The fifth Grand Prix of the season always means one thing—the picture for qualifications to the Grand Prix Final is getting clearer, and a lot is riding on the results this week. Within this group, there are five guys who have a realistic shot at the Final given their placements at their first event. And perhaps that will bring out their best at Finlandia Trophy this week.
Finlandia Trophy predictions
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GOLD Yuma Kagiyama JPN - A 300-point competition just last week brings the World silver medalist to Finlandia as the heavy favorite. His only major error there was a fall on the quad flip but he recovered beautifully in that free skate to put himself in a strong position for the Final. This week’s competition will be about how he sets himself up for the likely showdown in Grenoble between him and Ilia Malinin.
SILVER Sota Yamamoto JPN - Skate Canada was something of a disappointment for Yamamoto, especially because he had been looking very strong in practice there. And after a good short program, he ended up making too many errors in the free to stay on the podium. He will have a chance to redeem himself this week, and the free skate is always the more iffy one for him.
BRONZE Junhwan Cha KOR - His bronze at Skate Canada was a very good step for Cha, because it was a third strong competition in a row—and he landed a quad toe in the free skate. He will be in medal contention this week, and will be looking to continue that momentum as he heads into the second half of the season.
4. Kevin Aymoz FRA - Aymoz’s silver at Skate America was certainly unexpected, particularly given how his last few competitions have gone . Dating back to Grand Prix Final last season, he had a string over events where he looked to have completely given up on a program before it was even halfway through. The key for him, it seems, is getting a good start to the program. He did that in Texas last month, and it earned him some of the biggest marks of his career. We will see if that competition was a return to form or an anomaly.
5. Daniel Grassl ITA - The silver medalist from last week’s NHK Trophy, Grassl made a solid return to competition this season from suspension after missing doping tests. His quads are often on the edge of rotation, and that will be the key to watch for him this week. Prior to last week’s Grand Prix, he won Nepela Trophy in late October, so he’s coming into Finlandia on a strong note.
6. Kazuki Tomono JPN - Tomono has been making steady improvements this season, with his best skating so far in Angers two weeks ago, where he placed fifth. Consistency, and just general belief in his skating, will be key as he ramps up for Japan Nationals in about six weeks. This will be a good test for him, as he will be up against two of his teammates here.
7. Lukas Britschgi SUI - The jumps seem to be there, but the consistency is not where it was for Britschgi last year. He’s no stranger to doing well at Grand Prix events, but he doesn’t quite seem ready yet this season to be contending among the sheer depth of this field. He was ninth at Grand Prix de France.
8. Aleksandr Selevko EST - After breaking through at the end of last season, Selevko has yet to carry the momentum (and consistency) that he had there into this season. He was seventh at Grand Prix de France on the heels of a strong short program.
9. Camden Pulkinen USA - 11th at Grand Prix de France, Pulkinen could very well surprise this week; we’ve certainly seen it before after a poor competition from him. But his stamina doesn’t seem to be quite there at Angers, and it’s been two weeks since that event for him to pull it together.
10. Makar Suntsev FIN - The Finnish champ will be looking at Virtanen as his main competition this week, as any data points head-to-head between the two of them will certainly be important for Europeans and Worlds selections. Both Finnish men are also looking for their Worlds technical minimums here.
11. Valtter Virtanen FIN - In his 19th season on the senior circuit, Virtanen returns to the Grand Prix for the first time in two years. He typically has solid short programs, but the free skate is more of a gauntlet.
12. Vladimir Samoilov POL - Eighth at Budapest Trophy, Samoilov is not having the season so far that he had last year. He has the big jumps, but can he keep it together and not pop jumps?