Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi | Page 15 | Golden Skate

Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi

Just congratulated them in person, but I'm gonna do it here again. 😊 They were audibly the most beloved team of the id event. I don't know if it came across on the live stream, but the cheering was LOUD and it wasn't just our "cheerleading section" - the entire venue joined in! 🥰
 
synesthesia said:
Just congratulated them in person, but I'm gonna do it here again. 😊 They were audibly the most beloved team of the id event. I don't know if it came across on the live stream, but the cheering was LOUD and it wasn't just our "cheerleading section" - the entire venue joined in! 🥰
Click to expand...
You have come upon them at the hotel again? Wee, you lucky girl you! :jump:They are such a well-matched team. I watch both Kana and Daisuke equally during their dances, and I guess that is how it's supposed to be for ID teams? I mean, the other medalists were also great, but KanaDai are so special. So light and stylish on the ice.
I noticed that the boy trio - Sota, Shota and Koshiro - sat in the skater segment of the venue to cheer on KanaDai too 😊
 
surimi said:
You have come upon them at the hotel again? Wee, you lucky girl you! :jump:They are such a well-matched team. I watch both Kana and Daisuke equally during their dances, and I guess that is how it's supposed to be for ID teams? I mean, the other medalists were also great, but KanaDai are so special. So light and stylish on the ice.
I noticed that the boy trio - Sota, Shota and Koshiro - sat in the skater segment of the venue to cheer on KanaDai too 😊
Click to expand...

Yes, I was very lucky to meet them three times. 😊 On Thursday on my way to the women's SP (reported about it in the Warsaw Cup - general info thread), on Friday when they stayed at the venue to watch the other teams' RDs with Marina (they were extremely kind and patient to give autographs and take pictures with everyone, who went up to them - it was a looong queue 😅) and yesterday when they returned to the hotel after the competition.

I'm extremely happy for you that you, too, got to meet Sota twice when we last spoke (did you meet him again afterwards?) - cherry on top that he absolutely deservedly won. His SP was superb! 🥰 I saw him and Koshiro live for the first time and they were both so delightful - the clear highlight of the men's event for me. From my seat I couldn't see the boys cheering for Kana and Dai, but I read on twitter that they were there. Thank you for the confirmation. 😃

It was super lovely to meet you, surimi! Say hello to your mom. I hope to see you around at another competition in the future to cheer for Team Japan again!


And yes, Kana and Dai were just stunning with two virtually flawless performances (nevermind the slightly scary RoLi in the RD 😅), which were such a treat to witness live.

Met a group of fellow longstanding Dai fans on Friday that I stayed with for the RD and FD. We were all equipped with K7D1 banners and made quite a bit of noise.

Demarinis, the fall during the RD warm up happened right in front of me and I think my heart skipped a beat or two and I called out "oh no!" It evoked flashbacks to JNats last year. I was so worried Kana might have sustained an injury again, because she didn't pop right back up while Dai got up immediately. But I think it just took her a moment to recover from the fluke fall. I could see the surprise on her face. (ETA: I watched the stream now - it seems Kana got up more quickly than it felt to me in the moment, because I was so anxious.) And then they came out all guns blazing afterwards with that killer skate! 🤩 And they followed it up the next day with the strongest performance of La Bayadere they've delivered to date! It was absolutely obvious that they've gained much, much more confidence compared to last year.

Another treat was that we had the opportunity to watch the last FD practice group, which Kana and Dai were part of on Saturday.

Overall the last four days were packed with so many events that I'm experiencing an impression overload now. o_O I'm also super knackered from attending most of the competition (except for the pairs SP and the women's FS bar the last group).

To my big surprise I just found out that Kana and Dai performed their RD in stunning white versions of their costumes at the gala "100 years of Polish Figure Skating Association" today! Apparently, the event was held for invited guests exclusively. (This explains why I still spied some activity in the arena - there are windows looking in to the warm-up area and a tiny part of the rink - when I passed by today after my excursion to Lazienki Park before heading to the airport. I was wondering what was going on since Ekaterina Kurakova was also hanging out in front of the entrance - now I know why!) A lucky attendee uploaded snippets of Kana's and Dai's performance on twitter:


I know it's unlikely there will be one, but I would love to see an official full version of this so bad. :pray:



ETA: Just saw that mikeko was faster to post the snippets of the gala performance! :)
 
Last edited:
synesthesia said:
Yes, I was very lucky to meet them three times. 😊 On Thursday on my way to the women's SP (reported about it in the Warsaw Cup - general info thread), on Friday when they stayed at the venue to watch the other teams' RDs with Marina (they were extremely kind and patient to give autographs and take pictures with everyone, who went up to them - it was a looong queue 😅) and yesterday when they returned to the hotel after the competition.

I'm extremely happy for you that you, too, got to meet Sota twice when we last spoke (did you meet him again afterwards?) - cherry on top that he absolutely deservedly won. His SP was superb! 🥰 I saw him and Koshiro live for the first time and they were both so delightful - the clear highlight of the men's event for me. From my seat I couldn't see the boys cheering for Kana and Dai, but I read on twitter that they were there. Thank you for the confirmation. 😃

It was super lovely to meet you, surimi! Say hello to your mom. I hope to see you around at another competition in the future to cheer for Team Japan again!


And yes, Kana and Dai were just stunning with two virtually flawless performances (nevermind the slightly scary RoLi in the RD 😅), which were such a treat to witness live.

Met a group of fellow longstanding Dai fans on Friday that I stayed with for the RD and FD. We were all equipped with K7D1 banners and made quite a bit of noise.

Demarinis, the fall during the RD warm up happened right in front of me and I think my heart skipped a beat or two and I called out "oh no!" It evoked flashbacks to JNats last year. I was so worried Kana might have sustained an injury again, because she didn't pop right back up while Dai got up immediately. But I think it just took her a moment to recover from the fluke fall. I could see the surprise on her face. (ETA: I watched the stream now - it seems Kana got up more quickly than it felt to me in the moment, because I was so anxious.) And then they came out all guns blazing afterwards with that killer skate! 🤩 And they followed it up the next day with the strongest performance of La Bayadere they've delivered to date! It was absolutely obvious that they've gained much, much more confidence compared to last year.

Another treat was that we had the opportunity to watch the last FD practice group, which Kana and Dai were part of on Saturday.

Overall the last four days were packed with so many events that I'm experiencing an impression overload now. o_O I'm also super knackered from attending most of the competition (except for the pairs SP and the women's FS bar the last group).

To my big surprise I just found out that Kana and Dai performed their RD in stunning white versions of their costumes at the gala "100 years of Polish Figure Skating Association" today! Apparently, the event was held for invited guests exclusively. (This explains why I still spied some activity in the arena - there are windows looking in to the warm-up area and a tiny part of the rink - when I passed by today after my excursion to Lazienki Park before heading to the airport. I was wondering what was going on since Ekaterina Kurakova was also hanging out in front of the entrance - now I know why!) A lucky attendee uploaded snippets of Kana's and Dai's performance on twitter:


I know it's unlikely there will be one, but I would love to see an official full version of this so bad. :pray:



ETA: Just saw that mikeko was faster to post the snippets of the gala performance! :)
Click to expand...

This clarifies some questions that I had :D So the gala is why KanaDai were happily having breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning! I thought it was surprising that Team Japan were still around, but now it seems to be just these two.
And the cluster of fans near the skater entrance on Friday night was you guys waiting for KanaDai? ☺️ I was wondering what that was about!

I was worried by the random fall too, but as soon as they got up and skated to my part of the venue (that explains why I didn't see you, I was on the opposite side, it looks like), I saw that Kana was smiling, and I was relieved. They got so many cheers... and deservedly so, their dances are so refreshing to see, and so well executed. (although for that one rotational lift, I guess we were both startled there for a moment)

Likewise, it was fun and so nice to meet you! Hopefully we'll get more chances to chat in the future ^ ^ (and no, I didn't meet Sota again afterwards, but no matter, the main thing for me was seeing him skate, and even better, seeing him win ^ ^ )
 
surimi said:
This clarifies some questions that I had :D So the gala is why KanaDai were happily having breakfast at the hotel on Sunday morning! I thought it was surprising that Team Japan were still around, but now it seems to be just these two.
Click to expand...

D’aww, you saw them at breakfast! 🤩 Do you remember what time it was? I thought, they’d be gone early in the morning to fly back to Florida (according to interviews they gave in Warsaw they weren’t headed to Japan), so I got up late to make up for my sleep deficit.

Koshiro was invited to the gala too, btw. :) Kana posted these nice pictures with him (and with Evgenia and Vladimir):




surimi said:
And the cluster of fans near the skater entrance on Friday night was you guys waiting for KanaDai? ☺️ I was wondering what that was about!
Click to expand...

Hehe, no, I wasn’t among those waiting at the skaters’ entrance. After Kana and Dai had skated their RD they cooled down on the gallery above the rink while Dai was talking to a guy working for Fuji tv (a bit later they brought a camera and filmed this short clip of him for Live News α). At some point they apparently moved to the skaters’ segment in the stands to watch the competition, which I wasn’t aware of at the time until someone from the group I sat with returned after they had been gone for a while. They reported that Kana and Dai had been sitting in the stands and that people had kept begging the staff/volunteers, if they could enter the restricted area to ask them for autographs. A while later Kana and Dai got up and came over to the public area to buy some coffee in the skate shop, which was just above the segment we sat in. So when I heard that I instinctively went upstairs to see, if I could catch a glimpse when they’d exit the shop. Of course I wasn’t the only one doing just that! As soon as they left the shop they were pretty much surrounded by fans. (Everyone wore masks, as mandatory inside the venue.) I then seized the opportunity after several fans had taken pictures with them, got my Kiss & Cry magazine out of my bag and asked them if they could sign the poster inside, which they agreed to without hesitation. It was a bit of a struggle, because they both had coffe cups in hand, so Dai and me held the corners of the poster for Kana to sign first. Since Kana wasn’t sure where to sign Dai indicated the most appropriate spot. 🤗 Then Dai signed the poster too and I thanked them, but when they tried to move on, people kept asking for pictures again! They couldn’t take a single step without fans gathering around them. I’m very impressed by how gracious and generous Kana and Dai were (as I was by Dai at Ice Legends). They made sure to accomodate everyone's requests. To cut a long story short: I approached them once more and after I got my picture taken with them as well and had wished them good luck for the FD, I stood back to watch until everyone was happy and satisfied and they could finally go back to the restricted area to sip their coffee (I hope it wasn’t cold by that point 😅). In the skaters’ area they were then joined by Marina and they watched the rest of the competition together.

Particularly noteworthy is how happy and content Kana and Dai looked throughout the competition, on and off the ice. It's palpable that they have a good rapport with each other and I really hope they continue after this season, because – having already improved a h*ll of a lot in less than a year – imo they still have an insane amount of unrealised potential. Moreover, they have become audience favourites in no time with their outstanding programmes and charismatic presence, so I think I speak for many when I say that we are dying to see more of them! 🥰___________________________________________________________________________

I uploaded a few pictures I took on Saturday (quality is not great since I didn't bring my DSLR, but they're a nice memory nonetheless):

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synesthesia said:
D’aww, you saw them at breakfast! 🤩 Do you remember what time it was? I thought, they’d be gone early in the morning to fly back to Florida (according to interviews they gave in Warsaw they weren’t headed to Japan), so I got up late to make up for my sleep deficit.

Koshiro was invited to the gala too, btw. :) Kana posted these nice pictures with him (and with Evgenia and Vladimir):






Hehe, no, I wasn’t among those waiting at the skaters’ entrance. After Kana and Dai had skated their RD they cooled down on the gallery above the rink while Dai was talking to a guy working for Fuji tv (a bit later they brought a camera and filmed this short clip of him for Live News α). At some point they apparently moved to the skaters’ segment in the stands to watch the competition, which I wasn’t aware of at the time until someone from the group I sat with returned after they had been gone for a while. They reported that Kana and Dai had been sitting in the stands and that people had kept begging the staff/volunteers, if they could enter the restricted area to ask them for autographs. A while later Kana and Dai got up and came over to the public area to buy some coffee in the skate shop, which was just above the segment we sat in. So when I heard that I instinctively went upstairs to see, if I could catch a glimpse when they’d exit the shop. Of course I wasn’t the only one doing just that! As soon as they left the shop they were pretty much surrounded by fans. (Everyone wore masks, as mandatory inside the venue.) I then seized the opportunity after several fans had taken pictures with them, got my Kiss & Cry magazine out of my bag and asked them if they could sign the poster inside, which they agreed to without hesitation. It was a bit of a struggle, because they both had coffe cups in hand, so Dai and me held the corners of the poster for Kana to sign first. Since Kana wasn’t sure where to sign Dai indicated the most appropriate spot. 🤗 Then Dai signed the poster too and I thanked them, but when they tried to move on, people kept asking for pictures again! They couldn’t take a single step without fans gathering around them. I’m very impressed by how gracious and generous Kana and Dai were (as I was by Dai at Ice Legends). They made sure to accomodate everyone's requests. To cut a long story short: I approached them once more and after I got my picture taken with them as well and had wished them good luck for the FD, I stood back to watch until everyone was happy and satisfied and they could finally go back to the restricted area to sip their coffee (I hope it wasn’t cold by that point 😅). In the skaters’ area they were then joined by Marina and they watched the rest of the competition together.

Particularly noteworthy is how happy and content Kana and Dai looked throughout the competition, on and off the ice. It's palpable that they have a good rapport with each other and I really hope they continue after this season, because – having already improved a h*ll of a lot in less than a year – imo they still have an insane amount of unrealised potential. Moreover, they have become audience favourites in no time with their outstanding programmes and charismatic presence, so I think I speak for many when I say that we are dying to see more of them! 🥰___________________________________________________________________________

I uploaded a few pictures I took on Saturday (quality is not great since I didn't bring my DSLR, but they're a nice memory nonetheless):

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Click to expand...

Thanks for the beautiful photos! ☺️
I think I was at breakfast at around 9 AM, and didn't stay for all that long as I had to pack and then try to do some sightseeing on the way to the railway station. I was there between 9 and 10 I think... But I came in before KanaDai. It looks like they also needed to rest a bit. I saw Koshiro, too, but he only popped in for a moment, and didn't go to a table, so maybe he'd already had his meal. The sight of Daisuke in his casual clothes and slides made me smile, as I am so used to seeing him in the fancy skating clothes ^ ^

Oh, thanks for sharing the video! I think the Fuji guy had been filming every move of theirs ^ ^ The opening of the video features footage of them walking along a parking lot, and that was before SD. It was probably my first sight of KanaDai, I was coming from the opposite direction along the parking lot, saw a guy with a camera filming these two, and then I recognized them :D I was a bit awe-struck, but had enough sense not to block the sidewalk and step aside among the cars.

I wasn't around for all of the SD so I didn't know of the commotion at the cafe. I hope the drink was good at least 🤭 I went to that cafe once, and when I saw the line, and that the break was over before I could get my drink, I never returned. Incredible how well going to a fro between the hotel (to buy a snack and hot tea) and the rink a few times a day, works for getting in shape! In just four days! Magic. I am not kidding.
Anyhow, I am glad to read KanaDai seemed happy to get so many cheers. And for the fans, it must have been an unforgettable experience to see them in person. I know it was for me. :)
 
Oh, you two make me feel very very jealous of you, surimi and synes. :whistle::ROFLMAO::giggle: Thanks a million for your fabulous reports at Warsaw Cup! :giggle:

Anyway,
many many congrats to Kana & Dai for the second finish there! :jump:Can't believe it was only their SECOND int'l competition! :rock:
Below are in HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yVBxOpkmqI

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@synes
It was your first time to watch Daisuke skate live at an actual competition, wasn't it? How was their speed?
Because, at NHK I was watching the whole ice dance competition on big TV screen at home, to my eyes Kana/Dai skated the fastest among the first group, especially during free dance, I thought. That was a very nice surprise for me, and glad that I didn't have to hold my breath during any of their lifts this season. ;) Except the one in their soran RD, that is very scary, though!

Also, you've been to Art on Ice before, around 2017 I guess, and IIRC that was your very first encounter with Dai and watched him skate live. Was there any difference between Dai at shows and him at competition?
 
deedee1 said:
@synes
It was your first time to watch Daisuke skate live at an actual competition, wasn't it? How was their speed?
Because, at NHK I was watching the whole ice dance competition on big TV screen at home, to my eyes Kana/Dai skated the fastest among the first group, especially during free dance, I thought. That was a very nice surprise for me, and glad that I didn't have to hold my breath during any of their lifts this season. ;) Except the one in their soran RD, that is very scary, though!

Also, you've been to Art on Ice before, around 2017 I guess, and IIRC that was your very first encounter with Dai and watched him skate live. Was there any difference between Dai at shows and him at competition?
Click to expand...
I watched FD in the arena, and yes, they were the fastest among the first group :)
I found a beautiful fan art on Twitter.
 
Last edited:
deedee1 said:
@synes
It was your first time to watch Daisuke skate live at an actual competition, wasn't it? How was their speed?
Because, at NHK I was watching the whole ice dance competition on big TV screen at home, to my eyes Kana/Dai skated the fastest among the first group, especially during free dance, I thought. That was a very nice surprise for me, and glad that I didn't have to hold my breath during any of their lifts this season. ;) Except the one in their soran RD, that is very scary, though!

Also, you've been to Art on Ice before, around 2017 I guess, and IIRC that was your very first encounter with Dai and watched him skate live. Was there any difference between Dai at shows and him at competition?
Click to expand...

Oh my, I’ll try my best to answer these questions as objectively as possible and without rambling too much (apologies in advance, if I fail…) :wink:

Yes, it was the first time I saw Dai compete live. :) During the noon FD practice on Saturday I commented to the fellow fan sitting next to me that Kana and Dai had excellent speed and flow. In my opinion they stood out in that regard (+ as a result in ice coverage) in their practice group, which of course included Green/Parsons (who I also LOVE btw), Davis/Smolkin, Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy and Taschlerova/Taschler.

In the actual competition Kana and Dai were still a bit faster and had slightly better ice coverage than Green/Parsons and even more so than Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy and Davis/Smolkin, but were about on par in these aspects with Taschlerova/Taschler. (I won’t go into a detailed comparison of these teams’ ss as per the guidelines the FF is not the place for this.) The only element where they lost lots of speed was the layback/camel spin position. The first part of the combination spin with Dai in sit and Kana in one-handed Biellmann variation was very well executed – great positions by both of them, well centered and fast.

I thought Kana and Dai skated the RD slightly more tentatively than at NHK (although it’s of course very difficult to compare live impression vs. TV), I guess due to not having the RD practice session on the same day as the competition, the fluke fall they had during warm-up and thus trying to avoid mistakes. Despite this, I would say they were among the fastest teams in that entire segment too (not just in their group, which included much weaker teams). Their MB pattern was certainly big – unlike several other teams, they made full use of the entire half of the rink (they skated far into the corner just before KP 3 + 4 and ended the pattern at the midline).

They do not look like two very good individual skaters trying to pass as an ice dance team anymore (like they admittedly did in several aspects last season, mainly due to Dai needing to learn to partner and catch up to Kana’s ss level). At Warsaw Cup they fit right in with the highest ranked teams in terms of connection with each other and comfort level when skating in hold. They are also pretty much equal in their skating abilities now – they skate as a unit without one partner visibly pushing or dragging the other one around in hold or drifting much apart when skating out of hold (Kana has slightly better ice coverage in clockwise twizzles though).

What's interesting about B level competitions is that there are skaters/teams with a fairly wide range of skill level, so that the contrast between the lowest and highest ranked ones is quite stark. In my opinion KanaDai were among the teams with the best overall skating quality in the id event at Warsaw Cup (along with Taschlerova/Taschler and Green/Parsons – even if the scores don’t always equally reflect it for these teams).

To be continued...
 
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