http://www.examiner.com/article/opining ... -is-wagnerOpining on Japan Open: The home team isn't messing around, neither is WagnerThe Japan Open always feels like the real start to the skating season. Sure, the Junior Grand Prix has already gone on for almost two months and there were the U.S. Classic and Nebelhorn, but the Japan Open is the competition where many of the stars start their season. It may be just a free-skate-only competition, but it sure is exciting.
In addition to the Japan Open, there were two other big senior competitions going on at the same time - everyone and their third cousins seemed to have been competing in the past few days. I'll be opining on Finlandia and Ondrej Nepela in a post later this weekend.
Team Japan wins big.With the team competition being a medal event in Sochi, the team format suddenly takes on a much bigger significance. Team Japan won by almost 60 points thanks to very solid early-season performances by all four members. Daisuke Takahashi was the standout, landing a quad toe and a bunch of triples in the process. After almost retiring not that many years ago, I don't think I've seen him look any stronger this early in the season.
Daisuke Takahashi - 2012 Japan Open free skate
Takahiko Kozuka, the World silver medalist a few years back, skated very strongly, hitting his quad toe as well. Hopefully he doesn't leave it in the early part of the season. [Side note: does anyone understand Kozuka's choice of costumes? I thought it might have been an anomaly last year, but I'm now just baffled.]
I get the feeling that Yuna Kim's return this season will light at fire under the top ladies. Mao Asada could very well benefit from that timing, and she looked solid at Japan Open. A few underrotated jumps and an invalidated spin kept her from the top spot, but she looks to be starting off on the right foot.
Wagner continues to thrive.It was bound to happen. Once Ashley Wagner had that breakthrough - at last season's Nationals - there was no stopping her. This girl thrives on success, and what she proved at Nationals, then Four Continents, then Worlds, then World Team Trophy has propelled her to want even more. In a ladies' field that has recently been characterized by winning via others' mistakes, Wagner's go-getter attitude is refreshing. This solid start for her could be the beginning of a lot of wins this season.
The same, unfortunately, couldn't be said about teammate Agnes Zawadzki. The former World junior silver medalist fell three times to start and only managed one clean triple in the process. Certainly not known for consistency, but Zawadzki did win in Salt Lake City a few weeks back over Gracie Gold.
Buttle gets third?I'm not sure too many people predicted that Jeffrey Buttle, the only skater of the 12 who isn't training for Olympic-eligible competition, would get third. He landed a triple axel, the jump that gave him all sorts of troubles years ago when he was vying for World and Olympic glory. The 160+ score he got at Japan Open would make him more than competitive on the Grand Prix (though a lack of a quad would keep him in the 5-10 range at Worlds) - not that he's making a comeback.
Buttle's seven clean triples bested Evgeni Plushenko, who had a great first half but fell off later on. Based on last season, that's not an unusual thing for Plushenko, who, of course, has to pace his training to peak to prevent further wear and tear. But Buttle also beat Michal Brezina and, most surprisingly of all, Patrick Chan.
Chan, the two-time reigning World champion, wiped out four times in what is certainly his worst free skate in recent memory. It's his first season in the post-Krall era, and many wondered how he would fare without the coach who perfected his quad toe. It is, however, one competition, and early in the season at that. For sure, after this performance, every subsequent competition will become more crucial for his confidence. Where does he go from here? I'm as interested as you are.