Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran Fan Fest

[blue dog]

That certainly would be nice, but another factor why there hasn't been many pairs teams in Japan, is the height Japanese men tend to be short which isn't ideal for pairs (I remember Shizuka commenting on this in the past).

Of course, that's changing. The average height of men in Japan is 5'7", according to the Official Statistics of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology- http://www.e-stat.go.jp/SG1/estat/eStatTopPortal.do

That's the height of Bryce Davison. The average height of women in Japan is 5'2"--which was the height of Jessica Dube. They were pretty successful.

[silverlake22]

I think Japanese men are not only generally short but also slight. Men like Oda and Takahashi are very small in height and weight, but even skaters like Hanyu, Kozuka, Hino who are a little taller are all very wiry in their build, definitely not suited to pairs skating. The only men in Japan currently who are somewhat suited to pairs skating build-wise that I can think of would be Kihara and Mura, maybe Hino if he were to grow a couple more inches and put on some weight in the coming years, which he feasibly could as he's only just 17.

[golden411]

New tweet from Mervin Tran ‏ @skate_moivo:

"Sorry to inform, Narumi and I will not be doing Stars on Ice Regina due to injury though I will still be attending to watch with my family."

What a shame. I hope the injury is not serious.

ETA:
Tran later elaborated:
"FYI: it's Narumi who is hurt. Its minor, doctors recommended two weeks rest. We did not want to risk it healing improperly by doing the show"

Whew ... glad to hear that Narumi's injury is only minor!

[golden411]

Mervin Tran ‏@skate_moivo

... we will most likely do the Annual Mid-Atlantic Competition in New York again like last year.
10:22 AM - 22 May 12

[BTW, yesterday IN posted a new "5 Favorite Things With ... " piece featuring T/T.
I like this pair and am happy that they skate for Japan, but was surprised that IN's second paragraph refers to Tran's "strong Japanese roots." Is this reference a mistake? If Tran really had strong Japanese "roots", the debate over his prospects for Japanese citizenship would be slightly less intense, wouldn't it?]