I think the Japanese are fine overall. Matsuike was great. And Sumiyoshi and Wakaba were also very good all things considered. Plus the French GP scoring was very harsh, especially PCS.
2023-24 Japanese Women's Figure Skating
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I was in the same boat too. I was expecting three not four to make the finals. Might still happen.
But, Mihara is ???
Hana or Rion need 2nd place finishes at their next events. So, could happen.
I expected four in Juniors. I was so close as Yo could have made it if she skated better at her first event. Japan is still leading the field in both Senior Ladies and Junior Ladies in the international circuit this year.
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- Mar 9, 2013
Unfortunately, Mai WDs from Cup of China, due to injury to her right ankle.
By JSF:
By JSF:
This makes me so sad
I knew something was wrong when I didn’t see her skate domestically.
Does this mean Rino has a good chance of replacing Mai? It would be nice to at least see a Japanese skater replace Mai, but, it might be too late.
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- Mar 22, 2018
I Just don't understand why they make such decisions so close to the competition, don't think a skater will replace her in time, hope Mai recovers thou
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- Mar 21, 2018
I think something’s getting lost in translation. Or it could be that the written word isn’t as clear as spoken. Tone can get lost when you can’t hear a person’s voice. I just want to make it clear that I wasn’t offended or upset by what you said in the earlier post and my intent wasn’t to accuse you of being dismissive of other competitors in my own. I actually didn’t think that at all that and you didn’t post anything offensive. I just thought you were jumping the gun and overly excited with your predictions, but I certainly wasn’t bothered by it. I was a little amused even.
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- Mar 21, 2018
Sumiyoshi just missed out on GPF last year and I hope that doesn’t happen again. The results in China helped her out as it is now possible that she qualifies with two bronzes, depending on the results of NHK.
A Sakamoto-Kim C-Sumiyoshi podium next week in any order is great.
A lot of things can happen in NHK, but essentially the top four need to be Japanese and Korean and in the right order. If Mihara doesn’t withdraw, then she better be in form because I’ll be rooting for her to take the gold. I hope that if she withdraws last minute again then Matsuike could replace her.
If Espoo is as expected and a Mihara-Higuchi-Lee-Kim Y podium* happens in NHK, then the GPF qualifiers will be Sakamoto, Levito, Hendrickx, Kim Chaeyeon, Yoshida, and Sumiyoshi.
*There are other podiums but I think that’s probably the most realistic. Higuchi winning, Lee winning Silver or better, or Pinzarrone placing fourth or better are the spoilers.
The surprising news is that short of Lee winning NHK with Pinzarrone on the podium, there may be three Japanese women at the final, after all.
A Sakamoto-Kim C-Sumiyoshi podium next week in any order is great.
A lot of things can happen in NHK, but essentially the top four need to be Japanese and Korean and in the right order. If Mihara doesn’t withdraw, then she better be in form because I’ll be rooting for her to take the gold. I hope that if she withdraws last minute again then Matsuike could replace her.
If Espoo is as expected and a Mihara-Higuchi-Lee-Kim Y podium* happens in NHK, then the GPF qualifiers will be Sakamoto, Levito, Hendrickx, Kim Chaeyeon, Yoshida, and Sumiyoshi.
*There are other podiums but I think that’s probably the most realistic. Higuchi winning, Lee winning Silver or better, or Pinzarrone placing fourth or better are the spoilers.
The surprising news is that short of Lee winning NHK with Pinzarrone on the podium, there may be three Japanese women at the final, after all.
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I think the Japanese overall have skated well, but not anything way above expectations. The Koreans have been very disappointing. The rest of the world without Russia just isn't very good,which has been the case for awhile now. So really its mostly just a case of Korean under performance and the Russian ban. Japanese Nationals should be much better than GPF to be honest.
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- Mar 21, 2018
I think the Japanese ladies did perform better than expected, but admittedly my expectations were low from the start.
Due to nonsensical domestic competitions, most of the Korean skaters have pacing/peak issues. Kim Chaeyeon is the notable exception. Kim Yelim was disappointing, but she also peaked early last season and lost steam by mid-season.
I watched everything last season - Challengers, JGP (all stages) GP (all stages), the Russian GP (all four disciplines for all stages), and Nationals for five countries. I’ve come to the conclusion that the disciplines most affected by the Russian ban are pairs and junior men. Ladies are of course affected, but not as much as those two.
People tend to use hyperbole when it comes to Russian ladies. The top five Russian gals have technical content well above the rest of the world, but there’s a drop off after that. Last year, places 4-12 at any RGP will be beaten by the top Japanese or Korean gals. They’re going to beat the pants out of everyone else, though, but that’s also true for the Japanese and Koreans because all three countries are above the rest of the world with Russia being way ahead. Russian ban meant that Japanese and Korea moved up to 1 and 2 where before they were 2 and 3. It didn’t mean that some lady from Unobtania will win Worlds with a 187 and 3F+2T as the most difficult jumping pass. Japanese and Korean ladies will also have to be banned for that.
Agreed. It was certainly better than the GPF last year! The junior girls will be a welcome addition.
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- Dec 8, 2020
Perhaps this is a discussion that could be continued a seperate thread, in order to ensure that this space remains solely for providing news, updates, information, and support for the Japanese women? 
My main point that I was trying to make in a convoluted way, is that I think the Japanese ladies have alot of quality in depth, and weren't skating above their head.Perhaps this is a discussion that could be continued a seperate thread, in order to ensure that this space remains solely for providing news, updates, information, and support for the Japanese women?
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- Mar 22, 2018
Does anyone know something about Mai? Don't know if it's better for her to prepare for nationals rather than the nhk.
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- Mar 5, 2014
At Espoo, I liked Rion Sumiyoshi's SP best for her expressive artistry, fluidity of body movement and even skating skills in the sense that there is less overt pumping to gain speed and she still speeds deep into the corners of the rink near the boards and had the cleanest routine with clean jumps. I don't understand pushing Mana to compete if she couldn't even walk from what I heard a week ago. I wish she would have been allowed to rest I really sympathize with her and hope she is able to redeem herself in the LP. Kaori was pretty good but she was scored too generously in my opinion and I think Rion should be in first place. I hope Rion has a great LP program with a clean quad toe and hope Mana and Kaori have impressive skates as well in the LP .
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- Nov 12, 2013
This is especially disappointing for me to learn, considering Rino is in sore need of a second spot to have a chance to qualify for GPF. So far, Mai was injured but bowed out of CoC last minute, and no replacement was possible due to visa. Now Mana is injured, but instead of WD she pushes herself to compete... But if next week, Mai WDs in the middle of the competition or just before SP, that's when I'll be really angry.
I can imagine Mana was maybe hoping that she could take down a Finnish skater or two, to have a chance to place 8th at worst and get some WS points. But if her foot was in such a bad shape she couldn't practice jumps at all, she should have WD IMO.
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- Mar 22, 2018
If Mai it's going to wd she needs to do it now
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- Mar 21, 2018
I will be positively livid and will absolutely sound off about Mihara’s….ill judgment. (I won’t be that polite if that actually happens.)
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Withdrawing at the last minute is already unacceptable, but doing it twice is asinine. Her injury didn’t happen one or two days before she withdrew because she withdrew from an earlier competition and she would have withdrew from NHK, as well. Her GPs are only two weeks apart so if she wasn’t ready then, she’s not going to be ready now. Unless this is a situation where she is healed and only recently returned to training and just needed more time to get squared away. If not, then she needs to withdraw and she needs to do it now .
Competing will accomplish nothing except aggravating the injury (and me) further. She can’t qualify for the GPF and she’s in the top 10 WS so she doesn’t even need the points.
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- Mar 21, 2018
In other news, Yoshida has officially qualified for GPF. She’s the fourth qualifier and there’s only two skaters - Lee Haein and Pinzarrone - that could outscore her, but they’ll be pushing out Sumiyoshi and Kim Chaeyeon if they do.
Despite a most determined and valiant effort to not qualify, Sumiyoshi’s odds are fairly good. She won’t qualify only if Lee Haein and Pinzarrone go 1-2 in that order.
Despite a most determined and valiant effort to not qualify, Sumiyoshi’s odds are fairly good. She won’t qualify only if Lee Haein and Pinzarrone go 1-2 in that order.
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- Mar 22, 2018
Even Wakaba has a shot to the final if she wins and the other japanese ladies place 2-3 at nhk, very unlikely but not impossible, Rino has a better shot at the final if she replace Mai and ends 1-2, so 4 japanese at the grand prix final it's not out of possibility even thou 3 is more probable to occur
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I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the worst skates have been from ladies on their second GP with high chances to qualify for the first time and the best have been on the first GP or from skaters that had a slim chance to qualify or could no longer do so.
With that in mind, I’m half-expecting for Higuchi to bring it. She’s not going to be thinking about the GPF. None of the Japanese and Koreans will be. Pinzarrone is the one most likely to qualify and so the pressure will be on her the most.
Even so, I think it’s unlikely that four Japanese women will be at the GPF unless Matsuike competes at NHK.
With that in mind, I’m half-expecting for Higuchi to bring it. She’s not going to be thinking about the GPF. None of the Japanese and Koreans will be. Pinzarrone is the one most likely to qualify and so the pressure will be on her the most.
Even so, I think it’s unlikely that four Japanese women will be at the GPF unless Matsuike competes at NHK.
I doubt Higuchi cares about GPF that much. Since 2017 she has realized Nationals is the only thing that matters. Especially this season coming back, she is just concerned with improving and peaking at Nats. Hopefully, however, she and all the Japanese girls skate their best because so far this has been a weak GP season, despite the Japanese girls doing ok overall. It would be nice to have one good women's competition at least.
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