Rika Kihira | Page 14 | Golden Skate

Rika Kihira

How did the russian ladies thread become a rika's consistency thread? :scratch2:

Anyway, "The West Japan Sectionals opening ceremony and skating order draw will be shown on Fuji TV Skate’s Instagram live on Nov 1, from around 6 pm (Japan time)." cr: https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1057640292252188672

i'll try to catch it to see if Rika is competing there, she is scheduled to compete but no news on withdrawal or confirmation. We'll know tomorrow. I hope to see her there. I feel like it would be good for her to get her nerves in control a week before her big GP debut!

By the way i found this blog on tumblr, the owner is a Rika stan and she described her really beautifully, i wanted to share it

"As someone who’s followed her since 2015, the most impressive thing about Rika is how quickly she can make progress on things that go beyong technical elements, like arm movement, edgework etc. I feel like every time I see her she’s grown more and added more to her skating. But also the fact that Rika is far from being a conventional skater: she’s not as powerful as someone like Kaori, but not delicate like Satoko or Marin either. She’s this unique blend of power and grace, dynamism and detail, sharp and delicate to me. She’s one of the few skaters that always make me excited (and scared lol) at the prospect of seeing great and clean technical elements, but also constant evolution and progress in every other area of skating."
cr: https://jumpitwithashuulanditwithapa.tumblr.com/post/179345847463/replies
that is exactly how i'd describe Rika but i'd probably struggle to because of my poor english. I have been following her since junior years and een though everybody else saw a little girl who struggled with consistency, i was closely following her improvements and it is pretty crazy how far she's come in term of the technique of her jumps and her overall performance. At Ondrej Nepela, she moved with such fluidity and speed at the same time, i keep watching that HD fancam someone posted and i am just mind blown by how she flies across the ice. She came from having poor technique and UR issues on some of her jumps to having no edge or UR issue and just overall good tehcnique on all 6 of her jumps (tho her solo 3loop could be much better), something that is very rare.

I will light a candle for her to do well at NHK, doing well would boost her confidence so much and we know confidence is her biggest issue cause she has everything from jumps to spins and SS. She just needs to trust herself going into competition.
 
I watched the order draw live and she was on her phone and taking selfies all the time while giggling :laugh: I watch her nail 3A after 3A and i sometimes forget how young these skaters actually are.
Twitter update https://twitter.com/rika_kihira/status/1057935188334800903

Some translated bits of her most recent interview, credit goes to http://kaerb.tumblr.com/ (full translation will come soon)

"she was asked how’s her condition; she said it’s good
said she pays attention to sound and body movement when the timing (of the jump) is good. Apparently it’s a “gyuu” and “shuu” when rotating lol
they asked her why jump 3A since it’s a risky jump and she said she spent time learning it and she doesn’t want to waste that. Also talked about 3A having a wow factor for people who see it (lol)
she started skating because her sister did and she wanted to catch up to her.
she wants to train for the arrival of the quad era in ladies. She’s watched Yuzu’s quads lately and she’s been training her core muscles and abdomen to prepare.
her goal is to win the Olympics
she praised Satoko and Yuzuru’s performances in PyeongChang, said she was happy for Satoko and that Yuzuru must have had incredible strength to repeat his title. She wants to learn from those skaters.
her goal for the season is to go for clean skates and leave an impression in the audience’s mind."

They showed a short promo of NHK trophy on japanese tv featuring the jpn girls competing there and here's Rika's part
https://twitter.com/junaaia/status/1058094256349315072
she just lands 3A after 3A in practice like it's no big deal, it seriously blows my mind how much control she seems to have on her landings. It's such a wild jump.
 
Reports from the Western Sectionals

Rika Kihira
3A(so), 3F3T, beautiful 3Lz(Rippon)
73.41

According to japanese fans
"All three jumps are beautiful, light jumps. Spins and steps were overall good qualities, all the elements combined left a strong impression as a program. Score 73.41 "

Happy she did so well. I hope we can get at least some footage. They showed Miyu Honda on tv yesterday after her SP so let's cross our fingers. I just want to see how how she's improved since Ondrej Nepela. The program should be different and better now with practice.

Protocols: https://66.media.tumblr.com/e37d348c929dbd554b4d16429bd9e219/tumblr_phlv48Ejdi1wkjk80o1_1280.png
She missed a level on her layback spin & step sequence too (probably due to nerves). I'm very curious to see how much this sp would score all clean! :think:
 
Great SP and she looked so pretty :luv17:

Good luck to Rika in the FS! She plans to do 2 3A!
 
Thanks god she ditched the thights half over the boot mess :laugh2:

According to jpn fans she landed 3 cleans 3A during the 6min warm up :eeking:

Right??? I still don't like the dress but I'm happy she came to her senses about the tights. :laugh:

Wishing her good luck in the Free skate tomorrow. :luv17:

And I hope this competition will serve as a good "warm-up" for NHK coming next! :pray:
 
Btw, I love how Japanese judges are so tough on their own skaters. Look at Rika's PCS:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrFQYQxWsAAc6ew.jpg:large

Someone even gave her a 6.75 for TR. :laugh:

And there was a 6.25 for SS!!!! :laugh2:

Her highest mark was one single 9.0 for IN. :laugh:

But she still scored 73! And that's with 0 GOE on the 3A! :eek:
Also, I'm curious to see what they did to fix the timing of the 3Lz in the program so it could get the 10% bonus.
 
Btw, I love how Japanese judges are so tough on their own skaters. Look at Rika's PCS:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrFQYQxWsAAc6ew.jpg:large

Someone even gave her a 6.75 for TR. :laugh:

And there was a 6.25 for SS!!!! :laugh2:

Her highest mark was one single 9.0 for IN. :laugh:

But she still scored 73! And that's with 0 GOE on the 3A! :eek:
Also, I'm curious to see what they did to fix the timing of the 3Lz in the program so it could get the 10% bonus.

yeah, i noticed how harsh japanese panels are too! 73 with a step out, missed levels, harsh panel! her score in the actual GP would be huge if clean. She could go as high as 77 (? i think? ) with this honestly. By the way her FS score at Nepela is still higher than clean Alina's today (well it was clean but with not so perfect landings). It's a good sign. It seems GP panels are not as generous with GOEs but considering they weren't even generous with Rika at Ondrej Nepela, her TES shouldn't take a hit as big as others who scored high at challengers but saw their TES fall in the GP (Tuktik & Alina for example).

I really wanted her to perform this weekend cause i imagine nerves would be too overwhelming at NHK.
 
Rika's FS
3A, 3A-2T, 3lo rippon, 3lz(so),3f rippon, 3lz tano (REP+fall), 3S2t2lo
She did not feel confident enough to add the 3T to her first 3A but went & added a 2T to the second 3A
She missed a 3-3 combo tho, could have added a 3T to her flip but probably wasn't focused enough, even with a fall on her 3lz, with her 3T combo her score would be beautiful! i'm proud of her for yolo-ing that last combo :laugh:
SP 73.41 FS 125.30 Total 198

SP Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JWDvE0wg9E

Some pretty pictures from today (god i love this dress :luv17:)
https://twitter.com/sn_figure/status/1059021384230219777
https://twitter.com/boomsports/status/1059011407755112453

I'll keep this thread alive even if i have to be here by myself :devil::laugh2:
 
It was nothing but a glorified workout for her, and she treated it as such. Hope it was helpful.

Regardless, how cool is it that we get a sectional competition covered live on television?
 
Rika's FS
3A, 3A-2T, 3lo rippon, 3lz(so),3f rippon, 3lz tano (REP+fall), 3S2t2lo
She did not feel confident enough to add the 3T to her first 3A but went & added a 2T to the second 3A
She missed a 3-3 combo tho, could have added a 3T to her flip but probably wasn't focused enough, even with a fall on her 3lz, with her 3T combo her score would be beautiful! i'm proud of her for yolo-ing that last combo :laugh:
SP 73.41 FS 125.30 Total 198

SP Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JWDvE0wg9E

Some pretty pictures from today (god i love this dress :luv17:)
https://twitter.com/sn_figure/status/1059021384230219777
https://twitter.com/boomsports/status/1059011407755112453

I'll keep this thread alive even if i have to be here by myself :devil::laugh2:
hey, I'm here with you! :laugh:

I'm happy for Rika! Far from perfect in the FS but she fought hard. I knew from the shows that when she misses the 2t+2Lo in the 3Lz she goes for it in the 3S which is the very, very last thing of the program!
:clap:

I hope someone uploads the FS too. :luv17:
 
It was nothing but a glorified workout for her, and she treated it as such. Hope it was helpful.

Regardless, how cool is it that we get a sectional competition covered live on television?

It really was a glorified workout. She herself said she did not need to go but decided to as a way to prepare for NHK.

Can i just say i'm in looove with her rippon 3lz :luv17: even tho it betrayed her today :noshake:
 
It really was a glorified workout. She herself said she did not need to go but decided to as a way to prepare for NHK.

Can i just say i'm in looove with her rippon 3lz :luv17: even tho it betrayed her today :noshake:

It was beautiful in the SP and the transitions are great too. :luv17:
 
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