The 2012 NHK Trophy was the final event of six in the 2012–13 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Sekisui Heim Super Arena in Miyagi on November 22–25. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final.
Eligibility Skaters who reached the age of 14 by July 1, 2012 were eligible to compete on the senior Grand Prix circuit.
Prior to competing in a Grand Prix event, skaters were required to have earned the following scores (3/5 of the top scores at the 2012 World Championships):
Discipline Minimum Men 159.66 Ladies 113.43 Pairs 120.90 Ice dancing 109.59
Entries The entries were as follows.International Skating Union
Country Men Ladies Pairs Ice dancing Kevin Reynolds Andrei Rogozine Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams Li Zijun Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun Yu Xiaoyang / Wang Chen Javier Fernández Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland Elene Gedevanishvili Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise Yuzuru Hanyu Daisuke Murakami Daisuke Takahashi Mao Asada Haruka Imai Akiko Suzuki Cathy Reed / Chris Reed Sergei Voronov Sofia Biryukova Ksenia Makarova Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov Richard Dornbush Ross Miner Adam Rippon Mirai Nagasu Agnes Zawadzki Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir Lindsay Davis / Mark Ladwig Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim Meryl Davis / Charlie White Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani
Withdrawals included Mary Beth Marley / Rockne Brubaker of the United States, due to the end of their partnership, Japan's Narumi Takahashi / Mervin Tran in order to undergo surgery on Takahashi's repeatedly dislocating shoulder, China's Sui Wenjing / Han Cong due to an injury to Sui, Russia's Polina Shelepen due to worsening of a long-standing ankle injury (she was replaced by the United States' Mirai Nagasu), the United States' Alissa Czisny to continue her recovery from surgery, Caitlin Yankowskas / Joshua Reagan due to Reagan's rib injury, and Germany's Mari Vartmann / Aaron Van Cleave due to Van Cleave's broken cheekbone.
Overview The competition took place in Miyagi, one of the regions severely affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, with the arena used as a temporary morgue. The Japan Skating Federation said it selected the location to "send a message about our recovery, in response to support from around the world." Moderate tremors occurred during the weekend of the event but did not affect the competition.
Skating in his hometown, Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu won the men's short program with a world record score of 95.32 points – slightly surpassing the record he set at the 2012 Skate America (95.07) – while his teammate Daisuke Takahashi and Spain's Javier Fernández rounded out the top three. Daisuke Murakami attempted to continue after partially dislocating his right shoulder in a fall but eventually withdrew. In the free skating, Hanyu maintained his lead and won the second GP gold medal of his career, Takahashi took silver, and the United States' Ross Miner rose from fourth after the short to take the bronze.
Japan's Mao Asada won the ladies' short program ahead of the United States' Mirai Nagasu and China's Li Zijun. Akiko Suzuki of Japan won the free skating by over nine points and finished with the silver medal, Asada was second in the segment but finished first overall by 0.05 points, and Nagasu took the bronze.
Meryl Davis / Charlie White of the United States placed first in the short dance, followed by their teammates Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani and Russia's Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov. Ilinykh fell ill with food poisoning before the free dance. Davis / White also placed first in the free dance and won the gold medal, Ilinykh / Katsalapov the silver, and the Shibutanis the bronze.
Russia's Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov won the pairs' short program, slightly ahead of Canada's Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch, with the United States' Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir in third. The top three remained the same after the free skating and Bazarova / Larionov won their first gold medal on the Grand Prix series.
Results Men Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS 1 Yuzuru Hanyu 261.03 1 95.32 1 165.71 2 Daisuke Takahashi 251.51 2 87.47 2 164.04 3 Ross Miner 235.37 4 73.41 3 161.96 4 Javier Fernández 232.78 3 86.23 5 146.55 5 Richard Dornbush 217.56 6 70.05 4 147.51 6 Kevin Reynolds 216.26 5 70.20 6 146.06 7 Sergei Voronov 214.88 7 70.03 7 144.85 8 Adam Rippon 210.47 8 67.89 8 142.58 9 Andrei Rogozine 182.39 9 67.70 9 114.69 WD Daisuke Murakami
Ladies Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS 1 Mao Asada 185.27 1 67.95 2 117.32 2 Akiko Suzuki 185.22 5 58.60 1 126.62 3 Mirai Nagasu 176.68 2 61.18 3 115.50 4 Li Zijun 174.11 3 59.62 4 114.49 5 Agnes Zawadzki 160.37 7 55.02 5 105.35 6 Elene Gedevanishvili 156.96 6 57.50 6 99.46 7 Ksenia Makarova 156.52 4 58.93 7 97.59 8 Haruka Imai 145.42 9 48.10 8 97.32 9 Sofia Biryukova 139.12 8 49.31 9 89.81
Pairs Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS 1 Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov 192.02 1 65.61 1 126.41 2 Kirsten Moore-Towers / Dylan Moscovitch 180.63 2 65.14 2 115.49 3 Marissa Castelli / Simon Shnapir 174.51 3 61.85 3 112.66 4 Alexa Scimeca / Chris Knierim 163.10 5 54.41 4 108.69 5 Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov 162.25 4 57.07 5 105.18 6 Lindsay Davis / Mark Ladwig 143.70 6 45.61 6 98.09 7 Nicole Della Monica / Matteo Guarise 121.53 7 42.14 7 79.39
Ice dancing Rank Name Nation Total points SD FD 1 Meryl Davis / Charlie White 178.48 1 69.86 1 108.62 2 Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov 156.62 3 59.96 2 96.66 3 Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani 154.56 2 60.84 3 93.72 4 Nicole Orford / Thomas Williams 130.10 4 49.76 4 80.34 5 Cathy Reed / Chris Reed 124.46 5 48.33 5 76.13 6 Penny Coomes / Nicholas Buckland 122.80 6 46.72 6 76.08 7 Huang Xintong / Zheng Xun 119.56 7 45.99 7 73.57 8 Yu Xiaoyang / Wang Chen 108.28 8 40.92 8 67.36
References
External links 2012 NHK Trophy results Entries