 

 

LOL. Zhulin forgot Yuzu won 2018 OG with Seimei, another Japanese themed song.

I remember an interview where Orser said he discreetly asked the judges(during 2017/2018 Olympic season) -> they liked Seimei.

 

Its not like ISU judges going give him higher points for rock type song. Look at what happened with Lets Go Crazy & Let Me Entertain You.

 

[amylance1215]

21 minutes ago, Purple said:

LOL. Zhulin forgot Yuzu won 2018 OG with Seimei, another Japanese themed song.

I remember an interview where Orser said he discreetly asked the judges(during 2017/2018 Olympic season) -> they liked Seimei.

 

Its not like ISU judges going give him higher points for rock type song. Look at what happened with Lets Go Crazy & Let Me Entertain You.

 

I know right?!! 

I was lurking on FS subreddit and people were raving about Etoile breaking status quo and popularizing modern music with his song choices since 2018. I had to grit my teeth not to say anything impolite. Like... hello... what happened to PW (Oly 2014 and WR no less)??? And LGC, PPoS and the first clean ratified quad Loop?!!! And the most recent should-have-been-another-WR LMEY!! 

It's unbelievable how some people will selectively remember things to suit their narrative.... 

 

Sorry for the rant... I just needed to get this off my chest. Poor baby Zu, so undervalued after having done so much for FS