The ladies’ field at Skate Canada International this week is one for the ages. So many fantastic skaters and so many different types of skaters in the mix. Just getting into the top six will be a huge feat here, with rising stars, a two-time World champion, and former World junior champions all ready to battle it out. You really won’t want to miss this event.
Skate Canada International predictions
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GOLD Alexandra Trusova RUS - Four clean quads at Japan Open was a historic first for the two-time World junior champion. Like teammate Anna Shcherbakova, Trusova is looking to strike gold in her senior Grand Prix debut. And while she’s coming in as the favorite on paper because of her immense advantage in technical difficulty in the free skate, she actually can’t afford to have too many mistakes. Mistakes will open the door for those with stronger components to sweep in.
SILVER Rika Kihira JPN - For Kihira to give herself the best chance to win this event, she will need to build up a lead in the short program. She, like Young You, has a triple axel in the short, and that gives her an advantage over Trusova, Medvedeva, and Tennell right off the bat. It will be curious to see whether she’s debuting her quad salchow here this week. It’s a jump that we’ve seen her land in practice, and she likely wants to make sure she’s comfortable with it early in the season so that it’s ready for the season-ending championships.
BRONZE Evgenia Medvedeva RUS - Might Medvedeva pull out an upgrade in the short program this week. She’s been training a triple flip-triple loop, which would eke her up a couple points for the short. Either way, the short program should be her biggest strength here, and the consistency in her free skate will be tested. She was very solid in her Autumn Classic free skate to start the season, but her Shanghai Classic free skate a few weeks later was not up to her standards. As we saw last season, confidence in her own abilities is super important to her competition success, and two clean programs here - even if they don’t land her atop the podium - will go a long way to helping her push forward this season.
4. Bradie Tennell USA - Many wondered how well Tennell has recovered from the injury that put her in a boot over the summer. At Skate America, she recalled how she’s had pain in her foot for a few years and it finally got to the point where she had to get it checked out. She only got back on the ice a month ago, and she’s gotten everything back already. What is more promising is the sophistication of her new programs, which show a huge stride forward in her understanding of music and choreography. After a silver last week at Skate America, she’s got a chance to make it interesting for the Grand Prix Final, especially if she can find her way onto the podium.
5. Young You KOR - I just want to know if You is going to land that gorgeous triple axel this week. It’s gotten to be such a beautiful jump for her, but she has not landed it cleanly yet this season. She took bronze at Lombardia and then silver at US Classic a week later, and she really has an outside shot at the podium this week - and that’s nothing to sneeze at in a field this good.
6. Marin Honda JPN - It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Honda since she turned senior two years ago. Her inconsistency was amplified as she grew taller, and it ultimately led her to completely start from scratch and move to California to work with Rafael Arutyunyan. This is about the time into training with Arutyunyan when things start to click and you see the glimpses of brilliance that only come with trust in technique. She got some early-season competition jitters under her belt with her fifth-place finish at Nebelhorn, and this may be her first real chance to shine this season.
7. Serafima Sakhanovich RUS - A terrific start to her season - Sakhanovich came out with a win at Denis Ten Memorial on the heels of a very strong short program. Currently, Skate Canada will be her only Grand Prix assignment of the season, so she’s certainly looking to this competition as an important one to set her up for Russian Nationals.
8. Yelim Kim KOR - She started with two decent competitions this season. Her fourth at Lombardia and second at Nebelhorn both benefited from a well-skated short program. But her free skate has been less consistent of the two, and she will need to be cleaner to get her up into the top half in this competitive field.
9. Veronik Mallet CAN - Mallet has been on the road back from injury for a few seasons now, and she is a really solid skater with lots to like about her skating. She was 10th last week at Skate America and now has to go back-to-back after being a late add to Skate Canada.
10. Alexia Paganini SUI - Sixth at Autumn Classic last month, Paganini has shown that she can make a splash with the best in the world. Her fourth-place finish at Rostelecom Cup last season was one of the big surprises. Her Autumn Classic showing wasn’t quite there yet technically.
11. Gabrielle Daleman CAN - There’s been nothing easy about this entire year for Daleman. She started off with a fifth-place finish at Canadians, the first time she’s been off the podium there. And followed it up with subpar performances at Worlds and at World Team Trophy, where she had a collision in warmup for her free skate. The collision resulted in rib fractures and a concussion, which caused her to miss much of the off-season. Her debut at Finlandia this season was nowhere close to what she is capable of, and unless something has drastically changed over the past couple of weeks, it will be tough for her to battle with this super deep field. This will be another step on the road back for Daleman.
12. Alicia Pineault CAN - She made her debut on the Grand Prix last season with a 10th-place finish here at Skate Canada. Pineault was seventh in her season debut at US Classic.