2014 Nagoya TV Cup Ladies LP | Page 3 | Golden Skate

2014 Nagoya TV Cup Ladies LP

Rami

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 6, 2013
I almost feel bad about it but, despite all the talent, I don’t particularly like any of the Russian babies (yet?).

This time again, judging only from the videos, I enjoyed Yuka Nagai much better than Serafima, although Serafima deserved to win.
I don’t know if I have a thing for the Japanese skaters (I’m not Japanese) but I realize they tend to be my favorites.

What do you think about Yuka’s potential, by the way?
So far, I could see big effortless, fully rotated jumps, very nice lines and arms, lovely spin positions and overall gracefulness and elegance, good musicality.
She looks and moves very harmoniously on the ice, which is something I somehow miss in the Russian girls.

Actually, I can’t think of any of the top Russian ladies, whose lines I would like or whom I would describe as graceful, which is strange, as I’m sure they must be getting plenty of ballet training.
Most of them are either very impressive jumpers e.g. Tuktamysheva (when she’s on), Pogorilaya; or brilliant perfomers (Radionova); or to a degree both (Sotnikova, Sakhanovich, Medvedeva),
or have other assets like Lipnitskaya, whom I don’t consider a particularly great jumper nor a great artist, but she has the difficulty, consistency and the undeniable wow factor (flexibilty, incredible spins etc.)
But really elegant, graceful and polished with clean positions and no distracting movements? For me no, although they still have plenty of time to develop that.

ETA: Just remembered, yes! Elizaveta Iushenko fits this description to me and I really enjoyed her skating in Ostrava, although her jumps were not with her that day.

If there are any others I might have missed, please let me know.
I don’t mean to make this sound anti-Russian (I’m not by any means), nor do I think that gracefulness, beautiful lines and elegance are the only qualities to look for.
I’m just trying to find out if others see what I’m seeing and why the Russian girls might be somewhat lacking in this department, when they seem to have almost everything else.

Back to the competition, I loved Serafima’s energy and how into the performace she was; I was impressed by her jumps and the speed in her spins but, as shine mentioned,
her landing position tends to be distracting and her lines and arm movents are not particularly appealing either. I simply didn’t find the whole picture as well balanced and aesthetically pleasingas in Nagai’s case,
but maybe that’s just me.
Oh, and I absolutely HATE the half-over tights on anybody!

Out of the others I liked Da Bin Choi’s FS overall performance; loved Bradie Tennell’s spins and thought the music choice and choreography really suited her;
found Jenni Saarinen to be a really beautiful skater (pitty about the meltdown) and her skating sometimes reminded me of Mao.

I've been very impressed with Nagai as well. I could watch her jump all day. Her programs and movements have nice sophistication.

I like Sakhanovich and Medvedeva's skating but hope they would have better choreography. Especially their free programs have weird and generic music editing and choreo.

Da Bin Choi has nice foundation for her skating but I wish there would some interpretation that she would be mentally present in her programs.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
I think Nagai has a good chance to get the third spot for senior worlds. She was often (unduly) favored by the JSF. Probably because she was considered the most talented (female) skater from Eastern Japan. I even suspect that Kato was given a NHK spot so that they could use one or two JGP spots for Nagai. Now they have sufficient reasons to push her further. Nagai's main rivals should be Kato and Hongo. Both of them are marked "e" on the flutz. Nagai' true lutz will be a big advantage (BV and impression-wise). Also, Nagai has the better looks, lines and presentation. Those things are very important in this sport.
What does being a talented female skater from Eastern Japan has anything to do with being favored by JSF? I am curious about this mindset. Would you please enlighten me?
 

NMURA

Medalist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
What does being a talented female skater from Eastern Japan has anything to do with being favored by JSF? I am curious about this mindset. Would you please enlighten me?

It is said that there are mainly three factions or "forces" in the JSF (East, Aichi, Kansai). In the number of skaters, the East is the biggest one but their presence at international competitions was overshelmed by the West. Nagai was the ONLY skater sent to JGP in last season despite poor national results. She is specially favored since she belongs to a skating club run by Seibu Group, which had significant influences on Japanese winter sports for decades.
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
It is said that there are mainly three factions or "forces" in the JSF (East, Aichi, Kansai). In the number of skaters, the East is the biggest one but their presence at international competitions was overshelmed by the West. Nagai was the ONLY skater sent to JGP in last season despite poor national results. She is specially favored since she belongs to a skating club run by Seibu Group, which had significant influences on Japanese winter sports for decades.
Wow... So much politics...:popcorn: then which "force" Sendai belongs to among these 3, mind I ask?
 

NMURA

Medalist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Nagai's placements at junior nationals
2011 18th
2012 18th
2013 19th

yet she was sent to JGP in the following year... I would say this is a typical favoritism. She finally made some impacts this year. They must be relieved.:laugh:
 

Meoima

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Nagai's placements at junior nationals
2011 18th
2012 18th
2013 19th
yet she was sent to JGP in the following year... I would say this is a typical favoritism. She finally made some impacts this year. They must be relieved.:laugh:
Mind I ask who placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd at Japan junior national ladies?
 

zamboni step

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 14, 2013
Nagai's placements at junior nationals
2011 18th
2012 18th
2013 19th

yet she was sent to JGP in the following year... I would say this is a typical favoritism. She finally made some impacts this year. They must be relieved.:laugh:

You were also the one who declared Miyahara was going to knock Suzuki off the podium on the Japanese Nationals thread..... five minutes before she finished her gold winning performance....Yuka has performed better than any other Japanese skater on the JGP, with Wakaba making a major mistake in her SP and she is the first Japanese lady to qualify for the JGPF. As far as Kato and Hongo go, Yuka's jumps are simply better when they work, which they have been for the last two competitions (generally speaking), and I fail to recall either Kato or Hongo even earning a silver at their JGPs.
 

NMURA

Medalist
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
You were also the one who declared Miyahara was going to knock Suzuki off the podium on the Japanese Nationals thread..... five minutes before she finished her gold winning performance....Yuka has performed better than any other Japanese skater on the JGP, with Wakaba making a major mistake in her SP and she is the first Japanese lady to qualify for the JGPF. As far as Kato and Hongo go, Yuka's jumps are simply better when they work, which they have been for the last two competitions (generally speaking), and I fail to recall either Kato or Hongo even earning a silver at their JGPs.

I said before that Miyahara would've been chosen if Asada didn't indulge in the "two axels" extravagance. The JSF used Suzuki as a tool to teach a lesson to Asada. Skate a balanced program cleanly, then you get a big score. Otherwise, we have no other choice but to "push" Suzuki for a medal. You are doomed. It was a tentative "success" but I think her peculiar persistence could have put the SP practices on the back-burner, which was the reason of the major debacles at Sochi. I still believe that Suzuki's second "Olympic experience"was a waste and many of the JSF people could have the same idea.

As for Nagai, if she was an American, she wouldn't be given a spot for a "fairness" reason. Nagai has the best potentials among JPN junior ladies (of this year) second only to Higuchi. So I don't have any disagreement even if it was a form of favoritism. Sometimes you are favored because you have connections, sometimes .. because you have raw talents.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
That's quite an insult to Suzuki. Suzuki didn't skate Mao or Miyahara's programs, and vice versa, she skated for herself. She got the job done and clearly beat Miyahara, regardless of how Mao skated. It wasn't to teach a lesson... JSF didn't land Suzuki's jumps for her. Suzuki skated her best performances and thoroughly deserved her National title.
 

Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
That's quite an insult to Suzuki. Suzuki didn't skate Mao or Miyahara's programs, and vice versa, she skated for herself. She got the job done and clearly beat Miyahara, regardless of how Mao skated. It wasn't to teach a lesson... JSF didn't land Suzuki's jumps for her. Suzuki skated her best performances and thoroughly deserved her National title.

:clap:
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
I said before that Miyahara would've been chosen if Asada didn't indulge in the "two axels" extravagance. The JSF used Suzuki as a tool to teach a lesson to Asada. Skate a balanced program cleanly, then you get a big score. Otherwise, we have no other choice but to "push" Suzuki for a medal. You are doomed. It was a tentative "success" but I think her peculiar persistence could have put the SP practices on the back-burner, which was the reason of the major debacles at Sochi. I still believe that Suzuki's second "Olympic experience"was a waste and many of the JSF people could have the same idea.

As for Nagai, if she was an American, she wouldn't be given a spot for a "fairness" reason. Nagai has the best potentials among JPN junior ladies (of this year) second only to Higuchi. So I don't have any disagreement even if it was a form of favoritism. Sometimes you are favored because you have connections, sometimes .. because you have raw talents.

I agree with one poster who said that the scores were pushed upwards in Japanese Nationals 2013 in order to set the stage for Mao to approach the 150 threshold if she skated clean, which would necessitate her completing the triple axel, as opposed to skating a balanced program not containing it. I also think the intention was probably to inflate all the Japanese skaters as was done at Russian Nationals and is often done at Nationals everywhere in the run-up to the Olympics, so that the focus wasn't just on Mao. I just don't think that the JSF would try to punish it's best medal threat by discouraging Mao from using her trademark jump when everyone knows her adamant insistence on using it, especially considering how much this endears her to so many of her fans.

I also think that Akiko skated really well and deserved the victory. It's just that Mao made too many mistakes to justify a high score without looking suspicious. I am not making excuses for Mao. but given the fact that she practically never complains, that she skated so stiff through out the LP program, and that she took a couple of weeks off of her training shortly after the event, it seems quite probable that she was skating with injuries which hindered her performance. Skaters who attempt more difficult technical elements like Mao are also more prone to inconsistency, though the flips side is that when they deliver, it is more impressive, as the majesty of her Sochi's LP demonstrated or Midori's LP's at Worlds 1989 and 1990.

I like Yuka quite a bit, but the stellar skating skills and beautiful and powerful jumps of Wakaba are more exciting and impressive to me.
 
Top