Believe it or not, the pairs event this season on the Grand Prix Series may be one of the more stable disciplines of the four. And if you have been following pair skating the past few years, that should be an eye-popping statement to you. This week’s field at NHK Trophy is very strong, including three-time World medalists Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara skating on home ice.
NHK Trophy predictions
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GOLD Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara JPN - The former World champs are absolutely back in form this season after injuries kept them from competing at most of last year’s events. And their performances at Skate America were solid, particularly in the short program. They are very much favored to win their second NHK Trophy and get back to the Final, where they won two years ago.
SILVER Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea USA - Last year was a bit of a subpar sophomore season for them, especially after a very promising first season the year before. But so far in the past couple of months, we’ve seen some superb skating from the US champs. Skate America was a highlight, where they won the silver and broke 200 for the first time. If they can repeat that, their chances for the Grand Prix Final look strong.
BRONZE Anastasiia Metelkina/Luka Berulava GEO - There is no doubt that Metelkina/Berulava have all the talent to be a World podium contender; we saw it last year in their first season together. But they’ve had a tough time putting together a clean free skate since mid-last season. And that was the case at Skate America, where they ended up off the podium because of mistakes in the free skate.
4. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel GER - They were in position to get on the podium at Skate Canada, but issues with their side-by-sides in the free skate kept them from holding onto a medal there. On paper, this is a more difficult matchup for them than they had at Skate Canada, but they were fifth in the World last season, after all, and they have the goods to get onto that podium.
5. Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby GBR - It has absolutely been their breakout season so far, as the British champs have both improved massively in their pairing and been putting down much more consistent and confident skating this season. They took sixth at Skate America with their career best skates and career best scores.
6. Daria Danilova/Michel Tsiba NED - Seventh at Skate America last month, Danilova/Tsiba made some solid progress from their debut at Tayside Trophy just a couple weeks before. Tsiba was struggling with his solo jumps in practice but found a way to pull them off in the free skate in Texas. They will need to be cleaner this week to get into the top five.
7. Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi JPN - The Japanese champions last season have been trying to get those Worlds minimum technical scores and came up just short last year. They will have another chance this week in their second career Grand Prix event. They were eighth here last year.
8. Isabelle Martins/Ryan Bedard USA - It will be their first international event this season after a very solid first season on the senior circuit last year. They were fifth at Skate America last year in their debut Grand Prix event.