2020-21 Japanese Nationals: Ladies' Free Skate

[anonymoose_au]

At least there's no insane inflation for everyone???? Like in Russia??? Yay????
Japan and Russia are such polar opposites.

Nope, in fact it seems to be the opposite, I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do either though.

Ah judging y U so haaaard?!

 

[Mirunna]

Amazing top 3 and correct podium order. Pcs are crap, Satoko was from another world here.

 

[lzxnl]

LOOOOL protocols are up already. Enjoy guys.

https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2020-2021/fs_j/nationalsenior/data0205.pdf

They called a UR on Rika's 3A, which I guess is kinda fair, but the 4S was clean. Ouch. That cost her 4 points. Then, her simplified 2A-3T cost her 3 points, and the final 2A instead of a 3Lz cost her up to 4 points. That's a total of 10 points in tech that she left on the table. Next time! Landing the 4S itself was already a marvellous achievement! +3 GOE average for a 4S on her first try in this program!

Isn't it ironic how she didn't beat her score from last year though...

They ACTUALLY called Kaori's lutz edge this time. Holy shite. And how does a judge give a +5 for her 3Lo when another judge gives her -1?

Satoko had one carrot and one q. Somehow that doesn't seem right.

 

[Joekaz]

Yeah, that doesn't sit right with me. I don't find her superior in any way to Satoko or Rika. It upsets me.

JSF is trying to make it look like Kaori is legitimate competition to Rika. This scoring is no surprise to anyone here.

 

[Skatefan15]

I think what made Rika’s score lower was the lost levels. But I’m happy for her for landing the quad! I think Kaori should be 3rd in PCS with Satoko at like 76/77 and Rika with 74/75 and keep Kaori’s the same. I’m really bummed for Mai, thought that maybe they called unders to make her score extra low but everything was clean (with the exception of the double lutz) so it was just her PCS being so low.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Ffing hell. Baby girl did 3 combos and a quad and only beat the runner up by 5 points.



I can't even enjoy the win now I'm so angry.

 

[zanadude]

Awards ceremony now. They're doing the social distance hugs.

 

[Yuzuruu]

Nope, in fact it seems to be the opposite, I'm not sure if that's the right thing to do either though.

Ah judging y U so haaaard?!

I think Russia sends a message to the world trying to say: look how our skaters score, they are the best
While Japan not only doesn't inflate but almost lowers their skater's scores. What message does that send? Well not a good one I reckon... I think this is very very wrong of JSF to do this. Figure skating is very political right now, they should just close their eyes to the mistakes and pretend those are not there, just like Russia and USA does. Otherwise Japanese skaters, even though technically the best in the world, will be burried at (potential) Worlds

 

[SNAKSuyun]

LOOOOL protocols are up already. Enjoy guys.

https://www.jsfresults.com/National/2020-2021/fs_j/nationalsenior/data0205.pdf

They called a UR on Rika's 3A, which I guess is kinda fair, but the 4S was clean. Ouch. That cost her 4 points. Then, her simplified 2A-3T cost her 3 points, and the final 2A instead of a 3Lz cost her up to 4 points. That's a total of 10 points in tech that she left on the table. Next time! Landing the 4S itself was already a marvellous achievement! +3 GOE average for a 4S on her first try in this program!

Isn't it ironic how she didn't beat her score from last year though...

They ACTUALLY called Kaori's lutz edge this time. Holy shite. And how does a judge give a +5 for her 3Lo when another judge gives her -1?

Satoko had one carrot and one q. Somehow that doesn't seem right.

Agree with everything here. As far as the 3Lo is concerned it's probably the angle - it was a bit tight and off from our angle, but it's still her big money jump and nicely timed to the music, so it's conceivable that a judge sitting from a more favorable angle thought it looked great. I think the split in the judges' awarding of PCS was fair there.

 

[Skatefan15]

Was the second 3A in combo supposed to be where Rika did the 2A+3T?

 

[zanadude]

Medals are also self-service.

 

[flanker]

With 4S and 3A it was only 4 points higher than Kaori’s FS? What was their bv difference?

Rika: 68.83
Kaori: 61.05

 

[zanadude]

And I think they made the podium much wider to provide distance between the medalists.

 

[cathlen]

Folks, losing levels affects scores. I feel like it's 2016/17 and people being angry at Kolyada for high scores, because he got levels and others didn't.... No one is saying Rika wasn't the best, why the anger? We all know she can get higher scores but she didn't do her best yet. She has a big room for improvement, which IMO plays to her advantage in long term.

 

[yume]

What i retain from these nats.

1. It was an enjoyable event.
2. Fed must be enjoyed because their fave trio (especially fave duo) is back on podium.If worlds happen, lucky for them.
3. Mai can retire without regret and focus on her health. Because fed doesn't see her as a contender for anything. No olympic or worlds spot in sight for her. I hope she's just happy to be there and if she continue it will be for the joy to skate.
4. Wakaba not only needs to work extra hard and get consistent but also to pray all the gods she knows. Because after that place and the arrival of new faces (Rino and Mana) it will be harder for her to get anything.
5. If Rino keeps being consistent she has her chances for Beijing. But it won't be easy.

 

[readernick]

I think what made Rika’s score lower was the lost levels. But I’m happy for her for landing the quad! I think Kaori should be 3rd in PCS with Satoko at like 76/77 and Rika with 74/75 and keep Kaori’s the same. I’m really bummed for Mai, thought that maybe they called unders to make her score extra low but everything was clean (with the exception of the double lutz) so it was just her PCS being so low.

Yes, Rika almost never loses levels, but she did here. She said she was nervous in the K&C. So, I guess that led to some unexpected mistakes. Between her lost levels, her simplified jump layout, and the UR on the 3A she gave away like 13-15 points in TES. But, I guess she didn't need that TES to win. She can keep working on it for Worlds where she will need it.

 

[lzxnl]

Was the second 3A in combo supposed to be where Rika did the 2A+3T?

Here is what she did, and in brackets is what was originally planned:

4S
3A (3A-3T/2T)
3F-Eu-3S
3Lo
2A-3T (3A)
3F-3T (3F-3T/2T depending on axel)
2A (3Lz; she fell on this during warmup, so was a little concerned)

As analysed above, Rika would have hit 165 if she landed everything as planned, although I can understand why she didn't feel the need to go all out. She spent her entire warmup on 3A and 4S, had one attempt at a 3F-3T and a 3F-Eu-3S. She didn't have time to warm up a lutz. She knows she can jump axels and lutzes, and so the main focus at this competition was landing the 4S, which she did splendidly. Given her short program buffer, she then just had to make it through her program in one piece to win the competition, and so I guess she didn't want to take any more risks.

Although I would have enjoyed seeing a woman jump a 3Lz as her last jump and a 3A in the second half. Rika will have to go for broke if Worlds somehow isn't cancelled.

 

[Greengemmonster]

Thank you for your sane posts @lzxnl

I'm throwing an epic tantrum right now

 

[Skatefan15]

Yes, Rika almost never loses levels, but she did here. She said she was nervous in the K&C. So, I guess that led to some unexpected mistakes. Between her lost levels, her simplified jump layout, and the UR on the 3A she gave away like 13-15 points in TES. But, I guess she didn't need that TES to win. She can keep working on it for Worlds where she will need it.

She did so well for her first competition in 10 months! I’m really impressed with how much work they did on the quad, it was clean and looked really easy. Her layback didn’t look the easiest today which is why I think it was a level 3 instead of it’s usual level 4.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

With all that said though, happy that Satoko delivered a beautiful skate, Kaori saved her jumps, Mai continued her comeback, and Rika managed to land the 4S and 3A in one competition. That 4S was gorgeous and I'd love to get a clean and full difficulty version of that program in my collection.