Could the world’s best figure skater *right now* be Shoma Uno, the 18-year-old from Japan?
Uno goes into this weekend’s Rostelecom Cup in Moscow perfect for the early season, following wins at the lower-level Lombardia Trophy in September and the free-skate-only Japan Open and Skate America in October.
Quite a bounce back for a skater who could have easily been shaken by a disappointing seventh-place finish at last season’s world championships.
Uno is 5-foot-2 and soft-spoken, but showed a resiliency in standing up again in his second full season as a senior skater. In fact, in his first event after worlds, at the Team Challenge Cup in April, he became the first skater to land a quadruple flip in competition.
Uno then trounced the last two U.S. champions, Jason Brown and Adam Rippon, at Skate America and comfortably beat two-time reigning world champion Javier Fernández of Spain at the Japan Open, which can be seen as a preseason exhibition.
Uno and Fernández meet again with higher stakes at Rostelecom Cup, beginning in Friday’s short program and concluding with Saturday’s free skate.
If Uno wins again, he will become the first skater to qualify for the Grand Prix Final in December (actually, any podium place will do that) and consolidate the argument that he is the world’s best. That Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu was flawed and beaten at Skate Canada last weekend certainly helps Uno’s case, too.
Fernández, meanwhile, has only competed once this season (that runner-up to Uno in Japan) and recently lost about a week of training while traveling from his Toronto base to Madrid to Tokyo and back for off-ice commitments.
Fernández won Rostelecom Cup the last two seasons, but both times he already had a Grand Prix start under his belt before arriving in Moscow.
Also in action this weekend are three Russians with world championships medals -- 2016 bronze medalist Anna Pogorilaya, 2015 bronze medalist Yelena Radionova and 2014 silver medalist Yulia Lipnitskaya.
All three are among several countrywomen jockeying for position behind reigning world champ Yevgenia Medvedeva, who won Skate Canada last week by a whopping 14.2 points. Russia will send three women to worlds in Finland in late March, and Medvedeva appears all but a lock to earn one of those spots.
In pairs, Skate America winners Julianne Séguin and Charlie Bilodeau of Canada will qualify for a second straight Grand Prix Final with a podium finish. They go up against world bronze medalists Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot of Germany.
In ice dance, two-time world medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates compete for a second straight week after taking second at Skate Canada. They will clinch a Grand Prix Final berth with a victory and could also eventually make it with a second- or third-place finish.
Chock and Bates’ top competition will be past world medalists Yekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Soloviyev of Russia and Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada.
Other Americans in action in Moscow are 2015 Skate America winner Max Aaron and Courtney Hicks.
MORE: Full figure skating season broadcast schedule
Rostelecom Cup broadcast schedule (all times Eastern)
| Friday | Short dance | 7:45 a.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Friday | Men’s short program | 9:25 a.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Friday | Pairs short program | 12 p.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Friday | Women’s short program | 1:40 p.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Friday | Women’s, men’s short programs | 8-10 p.m. | UniHD |
| Saturday | Free dance | 7 a.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Saturday | Men’s free skate | 8:50 a.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Saturday | Pairs free skate | 11:05 a.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Saturday | Women’s free skate | 12:50 p.m. | Icenetwork.com |
| Saturday | Free dance, pairs free | 8-10 p.m. | UniHD |
| Sunday | Rostelecom Cup | 10-11:30 p.m. | NBCSN, NBC Sports app |
Key Short Program Start Times (Friday ET)
Weaver/Poje (CAN) -- 8:11 a.m.
Chock/Bates (USA) -- 8:31 a.m.
Bobrova/Soloviyev (RUS) -- 8:38 a.m.
Shoma Uno (JPN) -- 10:05 a.m.
Javier Fernandez (ESP) -- 10:19 a.m.
Max Aaron (USA) -- 10:25 a.m.
Savchenko/Massot (FRA) -- 12:14 p.m.
Seguin/Bilodeau (CAN) -- 12:20 p.m.
Yulia Lipnitskaya (RUS) -- 2:07 p.m.
Anna Pogorilaya (RUS) -- 2:13 p.m.
Courtney Hicks (USA) -- 2:47 p.m.
Yelena Radionova (RUS) -- 2:53 p.m.
Top Grand Prix Season Scores
Men
1. Shoma Uno (JPN) -- 279.34 (Skate America)
2. Jason Brown (USA) -- 268.38 (Skate America)
3. Patrick Chan (CAN) -- 266.95 (Skate Canada)
4. Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) -- 263.06 (Skate Canada)
5. Adam Rippon (USA) -- 261.43 (Skate America)
*World champion Javier Fernandez yet to compete.
Women
1. Yevgenia Medvedeva (RUS) -- 220.65 (Skate Canada)
2. Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) -- 206.45 (Skate Canada)
3. Ashley Wagner (USA) -- 196.44 (Skate America)
4. Satoko Miyahara (JPN) -- 192.08 (Skate Canada)
5. Mariah Bell (USA) -- 191.49 (Skate America)
*World bronze medalist Anna Pogorilaya yet to compete.
Pairs
1. Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford (CAN) -- 218.30 (Skate Canada)
2. Yu Xiaoyu/Zhang Hao (CHN) -- 202.08 (Skate Canada)
3. Julianne Séguin/Charlie Bilodeau (CAN) -- 197.31 (Skate America)
4. Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier (USA) -- 192.65 (Skate America)
5. Lubov Ilyushechkina/Dylan Moscovitch (CAN) -- 190.22 (Skate Canada)
*World bronze medalists Aliona Savchenko/Bruno Massot yet to compete.
Ice Dance
1. Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir (CAN) -- 189.06 (Skate Canada)
2. Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) -- 188.24 (Skate Canada)
3. Maia Shibutani/Alex Shibutani (USA) -- 185.75 (Skate America)
4. Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) -- 182.57 (Skate Canada)
5. Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte (ITA) -- 180.35 (Skate Canada)
*World champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron yet to compete.