The big news at 2021 NHK Trophy is that Yuzuru Hanyu is out with an ankle injury after reinjuring the same ankle that caused him to withdraw from competitions both in 2017 and 2018. But the competition will continue to be intriguing, particularly because it will be a rematch between Vincent Zhou and Shoma Uno, who took first and second over Nathan Chen at Skate America earlier this season. Both have a great shot at making it to the Grand Prix Final, which will be back in Japan in just a few weeks.
2021 NHK Trophy predictions
Official hashtag: #NHK杯フィギュア #GPFigure
GOLD Shoma Uno JPN - With silver at Skate America three weeks ago, Uno should be set for the Final with either gold or silver this week at NHK. But he’s likely focused on delivering a stronger free skate than he had either at Japan Open or Skate America. The free skate is especially important for him because of the increased difficulty he’s thrown into that program, and as he approaches the second half of the season, he will be looking to make some inroads in consistency in order to keep himself competitive for both the Olympic team and the Olympic podium, if he gets there.
SILVER Vincent Zhou USA - Zhou has delivered some of the best skating in his career so far this season, and this will be his fourth competition already. He’s been undefeated so far - winning at Cranberry, then Nebelhorn, then Skate America. It will be interesting to see how much the extra competitions he’s had translates to this event, and whether having all the travel and competition under his belt will affect his performances here. Two clean skates and he can take home his second Grand Prix title of the season.
BRONZE Junhwan Cha KOR - After a brilliant short program last week in Italy, Cha was unable to seize the opportunity and dropped from third to fifth in the free skate and off the podium. He’s got such talent and great potential as an all-around skater, and absolutely can take a medal home this week at NHK Trophy.
4. Makar Ignatov RUS - Fourth at Skate Canada, his free skate there kept him from really challenging for the podium. That’s been his downfall in the past - strong short programs followed by inconsistent free skates that leave him gasping for air at the end. His stamina does seem to play a big role in how his free skates go, and if he can get through the first half without errors, watch for him to challenge for the bronze this week.
5. Matteo Rizzo ITA - Twice this season, Rizzo has had to battle back from a poor short program to skate strongly in the free to pull up in the standings. In fact, he even scored a personal best at Finlandia Trophy in the free. If he can put two solid skates in this week, he’s got a shot at the podium.
6. Sota Yamamoto JPN - Yamamoto skated at his first Grand Prix outside of Japan earlier this season and finished seventh at Skate Canada. He has shown signs of consistency this season, but hasn’t been able to put clean programs together quite yet.
7. Nam Nguyen CAN - Given what we were seeing in practices, Nguyen’s eighth place at Skate America was actually quite a pleasant surprise. After a rocky off-season, he seems to have been rounding back to form in recent weeks. He skated a clean short at Sectionals last weekend in preparation for this event, and will be looking to improve on that on his way to Canadians later this season.
8. Tomoki Hiwatashi USA - As with Rizzo, the short program has not been Hiwatashi’s friend so far this season. Hiwatashi has had to dig out of disappointing shorts in both events so far this season. He was fifth at Lombardia and 11th at Skate Canada.
9. Kao Miura JPN - Miura is coming off a win at Japan Eastern Sectionals in the junior event, and has shown himself to be a rising star among the Japanese men. This will be his first international senior event (if you don’t count last year’s very domestic NHK Trophy).
10. Alexander Samarin RUS - Eighth at Skate Canada, Samarin’s performances there were uneven. He hasn’t been able to find his rhythm on his jumps for a few seasons now.
11. Camden Pulkinen USA - We know he’s fully capable of great things - we saw that in his fourth place finish at Skate Canada two years ago. But Pulkinen’s competition showings so far this season have been disappointing for him, and he will need to be a lot more consistent this week to make a splash here.