2022-23 Japanese Men's Figure Skating

[surimi]

@surimi NGL I was surprised by those assignments too. I actually think Sota should have been on the main team, as he is doing so well this season and, at age 22, he might not have another chance to have a Universiade experience as he'll probably have graduated by the time the next one comes around. Whereas, for example, Shun is still 18 so he's likely to still be in university in 2 years.
Kao is not in university yet, so it's fine. But I also think it's weird that Sena is not in the alternates list. JSF really works in mysterious ways...

Agreed :/ My bad about Kao, I didn't check his status. But Sena and Sota... no assignments that they didn't achieve through their results last season, or (in Sota's case) that they didn't win at test skates. What did the boys do to JSF? Is it wearing a Hanyu-tribute costume openly? Is it losing to Selevko at Challenge Cup? Is it being ill and having boot issues at inopportune times (in Sena's case)? Frankly, this is so disappointing to see.

Are there any tournaments parallel to Universiade that the others could go to?
(clenching on to the final straw)

Well, there's always Challenge Cup, Coupe du Printemps and (not sure if it's held next year) Bavarian Open. So that's what my last feeble hopes cling to. But no SB/PB chances there, and podium finishes would be for less points than Challengers, hence me being upset and saying the damage's already done, unless one of the Challenger-less boys gets to WC or 4CC. I hope this is the first and last season JSF is acting this erratically. I mean, I checked the season's world ranking list yesterday, and *Kaymakchiev* the Bulgarian is higher than many Japanese boys including Sota, simply due to having been at more events. What to say.

I think one thing JSF doesn’t want to overlook is a ‘balance’ assignment between the regionals (east: Shun, and west: Yuma and Tatsuya). That might explain how they come up with the list of subs. As for Kao, he’s not yet in the college/university?

hmm, that's a possible explanation, but if so, it's disappoiting: assigning based on achievements would be way more fair. But now I wonder if it's always been like that. I recall Rin Nitaya, who never appeared at senior GP, was at Universiade, and as much as I liked her, I wonder if there was an eligible woman with better results who got overlooked back then. Same for men.

 

[rabidline]

hmm, that's a possible explanation, but if so, it's disappoiting: assigning based on achievements would be way more fair. But now I wonder if it's always been like that. I recall Rin Nitaya, who never appeared at senior GP, was at Universiade, and as much as I liked her, I wonder if there was an eligible woman with better results who got overlooked back then. Same for men.

There was a reason for that, and it's the eligibility and age restriction. We have discussed before of how Junior High School / High School students can't be assigned to Universiade, and there is also an age restriction- must be at least 18 and can't be older than 25 on the 31st December of the year of the event.

Rin Nitaya was assigned to 2017 Winter Universiade, together with Hinano Isobe and Mariko Kihara. Each finished 11th, 16th and 17th at the 2016-17 Japanese Nationals, which was the Nationals before the Universiade.

Now, those placements may be low, but you have to check who the Top 10 were back in 2016-17 Japanese Nationals:

1. Satoko Miyahara (University student, but injured in early 2017 and had to withdraw from 4CC and Worlds 2017);
2. Wakaba Higuchi (High School student - ineligible)
3. Mai Mihara (High School student - ineligible)
4. Marin Honda (Junior High School student - ineligible)
5. Rika Hongo (University student, but assigned to back-to-back 4CC and Asian Winter Games which is held 2 weeks after Universiade, became the substitute for Satoko Miyahara at 4CC and Worlds 2017)
6. Yuna Shiraiwa (Junior/High School student - ineligible)
7. Kaori Sakamoto (Junior/High School student - ineligible)
8. Kanako Murakami (University student, but Japanese Nationals would be her last competition and announced retirement at 2017 World Team Trophy)
9. Saya Suzuki (High School student - ineligible)
10. Yura Matsuda (High School student - ineligible)
11. Rin Nitaya (University student)
12. Mao Asada (University student but age ineligible, Japanese Nationals would be her last competition and announced retirement in 2017)
13. Miyabi Oba (University student - same university as Rin)
14. Riko Takino (High School student - ineligible)
15. Ayaka Hosoda (University student)
16. Hinano Isobe (University student - same university as Rin)
17. Mariko Kihara (University student)

The people back then who may have gotten the short stick are Miyabi Oba and Ayaka Hosoda, who at that time were both of age and were in university. They either declined the assignment, or got passed for Hinano Isobe and Mariko Kihara who finished lower than them. As Rin finished comfortably above both Miyabi and Ayaka, that is irrelevant to her assignment.

In my opinion, Rin Nitaya earned her assignment to Universiade thanks to her results at Japanese Nationals 2016-17. It was her luck that everyone who finished above her at Nationals are either ineligible due to still being in Junior High/High School, got other assignments like Rika Hongo, were finishing their career like Kanako Murakami, or injured and/or was supposed to be in a more important competition like Satoko.

My biggest question to JSF is just one: why make the 2023 Universiade assignment BEFORE the Japanese Nationals? Especially when the Universiade is scheduled in January 2023. JSF has made the Universiade assignment before Nationals in 2021, but it was because the 2021 Universiade got rescheduled to before 2021-22 Nationals. And then the Japanese skaters assigned ended up withdrawing anyway, since if they competed at 2021 Universiade, they won't be able to compete at 2021-22 Nationals because of the quarantine requirement.

 

[rabidline]

Is it being ill and having boot issues at inopportune times (in Sena's case)?

To be honest, with Sena just withdrawing mid-competition less than 2 weeks ago due to illness/poor physical condition, if I was JSF, I would wait and see about his condition before assigning him to more competitions.

It's why the assignment for Universiade before Nationals is so frustrating to me, like do they have a deadline to announce this? What makes it different from the other Senior B / spring competition that are going to be held after Nationals? Why aren't they waiting for the results of the full GP series to be tallied up, and the results from Nationals too? It's just bugging me.

 

[KiraraChin]

Thank you @rabidline for the info, I agree it would've have been better to wait until Nationals to announce the team. Maybe it is a deadline issue I remember Universiade 2019 was in early March, now it's in mid-January.

@surimi IIRC, Universiade doesn't award SBs or WS points, because it's not an ISU competition, it's organised by FISU. I remember looking into that in 2019 when Kazuki was assigned. But it's still a great chance in terms of experience, exposure and it can be used as a warmup comp before big events, such as 4CC or Worlds.

 

[cohkaix]

My biggest question to JSF is just one: why make the 2023 Universiade assignment BEFORE the Japanese Nationals? Especially when the Universiade is scheduled in January 2023. JSF has made the Universiade assignment before Nationals in 2021, but it was because the 2021 Universiade got rescheduled to before 2021-22 Nationals. And then the Japanese skaters assigned ended up withdrawing anyway, since if they competed at 2021 Universiade, they won't be able to compete at 2021-22 Nationals because of the quarantine requirement.

I recall that for the 21' Universiade (in Lusane), the assignments were decided before the Nationals. I'm not sure if that was due to a change of date of the 21' Universiade. But I vaguely remembered that it was because that the Universiade was cancelled eventually, not because of the WD-ing of Japanese skaters. The assignments were to: Moriguch, Yamakuma, N. Takeno, and Watanabe. All four obtained the entry to Nationals after the sectionals. But after Sectionals, the attendance to the nationals for the 4 skaters were uncertain, as they were waiting to see if there was any quarantine requirement after returning from the Universiade. And eventually Universiade was cancelled, so there was no problem for them to participate in the Nationals.

BTW, for the long list from 16-17 Nationals, I think Asada was ineligible not only because of the age, but also because she was not a university student at that time (she got her BS in 2015. She might be in some way associated/affilicated with Chukyo U at 16-17 season, but not as a student.)

 

[surimi]

There was a reason for that, and it's the eligibility and age restriction. We have discussed before of how Junior High School / High School students can't be assigned to Universiade, and there is also an age restriction- must be at least 18 and can't be older than 25 on the 31st December of the year of the event.

Rin Nitaya was assigned to 2017 Winter Universiade, together with Hinano Isobe and Mariko Kihara. Each finished 11th, 16th and 17th at the 2016-17 Japanese Nationals, which was the Nationals before the Universiade.

Now, those placements may be low, but you have to check who the Top 10 were back in 2016-17 Japanese Nationals:

1. Satoko Miyahara (University student, but injured in early 2017 and had to withdraw from 4CC and Worlds 2017);
2. Wakaba Higuchi (High School student - ineligible)
3. Mai Mihara (High School student - ineligible)
4. Marin Honda (Junior High School student - ineligible)
5. Rika Hongo (University student, but assigned to back-to-back 4CC and Asian Winter Games which is held 2 weeks after Universiade, became the substitute for Satoko Miyahara at 4CC and Worlds 2017)
6. Yuna Shiraiwa (Junior/High School student - ineligible)
7. Kaori Sakamoto (Junior/High School student - ineligible)
8. Kanako Murakami (University student, but Japanese Nationals would be her last competition and announced retirement at 2017 World Team Trophy)
9. Saya Suzuki (High School student - ineligible)
10. Yura Matsuda (High School student - ineligible)
11. Rin Nitaya (University student)
12. Mao Asada (University student but age ineligible, Japanese Nationals would be her last competition and announced retirement in 2017)
13. Miyabi Oba (University student - same university as Rin)
14. Riko Takino (High School student - ineligible)
15. Ayaka Hosoda (University student)
16. Hinano Isobe (University student - same university as Rin)
17. Mariko Kihara (University student)

The people back then who may have gotten the short stick are Miyabi Oba and Ayaka Hosoda, who at that time were both of age and were in university. They either declined the assignment, or got passed for Hinano Isobe and Mariko Kihara who finished lower than them. As Rin finished comfortably above both Miyabi and Ayaka, that is irrelevant to her assignment.

In my opinion, Rin Nitaya earned her assignment to Universiade thanks to her results at Japanese Nationals 2016-17. It was her luck that everyone who finished above her at Nationals are either ineligible due to still being in Junior High/High School, got other assignments like Rika Hongo, were finishing their career like Kanako Murakami, or injured and/or was supposed to be in a more important competition like Satoko.

My biggest question to JSF is just one: why make the 2023 Universiade assignment BEFORE the Japanese Nationals? Especially when the Universiade is scheduled in January 2023. JSF has made the Universiade assignment before Nationals in 2021, but it was because the 2021 Universiade got rescheduled to before 2021-22 Nationals. And then the Japanese skaters assigned ended up withdrawing anyway, since if they competed at 2021 Universiade, they won't be able to compete at 2021-22 Nationals because of the quarantine requirement.

Thanks for the elaborate explanation!
I wish both JNats and recent results were considered for Universiade assignments, as some have an unfortunate tendency to mess up Nationals and do better abroad. Unless something's going on that we outsiders are not aware of, then Sena is a much surer bet than Oshima and Hasegawa, with a much higher scoring potential. I guess he should be well by the time spring rolls by. I would think Koshiro's in university too - I'm no fan of his, but to be fair, his scoring potential is just as good as Sena's, or better. Giving the lower ranked East Japan skaters an opportunity is nice, but I'd rather have assignments distributed based on merit, regardless of where one is from.

 

[yesterday]

Hm it could also be an university issue? So that those want to have that announced earlier to be able to maybe adjust test dates etc. for the students competing there?

 

[rabidline]

I would think Koshiro's in university too - I'm no fan of his, but to be fair, his scoring potential is just as good as Sena's, or better. Giving the lower ranked East Japan skaters an opportunity is nice, but I'd rather have assignments distributed based on merit, regardless of where one is from.

Yes, Koshiro is currently a student at Waseda University.

Kosho Oshima and Kazuki Hasegawa just finished 1-2 at the East Japan Sectionals a few weeks ago. In my opinion, that's good enough merit to be considered in the substitute list for Universiade. I always suspected that international assignments are tricky for Japanese skaters who have turned senior but have no world standings points, so I appreciate JSF giving a nod of appreciation to them (and to Maria Egawa) when they can.

 

[rabidline]

I recall that for the 21' Universiade (in Lusane), the assignments were decided before the Nationals. I'm not sure if that was due to a change of date of the 21' Universiade. But I vaguely remembered that it was because that the Universiade was cancelled eventually, not because of the WD-ing of Japanese skaters. The assignments were to: Moriguch, Yamakuma, N. Takeno, and Watanabe. All four obtained the entry to Nationals after the sectionals. But after Sectionals, the attendance to the nationals for the 4 skaters were uncertain, as they were waiting to see if there was any quarantine requirement after returning from the Universiade. And eventually Universiade was cancelled, so there was no problem for them to participate in the Nationals.

BTW, for the long list from 16-17 Nationals, I think Asada was ineligible not only because of the age, but also because she was not a university student at that time (she got her BS in 2015. She might be in some way associated/affilicated with Chukyo U at 16-17 season, but not as a student.)

Yes, there was a change of date of the 21' Universiade before it was cancelled. It was supposed to be held on 21-31 January 2021, but it was postponed to 11-21 December 2021. It's why the assignment announcement was made officially by JSF in September 2021, alongside the assignments for Cup of Austria, Warsaw Cup and Golden Spin. And yes, the quarantine requirement was an issue for everyone (especially after Japan closed down its borders again because of Omicron in early December and GPF was cancelled), but Universiade ended up cancelled. I read a recent interview with Taichiro Yamakuma, who was supposed to compete there, being quite disappointed about it.

Thank you for further explanation of Mao's affiliation with Chukyo University- I remember that she picked them to avoid conflict of her many sponsors in her last years of competition, but I don't remember when she got her BS.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

I wonder if they're planning ahead for 4CC as well. Sota, Kazuki, and Koshiro are all currently in the hunt for a 4CC spot, as well as Kao and Shoma. Since 4CC and Universiade are so close together and to Nats, they could want to space out the international assignments a bit. Someone on Twitter hypothesized that sending Yuma to Universiade would be a way for him to regain international cred without having to compete against the top skaters in the world, and they're freeing up a spot for another skater to go to 4CC.

 

[Leocadia]

I noticed that Yuki Kunikata, who was 8th at Eastern Sectionals, is on the list of entries for French Nationals!

I remember he said he is now coached by Brian Joubert, so I guess he was invited to participate since he trains in France?

 

[KiraraChin]

Crossposting this from Kazuki Tomono's Fan Fest:

Looking forward to seeing Nobu compete, and Kazuki and Nobu on the K&C together as a team sounds soooooo fun. However, this competition kinda overlaps with 4CC, so if Kazuki is assigned to 4CC, he will most likely WD. Let's see!

 

[KiraraChin]

Top Japanese Men Season's Best scores following the Grand Prix season

Shoma Uno: 304.46 (Grand Prix Final)
Sota Yamamoto: 274.35 (Grand Prix Final)
Kao Miura: 273.19 (Skate America)
Shun Sato: 262.21 (GP Espoo)
Kazuki Tomono: 251.83 (NHK Trophy)
Koshiro Shimada: 247.17 (GP Sheffield)
Tatsuya Tsuboi: 244.90 (GP Espoo)

All of these are in the top 20 Men SBs this season, and we haven't even seen Yuma yet! I know we say every year that Japanese Nationals will be a bloodbath, but I think this will be particularly true this year

 

[yesterday]

but I think this will be particularly true this year

And not to forget - it's year one after Yuzuru
(or maybe that's an increasing factor?)

 

[yuumagical]

And not to forget - it's year one after Yuzuru
(or maybe that's an increasing factor?)

I think it would be an increasing factor, every one of these young men wants to leave their own hope and legacy out there on the ice (pun totally intended).

 

[KiraraChin]

Agreed, but also, this year the results are more up in the air. Last year (and previous few years), the podium was obvious: Yuzu, Shoma, Yuma with slight variations in the order. This year the only guaranteed spot is Shoma's, as Yuma is just coming back from injury and we don't know in which shape he's in, plus the third spot is up for grabs.

Kao, Kazuki, Sota and Shun have similar scoring potential when clean, so any of them could qualify. At this particular moment, it seems Sota has more momentum, but they all say Japanese Nationals is a different type of beast. So yeah for me Japanese Nationals this year will be incredibly interesting to watch, more than last year since the podium is not set in advance.

Just a disclaimer that I'm a huge fan of Yuzu, I've always enjoyed his performances, I'm just talking about in terms of unpredictability and results.

 

[yesterday]

Agreed, but also, this year the results are more up in the air. Last year (and previous few years), the podium was obvious: Yuzu, Shoma, Yuma with slight variations in the order. This year the only guaranteed spot is Shoma's, as Yuma is just coming back from injury and we don't know in which shape he's in, plus the third spot is up for grabs.

Kao, Kazuki, Sota and Shun have similar scoring potential when clean, so any of them could qualify. At this particular moment, it seems Sota has more momentum, but they all say Japanese Nationals is a different type of beast. So yeah for me Japanese Nationals this year will be incredibly interesting to watch, more than last year since the podium is not set in advance.

Just a disclaimer that I'm a huge fan of Yuzu, I've always enjoyed his performances, I'm just talking about in terms of unpredictability and results.

I hope the "available" third (possibly second) place won't freak all the lovely skaters out. How do you sage the ice in Japan?

 

[yuumagical]

I hope the "available" third (possibly second) place won't freak all the lovely skaters out. How do you sage the ice in Japan?

The same way as everywhere else, by sending kind thoughts there.

The more worrying thing for me is the quick turnaround from GPF for some and the possibility of injuries... Hoping the skaters who completed there can stay healthy.

 

[Magill]

I think it would be an increasing factor, every one of these young men wants to leave their own hope and legacy out there on the ice (pun totally intended).

Pun well appreciated too

 

[Sai Bon]

Congratulations to Kazuki for his 3rd place at Nationals!
But he's still looking for a sponsor. It's a disgrace!

【フィギュア】友野一希がスポンサー探しの現状明かす「巡り合えるように結果を出すことが一番」 - フィギュア : 日刊スポーツ

2位に入った友野一希（24＝上野芝スケートクラブ）が、スポンサーに関する現状を明かした。ショートプログラム（SP）2位で迎えたフリーは、4回転トーループ2本の… - 日刊スポーツ新聞社のニュースサイト、ニッカンスポーツ・コム（nikkansports.com）

www.nikkansports.com