2020 NHK Trophy: Ladies' FS

[chz]

I don't really understand what the judges are doing here. Kaori is the only person who has been consistently awarded for what she puts on the ice. Plenty of the ladies tonight had +3 or +4 GOE jumps, but they were not judged that way. Her PCS will likely be way above others too. It just doesn't make any sense to me. Why bury everyone else?

Agreed 100%. her GOEs are so high compared to others. others' jumps were good as well ..i guess politicking happens everywhere, Pity those who worked hard but not awarded equally.

 

[yume]

Good luck to Kihira at nats. She will need to be super clean.
Kaori is going for a 2nd title.

 

[Skatefan15]

Looking at the protocol, it looks like Wakaba got a q on the axel as well as the toe of her lutz-toe combo. Also got a 2V on the last spin. Mai got 2 q’s as well. One thing I would have called for Kaori was the edge on her lutz.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

If Wakaba can deliver a program of at least this quality again for a whole year, her PCS will start to catch up. I also still have more faith in Rika than Kaori if both skate their expected content (Rika with a 3A and Kaori without).

 

[Skatesocs]

Funnily, I think those are the exact scores these skaters can expect internationally, outside Young You.

That's_the_joke.GIF

 

[readernick]

Good luck to Kihira at nats. She will need to be super clean.
Kaori is going for a 2nd title.

Yes, but I don't think the Japanese judges are that stupid. (I hope they won't prove me wrong) Rika Kihira is clearly the only Japanese skater (at the moment) who can compete with (and possibly) beat the Russian ladies. She is their Olympic hope. If they treat Rika the way they treated the non-Kaori skaters here they will be the stupidest federation to ever walk the earth.

As much as I love Wakaba (and I really love Wakaba), she has herself to blame for the less than favorable scoring. You can't pop two jumps and win. She won't get good GOE /PCS until she becomes consistent. Her PCS scores though do make me a bit angry. Her upper body positions and posture are better than Kaori's. Kaori has superior SS and TR but I find Wakaba superior in the other PCS categories. However, consistency has long been rewarded with high PCS in women's skating.

 

[cake]

I think that´s some wild speculation about Japanese nationals. Who knows if Kaori can put out another performance like that under more pressure?

 

[gsk8]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there are no PB being set today. Scores are not official.

Yes, I know. I still like to show where they've improved.

 

[yume]

Yes, but I don't think the Japanese judges are that stupid. (I hope they won't prove me wrong) Rika Kihira is clearly the only Japanese skater (at the moment) who can compete with (and possibly) beat the Russian ladies. She is their Olympic hope. If they treat Rika the way they treated the non-Kaori skaters here they will be the stupidest federation to ever walk the earth.

As much as I love Wakaba (and I really love Wakaba), she has herself to blame for the less than favorable scoring. You can't pop two jumps and win. She won't get good GOE /PCS until she becomes consistent. Her PCS scores though do make me a bit angry. Her upper body positions and posture are better than Kaori's. Kaori has superior SS and TR but I find Wakaba superior in the other PCS categories. However, consistency has long been rewarded with high PCS in women's skating.

Well, Rika was the only one with potential scoring to beat a clean Zagitova and win worlds. Didn't fed make Kaori SB (with clean skates) rise by 15 points and make her win nats?

And so far she's the one who got support in intl competitions no matter her showings. Despite a 4th place at 4CC, her scores still rose by a lot a month later at worlds.

Anyway, we will see.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Podium ceremony for ladies just started on Eurosport Player's Free Dance video:

https://www.eurosportplayer.com/videos/eurosport/grand-prix-nhk-trophy-1232278

CaroLiza_fan

 

[lariko]

I enjoyed the free more than the short. It was good to see Yamashita try a quad, and all the 3As. I know it is a Japanese competition, but I am guilty of liking Young You the most, with Kawabe being my second fav by just how energetic the skate was. Too bad it fell apart... I don’t really have Sakomoto vs Higuchi opinion, though Matrix pretty much wins for me, ‘cause it’s my favourite movie of all times and I love this dress. The lady I have not seen before, Matsuike, who got bronze was great, but the music was not my cup of tea.

 

[chasingneverland]

Oh right in my heart (Poor Sasha, I'm still sad for her)

I guess that's why they say not to compare scores across competitions, but then...there shouldn't be season's bests? Also people forget, like Simon here apparently

Yeah, but usually you'll have international judges for GPs not local judges where the American and Russian judges are all look at my talented skaters (they deserve all the marks) and the Japanese judges are all we think our skaters are overscored internationally.

 

[readernick]

Yeah, but usually you'll have international judges for GPs not local judges where the American and Russian judges are all look at my talented skaters (they deserve all the marks) and the Japanese judges are all we think our skaters are overscored internationally.

Based on the way Young You was judged it isn't just their skaters they think are overscored, it is all skaters. (Honestly, I think her score was pretty fair but her fans probably wouldn't agree) I was imagining the scores the Russian skaters at Rostelecom would have gotten with this judging panel and I think we would have seen a lot of tears.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Yes, but I don't think the Japanese judges are that stupid. (I hope they won't prove me wrong) Rika Kihira is clearly the only Japanese skater (at the moment) who can compete with (and possibly) beat the Russian ladies. She is their Olympic hope. If they treat Rika the way they treated the non-Kaori skaters here they will be the stupidest federation to ever walk the earth.

As much as I love Wakaba (and I really love Wakaba), she has herself to blame for the less than favorable scoring. You can't pop two jumps and win. She won't get good GOE /PCS until she becomes consistent. Her PCS scores though do make me a bit angry. Her upper body positions and posture are better than Kaori's. Kaori has superior SS and TR but I find Wakaba superior in the other PCS categories. However, consistency has long been rewarded with high PCS in women's skating.

Kaori wasn't exactly consistent last season, and her marks didn't take a hit. At the most important competition, nationals, Wakaba clearly skated better. Didn't change Kaori being favored again as soon as the judges got the chance.

The most consistent among the Japanese ladies IMO was Mai before her health issues, and the only thing that ever got her was a lot of potato medals (when some of them should have been Bronze, like at her last nats showing or in this event IMO). JSF isn't as fond of consistency as many think.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

Funnily, I think those are the exact scores these skaters can expect internationally, outside Young You.

That's_the_joke.GIF

I don't know, I mean last season Marin was getting at least 32 for PCS in short and 62 for PCS in the free, and it's not like her quality of skating has declined from last season to this season. Wakaba is also getting lower PCS than she got at Four Continents last season. But sadly, yeah these scores don't seem all that out of range for international events. Hopefully if Wakaba and Mai start getting more consistent with performing, their PCS will rise (as it should).

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Slightly OT but why, in its two decades of existence, has no skater ever done justice to the glorious Lord of the Rings soundtrack?

First there was Todd Eldredge who was limited to the Fellowship because Salt Lake happened before the other movies had come out.
Then Yuma (in his 2nd of 3 LPs so far this season) ends up skating to some obscure LOTR musical instead.

Then my one remaining hope, Young You, turns out to have picked a bizarre piano-violin cover which hops through a medley of Fellowship, Gondor, Evenstar themes and so on at a rate of one motif every 20 seconds with no narrative logic. The lush orchestration is what makes Howard Shore's score so transcendental, while this cover sounds like a banal pop ballad. Well, there is one vestige of the original score, but instead of the stirring Norwegian fiddle, the majestic French horns, the Wellington Maori-Samoan men's choir, the bodhran drums, the chains and anvil, it is... Enya (the only part of the soundtrack that I dislike).

She did have a good skate though, with a nice redemptive 3A. But wouldn't it have been even more redemptive accompanied by, say, the angelic voice of Ben Del Maestro singing in Old English as Gandalf and Eomer lead the dawn cavalry charge to relieve the siege of Helm's Deep? I'd do it myself, but my skating skills are too crappy...

 

[CoyoteChris]

I do feel sorry for some of my favs who didnt do so well....but I see only winners.....welcome back Mai and bless you.......Rino wins Jr nats five days ago and then gets her first Senior GP medal....what will happen at nats? Loved the music and the artistry of about everyone. Tonight was a shining star in a year full of so much misery.....Just like the Johnny and Tara show tomorrow!

 

[alexocfp]

Loved Sakamoto‘s performance yesterday.

Not that I can explain why since I just stated following skating last month after not watching it since the Katerina Witt days. Haha

But it made me smile, and go “wow.” Yeah, not much of an analysis, I know, but this the extenst of my figure skating knowledge at this point.

Wasn‘t planning on following the sport, bought Peacock for the Premier league and the skiing, but since they added the skating package, I gave it a try and I rediscovered the sport. After a 25 year absence. Better late than never I guess.

Looks like it changed a lot since I was a teenager.

 

[lariko]

Not that I can explain why since I just stated following skating last month after not watching it since the Katerina Witt days. Haha

You are in for a lot of treats—I started watching during 2018 Olympics after doing a huge time skip (I, like, remember loving Irina Rodnina, lol). It’s really pretty amazing and I can understand the judging now, so I am totally invested.

 

[alexocfp]

You are in for a lot of treats—I started watching during 2018 Olympics after doing a huge time skip (I, like, remember loving Irina Rodnina, lol). It’s really pretty amazing and I can understand the judging now, so I am totally invested.

I stayed up all night during the Thanksgiving break to learn the scoring. I knew that advanced calculus in high school would come in handy one day.