2018-19 Japanese Ladies' figure skating

[lzxnl]

But how do you do that without showing disrespect to the skater who's currently sitting in the KnC as the scores come up? Unless you mean some sort of silent protest when the judges are introduced...

That's a cool idea.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Agree. Scored correctly, Rika would have been on the podium. Her PCS was woefully underscored. She hit every musical accent and had the best long program of the season. Yet she got 70 (in the 8s) to Evgenia’s 72. At a minimum, Rika should have had the same PCS as Med, putting her on the podium. And don’t get me started on Lilbet.

I disagree. Kihira's PCS was fine it was less than 1.5 points off from her GPF FS where she performed better and did not fall. I think we also forget that this is still Kihira's first senior season so to be getting 71 PCS with a fall in her first Worlds isn't too shabby. She would have easily beaten Medvedeva had she not popped in the SP or fallen in the FS (even a clean 2A either time would have probably been sufficient for silver). And Medvedeva went almost clean and yet her PCS of 72.97 was much lower than her previous PCS personal best of 78.06, so I don't think she was hugely gifted herself. Satoko's PCS though was woefully underscored even with the stumble.

 

[lzxnl]

I disagree. Kihira's PCS was fine it was less than 1.5 points off from her GPF FS where she performed better and did not fall. I think we also forget that this is still Kihira's first senior season so to be getting 71 PCS with a fall in her first Worlds isn't too shabby. She would have easily beaten Medvedeva had she not popped in the SP or fallen in the FS (even a clean 2A either time would have probably been sufficient for silver). And Medvedeva went almost clean and yet her PCS of 72.97 was much lower than her previous PCS personal best of 78.06, so I don't think she was hugely gifted herself. Satoko's PCS though was woefully underscored even with the stumble.

You conveniently forget that her GPF FS actually contained a downgraded fall on a 3A. And your justification of Medvedeva's PCS is only in relation to her own previous PCS, which we all agree was astronomically inflated. Just because it wasn't as inflated does not make it not inflated. Medvedeva's flutz was also blatantly ignored, which was fairly easy to see in real time, as well as just general disconnect with the music.

Also, check out Alina's Worlds FS last season, also her first Worlds. Three falls (3Lz, 2A-3T<<, 3Lz-3Lo<), a downgrade, two URs, still gets a PCS of 69.87. Rika has one fall on a fully rotated 3A and gets less than 71.

 

[sakurano]

the skating season is over, it's gone quickly it was filled with emotion between the injury, the revelation, the comeback of Mai, Kaori and the PCS descent of our tinyqueen.

It's sad that for the first time in two years there were no Japanese ladies on the podium, next year it will be hard with the Queen of the Russian Quads but I know that the girls will not let down and show us beautiful programs like this year.

I would have liked to see Wakaba at the WTT but since she only has 7th on WS and 34th on the SB it will be played between Kaori and Satoko or Rika, May


Congratulations to all Yuna S, Yuhana, Mako, Nana even if we saw little, Tomoe.

Is it true that Momoka who opened the gala this year is from the same training school as Wakaba? I recognized her a little in her .

Now that the list of WS and SB is updated can we guess who will have two places of great price among the Japanese next season?

 

[hippomoomin]

What is really going on with Wakaba? Is she still recovering from an injury and boot problem? Or even growth spurt? She seems to be more seasoned but I just checked, she is younger than both Kaori and Mai. She really looked strong at the beginning of last season with two very good programs.

 

[Skater Boy]

I honeslty think the Japanese ladies look strong even with some Quad Russian Queens. Rika with 3A's and growing pcs is still a threat. Kaori is getting stronger and more experienced and you can count on Satoko to be consistent. They have such depth.

 

[Casual]

But how do you do that without showing disrespect to the skater who's currently sitting in the KnC as the scores come up? Unless you mean some sort of silent protest when the judges are introduced...

Ultimate disrespect lies in underscoring skaters, in order to keep them off the podium, or in a lower-than-deserved ranking, don't you think?

That's why both higher and lower (than deserved) marks should be protested. It won't be about the skaters, but about crooked judging.

Perhaps fans should come up with an anti-unfair-judges' chant, similar to other games. "One-two-three, fire referee!"

 

[sakurano]

I honeslty think the Japanese ladies look strong even with some Quad Russian Queens. Rika with 3A's and growing pcs is still a threat. Kaori is getting stronger and more experienced and you can count on Satoko to be consistent. They have such depth.

yes that's why I'm semi worried, I do not care about the future of Japan, they still have the best skater it's unbelievable that 5 of them are among the top 10.

and Rika at the time of growing up with its Quads and 3A.


For Wakaba the last time we saw her was at the challenge cup where she did a good job for someone who was on the brink of a stress fracture. I think it's more mental as she says in her latest tweets if I understand correctly. She can still have two Grand Prix, and be in the top 5, it's just a pity that this injury has prevented him from progressing we still come back to his team.

So Kaori and Rika go to WTT I look forward to seeing their interactions and they can take their revenge while having fun.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Interesting thought experiment: if Rika has been delivering "surface clean" programs all season with a 3A< instead of popping the 3A or falling on it, do you think her PCS would have increased faster (and been more stable)? I'm looking at Elisabet's PCS growth over the season although she didn't even land the 4S until Worlds. I feel like the 3A ladies (Mao, ET etc) have generally not been awarded with high PCS due to perceptions of inconsistency (despite other top ladies often being just as inconsistent), despite the high difficulty of the 3A and the fact that many of these ladies are stellar performers with good SS.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I disagree. Kihira's PCS was fine it was less than 1.5 points off from her GPF FS where she performed better and did not fall. I think we also forget that this is still Kihira's first senior season so to be getting 71 PCS with a fall in her first Worlds isn't too shabby. She would have easily beaten Medvedeva had she not popped in the SP or fallen in the FS (even a clean 2A either time would have probably been sufficient for silver). And Medvedeva went almost clean and yet her PCS of 72.97 was much lower than her previous PCS personal best of 78.06, so I don't think she was hugely gifted herself. Satoko's PCS though was woefully underscored even with the stumble.

My whole issue with the scoring is that the things that got overlooked by the technical panels, like edge calls and under rotations, really benefitted the top Russian women. I don't think it was a conspiracy because those calls are usually more generous for everyone at big events so scores can be higher, but it does disadvantage skaters who rotate fully and have better technique. So I think Rika should have landed on the podium for that reason alone.

 

[yume]

I honeslty think the Japanese ladies look strong even with some Quad Russian Queens. Rika with 3A's and growing pcs is still a threat. Kaori is getting stronger and more experienced and you can count on Satoko to be consistent. They have such depth.

If only JSF knew what to do with that depth....It's waste at this point.

I hope that Mai will have really good programs that can make her score higher. Because she have been more consistent than those three this season.

 

[Dreamer57]

If only JSF knew what to do with that depth....It's waste at this point.

I noticed that JSF sent a junior lady to Coupe du Printemps this year, but no senior ladies. Considering they had a podium sweep in 2018, surely they could have thought of someone this year?

 

[yume]

I noticed that JSF sent a junior lady to Coupe du Printemps this year, but no senior ladies. Considering they had a podium sweep in 2018, surely they could have thought of someone this year?

I think they sent less skaters at all seniors B this season (minus Bavarian open maybe).
Last season at challenge cup Wakaba-Marin-Rika H. swept the podium in seniors. This season there were only two Japaneses.
In juniors there were at least 2 juniors. Nana Araki won, Yuhana Yokoi 2nd. This season only one junior was sent.
Even in advanced novices there were two or 3 girls iirc. This season just one.
I wonder why.

 

[zanadude]

Ayaka Hosoda was featured on an episode of Junk Sports.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/av47275756?from=search&seid=15961091398234529842

Her segment starts around 65 minutes in. At just past the 69 minute mark you can see something truly amazing: the first triple axel she ever landed in practice!

Towards the end of her segment, Ayaka spoke of Kihira trying her skates on and saying "How did you ever land a triple axel in these skates? If you had decent skates you could do a quad!" As Ayaka had said that she was still undecided about continuing her career, the host said "If I buy you a new pair of skates, you'll continue your career, right?" So hopefully, the last piece of the puzzle is in place for her now.

 

[Casual]

My whole issue with the scoring is that the things that got overlooked by the technical panels, like edge calls and under rotations, really benefitted the top Russian women. I don't think it was a conspiracy because those calls are usually more generous for everyone at big events so scores can be higher, but it does disadvantage skaters who rotate fully and have better technique. So I think Rika should have landed on the podium for that reason alone.

There's nothing coincidental in Russians enjoying pro-Russian judging bias, in general, and gaining unfair advancement during the World championship, in particular

Did everyone forget Sochi, and afterwards? This is a country that stops at nothing to gain advantage - the concept of "fair play" does not exist.

Therefore, this crooked judging situation in figure skating does not deserve a benefit of the doubt. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, you bet it's a conspiracy.

The system is crooked on purpose. It's always been, but now more than ever. For everybody else, it's just a sport. For Russian government, winning in figure skating is of national gravity importance, by hook or by crook.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

My whole issue with the scoring is that the things that got overlooked by the technical panels, like edge calls and under rotations, really benefitted the top Russian women. I don't think it was a conspiracy because those calls are usually more generous for everyone at big events so scores can be higher, but it does disadvantage skaters who rotate fully and have better technique. So I think Rika should have landed on the podium for that reason alone.

They didn't call Kaori's lutz edge, and Rika's UR on second 3A, and neither one of Satoko's jumps was called UR. So i would argue that Japanese ladies benefitted exactly the same from lenient tech panel. No calls for USA ladies too (Tennell jumps were often called this year, also Mariah 3T in short was UR)... Zhenya's two jumps were still called as UR, so... I would surely call Sofia's 3Lz edge, but i'm not sure with which uncalled elements they benefitted more tho (except maybe one UR 3T for Alina and unclear Lz edge for Zhenya, but that is still one uncalled element per Russian skater, on pair with all the others)....

 

[denise3lz]

"Kihira is still a child, she don't have planning ability."

Her coach Mie Hamada told to reporters after free skating on March 22.

https://dot.asahi.com/wa/2019032400013.html

 

[Edwin]

"Kihira is still a child, she don't have planning ability."

Her coach Mie Hamada told to reporters after free skating on March 22.

https://dot.asahi.com/wa/2019032400013.html

Oh my, not a very favourable comment to describe an experienced 16 y.o. figure skater ...

I ran the Japanese through a machine translator, which gave:

" The women singles of the World Figure Skating World Championships, which had high hopes of winning, resulted in all three Japanese representatives losing their medals.

On the other hand, rival Russia, the two Olympic medalists who are said to be in trouble this season, finished the race and won the podium.

Where is the cause of defeat-?"

"I'm still a child, (Kippei) Rika-chan is"

And coach Mie Shibata, who will lead the fourth-placed Kihira Rika. After skating on the 22nd of March, I told the reporters about (Rika), which uses Triple Axel as a weapon, was considered to be the closest to the championship at this tournament by the domestic and international media.

She is 16 years old, same as Alina Zagitova who won the championship. Where in Kihei are "children"?

"This is a problem before the game. I can not prepare or plan before the game"

And Shibata coach. For example, warm up.

"The time and the way are different. It depends on the time. I have found my pace properly and I have not found how much and how"

The fact that the ways are different seems to be different from opportunistic change.

"Warming up also depends on the order of the run. For example, if it is the final run, take off your shoes and then up again. Iki Iri "

Kihei's problem seems to be about preparation before the game (warming up and how to tie shoes). Was it fluttering so much?

"I'm right! I was expecting, so I adjusted to the hardness of the skates, I got all kinds of tape such as vinyl tape. Prepare several kinds of tapes with different thickness. I bought 5 thousand yen (laughs). Finally, I put a strong, thick tape like old water shoes on the old shoes. I think it was visible."

n other words, it means that self-management has not been done.

"I don't have the experience to make the game as planned (the plan is that), and it's the first time, and I know I'm battling, and I know that the schedule changes regularly ... I thought it was necessary to have the training to be able to do the same thing properly.

How about Tomoko Miyahara who also teaches? It is said that all training content has changed this season.
"So I was prepared to be unstable this season, but I finally realized that I could make up my mind." I think it was a match.

About the other representative, Kaori Sakamoto, who is fifth, said Sonoko Nakano, pointing out that "I knew that I was a little bit prettier to Sarukou."

"But I worked hard in the second half, I did a lot of practice, and I should have been able to breathe properly (breathing well), but I was expecting to breathe properly. I thought I wasn't vomiting, I thought I was breathing wrong. "

Sakamoto's future is said as follows.

"I think I have not put in the triple axel properly. I think I can do it a little more. I hope that I will continue to squeeze in time for the All Japan Championships in the next season. Some of the exercises so far have been partially done, but I expect that they will do it myself from now on. "

(This magazine · Osaki 100 紀)

■ We added and changed the headings and some sentences on March 27

※ Weekly Asahi Online Limited Articles

 

[theharleyquinn]

So easy and useless to play shoulda/coulda/woulda now, but maybe sending Rika to Challenge Cup wasn't the best idea. I don't know how much return she really got for skating in the last group for the SP. Then again, I thought the same for Elizabet going to Universiade and that seemed to only help her momentum.

 

[amonemae]

I watched this World's live and was just so saddened for the Japanese ladies, particularly my fave, Satoko. I think the Japanese ladies PCS is scored correctly in the sense that it changes from competition to competition (So it seems they are looking at what is being shown on the ice? I guess?) but it's still a mystery to me how this happened. Having seen Zhenya and Satoko's tango FS skates together, I still can't fathom the wide gap in their PCS, especially for PE, CO and IN. I was also really sad for Kaori because I thought she had it in the bag after her opening 3-3. I felt the same way about Rika because her opening 3A-3T was just so good. I basically yelled when the three of them made mistakes (the audience yelled with me). Am still annoyed until now because I find it so unfair that other skaters can make mistakes but their PCS holds but if you are Japanese or from a small fed, you get deflated PCS. Sigh. I don't want to make it seem like I advocate reputation judging but I kind of would like to see the same consideration across the board to ALL ladies. It's unfair and outright robbery in some cases.

I just hope that the results at Worlds encourages Satoko, Rika and Kaori for the next season. I am excited for all the ladies to do their best again! Hope WTT brings us a happier Rika and Kaori!