Really!? So for Shoma, Yuma, Kaori and Hana Nationals is just like an exhibition?
It means if they are off the Worlds team after Nationals, JSF will need to explain why.
I mean, as I expected, this should give a huuuuuuge relief for the athlete, so I'm expecting them to perform well just on the basis of being relaxed lol
Honestly to me this list is less about the athletes and more about JSF being held accountable of having the responsibility of selecting the teams for international competitions. With this list out, and as an official document from a sports federation it should be covered by the Japanese sports media outlets. If JSF selects their Worlds team by ignoring the criteria they have decided, JSF is more likely to be asked to explain why instead of letting the skaters out there without explanations and subjecting them to possible hate.
Yeah but 'locking' teams even before Nationals is a bit much IMO.
To me it's less cruel than letting everyone have false hope that they all have equal chance to make it to the Worlds team. They don't.
Hmm I don't know about that. As I said, if you have confirmation you are on the team beforehand, that gives you a huge competitive advantage and honestly for me it takes away the edge of what makes Nationals exciting.
This is how JSF has done Worlds selections for a pretty decent amount of time already, they just usually didn't release these lists until after Nationals.
I have the opposite opinion. If anything, knowing that you are likely to be on the team means you have to perform at Japanese Nationals well and justify the selection. That's more pressure, especially knowing what these Nationals mean to these skaters.
If the criteria were really so widely known, I am guessing Sota wouldn't have been the target of an unsportsmanlike remark by a teammate last year when he was selected. Not gonna give any names because I'm beyond tired of pretty much any exchange of opinions with his vocal fans. But, apparently even skaters themselves were left in the dark re. the criteria.I'm surprised by the shock here, because none of these criteria are new.
In fact, the whole reason Rinka went to Worlds despite a disastrous showing at Nationals last season is exactly because she was the only other skater apart from Mai and Kaori who fulfilled any of the criteria. For Sota, it was a similar situation, though they had more range of choice for the men than the women (4-5 skaters who fulfilled the criteria, iirc).
This is an egg and chicken situation because if you know that you are 1- Getting good scores even with mistakes 2- a strong contender for the team already, then it's a situation of 'nerves, what nerves?' it becomes just a walk in the park.
| Sr. men 3 spots | Criteria | Candidates (in order of ranking) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st spot | 1. Nationals-champion | TBD | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 2nd spot | 2-A. Nationals - 2nd & 3rd placements | TBD | TBD | -- | -- | -- |
| 2nd | 2-B. GPF: top 2 placements | Shoma | Yuma | *Kao | -- | -- |
| 2nd | 2-C. Top 3 by Seasonal Best (ISU) | Shoma | Yuma | Kao | *Shun | -- |
| 3rd spot | 3-A. Skater(s) left out from 2nd spot selection | TBA | TBA | -- | -- | -- |
| 3rd | 3-A. Skater(s) left out from 2nd spot selection | Shoma | Yuma | *Kao | -- | -- |
| 3rd | 3-A. Skater(s) left out from 2nd spot selection | Shoma | Yuma | Kao | *Shun | -- |
| 3rd | 3-B. Top 3 by World Standing (ISU) | Shoma | Kao | Kazuki | *Shun | *Yuma |
| 3rd | 3-C. Top 3 by SWR (ISU) | Yuma | Kao | Shoma | *Shun | *Sota |
| 3rd | 3-D. Top 3 of average scores (from selected international/domestic competitions) | Shoma | Yuma | Shun | *Kao | *Kazuki |
This has been the case for a while now, so why are you suddenly feeling like there's no tension when you thought there was before? Like, literally nothing has changed. The lists last season weren't released until after Nationals, yes, but the criteria were exactly the same, and those had been released before Nats. Anyone could have made the lists themselves - And people did.
In any country, there is always a pre-selected group - Skaters who have the necessary minimums, or the technical potential to get them. You win but don't have the TES minimums because you weren't sent out to international competitions? Too bad, you're not going. And apart from Criterion 2b & maybe 3b, you actually don't need a GP, Challengers suffice for SBs scores, Nationals results aren't dependent on GP assignments anyways, and you can be part of the National team without GP assignments.
I'm sorry but many skaters actually have no idea about rules, and not because the rules aren't being released, if you catch my drift. And even if they do, it doesn't mean they have to be happy about them, or about the way they are applied.
