. The program was ok, but a bit boring. His footwork was nice, but nothing outstanding and he did 2 very slow camel spins towards the end. He really should try to improve his stamina and speed if he ever wants to win a big title!
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Nations Cup 2002 - Men's Short Program
Frederic Dambier opened the men's short program. He skated a nice dramatic program that was nothing special and didn't have too much in between the jumps. He completed a 3a, then did a 4s-2t (with a touch down on the salchow) and a 3f.
Ben Ferreira didn't look as bad as the last time I saw him. His program was zestful and had some quite nice choreographic ideas, that weren't really included into the actual skating very well though and seemed to rehearsed. His speed was quite good, especially during the footwork section. His posture still has lots of room for improvement, especially during the sit spin. He fell on the 4t, completed the 3a and overrotated the 3z. His spins were slow.
Alexander Abt did a 4t-2t (maybe the second jump was a 3t??), the 4t was landed on 2-feet. He then did a nice 3a and a 3z. He seemed rather slow and I found the music a bit strange, but not strange in a good way . The program was ok, but a bit boring. His footwork was nice, but nothing outstanding and he did 2 very slow camel spins towards the end. He really should try to improve his stamina and speed if he ever wants to win a big title!
Andrejs Vlashenko did a 3a-2t, 3z and a 2a. It was a nice, cleanly skated program, but also nothing outstanding when it comes to choreography. All elements were solid, but nothing about the program really blew me away. The people behind us were complaining about his marks, but they were totally ok, considering the low standard of this program when it comes to jumps.
Michael Weiss fell on his 4t attempt, then touched down on the 3a and also struggled with the 3z, where he put the second foot down. The program, to some rock medley, looked as if it could be very entertaining, but suffered from the many mistakes. His speed could be better.
Vakthang Murvanidze skated to the "Moonlight Sonata", starting off with the classical version that later (and VERY suddenly) cut over to a really fast upbeat modern version of the piece, that I really liked after having gotten over the initial shock! He stepped out of his 3a, just held on to his 3z-3t combination and ended the program with a 3f. I like his skating style which is quite elegant and he is very expressive and also very good at interacting with the audience. He did a very cool footwork section (even though the steps weren't all that difficult). Overall a very entertaining program that he sold very well!
Silvio Smalun is one of the most interesting and artistic male skaters that I know, unfortunately also one of the most inconsistent. Kind of like the German version of Emanuel Sandhu 
. He used the same Charlie Chaplin short program as last year, which I really didn't mind, because it's a really charming, entertaining program with lovely original choreography, I love it. He fell on the 3a, then did a clean triple (I haven't noted down which) and a 2a. As always he was very expressive. Whoever does his choreography should do more of it for other skaters as well, because he's way more interesting to watch than half of the male top skaters.
Sergei Davydov did a 3a-3t combination, followed by a very good 3z and a 2a. He also had good speed and a fast sit spin, his footwork looked rather easy. I really like his style and he has very good presentation. He skated a nice lyrical program with a classical choreography.
Evgeny Plushenko's costume looked like something that Alexei Yagudin would wear! He did a 4t-3t combination, followed by 3a and 3z. It was a very good, rather conservative program with nice choreography to Albinoni's Adagio. He was definitely classes better than the rest of the field.
Yosuke Takahashi did a 2-footed 4t, with a touch down, fell on the 3a and completed a 3z. He skated with good speed and zestful, but the program had hardly any choreography and his presentation was weak.
Chengjang Li skated his short program from last year. I remember that I liked him last year, but for whatever reason he just bored me this year. He just held on to the 4t, which was landed very deep in the knee, then did a 3a-3t and a 2a. His spins were fast, but sometimes travelled. After the men's short program there was a really long break that as usually we spent at the McDonalds (due to the severe lack of an alternative) and afterwards by hanging around at the rink bored to death. I nearly fell asleep. Unfortunately the ladies free program afterwards didn't exactly help me to wake up again, rather the opposite!
