2014 NHK Trophy Ladies Free Skate 11/29

[Blades of Passion]

There needs to be more talk about the best performance in this Long Program!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5eOe-MFzI

Bow down to princess Riona Kato!

She has strong jumps, good spins, good extensions, and a beautifully budding artistic sensibility. I hope this is just the beginning for her!

 

[Sandpiper]

There needs to be more talk about the best performance in this Long Program!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5eOe-MFzI

Bow down to princess Riona Kato!

She has strong jumps, good spins, good extensions, and a beautifully budding artistic sensibility. I hope this is just the beginning for her!

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but... Huge credit to Kato for landing 6 triples (7 if you count the flutz). The program seemed a little jump-jump-jump to me, but it's good to see somebody in this competition who can still jump! Maybe more work on her line can help with the PCS--I know she doesn't really have the ideal body type, but with the right choreography, music, and costume, she could go places.

 

[treeloving]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but... Huge credit to Kato for landing 6 triples (7 if you count the flutz). The program seemed a little jump-jump-jump to me, but it's good to see somebody in this competition who can still jump! Maybe more work on her line can help with the PCS--I know she doesn't really have the ideal body type, but with the right choreography, music, and costume, she could go places.

Well, her air position is beautiful and the leg extension after jump landing is nice compare to other in the same age.

 

[Blades of Passion]

The jumps are beautifully spread out in that program. She actually looked to be enjoying herself and the movement wasn't cluttered. The choreography could be improved (better movement leading in the double axels and the lutz, better footwork sequence, better sequencing of positions in the combination spins) but I appreciated the ease of it and the effervescent quality they were trying to capture.

 

[matmuh]

I agree with you. Satoko's LP skate at Skate Canada really moved me emotionally, especially the last section where she does some lovely pirouettes, and multi-directional spins before closing in a Biellmann. I also love her step sequences. The jump mistakes at NHK detracted a little, but that last section was still really beautiful. I admit she has small jumps, but sometimes it's nice to appreciate the things that are wonderful about a performance.

omg i love that part too, make me teary also, glad i am not alone

Might be a bit of a dumb question and a little OT but why was Hanyu's single invalidated?

i might be cause of requirements of SP, if it was in fp i think it would count but not an expert

 

[gotoschool]

There needs to be more talk about the best performance in this Long Program!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5eOe-MFzI

Bow down to princess Riona Kato!

She has strong jumps, good spins, good extensions, and a beautifully budding artistic sensibility. I hope this is just the beginning for her!

I totally agree with you on this. As for her jumps, Riona had erect posture, excellent height, distance, rotation and and a nice flair of the arms and back combined with smooth, rapid flow of the skates on exit. Her jumps also have beautiful symmetrical revolutions with rapid rotation which I find aesthetically pleasing. The tanos are also a nice touch and not exaggerated like some. Her skating skills seem fine and varied as well. She keeps good pace with the many changes in tempo of Prokofiev 3.

Granted she still needs to develop a little more intricate arm movements, and a little better line and extension, and better steps, but she is getting there and these qualities are enjoyable to me already. She does some fairly nice multi-directional steps mixed with illusion spins. I noticed that she did a fairly nice though quick arabesque and a surprisingly good Biellmann to conclude the program with marvelous acceleration. Good combination of facility in jumps and flexibility and speed in spins, though she still needs to gain some control over holding the positions. I really enjoyed her performance. It had flow and propulsion.

 

[Mrs. P]

Lots of interesting trivia during the NBC broadcast regarding Satoko:

* She worked with Illa Kulik this summer on her jumps.
* She was born in Kyoto, but lived in Houston for the first six years while her parents held jobs (both are doctors) and attended kindergarden and 1st grade before moving back to Japan. She speaks English very well.


Tara made an interesting comment that her jump lack speed coming in, which tends to affect the speed coming out. Perhaps that affects the impression of those jumps to judges.

 

[ice coverage]

Lots of interesting trivia during the NBC broadcast regarding Satoko:

* She worked with Illa Kulik this summer on her jumps.
* She was born in Kyoto, but lived in Houston for the first six years while her parents held jobs (both are doctors) and attended kindergarden and 1st grade before moving back to Japan. She speaks English very well.


Tara made an interesting comment that her jump lack speed coming in, which tends to affect the speed coming out. Perhaps that affects the impression of those jumps to judges.

Just curious: did NBC show Gao's FS?

I saw in the American ladies thread that NBC did show Gold's SP. And I assume that it showed Edmunds' FS?

(Sorry to be that person who asks such annoying questions. I missed the first half hour, and Miyahara was skating when I tuned in.)

 

[Mrs. P]

Just curious: did NBC show Gao's FS?

I saw in the American ladies thread that NBC did show Gold's SP. And I assume that it showed Edmunds' FS?

(Sorry to be that person who asks such annoying questions. I missed the first half hour, and Miyahara was skating when I tuned in.)

Yes, they showed all three American ladies.

 

[ice coverage]

Yes, they showed all three American ladies.

Thanks, Mrs. P. Glad that NBC did.

ETA:

I meant no disrespect to Gao, but I guess that some of her fans would have preferred that this particular skate of hers had not been broadcast.

Unrelated comment:

Putting two and two together from social media, I think Gao left Osaka before the NHK banquet. Harvard's final exams for the semester start next week, so understandable that she rushed back to campus. But too bad that she could not enjoy hanging out with her skating friends longer.​

 

[Frenchie]

After having a look at the judges' scores, I have a rulebook question that goes beyond disagreeing with any specific judgement:
Since when is it OK to have two 3-jump-combinations?
Anna Ovcharova had
-) 3Lo<+1Lo+2T+SEQ < 3.92 -0.70 3.22
-) 2A+1Lo+2S 5.61 x 0.07 5.68
and both were validated and the marks were included in her total score. I don't get it... Anyone?
http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn2014/gpjpn2014_Ladies_FS_Scores.pdf

 

[chuckm]

There is one person who agrees that Satoko should have won, and that is---- Satoko. She looked as if she was on the brink of tears throughout the podium ceremony, especially when the US anthem was played. The only time she cracked a smile was when the photographers came to take pictures.

 

[MiRé]

After having a look at the judges' scores, I have a rulebook question that goes beyond disagreeing with any specific judgement:
Since when is it OK to have two 3-jump-combinations?
Anna Ovcharova had
-) 3Lo<+1Lo+2T+SEQ < 3.92 -0.70 3.22
-) 2A+1Lo+2S 5.61 x 0.07 5.68
and both were validated and the marks were included in her total score. I don't get it... Anyone?
http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpjpn2014/gpjpn2014_Ladies_FS_Scores.pdf

It's because it's a sequence jump. the 1Lo is not counted towards the jump, only 3Lo<+2T+SEQ is. Value of 3Lo< is 3.6 (essentially a 2 jump combo), 2T is 1.3 and since it's SEQ, it gets 80% of the BV so 4.9*(.80) = 3.92 as BV for 3Lo+1Lo+2T+SEQ. I don't think it's possible to get 3Lo+2T without a hop in between.

Compare this to her 2A+1Lo+2S, it would be (3.3+0.5+1.3)*(1.1)= 5.61 and every jump is counted towards the BV

 

[Frenchie]

Thanks for your take on this! I thought while watching that she'd get 0 points for her last combination / jump sequence, since I thought the judges would just deem "the whole thing" as invalid, since the half loop between the 2 big jumps has been counted as the 3rd jump in the past, hence only 1 of those sequences was allowed per program. Maybe they changed the rules? I don't think it's in the spirit of the technical regulations to have a 3-jump sequence and say "well, she was only allowed to do a 2-jump sequence at that time, so let's just pretend the 3rd jump never happened!"

 

[CarneAsada]

There needs to be more talk about the best performance in this Long Program!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5eOe-MFzI

Bow down to princess Riona Kato!

She has strong jumps, good spins, good extensions, and a beautifully budding artistic sensibility. I hope this is just the beginning for her!

That was a really good performance! And to Prokofiev 3, one of my favorites. But I thought her choreography was sort of boring until after the footwork sequence and she seemed a little slow. The jumps went with the music but in between it felt really empty and the footwork wasn't great. Though it got better in the 2nd half and she does have potential.

 

[gotoschool]

That was a really good performance! And to Prokofiev 3, one of my favorites. But I thought her choreography was sort of boring until after the footwork sequence and she seemed a little slow. The jumps went with the music but in between it felt really empty and the footwork wasn't great. Though it got better in the 2nd half and she does have potential.

I thought that was Prokofiev number 3, but wikipedia lists Rach 3 for her program. Thanks for clarifying. I should have known better.

 

[AlexRus]

There needs to be more talk about the best performance in this Long Program!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I5eOe-MFzI

Bow down to princess Riona Kato!

She has strong jumps, good spins, good extensions, and a beautifully budding artistic sensibility. I hope this is just the beginning for her!

But Riona Kato is not stable enough.

At JrNats (November 2013) she was only 14th in SP, because of 3T+3T<<.

This season (all her competitions for which I found the results):
At Asian Open FS Trophy - 3F+3T< in SP, 1F instead of 3F in FS.
At 2014 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic - 5th in FS because of 5 triples in FS, one <<, one <, one fall.
At Kinki Reigonal she was 7th in SP - 3F< fall.
At Western Sectionals she was 2nd after not so high level skater Myabi Oba, in FS popped two jumping elements (GOE=-3), one of these two fall.
At NHK Trophy SP - 3F fall in SP.

 

[chloepoco]

There is one person who agrees that Satoko should have won, and that is---- Satoko. She looked as if she was on the brink of tears throughout the podium ceremony, especially when the US anthem was played. The only time she cracked a smile was when the photographers came to take pictures.

Just because she "was on the brink of tears..." does not mean she thought she should have won. What a ridiculous assumption to make.

 

[Mrs. P]

Just because she "was on the brink of tears..." does not mean she thought she should have won. What a ridiculous assumption to make.

She was probably more sad about her less than perfect performance.

 

[peg]

She was probably more sad about her less than perfect performance.

Or perhaps she was just emotionally overwhelmed - despite a less than perfect skate, she still won a medal. That can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster