HIS WORLDS COMES CRASHING DOWN
Fifth-place finish leaves Patrick Chan wondering what went wrong,
BOSTON— Biggest ovation: Javier Fernandez. Biggest mark: Javier Fernandez. Biggest smile: Javier Fernandez. By quad, by God: Three of them, pristine, exclamatory, for defending and again world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain. Plus seven clean-as-a-whistle triples.
(Big happy face at the end-boards from coach Brian Orser.)
Imperfection for Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu, a rarity in this season of record-breaking magnificence for the 21-year-old. One-for-three on the Qscale; hand-down on his opening quad Salchow, full out fall on his third attempt. Shaky in silver.
(Not-so-happy face at the endboards from coach Brian Orser.)
Still, gold and bronze for skaters from afar who train at Toronto’s Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Arguably, Orser — former world champion himself — was the biggest winner here on Friday night.
But a clanging plummet for Patrick Chan, dropping from third after the short competition to an error-riddled eighth in the free skate — fifth overall.
Pulled out his second stab at a quad but popped his second triple Axel, which had also eluded him in the short program. Free score: 171.91. Overall: 266.75. And it was all there for the taking. Well, probably not gold. Fernandez laid down arguably the best skate of his life here with a sassy routine choreographed to Guys and Dolls. The 24-year-old sailed over the 300- mark with a season-best 216.41 in the free, 314.93 overall. A near-capacity crowd at TD Garden was standing-O thrilled for the charming Spaniard.
“Emotions, everything,” he bubbled afterward. “To repeat second title is something not easy.’’
Three world champions came in to the evening bidding for top of the podium honours: Fernandez, second after the short; Hanyu, sitting first; and Chan, back at worlds for the first time since 2013 and a full 18-month sabbatical from the international skating circuit.
Hanyu was off his game but drew enough high levels and sufficient approval from the judges — his 184.61 free skate score seemed high — to go home with silver.
Chan was last to skate, with an elegantly choreographed long Chopin program. But he appeared tentative and tight from start to finish.
Bronze was claimed by Chinese teenage jumping savant Boyang Jin, 2-for-4 on unassailable quads.
Decent outing for the triad of American men too — Adam Rippon fourth, Max Aaron seventh, Grant Hochstein ninth.
For 25-year-old Chan — three time world champion, eight time Canadian champ — an evening to ponder on.
His coach, Kathy Johnson, had emphasized what a challenge it would be for Chan to propel himself back into the medal mix after being worlds AWOL since 2013. “Worlds is always different, a different ball game.’’ Yet she added: “Patrick is really special in a way (like) no other skater. He brings special things to the ice beyond jumping.”
Worse off than Chan, far worse, was unfortunate Nam Nguyen. The 17year-old from Toronto, sixth at worlds in 2015, failed to make the cut this time ’round after the short — only top 24 finishers advanced — and was inconsolable. A national champion last year, albeit in Chan’s absence, Nguyen has undergone a growth spurt of some 10 inches since his tweenie phenom phase and is at awkward odds with his elongated body. His gambit here was disastrous.
“I had to do my job well,” he bemoaned the other night. “I didn’t.”
It’s been a precipitous plummet from fourth to 27th.
Most distressing to the teen is he was given this shot at the worlds because Liam Firus of North Vancouver, reigning Canadian silver medallist, stood down for Boston, allowing Nguyen to take his spot — in the hope a Chan-Nguyen tandem would have better odds of securing the placement math allowing Canada to qualify three men for the 2017 worlds, which in turn will determine how many men can go to the 2018 Winter Olympics.