2018-19 Japanese Ladies' figure skating

Warwick360 said:

Annoyed with British Eurosport for not remembering that Mao had done 2 3As in a single LP. They kept going on about how this might be a first, when referring to Rika's LP. :disapp:

Amazing 3As by Kihira though.

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Or the fact that Mariah Carey is now a figure skating queen who killed it at NHK lol.

Totally agree!

Warwick360 said:

Commentators who watch day in and day out are the ones I would hope would know about notable performances from the past. If it was only Simon Reed, I would understand; the guy is passionate in commentating but hardly has much knowledge in most sports he commentates (even though he's been in that business for decades). But the other person who seems fairly more knowledgeable should have known a thing or two about it. It's just annoying when a general skating viewer would probably know more about this than the experts.

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As a Mao fan, I was upset!

Wait. Who's saying Satoko should retire? That's crazy. Makes me wonder what people value in skating. Yeah, her jumps aren't at the standard of other top skaters, but her movement and interpretive skill is peerless among active skaters by a country mile. How can anyone that truly appreciates skating wish that would go away? Even if she's not your favorite. The only person, in my opinion, that can truly surpass her in this measure this quadrant is Alena Kostornaia, who is already a beautiful skater while still only at the junior level. Otherwise, who else skates more beautifully? Forget scores, PCS, scoring politics and...ahem...nationalism, etc, she's amazing to watch. May we have the privilege, PRIVILEGE, of a long career for Satoko.

lanceupper1114 said:

Wait. Who's saying Satoko should retire? That's crazy. Makes me wonder what people value in skating. Yeah, her jumps aren't at the standard of other top skaters, but her movement and interpretive skill is peerless among active skaters by a country mile. How can anyone that truly appreciates skating wish that would go away? Even if she's not your favorite. The only person, in my opinion, that can truly surpass her in this measure this quadrant is Alena Kostornaia, who is already a beautiful skater while still only at the junior level. Otherwise, who else skates more beautifully? Forget scores, PCS, scoring politics and...ahem...nationalism, etc, she's amazing to watch. May we have the privilege, PRIVILEGE, of a long career for Satoko.

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The same nasty trolls who don't even deserve your attention.

If Mako gets bronze at Rostelecom, that would play in kaori's favor wouldn't it? Let's say Samodurova wins silver, that gives both Mako & sofia silver & bronze like Kaori but both would lose a tie-breaker against her right? Since they cannot possibly score higher than Kaori at SkAm. I believe Zhenya would easily win at least silver at IDF and if clean she should score more than Kaori. I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility of Kaori not making it to the GPF :sad21:

leoleo said:

The same nasty trolls who don't even deserve your attention.

If Mako gets bronze at Rostelecom, that would play in kaori's favor wouldn't it? Let's say Samodurova wins silver, that gives both Mako & sofia silver & bronze like Kaori but both would lose a tie-breaker against her right? Since they cannot possibly score higher than Kaori at SkAm. I believe Zhenya would easily win at least silver at IDF and if clean she should score more than Kaori. I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility of Kaori not making it to the GPF :sad21:

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Kaori's total score is about 411.

Medvedeva would need like 214+ to win the tie-break against Kaori if she's 2nd in France.

Mako needs 208+ to win tie break against Kaori if she's 3rd at rostelecom.

If samodurova is 2nd at Rostelecom, she needs like 212+ to win the tie break against Kaori.

So i think only Medvedeva has potential to win the tie break against Kaori, but it won't be an easy task because it seems she's getting called on multiple things this season.

Overall, Kaori has good chances. The four that are qualified or likely qualified are: Elizaveta, Satoko, Alina, Rika.

To me, the race for final two spots are Mako, Evgenia, Kaori.

More outside shots are Konstantinova, Samodurova, Mihara, Tennell, Shiraiwa

lanceupper1114 said:

Kaori's total score is about 411.

Medvedeva would need like 214+ to win the tie-break against Kaori if she's 2nd in France.

Mako needs 208+ to win tie break against Kaori if she's 3rd at rostelecom.

If samodurova is 2nd at Rostelecom, she needs like 212+ to win the tie break against Kaori.

So i think only Medvedeva has potential to win the tie break against Kaori, but it won't be an easy task because it seems she's getting called on multiple things this season.

Overall, Kaori has good chances. The four that are qualified or likely qualified are: Elizaveta, Satoko, Alina, Rika.

To me, the race for final two spots are Mako, Evgenia, Kaori.

More outside shots are Konstantinova, Samodurova, Mihara, Tennell

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If not both, i think at least Mako or Kaori will go to GPF. I can see Samodurova being 2nd at Rostelecom but not with 212+, so Kaori can win the tie-break against her. At the same time, 208+ is acheviable for Mako. I can't see Konstantinova finish 2nd in France. So Japan can probably have at least 3 girls in GPF. Which happened the last time in 2010 i think.

lanceupper1114 said:

Wait. Who's saying Satoko should retire? That's crazy. Makes me wonder what people value in skating. Yeah, her jumps aren't at the standard of other top skaters, but her movement and interpretive skill is peerless among active skaters by a country mile. How can anyone that truly appreciates skating wish that would go away? Even if she's not your favorite. The only person, in my opinion, that can truly surpass her in this measure this quadrant is Alena Kostornaia, who is already a beautiful skater while still only at the junior level. Otherwise, who else skates more beautifully? Forget scores, PCS, scoring politics and...ahem...nationalism, etc, she's amazing to watch. May we have the privilege, PRIVILEGE, of a long career for Satoko.

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I agree with everything have written above and talking about Satoko's retirement is ridiculous. Like it was before when she was struggling with injury and they already ruled her out. But just look where is Satoko now...I don't understand why people are so ready and kind of looking forward to send her away?

But I can't agree with statement that only Kostornaya could compete with Miyahara, in term of skating skills and artistry. Just take a look at Kihira's program, axels wise. Her lines and movements, and expressions are so beautiful and mesmerizing. So one can already say she's already a complete and refined skater. If she and her team will continue to improve Rika is going to be delight to watch.

Nika09 said:

I agree with everything have written above and talking about Satoko's retirement is ridiculous. Like it was before when she was struggling with injury and they already ruled her out. But just look where is Satoko now...I don't understand why people are so ready and kind of looking forward to send her away?

But I can't agree with statement that only Kostornaya could compete with Miyahara, in term of skating skills and artistry. Just take a look at Kihira's program, axels wise. Her lines and movements, and expressions are so beautiful and mesmerizing. So one can already say she's already a complete and refined skater. If she and her team will continue to improve Rika is going to be delight to watch.

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Right now, Rika is still growing (same with Alyona but alyona's skating skills just give me life), i think she has a long way to go to be like Satoko who completely commands the music she skates to so exquisitely but she is on the right path. Hamada says she wants her to be a complete skater like Satoko but with the jumps too. They're doing a great job so far. I'm happy most people are noticing her artistic side tho, i was scared the triple axels would make people put her in the category of young girls who are all about the difficult jumps.

leoleo said:

The same nasty trolls who don't even deserve your attention.

If Mako gets bronze at Rostelecom, that would play in kaori's favor wouldn't it? Let's say Samodurova wins silver, that gives both Mako & sofia silver & bronze like Kaori but both would lose a tie-breaker against her right? Since they cannot possibly score higher than Kaori at SkAm. I believe Zhenya would easily win at least silver at IDF and if clean she should score more than Kaori. I'm trying to prepare myself for the possibility of Kaori not making it to the GPF :sad21:

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And I'm trying to prepare myself to be both happy and disappointed because two of my all time favorites have to fight for the last GPF spot
There need to be more spots..

leoleo said:

Mako making it to the GPF would be phenomenal! Idk what juice Satoko drinks to be this consistent but damn, i hope she can let Rika drink a bit of it!

Mai really isn't a judges favorites! Her pcs can't seem to go up no matter what she does

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If you've been watching Japanese skating the last few years it's pretty obvious their federation doesn't support Mihara or Higuchi. Kaori, Satoko and Rika are the ones they are pushing this year.

Some people mentioned Satoko looks taller and I think she is. Not sure when exactly she grew taller but to me she appeared taller at the beginning of this season. If you check the victory ceremony at NHK, she looks about the same height as both Rika and Liza (5'2"). Look at 10:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIOVINGEiYs

Rika in 2015...Who would have thought she could be become the skater she is today?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPA7MIpcddg

Have you guys watched Satoko's new interview yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1InohI5uOPE&feature=youtu.be I had no idea her english was this good :luv17:

leoleo said:

Have you guys watched Satoko's new interview yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1InohI5uOPE&feature=youtu.be I had no idea her english was this good :luv17:

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Great interview—thanks for sharing the link!

I've been curious for a while about whether there was a Japanese coaching "hierarchy" or different "tiers" like fans of the Russian ladies commonly discuss. For example, a lot of people speculated that Stanislava Konstantinova got more opportunities than someone else might have, possibly because her coach has the only promising male Russian skater in Kolyada.

Are there any parallels like that with the Japanese ladies?

After all, Mie Hamada is clearly the powerhouse in terms of coaching and her ladies seem to have developed fantastic skating skills—Satoko, Marin (when she was still there), now Rika and Yuna. And she's coaching Shoma who is definitely the #2 man and will be a contender for a while. Kaori and Mai have the same coach and for a while it seemed like Mai was going to dominate—with the 4CC victory and 5th place worlds debut, but now it seems Kaori is pushing ahead. Is there a rush from Japanese girls to join these coaches?

vitamintea said:

I've been curious for a while about whether there was a Japanese coaching "hierarchy" or different "tiers" like fans of the Russian ladies commonly discuss. For example, a lot of people speculated that Stanislava Konstantinova got more opportunities than someone else might have, possibly because her coach has the only promising male Russian skater in Kolyada.

Are there any parallels like that with the Japanese ladies?

After all, Mie Hamada is clearly the powerhouse in terms of coaching and her ladies seem to have developed fantastic skating skills—Satoko, Marin (when she was still there), now Rika and Yuna. And she's coaching Shoma who is definitely the #2 man and will be a contender for a while. Kaori and Mai have the same coach and for a while it seemed like Mai was going to dominate—with the 4CC victory and 5th place worlds debut, but now it seems Kaori is pushing ahead. Is there a rush from Japanese girls to join these coaches?

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No she isn't. Shoma is coached by Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi.

SnowWhite said:

No she isn't. Shoma is coached by Machiko Yamada and Mihoko Higuchi.

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Oh! That's my bad. I was talking to a friend about this and she told me that Hamada was the powerhouse coach for that reason, haha. Really should have checked before I posted!

leoleo said:

Have you guys watched Satoko's new interview yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1InohI5uOPE&feature=youtu.be I had no idea her english was this good :luv17:

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She is so stinkin cute! I love her mouth movements she does- seems like a nervous twitch, maybe? Satoko is super endearing and I love her personality even more than her skating :luv17:

vitamintea said:

I've been curious for a while about whether there was a Japanese coaching "hierarchy" or different "tiers" like fans of the Russian ladies commonly discuss. ....

Are there any parallels like that with the Japanese ladies?

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A somewhat similar case to the Russian one you mentioned might be this: Yura Matsuda in her last Jr season (15-16, when she already switched to Yamada/Higuchi team) placed only 3rd in one JGP, and no JWC for her that season. But for 16-17 season when she moved up to Sr., she suddenly got two GP assignments (one of them being the invitation spot from NHK). As coach Yamada had already got her prestigious status by coaching Midori Ito and (previously) Mao Asada, sometimes you just wonder if some of these assignments/arrangements had been in favor of skaters under her. But in general I don't think coaches in Japan pushes these as much. At most I think there are only cases when they would 'bundle' skaters under the same coach together and send them to the same competition. And the purpose is to ease the burden from coaches having to travel around with skaters to different competitions (so why Yura and Mako would be assigned to the same events this season, and more of the times in the past also together with Shoma. But Yura's case kind of turning awkward as she switched back to Howa this season after the GP had been assigned).

As for Coach Hamada and Nakano, I think it's still too early to say anything about them being in the 'powerhouse'. For Hamada, it just doesn't seem that she's the type of coach that pushes this sort of thing (or else they would've given the NHK spot to Rika from the very beginning for this season, or remember from the last season's GP when Marin and Yuna both had consecutive assignments?) Finally, for the case you mentioned about Mai...I think ppl should be reminded that for participating in events such as 4CC in the 2nd half of the season, in addition to the results from nationals, skaters will be asked to state their choices if they would like to participate in 4CC or not (so I've always suspected that one of the reasons Mai was sent to 4CC last season instead of Wakaba was due to that Wakaba had chosen to opt out 4CC in case she'd get the spot from Oly team.)

Though she's retired, we saw her skate a few days ago, a mere 6 months after having given birth.
Shizuka Arakawa is amazing and I wanted to share this set of photos she posted with her baby, getting ready to skate. https://twitter.com/tiramisu11/status/1062192208873312257