...men's event, and after the short program the 3-time and reigning world champion...
...Patrick Chan from Canada was leading
Hot on his heels was Nobunari Oda of Japan
And in 3rd place was the sensational youngster from Japan, Yuzuru Hanyu
He made a couple of mistakes in the program particularly in the combination
And after the short, we got a chance to have a chat with Evgeni Plusheno again
...and get his opinion on the future of Men's figure skating
An interesting insight from the former Olympic champion
So Evgeni Plushenko will be with us all season long
We sat down and talked to him about the future of figure skating
And for him, the future lies well and truly in the hands of Yuzuru Hanyu
He is elegant
He is thin
He is fast
He is such a great skater
This, for me, number one
Great spins
Great choreography
He has charisma
I like him
He needs... a little bit more....
He's young a little bit... and he needs... a little bit more work
...and "skate a little bit", a "little bit skate"
A few years and... this is the future
And so,on the ice now
Lying in 3rd place after the short program, the 18 year old from Japan
Skating to Romeo and Juliet for his Free, this is Yuzuru Hanyu
And what a career he's had so far
He was junior world champion back in 2010
He's twice been a silver medallist in the 4 Continents Championships
And in his first time at the world championships
He won the bronze medal, that was a couple of years ago
What has he got in store for us here, in Skate Canada?
Really taking his time, glancing up at the clock
He's got a minute from the moment his name is called out, to get to his start position
Here we go
OH! Big fall there
That was the quadruple salchow
What a great comeback, just a hand down on the quadruple toe
And there's the triple flip
Oh, got that all wrong, that should have been the triple axel
And there it is, difficult entry too, with a double toe on the end
And a triple loop out of nowhere
Just love that, triple lutz, half-loop, triple salchow
And literally, once again, no preparation
And there's triple lutz #2
He is some skater, there's no doubt about that
Well he knows there were some mistakes in there
Perhaps too many to challenge Patrick Chan
But you can't take your eyes off him, can you? He's compelling viewing, this man
He's still just 18 years of age
Beautifully choreographed program
David Wilson and Jeffrey Buttle involved in the construction of the programs
What a great job they've done
He's got a lovely feel for the music, and very elegant across the ice
The one thing I would have him work on, is just finishing off his arm movements a little bit more
You don't want to lose that natural flow that he's got
And that lovely ability to skate "as one" with the music
But just to "finish everything off" just a little bit more...
...Would give a "polish" to the program that for me isn't quite there yet
But I'll tell you what, there is so much to admire
After that mistake on the quad salchow at the beginning, which was a really really hard fall...
...to come back and then nail the quad toe, even with the hand down...
And then a mistake on the axel again, and without any hesitation...
...getting it in, as your next element
Fantastic to see
And the second half of the program, really really strong indeed
A physically very demanding program
Hardly any "breathing points" in there at all
And it's pretty warm out there, I can tell you
So here's a look at the beginning of the program
Sets up that salchow, no hesitation in this, he makes the rotation
That's important, so there's no downgrades in there
But he's going to get minus 3's across the board for the fall, and a 1 point deduction
But the comeback, and then nail the quad toe like that
You can see he put his hand down
And that will probably get him minus 2's on the grade of execution
But what a fighter this man is, and there the triple axel, double toe loop
As clean as a whistle
And he really does have such a natural flow across the ice
Can you imagine that program, if the two quads at the beginning come off
A couple of triple axels in there, and then the quality of the spins as well
So here we go, what will they give him?
Remember, he's in 3rd place on the short program
He's got Oda ahead of him and Patrick Chan leading
A 1 point deduction for the fall, it's 154.40
And that gives him a total of 234.80
So that's the target for Oda
Then have to wait and see what happens