2018-19 Japanese Ladies' figure skating

[yume]

sad for Mai that she got < calls and pop her 3T. it's gonna be hard for her to qualify even with silver in IdF. But im surprised now that home skater get advantage, we know that japan didnt do that often. I feel that in SP they tried to push Satoko to overcome Liza as #1 going into the FP but they can't in the edn. Satoko got few +3s on jump GOE and even higher than Mai/Leonova /Mariah Bell etc. But she deservedly got PCS and GOE on spin and step (lvl 3 on both SP/FS though)

They pushed Satoko in the SP.
And Rika got high PCS for her first GP. Not like Wakaba and Mai who were in high 25 and low 60s.

Aside Rika, who is the other Japanese who won her first GP?
She has now the record TES for the FS In seniors, and is the first Japanese to break 150+.

 

[Leonardo]

Aside Rika, who is the other Japanese who won her first GP?

Many won their second gp, but I think she's the first to win her first GP... In amazing fashion.

 

[Noxchild]

Rika Slaykira. 'nuff said!

Rostelecom will be tough with Zagitova, but I hope Mako and Yuna can have great skates and podium! I'd love to see Mako at the GPF especially.

 

[leoleo]

Rika Slaykira. 'nuff said!

Rostelecom will be tough with Zagitova, but I hope Mako and Yuna can have great skates and podium! I'd love to see Mako at the GPF especially.

Mako making it to the GPF would be phenomenal! Idk what juice Satoko drinks to be this consistent but damn, i hope she can let Rika drink a bit of it!

Mai really isn't a judges favorites! Her pcs can't seem to go up no matter what she does

 

[Warwick360]

Annoyed with British Eurosport for not remembering that Mao had done 2 3As in a single LP. They kept going on about how this might be a first, when referring to Rika's LP. :disapp:

Amazing 3As by Kihira though.

 

[lanceupper1114]

I think these are the scenarios for gpf qualification, there are basically 3 spots left (Tuk, Satoko, and almost certainly Zag are in):

If Mako gets second at Rostelecom, she qualifies for gpf; 2nd and 3rd is wide open at Rostelecom. If she's third, she would probably lose the tie break to Kaori. I'm assuming Zagitova wins here, as we should, but I guess a win here for Mako would also qualify her.

The following week, if Rika is on the podium France, she qualifies. Actually only need 4th since no one would beat her monster score in a tie break

Kaori qualifies if Medvedeva finishes 2nd in France and Kaori wins the tie break, or if Medvedeva is 3rd or less, and Konstantinova needs to be 3rd or lower since she won't likely beat Kaori in a tie break, and neither would Samodurova if she would place 2nd in Russia. Also Tennell needs to not be 1st

Mai Mihara would push out Kaori and Medvedeva i think and qualify for the final if she wins France and Konstantinova remains 3rd or lower, since that would give her 24 points.

Technically possible for Shiraiwa to qualify if she wins Rostelecom since that would also give her 24 points, and other stuff happened in France, but that would be pretty crazy.

Marin is out.

Wakaba is out.

Matsuda, believe it or not, isn't going to make it.

I think these are the scenarios for the japanese ladies, in a nutshell.

 

[Leonardo]

Annoyed with British Eurosport for not remembering that Mao had done 2 3As in a single LP. They kept going on about how this might be a first, when referring to Rika's LP. :disapp:

Amazing 3As by Kihira though.

That really bothered me as well, lol

 

[Leonardo]

Mako making it to the GPF would be phenomenal! Idk what juice Satoko drinks to be this consistent but damn, i hope she can let Rika drink a bit of it!

Indeed. On a side note, is it just me, or you guys were also annoyed by team hamada's reaction when they learned that Satoko got the silver? When Rika's score was announced Hamada looked surprised/concerned about her possible gold medal (and beating Satoko anyway) instead of being simply overjoyed for the girl.

Not only she stated that she wanted Satoko to win, but demonstrated her feelings in the kiss and cry as well. I don't think that's very constructive at all.

May the best woman win, they both deserve it.

 

[Dreamer57]

From now i will start to pray everyday for Mai, so skating gods will give her some luck. She would have medaled in the first 3 GP, but the girl has just enough bad luck to be in the most competitive field of these last few years.

With her total score, she could have won Skate Canada! I will join your prayers
I also want Mai to do really well at Nationals so she has a chance at going to Worlds or 4CC.

 

[leoleo]

I think these are the scenarios for gpf qualification, there are basically 3 spots left (Tuk, Satoko, and almost certainly Zag are in):

If Mako gets second at Rostelecom, she qualifies for gpf; 2nd and 3rd is wide open at Rostelecom. If she's third, she would probably lose the tie break to Kaori. I'm assuming Zagitova wins here, as we should, but I guess a win here for Mako would also qualify her.

The following week, if Rika is on the podium France, she qualifies. Actually only need 4th since no one would beat her monster score in a tie break

Kaori qualifies if Medvedeva finishes 2nd in France and Kaori wins the tie break, or if Medvedeva is 3rd or less, and Konstantinova needs to be 3rd or lower since she won't likely beat Kaori in a tie break, and neither would Samodurova if she would place 2nd in Russia.

Mai Mihara would push out Kaori and Medvedeva i think and qualify for the final if she wins France and Konstantinova remains 3rd or lower, since that would give her 24 points.

Technically possible for Shiraiwa to qualify if she wins Rostelecom since that would also give her 24 points, and other stuff happened in France, but that would be pretty crazy.

Marin is out.

Wakaba is out.

Matsuda, believe it or not, isn't going to make it.

I think these are the scenarios for the japanese ladies, in a nutshell.

Thanks for this! How does the tie breaker work? Do they compare scores from both competitions?

 

[lanceupper1114]

^^if qualifying points are tied. The person with highest placement in an event wins. If highest placements are the same, then the highest score.

The 24 qualifying points seems to be where the tie breaks would happen. Thats placing 2 and 3, or 1 and 4

 

[yume]

Annoyed with British Eurosport for not remembering that Mao had done 2 3As in a single LP. They kept going on about how this might be a first, when referring to Rika's LP. :disapp:

Amazing 3As by Kihira though.

They surely have forgotten that she stills the only one who landed three 3As in an international competition too.

 

[leoleo]

To be fair, commentators watch endless competitions every season, it's normal to forget this or that.

 

[rikaquegira]

Indeed. On a side note, is it just me, or you guys were also annoyed by team hamada's reaction when they learned that Satoko got the silver? When Rika's score was announced Hamada looked surprised/concerned about her possible gold medal (and beating Satoko anyway) instead of being simply overjoyed for the girl.

Not only she stated that she wanted Satoko to win, but demonstrated her feelings in the kiss and cry as well. I don't think that's very constructive at all.

May the best woman win, they both deserve it.

I thought Hamada’s and Satoko’s reaction were more about her technical score going down, maybe they didn’t expect her to get calls.
It did gave me Olympics flashbacks when Satoko got second place and everyone was serious and they showed Rika and she wasn’t jumping of happiness, she just gave a shy smile a la Zagitova becoming Olympic Champion over Medvedeva. [emoji23]
But I’m still not on the “Hamada doesn’t like Rika” bandwagon. She was so happy for Rika when she came out of the ice and when she got her scores.
It was such a joy to see Rika happy like that! She was so upset after the SP, I know it didn’t show too much because it seems Hamada team is all about “smile, smile, smile” but you could get glimpses of her discontentment and that was really sad to see because Rika is such a happy skater, even when she totally messes up she just moves on.
But I’m glad she used that frustration to skate better. It was amazing, to win her first GP! I hope she continues like that, but the pressure now will be bigger than ever, she will need a good head over her shoulders.

 

[yume]

Indeed. On a side note, is it just me, or you guys were also annoyed by team hamada's reaction when they learned that Satoko got the silver? When Rika's score was announced Hamada looked surprised/concerned about her possible gold medal (and beating Satoko anyway) instead of being simply overjoyed for the girl.

Not only she stated that she wanted Satoko to win, but demonstrated her feelings in the kiss and cry as well. I don't think that's very constructive at all.

May the best woman win, they both deserve it.

Not so many posters liked what i said about Hamada a few pages back, so i will say nothing.........................................but i will just say that some coaches have favorites and can help but show it. And Hamada is one of those coaches.

Rika deserved to win anyway. Because she was the best skater.

 

[lanceupper1114]

I thought Hamada’s and Satoko’s reaction were more about her technical score going down, maybe they didn’t expect her to get calls.

I agree, it was about her score being lower than at SA. She looked and sounded pretty happy about Rika's performance; you could even hear Hamada in the background of Rika's performance, and see her jumping in the background.

As for Satoko being the favorite; this has always been the case and Hamada has spoken openly about how Satoko is the example for the younger students in her rink for hard work and conduct. I don't see this as a problem, especially in Japan, where age is a significant part of hierarchy anyway.

 

[Icey]

To be fair, commentators watch endless competitions every season, it's normal to forget this or that.

Her achievement was at the Olympics though, so less forgettable imo

 

[Leonardo]

But I’m still not on the “Hamada doesn’t like Rika” bandwagon. She was so happy for Rika when she came out of the ice and when she got her scores.

I think Hamada likes Rika very much. On the other hand I'm pretty sure she would be much happier with Satoko winning the gold and she's not afraid to show it. That was the point of my post. I'm not sure if that's a good kind of mentality/behavior.

And I agree with you, that's kind of the japanese version of the Eteri/Medvedeva/Zagitova controversy at the olympics. But in this case, it clearly has something to do with the japanese culture of respecting senior hierarchy, given that Satoko is an amazing example for the younger skaters, as someone previously stated.

 

[Danny T]

Eh, it's the BESP commentators guys. They forgot stuff/got things hilariously wrong all the time. They forgot Hanyu has a 2014 Worlds title by 2017, I'm pretty sure forgeting Mao's 2010 (amazing) achievements by 2018 is not a slight against her at all.

That aside, a real happy day for the Japanese ladies. I'm in awe of how much Satoko keeps improving her programmes every single time, ecstatic at Rika's comeback today, and it's always a treat to see Mai's lovely skating. I'm qiote sad for Mai though, honestly the fed and the judges don't like her, and her programmes are really not helping any. I hope the Kobe team could find Mai an interesting style that appeal more to the judges like Kaori. Both girls are really so talented.

 

[ioanna]

I really doubt Satoko and Hamada realistically expected for her to beat Rika so I think their reactions were directed at the TES dropping several points compared to Skate America. It's always like this for her in the kiss & cry.