Rika Kihira

leoleo said:

It's unfortunately geoblocked but Rika's FS on NHK official youtube channel is close to hitting 700K views :eeking: she made quite an impression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjTBgkgF0sE&feature=youtu.be

Hopefully such a beautiful clean program will boost her confidence going into IDF, i'm praying we get to see two clean programs . As someone said earlier in the thread, may the tiger stay awake all season [emoji23]

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jenm said:

I've been watching Rika before but I'm binging her videos now. She reminds me of a young Yuna. Of course, I would say Yuna had more innate musicality but both of them have POWER and GRACE in their skating. They both make the elements look beautiful and effortless but still have that raw power and wow factor. I wish Rika all the best. Good health and an injury free career.

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leoleo said:

It's unfortunately geoblocked but Rika's FS on NHK official youtube channel is close to hitting 700K views :eeking: she made quite an impression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjTBgkgF0sE&feature=youtu.be

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Izabela said:

Ladies' single is my favorite discipline but I was entering this season thinking it wouldn't be fun. Rika changed everything. I know she has consistency issue when she was a junior but with someone who has all the jumps (with no questionable technique) and with a relatively good artistry, she is such a wonderful wildcard you want to have in this competition. I wasn't looking forward to GPF but I'm so pumped up right now. Can't wait to see how the IDF will play.

I also can't wait to see how her FS will grow this season. I really like the way Dickson choreographed it, particularly the first half.

ETA: I hope the media are not preempting her rise by excessively narrating her as the next Mao or anything. Talk about unnecessary pressure. :noshake:

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leoleo said:

How do you even pre-rotate an axel at 180 degrees :rofl2: ? :think:

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zanadude said:

Would that be a "loop"?

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leoleo said:

That would be an entirely new jump that defies the laws of physics

Mako Yamashita said she gets motivated by Rika Kihira who's the same age as her. She will do her best to give her best performances too at Rostelecom. :agree: I just love the relationship between the japanese ladies. They're so respectful and supportive of each other despite competing against each other.

From an interview after NHK, Rika said: "If i work on my short program, not to lose levels and make no mistakes, i will be able to add five more points. Of course no mistakes will be difficult but i want to achieve a perfect performance"

Rika's FS on italian tv https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tx3k9RBRzrA
There's a translation of the commentary here https://rika-kihira.tumblr.com/post/180044574415/rika-kihira-nhk-2018-fs-ita-esp-commentary
They thought her pcs score should have been higher
I wish i could find the french tv version (heard they praised her a lot too), i could translate for you but i have yet to find a video of it

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lzxnl said:

Five points? I think she's being conservative there, especially as how her jump was called UR.

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leoleo said:

yes indeed. She scored 73 at japanese western sectionals 2weeks ago with 0 GOE on her 3A (her leg slipped on the landing) and missed levels on spins & stsq + only 30 in pcs. I believe she could score 77+ with a clean SP & all her levels + the pcs she got at NHK.

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leoleo said:

Guys, do you have twitter? If not you're really missing on the stupid pre-rotation discourse going on since NHK. It seems it's a trend now among some twitter eteri stans to spread that Rika pre-rotates her 3A at 180 degrees I have seen several tweets and people on my feed arguing with some of those people and the same arguments in youtube comments, i'm done. How do you even pre-rotate an axel at 180 degrees :rofl2: ? :think:

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jkun said:

That's hilarious coming from eteri stans...

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leoleo said:

well their argument is "why does everybody attack eteri girls for pre-rotating when Rika's 3A is pre-rotated at 180 degrees?" i'm not against calling a pre-rotated jump what it is but what their argument against Rika's 3A is not even humanly possible so... :confused2: And Rika's 3A technique is not different from most men's 3A technique. I guess people coming after her after only one GP means she made quite an impression. I don't know what i hate more, the situation now (people using her name to come after Satoko and Alina) or people making fun of her for being inconsistent & having "small jumps" (that was the trend last season)

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During Warm up

Sigi Heinrich: Well and there she is, the next figure skating child prodigy.

Hendryk Schamberger: Yes. And you can see here on the screen, her planned layout, triple Axel at the start, then triple Flip - triple Toeloop, I'm really excited to see how she can assert herself at her first start in the senior circuit.

S: Yes, because she jumps the triple Axel and Tuktamysheva as well, we will experience something strange, because...uhhhh

Did you see that?

H: Super!

S: This is madness, isn't it? Sensational! Two ladies, doing the triple Axel at this competition!

SP Start

S: So, let's go! Because now, dear viewers, a new star on the figure skating sky. Rika Kihara (sic!). Sixteen years old. Will start her short program with a triple axel. We could see it earlier in the warm up, where it worked perfectly. Would be nice, if it would work out now just as well.

Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy. Her costume is a little pale on the ice. But she can spice it up with a sporting achievement. Attention!

H: Ohh...noo! Jumped too far into the circle....

S: It's crazy. During the warmup....

H: Yep, yep...

S: So airy, so beautiful, wonderful!

H: It was a technical mistake. And, uhm, because she didn't land backwards, she will lose many points.

S: Aah, girl...

So, if you watched the rest of the program until now, it's a huge pity that it didn't work out.

H: Yes.

S: But it will happen....

H: Ohh..

S: Hehehe. She's winking. Just imagine, the triple Axel will work, she will bang out such a high score, all the others will get dizzy!

H: Yes, she would have been at the very front. Because the rest of the program was really good. Where she definitely improved is her quality of skating, last year she was very dependant on the triple Axel. When she fell on that, the rest of the program sometimes also fell apart. So she really did handle that well here. While I believe she will lose points in the technical score, as far as I could see in the first view, the Axel was underrotated. How much was missing, we need to see the slow-mo.

S: But in any way....

H: She has to jump out of the circle, she jumps too far into the circle, and yes, that will be downgraded. That took away many points.

S: Nevertheless here in Japan they can look forward to the coming career of Rika Kihara (sic!)

H: Mmmh...

S: She is a gigantic talent. And she's just starting out. And Japan in general has many good skaters. With Sakamoto, with Mihara, with Kihira....so it's not like it's all about the russian talent, Japan can hold their own. Korea can hold their own. The scene is still alive and in motion.

H: Yes, and she still has the Free. Ahh, yes,yes. Hehe, she probably also knows why it didn't work out. She still has the free, and uhm, she can get farther to the front than her placement now in the short will be. The question is, will she get into the last group, then she would be....

S: Naturally nervous....

H:Ah, 69 that could be enough for the last group, it would be crucial simply because she's with the top skaters in one group for the free.

S: And her program component scores are also quite decent...well....

H: Because it was a beautiful program.

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Einlaufen

S: Tja und da ist sie, das nächste Eiskunstlaufwunderkind.

H: Ja. Sie sehen eingeblendet, der Plan, der dreifache Axel am Anfang, dann dreifach Flip, dreifach Toeloop, da bin ich wirklich gespannt, wie sie sich bei ihrem ersten Start im Seniorenbereich durchsetzen kann.

S: Ja, dadurch das sie einen Dreifach Axel springt und auch Tuktamysheva erleben wir etwas ganz eigenartiges, denn äh....

Haben sie das gesehen?

H: Super!

S: Wahnsinn, oder? Sensationell! Zwei Damen werden dreifach Axel springen, bei dieser Veranstaltung.

SP Start

S: So, auf geht's! Denn jetzt liebe Zuschauer, ein neuer Stern am Eiskunstlaufhimmel. Rika Kihara (sic!). 16 Jahre alt. Und wird mit einem Dreifach Axel ihr Kurzprogramm beginnen. Wir haben das vorhin im Einlaufen beobachten dürfen, hat auch wunderbar funktioniert. Wäre schön, wenn das jetzt auch klappen könnte.

Clair de Lune von Claude Debussy. Bißchen blass das Kostüm auf dem Eis. Aber das kann sie ja mit sportlicher Leistung aufpeppen. Aufgepasst.

H: Oh nee! Viel zu weit in den Kreis reingesprungen.

S: Es ist schon verrückt. Beim Einlaufen...

H: Jaja..

S: So lässig, so schön, wunderbar.

H: Es war einfach ein technischer Fehler. Und ähm, dadurch ist sie auch nicht auf rückwärts gekommen, also da wird sie viel Punkte verlieren.

S: Ach, Mädel

So wenn man den Rest des Programmes bis jetzt gesehen hat, ist das jammerschade, dass das nicht funktioniert hat.

H: Ja.

S:Aber das kommt schon.

H: Och...

S: Hehehe. Zwinkert sie mit den Augen. Stell dir mal vor, der dreifache Axel sitzt hier, dann knallt die eine derartige Punktzahl hin, das allen anderen schwindelig wird.

H: Ja, sie wäre ganz, ganz vorne dabei gewesen. Weil, der Rest des Programmes war wirklich gut und Wo sie sich definitiv weiterentwickelt hat ist einmal im läuferischen und kommt noch dazu im letzten Jahr war das Problem, dass sie sehr vom Axel abhängig war. Wenn sie da stürzte ist teilweise auch der Rest des Programmes auseinander geflogen. Und äh, das hat sie jetzt wirklich sehr gut gemeistert. Wobei ich glaube, dass sie im technischen noch Punkte verlieren wird, weil so wie ich das jetzt im ersten Durchlauf gesehen habe, war der Axel auch nicht auf rückwärts. Wieviel da gefehlt hat müsste man noch in der Zeitlupe überprüfen.

S: Aber in jedem Fall...

H: Sie muss aus dem Kreis rausspringen, sie springt zu sehr in den Kreis rein, und ja, der wird abgewertet. Also, das hat viel Punkte gekostet.

S: Trotzdem glaube ich kann man sich in Japan auf die weitere Karriere der Rika Kihara (sic!) freuen.

H: Mmmh...

S: Da ist ein Megatalent. Das jetzt erst mal so in den Anfängen steckt. Und da ist Japan insgesamt gut aufgestellt. Mit Sakamoto, mit Mihara, mit Kihira. Also ist es nicht so das sich alles um die großen russischen Talente dreht. Auch Japan hält mit. Auch Korea hält mit. Die Szene ist nach wie vor sehr lebendig und in Bewegung.

H: Ja, und sie hat ja noch die Kür. Ahh, jaja. Hehe, weiß sie wahrscheinlich auch woran's gelegen hat. Sie hat noch die Kür und ähm, kann da sicherlich noch deutlich weiter nach vorne kommen, als es jetzt der Platz im Kurzprogramm wohl werden wird. Die Frage ist, kommt sie in die letzte Startgruppe, das wäre dann...

S: Natürlich nervös...

H: Ah, 69 das könnte reichen für die letzte Startgruppe, das wäre wichtig einfach um dann mit den Topleuten in einer Gruppe zu starten für die Kür.

S: Und auch schon ganz ordentliche Programmkomponenten...also....

H: War auch ein schönes Programm.

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