2022-23 Japan National Championships - Women's SP

[yesterday]

Some performances and interviews can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@user-yy6fw6nc4l/videos
not geoblocked!!

 

[Dreamer57]

At the moment, I guess the people that have "qualified" for consideration for Worlds are Mai Mihara (World ranking, top 2 Japanese finisher at Grand Prix finals), Rinka Watanabe (World ranking, top two 2 Japanese finisher at Grand Prix finals) and Kaori Watanabe (World ranking).

Since Mao Shimada is too young, I guess Chiba Mone is the one most in need of a podium finish? Or would she not even be considered regardless on account of being a junior (such as the case of Kawabata in 2020)?

Assuming that either Kaori or Mai wins this, hard to come up with another third at this point. So I guess Rinka backs her way in regardless of how she does here? Hell, even Saki Miyake has a chance at this point, though I guess she'd have to get her minimum TES somewhere before going.

The nightmare scenario is a Sakamoto-Mihara-Shimada podium, with Rinka completely falling apart and finishing like 14th or so, but still having to go to World's simply because no other option exists.

I think Kaori and Mai take the first 2 spots. The third spot seems more flexible to me and they usually follow nationals results closely.

It's probably between Mone and Mana if they skate clean - Mana has a higher world ranking but Mone has the higher SB. (If it happens, I would quite like it if one goes to 4CC and the other to worlds.)
Both medalled in the grand prix series but neither went to the final. I don't think Saki scores as highly in the free skate but it would be lovely to see her get an international assignment.

Your final paragraph, if Rinka finished 14th I don't think they would send her, they would just look to the next placing eligible senior after Mao. Even Hana is only a few points behind her usual SP scores, she could make up the difference with 3As (although she keeps making errors in her skates lately )

 

[tsuyoboogie]

Women's Short Program video links (video quality can be increased up to 720p by clicking on settings wheel)

Almost all videos were recorded from the FOD stream (no commentary)
Videos of Hana Yoshida, Haruna Murakami and Mako Yamashita are from Fuji TV or Fuji TV Two broadcasts (with commentary)

My laptop froze during Hana, Haruna and Mako's SPs so needed to re-record their programs but Day 1 events have had not yet been uploaded to FOD

Placement		Score	Program Music	Choreographer(s)
1	Kaori Sakamoto	77.79	Rock with U, Feedback by Janet Jackson	Rohene Ward
2	Mai Mihara	74.70	Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto	David Wilson
3	Mone Chiba (Junior)	71.06	Schindler's List	Akiko Suzuki
4	Mao Shimada (Junior)	70.28	The Lion King	Cathy Reed
5	Saki Miyake	66.29	Never Enough (The Greatest Showman)	Akiko Suzuki
6	Mana Kawabe	64.51	Billie Eilish Medley	Mihoko Higuchi
7	Ayumi Shibayama (Junior)	64.37	Chorale VI (Sol-Fa), Cantus: Song of Aeolus	Cathy Reed
8	Ami Nakai (Junior)	64.07	Gershwin - I Got Rhythm performed by Fazil Say	Akiko Suzuki
9	Ikura Kushida	63.29	Red Violin Based On En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor	Cathy Reed
10	Yuna Aoki	62.48	Byakuyako (TBS drama)	Akiko Suzuki
11	Rika Kihira	60.43	The Fire Within by Jennifer Thomas	Benoit Richaud
12	Yuhana Yokoi	59.78	Kalandero by Rene Dupere	Misato Sato
13	Miyabi Oba	59.77	Send In The Clowns	Miyabi Oba
14	Hana Yoshida	59.49	Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine	Lori Nichol
15	Haruna Murakami (Junior)	59.23	Just Wave Hello by Charlotte Church	Mihoko Higuchi
16	Yo Takagi (Junior)	58.87	Sous le ciel de Paris	Akiko Suzuki
17	Rion Sumiyoshi	57.38	White Flowers Take Their Bath	Cathy Reed
18	Rinka Watanabe	56.23	El Tango de Roxanne (Moulin Rouge)	Kenji Miyamoto
19	Hina Takeno	56.15	Memoirs Of A Geisha	Akiko Suzuki
20	Rino Matsuike	56.01	Papa, Can You Hear Me?	Noriko Sato
21	Niina Takeno	55.49	Csárdás	Kenji Miyamoto
22	Mako Yamashita	54.98	Rise Up by Andra Day	Mako Yamashita, Machiko Yamada, Yuko Hongo
23	Maria Egawa	52.83	The Last Emperor	Kenji Miyamoto
24	Akari Matsubara	52.45	Hallelujah	Kenji Miyamoto
25	Ibuki Sato	52.27	My Own True Love	Hanae Yokoya
26	Marin Honda	51.81	Assassin’s Tango	Lori Nichol
27	Yurina Okuno	49.29	Beethoven’s 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys	Noriko Sato
28	Chikako Saigusa	46.73	Scheherazade	Eiki Hattori
29	Shiika Yoshioka	44.75	The Prayer performed by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli	Kenji Miyamoto

 

[tsuyoboogie]

irritating. If that's her I believe she would have much better information and she does talk a bit more during replays but it's just unnecessary to have her ticking the elements off

Kanako Murakami did commentary for Women's SP Groups 1~3 (Fuji TV Two broadcast)
Shizuka Arakawa did commentary for Groups 4 & 5 (Fuji TV broadcast)
Realized this when I went to get Hana, Haruna and Mako's programs

 

[yesterday]

Kanako Murakami did commentary for Women's SP Groups 1~3 (Fuji TV Two broadcast)
Shizuka Arakawa did commentary for Groups 4 & 5 (Fuji TV broadcast)
Realized this when I went to get Hana, Haruna and Mako's programs

Ah thank you! Yes the style did not change but they showed the two commentators before group 4, so when Shizuka started cause I think I recognized her then.

 

[cohkaix]

Some performances and interviews can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@user-yy6fw6nc4l/videos
not geoblocked!!

Thanks! The link is actually directing to Fuji TV sports. There are full programs for the top 3 skaters, plus Rika and Mao. There are also post interviews for all the above skaters.

I'm more interested in the special 'one-cam(era)' video for the top 3 skaters: it means there's no switching of cameras in between when filming a performance. I'm wondering if the one-cam video can show the speed differences among the skaters, as I can see the clear acceleration from Kaori during the 2nd half of her SP.

Kaori SP- one cam show
Mai SP - one cam show
Mone SP - one cam show

 

[rabidline]

I'm more interested in the special 'one-cam(era)' video for the top 3 skaters: it means there's no switching of cameras in between when filming a performance. I'm wondering if the one-cam video can show the speed differences among the skaters, as I can see the clear acceleration from Kaori during the 2nd half of her SP.

Speaking of speed difference, is there no I-Stats for this season regarding ice coverage anywhere like past seasons? I enjoy seeing how much each skater use the rink for their programs and the trajectory of their step sequences.

 

[CoyoteChris]

According to this article, her combo jump error was due to her blade getting caught in a hole in the ice that she herself made jumping a 3S during the warm-up:

https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/42f0d3f2b12cb56e86b9a6d4624ddf3288d52f52

Someone also observed that she had a loose hair pin or something.

She wants to include the 3Lz in the free, but it's unclear whether it's ready or not.

Thank you! I played it back and forth three times but these old ears couldnt catch what she said.....This injury period must be killing her mentally....I just want her to be happy tomorrow, a year from now, and 5-10 and 20 and beyond years from now...hugs....

 

[CoyoteChris]

Speaking of speed difference, is there no I-Stats for this season regarding ice coverage anywhere like past seasons? I enjoy seeing how much each skater use the rink for their programs and the trajectory of their step sequences.

Me too. As a geek, it was interesting to see the average speed and ice coverage. As a person who appreciates the artistry, I am not convinced it is oh so helpful but it was interesting....so why not time in the air? Up and down altitude? Spin rotation speed? And the holy grain, the angle of the boot to the tangent of the curve!!!!!

 

[RafaelAstro]

It's not the same when no one lands a clean triple axel

 

[yuumagical]

It's not the same when no one lands a clean triple axel

You never know, one of them might do so in the free...

 

[OksVin]

Marin spends too much time on social media and not enough time training.

But there were so many expectations! It's a pity.

Wakaba is injured, and probably lacks motivation after having reached her goal of getting to the Olympics.

Thanks for the info.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Yurina not making the FS hurts my heart

Wonderful Music...that first beautiful jump.......I am not a fan of cuts.....

 

[lileychristie]

Wakaba is injured, and probably lacks motivation after having reached her goal of getting to the Olympics. Marin spends too much time on social media and not enough time training.

Last I heard from Wakaba's instagram was that her injury actually has fully healed, but she decided to take this entire season off due to burn-out from the Olympic season.

Tbh I'm glad she's taking time off for her mental health, and that she's being open about it. The sports world in general needs to pay more attention in mental health, especially in sports where there are so many young athletes such as figure skating.

 

[YuBluByMe]

Women's Short Program video links (video quality can be increased up to 720p by clicking on settings wheel)

Almost all videos were recorded from the FOD stream (no commentary)
Videos of Hana Yoshida, Haruna Murakami and Mako Yamashita are from Fuji TV or Fuji TV Two broadcasts (with commentary)

My laptop froze during Hana, Haruna and Mako's SPs so needed to re-record their programs but Day 1 events have had not yet been uploaded to FOD

Placement		Score	Program Music	Choreographer(s)
1	Kaori Sakamoto	77.79	Rock with U, Feedback by Janet Jackson	Rohene Ward
2	Mai Mihara	74.70	Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto	David Wilson
3	Mone Chiba (Junior)	71.06	Schindler's List	Akiko Suzuki
4	Mao Shimada (Junior)	70.28	The Lion King	Cathy Reed
5	Saki Miyake	66.29	Never Enough (The Greatest Showman)	Akiko Suzuki
6	Mana Kawabe	64.51	Billie Eilish Medley	Mihoko Higuchi
7	Ayumi Shibayama (Junior)	64.37	Chorale VI (Sol-Fa), Cantus: Song of Aeolus	Cathy Reed
8	Ami Nakai (Junior)	64.07	Gershwin - I Got Rhythm performed by Fazil Say	Akiko Suzuki
9	Ikura Kushida	63.29	Red Violin Based On En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor	Cathy Reed
10	Yuna Aoki	62.48	Byakuyako (TBS drama)	Akiko Suzuki
11	Rika Kihira	60.43	The Fire Within by Jennifer Thomas	Benoit Richaud
12	Yuhana Yokoi	59.78	Kalandero by Rene Dupere	Misato Sato
13	Miyabi Oba	59.77	Send In The Clowns	Miyabi Oba
14	Hana Yoshida	59.49	Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine	Lori Nichol
15	Haruna Murakami (Junior)	59.23	Just Wave Hello by Charlotte Church	Mihoko Higuchi
16	Yo Takagi (Junior)	58.87	Sous le ciel de Paris	Akiko Suzuki
17	Rion Sumiyoshi	57.38	White Flowers Take Their Bath	Cathy Reed
18	Rinka Watanabe	56.23	El Tango de Roxanne (Moulin Rouge)	Kenji Miyamoto
19	Hina Takeno	56.15	Memoirs Of A Geisha	Akiko Suzuki
20	Rino Matsuike	56.01	Papa, Can You Hear Me?	Noriko Sato
21	Niina Takeno	55.49	Csárdás	Kenji Miyamoto
22	Mako Yamashita	54.98	Rise Up by Andra Day	Mako Yamashita, Machiko Yamada, Yuko Hongo
23	Maria Egawa	52.83	The Last Emperor	Kenji Miyamoto
24	Akari Matsubara	52.45	Hallelujah	Kenji Miyamoto
25	Ibuki Sato	52.27	My Own True Love	Hanae Yokoya
26	Marin Honda	51.81	Assassin’s Tango	Lori Nichol
27	Yurina Okuno	49.29	Beethoven’s 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys	Noriko Sato
28	Chikako Saigusa	46.73	Scheherazade	Eiki Hattori
29	Shiika Yoshioka	44.75	The Prayer performed by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli	Kenji Miyamoto

What the heck is wrong with me??!? I completely forgot about Rika until I read this post! I missed her skate and I didn’t even notice until now! I watched the entire event live yet she’s the only skater I missed. It must’ve happened while I was watching the Russian lads. I was watching them while the ice was resurfacing and I think Rika was the first one up after the resurface.

Anyways, Rika’s skate wasn’t scored too badly. All things considering that could’ve easily gone below 60. She would’ve been about 66-70 with a cleaner skate, but she’s only four points off her highest international SP score so that’s not too bad. Hopefully she does what she’s been doing for the free skate.

 

[Azikin]

Women's Short Program video links (video quality can be increased up to 720p by clicking on settings wheel)

Almost all videos were recorded from the FOD stream (no commentary)
Videos of Hana Yoshida, Haruna Murakami and Mako Yamashita are from Fuji TV or Fuji TV Two broadcasts (with commentary)

My laptop froze during Hana, Haruna and Mako's SPs so needed to re-record their programs but Day 1 events have had not yet been uploaded to FOD

Placement		Score	Program Music	Choreographer(s)
1	Kaori Sakamoto	77.79	Rock with U, Feedback by Janet Jackson	Rohene Ward
2	Mai Mihara	74.70	Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence by Ryuichi Sakamoto	David Wilson
3	Mone Chiba (Junior)	71.06	Schindler's List	Akiko Suzuki
4	Mao Shimada (Junior)	70.28	The Lion King	Cathy Reed
5	Saki Miyake	66.29	Never Enough (The Greatest Showman)	Akiko Suzuki
6	Mana Kawabe	64.51	Billie Eilish Medley	Mihoko Higuchi
7	Ayumi Shibayama (Junior)	64.37	Chorale VI (Sol-Fa), Cantus: Song of Aeolus	Cathy Reed
8	Ami Nakai (Junior)	64.07	Gershwin - I Got Rhythm performed by Fazil Say	Akiko Suzuki
9	Ikura Kushida	63.29	Red Violin Based On En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor	Cathy Reed
10	Yuna Aoki	62.48	Byakuyako (TBS drama)	Akiko Suzuki
11	Rika Kihira	60.43	The Fire Within by Jennifer Thomas	Benoit Richaud
12	Yuhana Yokoi	59.78	Kalandero by Rene Dupere	Misato Sato
13	Miyabi Oba	59.77	Send In The Clowns	Miyabi Oba
14	Hana Yoshida	59.49	Dog Days Are Over by Florence and the Machine	Lori Nichol
15	Haruna Murakami (Junior)	59.23	Just Wave Hello by Charlotte Church	Mihoko Higuchi
16	Yo Takagi (Junior)	58.87	Sous le ciel de Paris	Akiko Suzuki
17	Rion Sumiyoshi	57.38	White Flowers Take Their Bath	Cathy Reed
18	Rinka Watanabe	56.23	El Tango de Roxanne (Moulin Rouge)	Kenji Miyamoto
19	Hina Takeno	56.15	Memoirs Of A Geisha	Akiko Suzuki
20	Rino Matsuike	56.01	Papa, Can You Hear Me?	Noriko Sato
21	Niina Takeno	55.49	Csárdás	Kenji Miyamoto
22	Mako Yamashita	54.98	Rise Up by Andra Day	Mako Yamashita, Machiko Yamada, Yuko Hongo
23	Maria Egawa	52.83	The Last Emperor	Kenji Miyamoto
24	Akari Matsubara	52.45	Hallelujah	Kenji Miyamoto
25	Ibuki Sato	52.27	My Own True Love	Hanae Yokoya
26	Marin Honda	51.81	Assassin’s Tango	Lori Nichol
27	Yurina Okuno	49.29	Beethoven’s 5 Secrets by The Piano Guys	Noriko Sato
28	Chikako Saigusa	46.73	Scheherazade	Eiki Hattori
29	Shiika Yoshioka	44.75	The Prayer performed by Céline Dion and Andrea Bocelli	Kenji Miyamoto

Thanks but I would prefer it without spoilers.

 

[TallyT]

 

[CoyoteChris]

What the heck is wrong with me??!? I completely forgot about Rika until I read this post! I missed her skate and I didn’t even notice until now! I watched the entire event live yet she’s the only skater I missed. It must’ve happened while I was watching the Russian lads. I was watching them while the ice was resurfacing and I think Rika was the first one up after the resurface.

Anyways, Rika’s skate wasn’t scored too badly. All things considering that could’ve easily gone below 60. She would’ve been about 66-70 with a cleaner skate, but she’s only four points off her highest international SP score so that’s not too bad. Hopefully she does what she’s been doing for the free skate.

Oh, what might have been.

 

[tsuyoboogie]

Thanks but I would prefer it without spoilers.

If you don't like spoilers you probably shouldn't be checking a thread where fans have been discussing the results of a competition

I feel you though...I'm the same way, especially when it comes to the Japanese skaters
That's the reason I'm willing to pay for a vpn and purchase the subscriptions necessary to enjoy competitions in real time or on replay in case I'm unable to watch live

This might be a good option for you to consider as well

 

[Solarsonic]

Mao Shimada's short program gave me goosebumps. Beautiful