Who will win the ladies Grand Prix Final?

[judgejudy27]

how can you say she is done when she proved everyone wrong and showed to incredible performances at nationals and 4cc!!!

If her incredible performances these days cant even beat Miki Ando then that isnt exactly promising.

[Jenna]

If her incredible performances these days cant even beat Miki Ando then that isnt exactly promising.

Miki Ando is world champion, so I don't quite understand your thinking.

[miki88]

Miki Ando is world champion, so I don't quite understand your thinking.

ITA. Miki's performances beat everyone last season including Yuna.

[Lookingood]

Im more curious about who will makes it to Grand prix Final in this year then Winner for now. Will Asada going to make it to final this year?

[MikiAndoFan#1]

I think it's too early too tell, but I want Mao to win.

[kia_4EverOnIce]

I think it's too early, but I voted on Adelina, doing like Mao 2005/06 season!

[judgejudy27]

Miki Ando is world champion, so I don't quite understand your thinking.

Kim skating incredibly would crush Ando. The Russian youngsters will too if they pan out as good as expected. So if Asada skating incredibly (previous posters words, not mine) cant even beat Ando anymore then that only further indicates how much trouble she is in going forward.

[b-man]

I know there is no direct correlation of scores from one competition to another. Yet Mao has a combined international personal best of 205, Mirai at 190, Kostner at 184, Czisny and flatt at 182. Sotnikova has slightly under 179. We all know any of the top skaters can have a bad day, but I can't see Sotnikova jumping over all these veterans.

[judgejudy27]

I would say those scores are deceiving to a point. Do you really believe Flatt would beat Sotnikova with both skating their best for instance. Juniors scores tend to be lower.

[Amy03]

Kim skating incredibly would crush Ando. The Russian youngsters will too if they pan out as good as expected. So if Asada skating incredibly (previous posters words, not mine) cant even beat Ando anymore then that only further indicates how much trouble she is in going forward.

Mao skated two incredible programs at 4cc but she still had mistakes and therefor didn't deliever her best, had she made just one or two less mistakes she would have won that competition.
the same could be said about Kim if she didn't make those mistakes at worlds she would have won. but since neither asada nor kim where in there best condition last season so ando winning with two totally clean performance doesn't indicate anything.

[museksk8r]

Mao skated two incredible programs at 4cc but she still had mistakes and therefor didn't deliever her best, had she made just one or two less mistakes she would have won that competition.
the same could be said about Kim if she didn't make those mistakes at worlds she would have won. but since neither asada nor kim where in there best condition last season so ando winning with two totally clean performance doesn't indicate anything.

Ando wasn't totally clean at Worlds. She reduced a planned 2Axel+3toe to a 2Axel+2toe with a very noticeable turn-out. Plus, in a post-LP interview, she said that one of her spins wasn't good. 4CC was her best showing of the season without a doubt.

[miki88]

Kim skating incredibly would crush Ando. The Russian youngsters will too if they pan out as good as expected. So if Asada skating incredibly (previous posters words, not mine) cant even beat Ando anymore then that only further indicates how much trouble she is in going forward.

Well, last season, Miki was skating better than she has probably ever had (at least in a while). I am not a fan of her skating but you gotta hand it to her when it came to her consistency. If "incredible" refers to Olympic or pre-Olympic level performances, then none of the other top skaters reached their previous levels this past season.

[Ziggy]

Miki Ando is world champion, so I don't quite understand your thinking.

The level in Ladies was very weak. Ando's lackluster FS would never win otherwise.

[Proustable]

I would say those scores are deceiving to a point. Do you really believe Flatt would beat Sotnikova with both skating their best for instance. Juniors scores tend to be lower.

Or, a more direct comparison would point out that despite Leonova having a higher international score Sotnikova, Sotnikova has beaten Leonova head to head (Russian Nationals), that personal bests are innacurate due to scoring changes season to season (and leaps certainly aren't that uncommon - to wit, Patrick Chan and Yu Na Kim).

I will very impressed with Nagasu if she makes the final. She tends to peak later in the season, two events back to back, lots of travelling (LA to Missisauga to (LA to) Shanghai. Making the final means she likely medalled at both events (and with CoC's current slate, that's impressive, imo). I'd be even more impressed if she won the GPF after that.

[RumbleFish]

I have seen both Sot and Tuk live at the Jr Worlds last season and they were very impressive indeed.

If they skate to their capabilities, and the rest skate like they did at last year's GPF, Sot and Tuk will definitely be the top 2 skaters. I don't necessarily mean to say that they will end up with gold and silver, as I have doubts about judging in figure skating.

I also like Agnes Zawadzki this year. She has huge jumps and fine spins, and most of all, I felt that she skates with heart. I think this trait, with some improvements in overall flow of her skating, could take her a long way.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a duplicate of last year's jr Worlds podium in coming season's GPF.

[pinky166]

I said Adelina. It could be Mao, Mirai, or Carolina though. Or anyone really. Wide open affair. I will say that I think Adelina will fair better on the circuit than Liza though, I would not be at all surprised if Adelina wins both her events and medals at/wins the final while Liza has middle of the pack finishes. Idk Liza is very talented but she seems prone to mistakes and her 3-3 was MIA a lot last season, so idk how far she can expect to get without it.

[Maofan7]

I know there is no direct correlation of scores from one competition to another. Yet Mao has a combined international personal best of 205, Mirai at 190, Kostner at 184, Czisny and flatt at 182. Sotnikova has slightly under 179. We all know any of the top skaters can have a bad day, but I can't see Sotnikova jumping over all these veterans.

What you need to understand is that the scores for junior girls will always be lower than those of senior ladies because there are less required elements in the programs for junior girls compared to senior ladies. For example, in the free program there is 1 less element - junior girls do not have to do a spiral sequence. Furthermore, a junior free program only last 3 minutes 30 seconds whereas a senior ladies free program last 4 minutes. Accordingly, the top score for Mao, Mirai, and Kostner is bound to be higher than Sotnikova's and Tuktamysheva's as the juniors have less scoring opportunities than the seniors!!

The really impressive aspect about Sotnikova is that she had the top score (junior or senior) until well into last season (with Tuktamysheva having the second highest score) despite the fact that juniors have less scoring opportunities. Indeed, her score of 178.97 was the leading score right up until the 11th December 2010 when the senior ladies Grand Prix final took place where Alissa Czisny finally beat it with a score of 180.75. (but only by a margin of 1.78 despite the fact that as a senior, Czisny had far greater scoring opportunities than Sotnikova). Now that really is impressive! And it indicates that once Sotnikova is skating a full seniors program, she could potentially score well in excess of 200 points. Furthermore, Tuktamysheva's scores were not that far behind Sotnikova's during the 2010/11 season and she is also in with an excellent chance of winning the Grand Prix final and of scoring in excess of 200 points.

[RockTheTassel]

I'm a little surprised that Mao and Mirai are getting so many votes, considering that Mao hasn't qualified during the last two seasons and Mirai only has one GP medal total.

I ended up voting for Carolina. I just have a feeling that she'll have a good year. But like last season, it's pretty much anyone's to take. If we'd had a prediction thread last year, I'm sure next to no one would have said Alissa even had a shot at qualifying.

[icellist]

While i do think that Adelina is the technical goddess of figure skating right now, her skating continues to look junior-ish to me compared to Mao and Yuna the years they were juniors. Adelina is great with jumps but some of her spins are ugly and step sequences are not as strong as current seniors. I still think it's too early to judge the Adelina and Elizaveta. Artistically, they are still very behind and hence I don't want to predicate them when the final. Adelina looks bored when she's skating, probably focusing too much on jumps and Elizaveta reminds me too much of Johnny Weir. I would actually judge them closer than everyones perception of Adelina>Elizaveta. For me Adelina has the technical advantage but Elizaveta edges her out in PCS, but her skating is still junior-ish to me.

Mao has not started the season strong in a long time so I'm not predicting her to make the final but most likely medal strongly at 4CC. I'm giving Mao another pass ticket this season because the ultimate goal is Sochi and I'm only looking for improvement this year, not a bunch of medals this season. I wonder if Mao has considered stop skating so many shows during the off season, it must really take away from her training. She really doesn't need the money...

My personal favorite is Mirai. I think people are voting for her because she does have the potential and are hoping very very much that she can bring it. She has great flow in step sequences and out of jumps. She really listens to music. Her jumps always look clean to me. Beautiful spins and strong lines. Sounds like Mao but Mirai looks more effortless. I still can't understand why Mirai's short was so underscored last year... Her skating has matured for me while keeping joy in her skating. The only thing that Mirai lacks is consistency on her triple triple.

Alissa Czisny is a beautiful skater, one of the best artistically. Her spins are beautiful, even though I don't like her arm positions in some of them... Alissa will go for as a pro-skater, but I don't think she can maintain competitive much longer. Her step sequences dont always look effortless. Her jump content isn't up to par as some other top skaters, and that includes wrong edges on some jumps. The lack of triple triple is also a factor. Alissa came out strong last year, when the women's field was very very weak.

Carolina Kostner is the PCS goddess. I'd wish she up her technical content, but I'd be scared because she skates so fast and falling at her speed is like a zamboni on rocket fuel. I would give Kostner the highest PCS in any competition if she's "on". I wish she would change her programs though, theyre getting a bit boring. The only other skater that comes close to PCS would be Laura Lepisto.

Considering how most skaters peak later in the season, I would be betting that consistency can prevail at the GPF. There are so many outcomes for first or silver, but Akiko Suzuki will probably get third or fourth, but it really just depends on who makes it to the final anyway. I really think we should vote "Who will win ladies [enter GP event]?" before the GPF because since entrance to the final is still totally wide open. I am almost sure that Caroline Kostner will make the final because of her 3 entries and Adelina, beccause of her technical consistency and since so many of you are fans of her...

Can we make a new multiple choice poll voting for who will MAKE the GPF instead? It's still too early and too wide open to vote on this situation yet.

[babayaga]

I'm a little surprised that Mao and Mirai are getting so many votes, considering that Mao hasn't qualified during the last two seasons and Mirai only has one GP medal total.

I ended up voting for Carolina. I just have a feeling that she'll have a good year. But like last season, it's pretty much anyone's to take. If we'd had a prediction thread last year, I'm sure next to no one would have said Alissa even had a shot at qualifying.

I voted for Mao but I admit it was more of what I wish will happen rather than a prediction. As for Mirai, I am pretty sure she will make the final this year. She is mad at herself for doing poorly last season and is determined to do well. She had plenty of time to train and her season starts early this year. I think Mirai can win Skate Canada and medal at Cup of China easily and then do pretty well at the final despite of how she skated in the past.