2018-19 Japanese National FS Championships Ladies' FS

[MaiKatze]

I love Rika more than the sun loves the moon, but apart from the GPF her short has been a struggle, and her FP can only rack up so many points before it gets silly. I wanted nothing more than for her to win, but Kaori did great on BOTH days... and that's how the cookie crumbles :sad4: I'm sure it'll just bring out the kuyashii spirit in her from now on. Rika vs Kaori at 4CC go!!

It would have been unfair if Rika had won over Kaori. The short counts as well. I was actually almost sure Satoko would beat Rika. Based on her lead in the short. And Kaori also had a 75 short. If Rika wants that World Champion title she has to combine the GPF short with this or the NHK free. Or she hopes the other skater make more mistakes than her, but that's risky.

 

[champs]

Mr Sunday staff made this long Kihira feature as if Kihira won the Nationals overall LOL.

 

[GGFan]

I know it's Nationals but Satoko's PCS :hap57:

 

[Metis]

To be honest... Rika deserves good PCS, but not Kaori-level PCS. In SS, CO, IE, and PE I would have Kaori ahead. I’m not trying to suggest Rika lacks artistry — she doesn’t. But she doesn’t have the refinement of Satoko or the style of Kaori. Kaori is just pure liquid on the ice.

 

[Danny T]

I love Satoko, but she got her deserved PCS today, so the 3Lz not being called is very yikes. Kaori's PCS is slightly higher than Rika, and I think there might be a case for that today based on performance. Not gonna happen internationally, but today Kaori really skated very big. Kaori's lutz obviously should've been called (e) but international panel, for some reason(??), would just leave it (!) too.

I'm not sure that Rika was robbed, looking at protocol here. Even if JSF tried to hold her down (that's a very big IF I'm not convinced in) they probably wants to send the message 'don't mess up your short!'

 

[yelyoh]

Yep. She's not a happy bunny.

But, we knew that right from when she was getting her results.

CaroLiza_fan

Well is Satoko angry at herself or the judges? Does she think she should have won I wonder.

 

[Sai Bon]

Purely out of interest, would Rika have won if she'd done a GOE+++ 2A instead of falling on her 3A in her short?

 

[MaiKatze]

Well is Satoko angry at herself or the judges? Does she think she should have won I wonder.

Probably more herself, without the pop I think she would've won it, after Mai's score I was sure they were paving the way to give Satoko a huge score. But she had to be clean. It is the end of an era. She won the last 4 National titles. In Ladies' figure skating that's an eternity.

 

[Interspectator]

Thoughts from watching the broadcast on TV:
Rika H and Ayaka got Standing O's from the crowd

Ayaka is the true Axel queen of J Nationals 2018, landing 3 clean 3As total and 4 Axels in her LP Seriously though, send this lady to international comps. She deserves something!

The crowd LOVES Mai. She seems to be as popular as all the other top ladies. I have seen some posters say she lacks X-factor, but for Japan, (and me) she has it in spades.

Satoko, Kaori and Rika are truly great performers. Each in their own way, they interpret the music and have a distinct style which I love to see. In fact, other than a few (cursed) POTOS, the ladies this year are rereshingly free of Warhorse music.
You have my gratitude.

 

[schizoanalyst]

Purely out of interest, would Rika have won if she'd done a GOE+++ 2A instead of falling on her 3A in her short?

3A Fall with Fall Deduction = 8-4-1 = 3.00

2A with 3.5 GOE = 3.3 + 3.3*0.1*3.5 = 4.46

She lost by 4.25 points so, not really (I don't think she lost 2.79 points in PCS in the short for the fall)

The serious mistake was missing the combo.

 

[Noxchild]

It would have been unfair if Rika had won over Kaori. The short counts as well. I was actually almost sure Satoko would beat Rika. Based on her lead in the short. And Kaori also had a 75 short. If Rika wants that World Champion title she has to combine the GPF short with this or the NHK free. Or she hopes the other skater make more mistakes than her, but that's risky.

Rika's dodgy short has been a constraint all season, but she's powered through with that magical FP and overcome the gap until now - but even in Worlds I kinda doubt she's gonna get a 160+ FP score to make up for any potential SP mishaps, especially now that she's a known quantity and threat. A GPF 82 score is not always possible, but even just keeping her SP at 72+ would give her a lot more breathing room and save us (I mean me) a heart attack going into the free lol. The next half of the season is looming, but I know she can do it. Deliver us two clean programs at Worlds, girl!

 

[Leonardo]

I'm not sure that Rika was robbed, looking at protocol here. Even if JSF tried to hold her down (that's a very big IF I'm not convinced in) they probably wants to send the message 'don't mess up your short!'

It's very simple: She messed up her SP completely, took a hard fall on the 3A and doubled the 3t. Not enough points to win, as simple as that. So, I agree with you, she was not robbed.

 

[Sai Bon]

3A Fall with Fall Deduction = 8-4-1 = 3.00

2A with 3.5 GOE = 3.3 + 3.3*0.1*3.5 = 4.46

She lost by 4.25 points so, not really (I don't think she lost 2.79 points in PCS in the short for the fall)

The serious mistake was missing the combo.

Oh, I forgot about that...

 

[readernick]

It would have been unfair if Rika had won over Kaori. The short counts as well. I was actually almost sure Satoko would beat Rika. Based on her lead in the short. And Kaori also had a 75 short. If Rika wants that World Champion title she has to combine the GPF short with this or the NHK free. Or she hopes the other skater make more mistakes than her, but that's risky.

She really doesn’t need to be perfect to win. She can mess up one 3A and still win. But, she can’t mess up her axel and double her toe in the short. Internationally, she has a PCS/GOE edge over everyone but Alina. And, she has no weaknesses for the tech panel to call except for her one spin. She does not UR and does not have edge problems. Alina does not have her BV and has not been consistent this year. To me, this means no one can defeat Kihira but she can defeat herself through nerves or lack of focus. The world’s will be a test of her mental strength.

 

[surimi]

Does anyone have a link to a full result list please?

 

[lzxnl]

3A Fall with Fall Deduction = 8-4-1 = 3.00

2A with 3.5 GOE = 3.3 + 3.3*0.1*3.5 = 4.46

She lost by 4.25 points so, not really (I don't think she lost 2.79 points in PCS in the short for the fall)

The serious mistake was missing the combo.

It depends on how you define serious. Her (clear) mistakes are listed below, along with their cost.
1. Missing 3A in SP: 3.00 vs 10.74 (3A in FP) -> -7.74
2. Missing 3T in SP: 7.28 vs Kaori's 11.47 on the same combo in SP -> -4.19 (let's assume they're both capable of 3F-3T to the same level)
2a. Consequent PCS falls in SP: hard to quantify

3. Dodgy landing on 3Lz in FP: 3Lz + 1Eu << + 2S 6.66 vs 3Lz + 2T + 2Lo 11.05 at NHK -> -4.39

Rika made three mistakes. Assuming that landing the 3T in the SP would have bumped up her PCS by even a fraction of a point, she would have good winning chances had she not messed up either of the combos. The 3A mistake is obvious.

So once again, Rika can afford to make two mistakes in her programs vs a clean skater, and still be in contention to win. That is the power of three triple axels. She has two more chances for the elusive clean competition. Come on. You can do this.

Edit: if you give Rika all these lost points, she's on 80.68 for the SP and 159.4 for the FS (new WR?) for a total of 240.08. That would have been insane. We'll have to wait to see that some other day.

 

[cohkaix]

Results: https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2018-2019/fs_j/nationalsenior/data0290.htm

Protocol: https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2018-2019/fs_j/nationalsenior/data0205.pdf

 

[lady_bee]

Thoughts from watching the broadcast on TV:
Rika H and Ayaka got Standing O's from the crowd

Ayaka is the true Axel queen of J Nationals 2018, landing 3 clean 3As total and 4 Axels in her LP Seriously though, send this lady to international comps. She deserves something!

The crowd LOVES Mai. She seems to be as popular as all the other top ladies. I have seen some posters say she lacks X-factor, but for Japan, (and me) she has it in spades.

Satoko, Kaori and Rika are truly great performers. Each in their own way, they interpret the music and have a distinct style which I love to see. In fact, other than a few (cursed) POTOS, the ladies this year are rereshingly free of Warhorse music.
You have my gratitude.

I am still heartbroken for Mai:sad21:; while super happy for Kaori.

To the people who thinks Mai is dull, I tell you that she is one of those skaters you should see in person.
I was one of you until I saw her performance at 2017 WTT, which totally changed my mind.
She has speed & power, while she has lightness at the same time, and is much better than herself in the PC screen.
It's still my personal opinion and you don't have to agree with me, but I am feeling like I have to defend her like her mother, that's also her quality, I think

I wish we could exchange men's third spot to ladies' 4th spot for the World.

 

[rachno2]

Sleep was more important after getting a combined 8 hours in the last 48 hours, so I had to miss this Congratulations to Kaori on her first national title! :luv17:

I haven’t seen any of the performances yet, but Mai is so underappreciated in general. She is one of my favorite senior ladies to watch, from any country. It must be so frustrating to always be in this position. Are they going to split the Worlds/4CCs team this season?

Don’t be sad, my Tiny Queen!

 

[cohkaix]

I really adore this moment when Kaori gets off the ice: https://twitter.com/yuzu_kyun_mami/status/1076815663514042373

Kao and Coach Nakano tried to give each other hugs, but went the wrong way, Then Coach Nakano said to Kaori: Don't kiss (me)!

Congratulations to Kaori!!