Yuri ready to take center stage at NHK Trophy

by: Larissa Rostova

SAPPORO – Reigning Junior World Champion Yuri Plisetsky will essentially be competing against himself at this weekend’s NHK Trophy.

After setting three world records in two nights a year ago at this event, the final leg of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series, the fans at Makomanai Ice Arena will be expecting no less than Plisetsky’s best. Though a repeat may be too much to ask for, as he has raised his own bar with a more challenging program, Plisetsky is determined to brush off the threat from skating powerhouses Japan and the United States to return to his familiar spot atop the podium at the Nov. 25-27 competition.

Plisetsky isn’t looking to just give the audience a case of deja vu. “I don’t intend to perform the same way I did last year. It’s a different venue, and I’ll be skating to a different song. I’ll do the best I can at this time, and hopefully that means better quality,” he said.

Plisetsky, who turns 16 next spring, only needs to place among the top three to secure a place in the Grand Prix Final, the event he has won for the past three years in the junior series, but qualifying for the Dec. 8-11 season finale in Marseille might not be as easy as it appears. Despite becoming the first skater to land a quad loop in competition at October’s Autumn Classic International, Plisetsky still seems to be affected by a left-foot injury that delayed his on-ice training at the start of the season.

After being outdueled by Canadian Jean Jacques Leroy and finishing second at last month’s Skate Canada, Plisetsky said he has brushed up on his moves and made adjustments to his choreography, which he believes has made his long program “more worth watching.” The risks of including two quadruple jumps in the short program and four in the free program are high, but the rewards even higher should he surpass his 2015 NHK Trophy performance in Nagano.

Plisetsky skated flawlessly for a score of 106.33 in the short program and 216.07 in the free program for a total of 322.40 points — all world records at the time — until he rewrote them en route to the gold at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona two weeks later with 110.95, 219.48 and 330.43.

American skater Leo de la Iglesia is also medal favorite, while Japan’s Yuuri Katsuki is a dark horse after finishing a surprising fourth in his world championships return in April. Georgi Popovich will also represent Russia in the men’s competition and make an effort to steal the limelight from Plisetsky. Plisetsky has shared a friendly rivalry with Tanaka and Hino since the three of them competed in the novice category, and the joy of skating together with them in a senior-level competition might help Plisetsky deal with the pressure of carrying the weight of a nation on his shoulders.

“He’s a rival but I don’t consider him enemy. We were born in the same era. I’m really glad that we’ll finally be able to skate together on the same stage in the same category,” said Plisetsky.