Daisuke Takahashi to compete in Ice Dance from 2020

[Sai Bon]

Just think, we will soon have a thread on GS called Japanese Ice Dance....:yes2:

 

[SnowWhite]

Just think, we will soon have a thread on GS called Japanese Ice Dance....:yes2:

There is already a Japanese Ice Dance fan fest, though it needs to be updated more.

 

[risingtrot]

I'm excited about this. Regardless of discpline it is always nice to see Daisuke skate.

About 3 years ago, I was skating in a public local ice rink and I saw several pairs (maybe around 7 to 10 years old) practicing ice dance with their coach. I know that Japan is still far as far as ice dance and pairs is concern but hopefully in a few more years, promising skaters will rise. Given that there are so many talented Japanese ladies single skaters as well I won't be surprised if a few of them will shift to Ice dance.

Goodluck to Daisuke~

 

[Sai Bon]

There is already a Japanese Ice Dance fan fest, though it needs to be updated more.

My apologies. Of course there is!

 

[asiacheetah]

I'm beyond excited! Japan is weak on the Pairs and Ice Dance side. Daisuke has always had great performance quality and skating skills. I really liked Kana from the Olympic season and thought she had great ice presence as well. Coached by an experienced ice dance coach, this could turn out well for this pairing.

I know of Single skaters also turning to Pairs or vice versa before (think Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy). Has there been instances where Single skaters turned to Ice Dance before?

 

[rain]

Like many others I wondered if this was true at first. Good luck to him. It's not an easy transition, even for the best singles skaters.

 

[PaulE]

I may be an odd one out on this thread. I have loved Daisuke's skating but I am probably slightly more a fan of Kana. So I am thrilled to know that I may get to see Kana again in the future. (I loved Kana's older sister Satsuki when I got to see her skate many years ago at Junior Worlds.)

 

[rabidline]

I may be an odd one out on this thread. I have loved Daisuke's skating but I am probably slightly more a fan of Kana. So I am thrilled to know that I may get to see Kana again in the future. (I loved Kana's older sister Satsuki when I got to see her skate many years ago at Junior Worlds.)

You're definitely not the odd one out, PaulE, I also feel the same.

I was crushed when I learned that Kana and Chris split up last season because I really like her and her skating in ice dance, and the Olympic season was really promising for her future. After the split it was very uncertain if Kana can continue or not (she wants to, but I feel the options are very limited, if there is even any), and it was difficult to see her sitting out the 2018-2019 season.

When I read the news that Kana is participating in Hyoen, I thought things may be looking up, but this is beyond my expectations! I'm so happy that now she has a partner, a plan, a coach, and a goal to look forward to, and that hopefully I'll get to see her skate someday :luv17:

Oh, and Daisuke is also a legend, of course Imagine if with his clout in Japan he somehow can spearhead a boom in Japanese ice dance (because I presume the Japanese media will be lapping this up) the way he did with Japanese men's singles. I don't think they even have to medal or make the Olympics team to make such an impact.

 

[doublequad]

STAN stanning STAN

 

[aqua70]

It'll be interesting to watch them develop & evolve for sure. Hopefully, even as Daisuke is finishing his last season as a singles skater, he and Kana are doing some training on ice dance basics so that it won't be too overwhelming for either of them when they finally start working on programs & competing.
One other thought about the matter, though. If successful enough, this pairing could inspire the JSF to try it with other single skaters who, while talented, may not reach ever the top tier competitively; the fields in both men's and women's are deep enough & it'll allow some of them to continue on in the sport rather than retire early.

 

[HazyD]

I just said "What?!", when I open my PC and saw it on the news site:eeking:

That's so funny -- I saw the thread headline and said "what?!" and when my husband asked me from the other room what was going on, I told him, and he said "what?!"

 

[iluvtodd]

Wow! I didn't see this coming, like so many others here! Very excited for Daisuke & Kana!

 

[oly2018]

I wonder if they are aiming for 2020 because there is concern about the citizenship issue with K/K. Last year they had to be coached part time in Japan because Tim needs have residency in Japan, so I assumed he was still in the citizenship process.

 

[dorispulaski]

I'm beyond excited! Japan is weak on the Pairs and Ice Dance side. Daisuke has always had great performance quality and skating skills. I really liked Kana from the Olympic season and thought she had great ice presence as well. Coached by an experienced ice dance coach, this could turn out well for this pairing.

I know of Single skaters also turning to Pairs or vice versa before (think Kristi Yamaguchi and Rudy). Has there been instances where Single skaters turned to Ice Dance before?

All the time. Most skaters start in singles

But there is Charlie White who competed in Men's Juniors before competing solely in ice dance. Granted, he started in dance quite young, but as I remember it, the original idea was dance would cause him not to show his ice hockey roots in singles quite so much. He won bronze in US Novices and competed on the JGP at Long Beach in 2004-2005.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_White_(figure_skater)

 

[Seven Sisters]

I wonder if they are aiming for 2020 because there is concern about the citizenship issue with K/K. Last year they had to be coached part time in Japan because Tim needs have residency in Japan, so I assumed he was still in the citizenship process.

I didn’t even think about that, oly2018, but of course you are right! I knew Tim K’s citizenship was in process, and had assumed that it would come through in time, but perhaps this new team is to be a backup plan if that doesn’t happen.

It doesn’t matter, though. As someone else said on this thread, any skating that Daisuke cares to share with us going forward, is a gift that we fans should be thrilled to receive.

 

[mrrice]

All the time. Most skaters start in singles

But there is Charlie White who competed in Men's Juniors before competing solely in ice dance. Granted, he started in dance quite young, but as I remember it, the original idea was dance would cause him not to show his ice hockey roots in singles quite so much. He won bronze in US Novices and competed on the JGP at Long Beach in 2004-2005.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_White_(figure_skater)

I wonder if this will give Jeremy Abbott any ideas. I always thought he'd be a great Ice Dancer.

 

[MiraiFan]

OMG I love this so much!!!

 

[zanadude]

I hope Chris gets Kanako Murakami as hia partner.

 

[hippomoomin]

He has great ss but I am not sure how is going to deal with the lifts because it requires the kind of strength he was not trained for, and considering he had lots of injury at the end of his competitive single skating...

 

[synesthesia]

My belated reaction:

:reye::dance2:


Never a dull moment.



This will be Dai's hardest challenge yet. All the best to Kana and him!

I'll be along for yet another rollercoaster ride.