Will Rika Kihira dethrone Satoko?

skateluvr · Nov 10, 2018

And can she dethrone Zagitova? I like her programs and skating much better. In general the Japanese ladies care more about choreo than their Russian rivals. The total result is way more watchable. Thank God they disallowed total backloading. I didn’t like Zagitova at alllast year because the programs were ticking boxes. This year she is more watchable but that is about jumps and her consistency.

I think Rika will blow her off her throne before long

Amef · Nov 10, 2018

Yes! I think so. Her BV is even higher than Zagitova's..she may even be crowned as the new GPF and World Champion this season, as well as the new Japanese National Champion. I hope she keeps up the consistency and improve even further on her program.

brens78 · Nov 10, 2018

It’s highly possible tho I also believe that one is only as good as their last performance &#55357;&#56842;

IceBallerina · Nov 10, 2018

Amef said:
Yes! I think so. Her BV is even higher than Zagitova's..she may even be crowned as the new GPF and World Champion this season, as well as the new Japanese National Champion. I hope she keeps up the consistency and improve even further on her program.

Well, at least for now Alina will still beat Rika if she’s clean. Her PC scores are much higher, at Nebelhorn she got almost 75 in the free. Realistically a clean Alina with good GOE’s and PCs will go above 160 free skate score.

I’m going to wait until Rostelecom and France before I decide on this. It looks like Rika might be gaining some consistency but who knows? I wouldn’t say she’s a lock for GPF and world gold yet.

Anyways, as of today she’s already dethroned Satoko in a sense. A clean Rika will beat a clean Satoko.

lanceupper1114 · Nov 10, 2018

She can easily top Satoko with clean programs. The operative word here is clean tho; she's known to have some erratic results. Satoko will likely remain an anchor for Japan to maintain 3 spots for some time to come, for her consistency and high PCS buffer. Whether she remains queen, or becomes vice-queen is 100% up to Rika Kihira; the ball is in her court.

As for Alina, she is basically at her scoring ceiling, whereas Rika is not. By Worlds time, if Rika stays relatively clean throughout the season, she should win by a hair if both go clean. There's too much extra BV in throwing three 3A's to overcome.

karne · Nov 10, 2018

It's possible, but it's a bit early for that sort of talk. Everyone's caught up in her wonderful FS - but don't forget she didn't pull off the SP.

IceBallerina · Nov 10, 2018

karne said:
It's possible, but it's a bit early for that sort of talk. Everyone's caught up in her wonderful FS - but don't forget she didn't pull off the SP.

This. Only time will tell.

rikaquegira · Nov 10, 2018

It’s too early to say. Rika had the Free Skate of her life but she might just blow her programs in IdF because she’s that kind of a skater. Or... maybe she was that kind of skater and now she’ll have a stronger mind. I can see some great improvements, consistency wise, in her first two Senior outings.
At ONT, Rika fell on the 3A but that was immediately forgotten, she got up and continued as nothing had happened and the rest of the program was great. Last season Rika would’ve imploded further after missing the first jump. Then in the FS she landed the axels but had some trouble with the loop and the salchow, those are two of the most difficult jumps for Rika in that program because of the entries, and especially the salchow, after that massive content, she has the salchow at the very end of the program. So it was understandable her mishaps in that program.
At NHK she basically had the same SP, just the fall was worse, the 3A was UR. The Free, this time, was perfectly clean(except for the 3Lz<2T2Lo that wasn’t called). She still have room for improvement, she could go to IdF and finally have a clean SP and a clean FS.
I read Hamada told her, before the Short, that she lacks the will to win(something like that), Rika got kind of mad and went on the ice with a strong mindset! That’s what she gotta do, she has to mean business, no more nerves and overthinking, she needs to be confident.
I think even if she skates clean at IdF I’ll still not believe she’s favorite for GPF or Worlds, because the more perfect programs she puts out, the more the pressure builds and builds and god knows how she’ll deal with it. Because so far Rika has been a fairly obscure skater, she never had the expectation of “you will win gold, go Rika!” or thousands of fans rooting for her.
Apart from that, about Zagitova, it will take a few mistakes from Zagitova for her to lose to a clean Rika. She’s miles away in PCS and her GOEs are huge in all elements, not only the jumps. I’m still skeptical about Rika’s PCS rising along the season if she’s consistent. Her SP is very weak and doesn’t show half of what she’s capable of. Her FS on the other hand is just a whole different level and should get high marks when performed to its potential. But will the judges go for it? So far the judges seem to be willing to being generous. But when against Zagitova, I don’t know if her scores will hold up. I guess we’ll see.
At least things are a bit more interesting now. [emoji120]

jenm · Nov 10, 2018

I vote yes to both!

Rika doesn't only have the technical upper hand but she's also very artistic so her PCS can only improve from here. Consistency is the key.

Satoko is divine but she has her issues that sadly, limit her scoring potential. PCS wise tho I think she's underscored by a couple of points. Her main weapon here is consistency as Rika makes mistakes sometimes.
Alina is not as sharp as in last year, IMO. She made mistakes last year in the GPS as well but her jumps there were more stable in general. Her jumps now especially the 2A are quite shaky. The GOEs and PCS are more of an Olympic boost. I would say they should calm her PCS down a bit.

If all went clean, I'd give it to Rika with Alina 2nd.

lesnar001 · Nov 10, 2018

I think a clean and consistent Rika Kihira has the potential to win any competition she enters.

She was not clean in the SP here and still won, so that should tell you something right there about her abilities.

I was truly amazed at her performances at NHK and appreciate that she is not afraid to go for her 3A's.
No matter who has attempted a 3A (Midori Ito) included - its success rate has been problematic at times.
Look how many points she lost in the SP. A well executed 2A would probably score more than a 3A with a fall.
But.... "No Guts, No Glory"
If you want to stand out above the others, especially in your debut year - you need to take some risks.

I was equally amazed last year with Alina's debut and the backloaded jumps. Really stood out for me.
I immediately saw her potential for big success also.
What some see as "ticking boxes" I saw as exciting and different. "Ces't la vie".

I appreciate the qualities of both skaters very very much, even though their styles are different.
I don't need to "hate" one style to validate the other.
And even if I did, I wouldn't put down one to build up the other.
Watching skating is much more enjoyable that way (for me anyways).

As a matter of fact, I can't recall any ladies debuts in recent years that have grabbed me the way these two have.
Mao Asada's in 2006 was the last one. And Michelle Kwan's in 1994.

I look forward to any competitions they are in, and hope they push each other to even greater heights.

I guess one other thing I don't understand, what "throne" is Rika going to "blow her off" of????

The reigning World Champ is Kaetlyn Osmond.

hippomoomin · Nov 10, 2018

Rika's sp this season is very juniorish to me. I am glad her coach chose a more mature New Age for her long program. I don't really get the Russian vs Japanese ladies rhetoric, because each Japanese and Russian lady is different with their own signature.

Between Rika and Satoko, I prefer Rika for her jumps. Are Japanese judges ready to give up their most reliable Satoko and push Rika as the #1? Rika is only 16 so let's hope she has done growing and enjoys her tech superiority as long as she can.

skatenewbie · Nov 11, 2018

she may or may not. As we've seen in NHK there JSF really pushing Satoko to win gold. Before her TES drop to 71 in FS, she got 77 which is higher than Liza 76 TES. She got almost 72 PCS and with 77 TES she will have 149 points. Rika did miss 3A in short and could pull of 75-77 in SP but Satoko have got 76 so she may catch up also she can get higher PCS too in Japan Nationals. But if Rika went on super clean in both SP and FS i can't see her behind Satoko.

lanceupper1114 · Nov 11, 2018

lesnar001 said:
I guess one other thing I don't understand, what "throne" is Rika going to "blow her off" of????

The reigning World Champ is Kaetlyn Osmond.

There isn't an actual physical throne Alina is sitting on, that Rika is seeking to remove her from using air moving at high velocity.

Its just an analogous way of asking if Rika can displace Alina for the standing as the top skater among active ladies.

Hope that helps.

NymphyNymphy · Nov 11, 2018

Very likely if Rika can skate a clean short program. I can't wait for Eteri's quad squad to enter seniors. Will that be next year? None of the ladies will have a shot. Trusova will be getting men's fs scores making her 20-30 points ahead of the pack just in TES alone.

lzxnl · Nov 11, 2018

NymphyNymphy said:
Very likely if Rika can skate a clean short program. I can't wait for Eteri's quad squad to enter seniors. Will that be next year? None of the ladies will have a shot. Trusova will be getting men's fs scores making her 20-30 points ahead of the pack just in TES alone.

Don't forget Rika has trained 4S and 4T before

bobbob · Nov 11, 2018

Satoko and Alina were never on a throne. Satoko has always been at the mercy of the technical specialists. And Alina was never at the level of undefeatability as Evgenia in her prime. So if Rika goes out there and starts scoring 160 with clean 2 3A consistently, which is possible though not that likely since she is not the most consistent that would be amazing but hardly a dethronement.

vunhung3001 · Nov 11, 2018

Let's not forget Kihira can jump 3lo3lz, she has been traning quads for 2 years ( 4T,4S) and landed than in practice. Her 3A success rate is amazing. She landed 14/17 3A attemps in a practice session at NHK. She also has no UR issue, edge issue. That means her TES potential is huge and hasn't maxed out yet. Her PCS of course hasn't either.

I do believe she can beat Zagitova if both skate clean. Kihira got very high GOEs at NHK and her BV surpassed Zagitova's. With that TES she even doesn't need PCS boost to beat others. Not to mention her PCS will go up if she's consistent.

colormyworld240 · Nov 11, 2018

rikaquegira said:
It’s too early to say. Rika had the Free Skate of her life but she might just blow her programs in IdF because she’s that kind of a skater. Or... maybe she was that kind of skater and now she’ll have a stronger mind. I can see some great improvements, consistency wise, in her first two Senior outings.
At ONT, Rika fell on the 3A but that was immediately forgotten, she got up and continued as nothing had happened and the rest of the program was great. Last season Rika would’ve imploded further after missing the first jump. Then in the FS she landed the axels but had some trouble with the loop and the salchow, those are two of the most difficult jumps for Rika in that program because of the entries, and especially the salchow, after that massive content, she has the salchow at the very end of the program. So it was understandable her mishaps in that program.
At NHK she basically had the same SP, just the fall was worse, the 3A was UR. The Free, this time, was perfectly clean(except for the 3Lz<2T2Lo that wasn’t called). She still have room for improvement, she could go to IdF and finally have a clean SP and a clean FS.
I read Hamada told her, before the Short, that she lacks the will to win(something like that), Rika got kind of mad and went on the ice with a strong mindset! That’s what she gotta do, she has to mean business, no more nerves and overthinking, she needs to be confident.
I think even if she skates clean at IdF I’ll still not believe she’s favorite for GPF or Worlds, because the more perfect programs she puts out, the more the pressure builds and builds and god knows how she’ll deal with it. Because so far Rika has been a fairly obscure skater, she never had the expectation of “you will win gold, go Rika!” or thousands of fans rooting for her.
Apart from that, about Zagitova, it will take a few mistakes from Zagitova for her to lose to a clean Rika. She’s miles away in PCS and her GOEs are huge in all elements, not only the jumps. I’m still skeptical about Rika’s PCS rising along the season if she’s consistent. Her SP is very weak and doesn’t show half of what she’s capable of. Her FS on the other hand is just a whole different level and should get high marks when performed to its potential. But will the judges go for it? So far the judges seem to be willing to being generous. But when against Zagitova, I don’t know if her scores will hold up. I guess we’ll see.
At least things are a bit more interesting now. [emoji120]

I think it is very possible for a clean Rika to beat Alina this season. Rika's BV advantage is even more impressive than Alina's BV advantage last season. Rika also gets huge GOEs, pretty on par with Alina maybe except for spins. As for her PCS rising, I hope she's consistent because I can see them rising quickly. To give you an idea, Alina's PCS went from 62 (junior worlds) to 68 in her senior GP debut. Rika's went from 57 at junior worlds to 67 at NHK (granted she wasn't clean at junior worlds). Consistency + huge tech generally leads to steady PCS rise (unless you have a choreo/transitionless program like Liza), and Rika's programs have both along with great execution and tons of transitions.

samkrut@mail.ru · Nov 11, 2018

Don't get me wrong - I do think that Rika is the strongest Japanese skater now with good potential for WC gold....but.

But somehow whenever Eteri and her skaters prospects are discussed at GS there is a usual choir: "they are only juniors, they won't survive puberty and will be replaced". Even almost 19 year old Medvedeva is considered by some as a pre-puberty girl.

Somehow there is no such a choir when talking about the Japanese skaters. Are they immune? I don't think so. Look at Marin Honda. I guess, Wakaba's problems have to do with puberty as well. Rika is 16 - a high risk age. Let's wait and see.

thexfireball · Nov 11, 2018

[email protected] said:
Don't get me wrong - I do think that Rika is the strongest Japanese skater now with good potential for WC gold....but.

But somehow whenever Eteri and her skaters prospects are discussed at GS there is a usual choir: "they are only juniors, they won't survive puberty and will be replaced". Even almost 19 year old Medvedeva is considered by some as a pre-puberty girl.

Somehow there is no such a choir when talking about the Japanese skaters. Are they immune? I don't think so. Look at Marin Honda. I guess, Wakaba's problems have to do with puberty as well. Rika is 16 - a high risk age. Let's wait and see.

I think Rika has grown a lot from her novice and junior days. It’s been obvious when she was going through puberty. Of course, she’s young and the future is unexpected, but I think she’s dealt with her growth quite well and she seems just fine. I think that’s one of the reasons for the lack of outcry. Obviously, some fans are biased though, we know that

Will Rika Kihira dethrone Satoko?

skateluvr

Amef

brens78

IceBallerina

lanceupper1114

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

IceBallerina

rikaquegira

jenm

The Last One Degree

lesnar001

hippomoomin

skatenewbie

lanceupper1114

NymphyNymphy

lzxnl

bobbob

vunhung3001

colormyworld240

[email protected]

Medalist

thexfireball

Similar threads

Connect with us