18. Rika MIURA & Ryuichi KIHARA JPN 
三浦 璃来 / 木原 龍
SP: "Paint It Black" by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger (kept from 2024-25)
3Tw3
3T
5ALi2 (Ryuichi loses lift, comes down early and awkwardly)
3LzTh (forwards, hangs on)
CCoSp4
StSq4
BiDs4
SP: 73.11 (4th)
they got a bit lucky with that score, they are fortunate that Riku did her best 3T in a while and that they managed to get a level 2 on that lift, it's about a point in BV between a level 2 and level 4. I might have had their score 2 points lower but I think they should still be ahead of Sui/Han so the placement is okay for me
An absolute disaster on that lift from M/K, they never make that mistake, just a little bobble and they lost 5-6 points in BV and GOE, plus they were slightly off-timing for the throw and spin afterwards. They managed to salvage the rest of the points, but that was a truly devastating mistake. Poor Ryuichi looks crushed, just an utter fluke that has never happened to them before in competition.
they still have a path to gold, but they will need other teams to make errors and to go clean in the FS. That being said, if any team can do it, I think it will be them, they have been practicing so well and as Bruno says, "it's not over".