Yuzuru Hanyu Places 2nd, Satoko Miyahara 3rd at Skate Canada

From October 28 – 30, this year’s edition of Skate Canada took place in Mississauga, Ontario. This was the second event in the International Skating Union’s 2016 – 2017 Grand Prix Series. Yuzuru Hanyu took second place in the men’s portion of the event, while Satoko Miyahara placed third in the women’s portion.

Yuzuru Hanyu placed second with a total score of 263.06, 3.89 points behind the first place finisher, Canadian Patrick Chan. Yuzuru’s short program received a score of 79.65, putting him in fourth place, 0.92 points behind Canadian Kevin Reynolds. His opening quad was downgraded after dropping to one knee on his landing and he nearly touched the ice on his triple salchow. The only jump he nailed was a triple axel. “I’m really disappointed,” Yuzuru said afterwards. “I think I paid too much attention to various aspects of my skate. I became too cautious. But that’s the way it goes, I will turn things around.” Yuzuru’s free skate was the highest scored of the night with 183.41 points, 7.02 points ahead of Patrick. Yuzuru again failed to land his quadruple loop that he introduced this season, but nailed two of the other three quad jumps. “My body held on,” he said. “I put the mistake (with the quad loop) behind me quickly. Managing to achieve what I’ve been targeting is huge.” He later added, “I felt nervous and I didn’t have the focus for the quad loop so I could not land it. But I think I challenged the quad loop in both programs and I can get a very good experience for the (next) Grand Prix event. I feel regrets about the result and my performance, but I am a little satisfied with the second (quad) toe.”

Satoko Miyahara placed third with a total score of 192.08, 14.37 points behind the second place finisher, Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond. Satoko’s short program received a score of 65.24, putting her in fifth place, 0.51 points behind team member Rika Hongo. “My jumps were no good,” Satoko said. “That is the most disappointing thing.” Satoko’s free skate was the third highest scored of the night with 126.84 points, 5.28 points behind Kaetlyn. Satoko under-rotated many of her jumps, but looked ahead to her next outing at the NHK Trophy in late November. “I’ve somehow got to the podium. I’m relieved at the outcome,” she said. “I experienced lots of frustration. I’d like to concentrate on skating my way next time.” Later, she said, “I think it was not my best, but I had a strong feeling to do my best, that was good. The main theme of my program is to be a strong woman and I am focused on performing like a strong woman.”

Takahito Mura finished in eighth place with a score of 222.13. Rika Hongo finished in sixth place with a score of 171.19. Yuka Nagai finished in last place (11th) with a score of 147.56.

This coming weekend sees Keiji Tanaka, Shoma Uno, Yura Matsuda, and Kanako Murakami taking the ice at Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Russia.

Yuzuru Hanyu

Short program