Rika should stay calm and keep on improving in jumps, SS, PE and IN.She has no rivals in Japan, so she can prepare the next years to Peking in a much better situation that the 3A and other Russian girls. And judges, before or later, must recognise her values.
Rika Kihira
- Thread starter Marin
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- Dec 30, 2016
Clean free, she did great. 3A+2T was HUGE. The judging was very inconsistent here, some judges have her mid 9s and some mid 8s in the same components, but yeah, it's a small competition, it was expected. Her lutz deserves BETTER, period (someone really gave her FREAKING ZERO GOE??) Second gold of the season, second in the row. She has momentum going towards Worlds, hoping for two clean skates there!!! And that judges will see, what we do...
Yeah, I was going to say, this judging is hopefully not what we'll see at Worlds. Almost literally all of her GOEs were between 2 and 4; those 3As deserved better. If we're going by a strict interpretation of the rules, +3 is about right for her other jumps, but this same standard isn't applied uniformly, so...
However, Rika now has a new personal best! If only she hadn't messed up the lutz and the toe in the short though...
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2018
She seemed much more relaxed today. But I'm not quite up to date. Her boot issue got solved even before this comp, right? At least it didn't seem that she had issues with them. If the judges will be fair at world's...we'll see. I think we know that the judges have given better GOE etc to other certain skaters. I'm crossing my fingers for Rika for a great world's comp and that she'll stay healthy and no nerve-wracking issues will occur.
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2015
That was a really great skate. In terms of the judging, I believe the judges scored Rika fairly in comparison to the other skaters at this particular competition. The judges were not generous with GOEs for any of the women competing here. Hopefully, her scores will rise at Worlds when scored by judges more familiar with international competition. (and hopefully, the 3A will be scored fairly, too... Aliona is a truly beautiful skater, too. But, I think her 3Lz often receives higher GOE than it deserves, and Anna S. is hugely over-scored in many competitions)
It was a really good skate. However, I believe that she can do even better at Worlds and I hope that her skate at Worlds will be even more stunning. (Hopefully, she will score 83/84 with a clean short program and 158-159 with a clean long. (It would be great if she tries the 4S, too)
It was a really good skate. However, I believe that she can do even better at Worlds and I hope that her skate at Worlds will be even more stunning. (Hopefully, she will score 83/84 with a clean short program and 158-159 with a clean long. (It would be great if she tries the 4S, too)
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2016
Rika said that she wants to break 160 in free without 4S, she didn't give up on it (it depends on her body condition) but after seeing Kostornaia winning over girls with quads, she feels more confidence with her current content and wants to have confidence in all of her jumps. She got 156.38 today, there is a chance she could get it, especially after clean short, her GOEs can be higher than that, her PCS can be slighly higher too. At Worlds scores tend to go crazy. But it's all about judges, like always, sadly.
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
What an outstanding performance from Rika. On one hand, Rika gave what to me is the best free performance of the season in women's in terms of overall artistic expression, skating skills, crisp and fluid edges and step sequences, technical and expressive excellence displaying maturity with a proper triple lutz edge and beautiful jumps, fluidity and plasticity of movement, minimal pre-rotation and no overlooked tech calls. On the other hand, the scores here compared to Eteri skaters show yet again that she lacks political backing, with the scoring in the wake of the tech memo driving home the point even more so. Her scoring discrimination is an unjust fact because she is a threat to the favorites. I dearly hope that Rika can deliver her ideal program at Worlds and that she will be scored fairly relatively, but I personally will not judge her based on the points given by the judges.
I think Rika was scored very unfairly in PCS, especially in the short program. 33 is barely above an 8 on average. Yes, she fell but that was penalized in her TES score. And in her brilliant long program her PCS is still under 9 on average. She has great skating skills and is an excellent performer. There are plenty of transitions and the program itself is unique and well put together. I think her PCS should have been 73-75, at least.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2020
We will only find out in four weeks whether this is really the case! ;-)
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2019
She wouldn’t need it in fair world with a fair judging... unfortunately this is not the case
If she skates clean at Worlds she can place ahead of Sasha and Anna, but I think that a clean Rika with the same number of 3Axels of Alyona won’t score higher than the Russian
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2015
This type of PCS scoring is common in small competitions. I agree that Rika should have higher PCS (in the long program), but if you look at the PCS that other skaters here received...her PCS is fair in comparison to them... I love her SP, but she looked nervous and fell in the SP so I am not sure the scores were deflated in that segment.
Small competitions are almost always extremely overscored or extremely underscored. No one really takes these scores seriously which is why they don't count as a SB.
We will see how Rika is judged at Worlds, if she has two clean skates. It is impossible to compare scores between different competitions, but I hope she is judged fairly against her rivals when competing at the same competition.
She wouldn’t need it in fair world with a fair judging... unfortunately this is not the case
If she skates clean at Worlds she can place ahead of Sasha and Anna, but I think that a clean Rika with the same number of 3Axels of Alyona won’t score higher than the Russian
She was only a few points, 3 I think, behind Kostornaia in the long at NHK. She has gotten better since then, with her 3lutz. I agree the Russians have been overscored all season, so it is an uphill battle. The pressure will be on everyone at Worlds so it may go to the skater who makes the fewest mistakes. I’m not counting Rika out.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
You guys think our Rika has the chance at two Olympics? That would be so amazing to think she could have that kind of longevity in an era of disposable skaters and if anyone can do it, it's her.
Liza is almost 24 and is training quads. Although her lutz technique is slightly better than Rika's, Rika overall has superior jump technique. Mao was at the top jumping 3As until she was around 25, and her own jump technique was fishy in the beginning, but she attended two Olympics after narrowing being age ineligible for the 2006 Olympics, much like Rika's current situation, so if Mao is anything to go by, Rika has every chance of going to the 2026 Olympics. It'd be amazing if Rika won both Olympics.
Kostornaia made a mistake on her 3A in that long though, so we can't expect that to still be the case. I think Rika UR'd her 3F-3T in that competition and had a poor 3Lo in the short, so hopefully that doesn't happen again.
The way I see Rika vs Alena is, if Rika (no 4S) makes one less mistake than Alena, she wins. If they make the same number of mistakes, Alena wins. If Rika lands a 4S, the situation is reversed; she would then be able to afford one more mistake than Alena. That's what the judging currently looks like.
PCS is not supposed to be comparative among skaters. But, oh well...
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2015
There are many things that PCS should not be.. including a way for judges to reward skaters with high technical content. However, the reality is very different. Small competitions are never a good predictor for World's scoring. Do you remember how Rika was scored last year at Challenge Cup? This year is far better.
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