2019-20 Japanese ladies' figure skating

[Giu]

WAKABA!!!!!!! She made it!!!!! There's no way they can let her out of the World team!!! Right? Please, someone tell me that I'm right!!!!

On the other hand I'm devastated for Satoko, is Tomoe Kawabata already eligible for senior Worlds? I wish Satton could go :sad21:

 

[Wombat1800]

Gutted for Sakamoto and Mihayara, although they still might send Miyahara, but over the moon for Wakaba, and for Rika to win her first Japanese title!

 

[Noxchild]

Congrats to Rika, and Wakaba... and TOMOE?! I really wonder how 4CC/Worlds placements will work now, but I'm happy for the medallists nonetheless... and very sad for Kaori. She is so good and talented, but why does she flub so much, argh...

 

[Lunalovesskating]

Wakaba is back!!!! So happy for her. Finally at Worlds after two years. Wuhuu! Also Rika slayed! Finally she got the Senior Nationals title!
I am so devastated for Kaori and Satton. Kaori looked sick, she was sneezing and sniffing a lot... hope she is ok.
Coaching changes are hard to I am rooting for Satton to come back stronger!

 

[Mishaminion]

Wow!
I haven't had chance to catch up yet as I am out Christmas shopping...but...

Yesssssssssss Rika is champ and Omg Wakaba!!!

From what I'm reading it sounds like Satoko and Kaori bombed?

 

[Joekaz]

In the end, Wakaba employed the Stephen Bradbury strategy of staying on her feet and letting other people around her fall over. And incredibly, it worked! She destroyed both Sakamoto and Miyahara by a huge margin.

I no longer think that Sakamoto or Miyahara deserve to go to Senior Worlds. Send Higuchi and Kawabata instead!

She did more than stay on her feet, she skated very well. She was underscored on PCS as I anticipated. But it was shocking how bad the other two were.

 

[liv]

Satoko failed first, then Kaori followed her down that path.. not good for either of them. Satoko's jumps were smaller than ever, and Kaori's were just messy, ending in falls. It was a surprise to see both of them skate like that, back to back. I def wasn't expecting these performances from these 2 experienced competitors.

And Wakaba skated very well. She only had a step out on one jump. Her program is virtually empty without much choreo or interpretation until the step seq, but staying on your feet is the first step in getting good marks. She deserved her 2nd spot.

 

[Mishaminion]

Oh dear.

Kaori has been lacklustre so far this season and Satoko is really struggling.
But I have a feeling one will go to Worlds, realistically nobody else can score as high as they potentially could. Still, after such poor performances it is a risk.

 

[believed]

Oh my god Wakaba!!! Congratulations to the top 3!!!

 

[YuBluByMe]

Yup, they bombed. Kihira absolutely cruised through this. Also nice to see her 3A+3T again. Fed would send Miyahara over the bronze medalist. I’m pretty sure the World’s team would be Kihira, Higuchi, and Miyahara.

I personally agree with zanadude in that Miyahara doesn’t deserve to go to Worlds and she lucked out here. However, you have to be strategic and think about next year’s spots.

 

[Mishaminion]

Yup, they bombed. Kihira absolutely cruised through this. Also nice to see her 3A+3T again. Fed would send Miyahara over the bronze medalist. I’m pretty sure the World’s team would be Kihira, Higuchi, and Miyahara.

I personally agree with zanadude in that Miyahara doesn’t deserve to go to Worlds and she lucked out here. However, you have to be strategic. Next year’s spots are on the line.

With her high PCS and some help from lenient judging Satoko is still the biggest scoring potential they can send as the third skater...even if things only seem to be getting worse for her.

I don't think she deserves the spot either, but I think the Fed will depend on her anyway.

 

[readernick]

With her high PCS and some help from lenient judging Satoko is still the biggest scoring potential they can send as the third skater...even if things only seem to be getting worse for her.

Coaching changes are hard. It takes time to adjust technique. I think Satoko will improve in a year or two with her new coach. Tomoe actually has higher scoring potential than either Satoko or Kaori. Her jumps are huge and SS are flawless. But, she isn't the most reliable skater and sending her to World's as her first senior event is risky. She won't have a PCS cushion to fall back on.... Satoko does train in Canada now... and she's has deservedly reliably high PCS... I could see the fed sending her..

 

[zanadude]

All the people eligible for the remaining two Worlds spots:
Satoko Miyahara
Kaori Sakamoto
Wakaba Higuchi
Tomoe Kawabata

Sakamoto and Higuchi are in the exact opposite position as they were two years ago.

 

[Pocaguri]

Wow didn’t expect both Kaori and satoko to bomb like that.

The scores were pretty close after the 1st 2 places. But national only the champion is really guarantee I think

This can prob happen:

4cc Rika, yokoi, kaori (when she clean she can podium)

Worlds: rika wakaba satoko

Tomoe - jr so I doubt they send her

 

[DenissVFan]

Wakaba! Finally!

I hope that she's sent to both 4CC and Worlds. She wasn't given a nod on the basis of her body of work in the past, so it'd be pretty unfair if she wasn't selected because of her non so great recent body of work this time.

I also hope that Tomoe is sent to 4CC at least.

 

[skatenewbie]

Does Tomoe have senior TES min? If she does i think she can get 4CC, while Satoko get Worlds. It would be nice if she got both though, i think Rika and Wakaba is enough to retain 3 spot

 

[Lunalovesskating]

Does Tomoe have senior TES min? If she does i think she can get 4CC, while Satoko get Worlds. It would be nice if she got both though, i think Rika and Wakaba is enough to retain 3 spot

No, she doesn't

 

[Fluture]

All the people eligible for the remaining two Worlds spots:
Satoko Miyahara
Kaori Sakamoto
Wakaba Higuchi
Tomoe Kawabata

Sakamoto and Higuchi are in the exact opposite position as they were two years ago.

I‘m so happy for Wakaba and Rika! (Tomoe as well) But heartbroken for Satoko and Kaori. Satoko‘s changed coaches, so it‘s obvious where her issues come from. I believe she‘ll overcome that, it‘s a matter of time. But I don‘t know about Kaori, she looked incredibly nervous today even before her skate.. Hope she will be alright.

As for the issue with spots, personally, I would solve it like this:

Rika is injured and she already has a 4CC title, so have her skip it and heal. Worlds is more important and to medal there she needs the lutz in her programs. Also, constantly skating injured is terribly unnecessary and not to mention dangerous - the OG are two years away, pacing is important. So, have the team for 4CC be Wakaba, Satoko and Kaori. I‘d say with a silver Wakaba has earned her spot for Worlds fair and square. The third spot should be decided between the latter two and whoever skates better at 4CC gets it. Where does that leave Tomoe? Well, I do think she‘s an incredible skater with tons of potential but she isn‘t exactly the most consistent and has so far not skated a Senior event yet. Having Worlds be her first one would be really risky. Imo, it would be better for her to be sent to Junior Worlds to try and place well there. Worlds is important because it decides the spots for the next year. And Satoko and Kaori just have better scoring potential (currently, if Tomoe keeps on skating like that it could change) and more experience. But that‘s just my two cents on the whole issue.

Typing all this, I‘ve just realized I forgot about Yuhana, who also finished above Kaori and isn‘t junior eligible anymore, as far as I know. And she‘s done pretty well so far this season... it‘s more complicated than I thought then. So, Satoko, Yuhana and Kaori at 4CC then to decide the third spot?? But selfishly, I don‘t want that to happen. Wakaba has done so well and if she skates like she did today, she could win a medal at 4CC. She deserves to go, imo.

So yeah, it will be interesting and heartbreaking to see what the fed ends up doing... The only things I hope for are Wakaba getting her well deserved spots and Rika skipping 4CC to finally heal and be back at 100% for Worlds.

 

[Lunalovesskating]

I just realized, if Rika had scored 80 in her SP as usually she would have scored 238-239 and that is without three Lutzes (SP+FS) without two 3-3s in the FS and without the 4S. If she has her Lutz back after healing and lands her 4S and adds a second 3-3 back, her score will be through the roof.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Between this and IdF Kaori's been marked for several underrotations for two big competitions in a row. I wonder if it's just a temporary problem with form/technique, or if she's going to be scrutinized as a chronic URer like Satoko going forward...