Wakaba Higuchi | Page 15 | Golden Skate

Wakaba Higuchi

cohkaix said:
From twitter, the audience reported that Wakaba missed the opening 3-3 combination. In the 2nd half she executed a 3Lz-3T, but also had a pop on a 3L. On the other hand, in the news it is reported that the opening 3-3 was meant for a 3Lz-3L, which means she adding back the -3L to her jump combinations.
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Thanks! I was too tired to search twitter :laugh:

She is going back to 3Lz-3L? I hope it goes well for her, since she's doing better after recovering from her back injury
 
Looks like Wakaba won the competition, but was 3rd in the free skate. She popped her 3Lo into 2Lo and did a single axel at the end ^^.
 
Mikansei said:
Looks like Wakaba won the competition, but was 3rd in the free skate. She popped her 3Lo into 2Lo and did a single axel at the end ^^.
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She got the highest PCS of the competition, which is interesting to say the least :laugh:

Glad to see strong performances from the three junior ladies going to jr worlds!
 
Wakaba placed fifth in the short today at Junior Worlds, 8.03 points away from first place. Other than a surprise fall, she had an otherwise clean free skate. She didn't look too happy with the results though :(, I felt so bad for her. I hope she makes a comeback in the free skate, like she did at Linz this past season. She's stated one of her goals is to win Junior Worlds, and I really hope she reaches it. Think Daniel Samohin
 
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butters said:
Wakaba placed fifth in the short today at Junior Worlds, 8.03 points away from first place. Other than a surprise fall, she had an otherwise clean free skate. She didn't look too happy with the results though :(, I felt so bad for her. I hope she makes a comeback in the free skate, like she did at Linz this past season. She's stated one of her goals is to win Junior Worlds, and I really hope she reaches it. Think Daniel Samohin
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Yes think Daniel Samohin...anything is possible. After all, Yuzuru Hanyu won 2014 worlds after he was down by 7 points after the short. So keep thinking Tomoki Hiwatashi and Nicolas Nadeau too!

She's gotta be out for blood tomorrow! Sending good luck thoughts to her and Yuna. I'd be so happy if there was a Japanese sweep (no offense Russians or others)

Wakaba isn't one to go down without a fight. But it seems Marin is this years 'it' girl from Japan. Wakaba was last year's. Marin got bronze at JGPF, as did Wakaba the year before so she might get 3rd as Wakaba did last year?


Wouldnt it be funny if none of the Short program top 3 get on the podium tmr, just like the *SPOILER* men's event haha. BuT I doubt that since Sotskova is really strong in the free anyways back on topic...

GO WAKABA -NEW LEAF
 
JuliaHols said:
Yes think Daniel Samohin...anything is possible. After all, Yuzuru Hanyu won 2014 worlds after he was down by 7 points after the short. So keep thinking Tomoki Hiwatashi and Nicolas Nadeau too!

She's gotta be out for blood tomorrow! Sending good luck thoughts to her and Yuna. I'd be so happy if there was a Japanese sweep (no offense Russians or others)

Wakaba isn't one to go down without a fight. But it seems Marin is this years 'it' girl from Japan. Wakaba was last year's. Marin got bronze at JGPF, as did Wakaba the year before so she might get 3rd as Wakaba did last year?


Wouldnt it be funny if none of the Short program top 3 get on the podium tmr, just like the *SPOILER* men's event haha. BuT I doubt that since Sotskova is really strong in the free anyways back on topic...

GO WAKABA -NEW LEAF
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Yes, tomorrow will be an interesting day. I really want Wakaba and Maria to medal. I feel like since Marin, Yuna, and Alisa are younger (by about a year or so, but it makes all the difference), they have next year to really shine, not that haven't already. But since this is likely Maria and Wakaba's last Junior Worlds experience, I want them to make the most of it. Nervous and excited about the free skate. I really want Marin to do well though, I really like her.
 
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JuliaHols said:
Yes think Daniel Samohin...anything is possible. After all, Yuzuru Hanyu won 2014 worlds after he was down by 7 points after the short. So keep thinking Tomoki Hiwatashi and Nicolas Nadeau too!

She's gotta be out for blood tomorrow! Sending good luck thoughts to her and Yuna. I'd be so happy if there was a Japanese sweep (no offense Russians or others)

Wakaba isn't one to go down without a fight. But it seems Marin is this years 'it' girl from Japan. Wakaba was last year's. Marin got bronze at JGPF, as did Wakaba the year before so she might get 3rd as Wakaba did last year?


Wouldnt it be funny if none of the Short program top 3 get on the podium tmr, just like the *SPOILER* men's event haha. BuT I doubt that since Sotskova is really strong in the free anyways back on topic...

GO WAKABA -NEW LEAF
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Yuzu was able to close the gap of 7 points because his planned BV in the LP is 5 points. He has better overall quality and more difficult transitions, so he got slightly higher GOE and PCS as well. Samohin was able to win because his planned BV is much higher than the rest of the field. He planned 3 quads. Hiwatashi and Nadeau medaled because all SP top 3 messed up.

Most ladies all attempt similar tech and have similar BV. Wakaba doesn't have BV advantage over the top 3. She also doesn't get higher GOE and PCS than the top 3. So Wakaba can't medal unless one of the top 3 messes up in the LP. I don't expect her to win because she is quite behind after the SP. I hope she still has a chance to medal if she skates her LP well.

I think her SP gave her too much trouble this season. She failed to qualify for the JGPF because of her SP. She should consider changing the layout of her SP. Not everyone can backload like Evgenia. Evgenia is very thin and light, but Wakaba has a bigger build and is more explosiving. It's more energy consuming for her to jump. If backloading is easy, everyone would've done it.
 
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gsyzf said:
Yuzu was able to close the gap of 7 points because his planned BV in the LP is 5 points. He has better overall quality and more difficult transitions, so he got slightly higher GOE and PCS as well. Samohin was able to win because his planned BV is much higher than the rest of the field. He planned 3 quads. Hiwatashi and Nadeau medaled because all SP top 3 messed up.

Most ladies all attempt similar tech and have similar BV. Wakaba doesn't have BV advantage over the top 3. She also doesn't get higher GOE and PCS than the top 3. So Wakaba can't medal unless one of the top 3 messes up in the LP. I don't expect her to win because she is quite behind after the SP. I hope she still has a chance to medal if she skates her LP well.

I think her SP gave her too much trouble this season. She failed to qualify for the JGPF because of her SP. She should consider changing the layout of her SP. Not everyone can backload like Evgenia. Evgenia is very thin and light, but Wakaba has a bigger build and is more explosiving. It's more energy consuming for her to jump. If backloading is easy, everyone would've done it.
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Don't put my hopes down. Still praying for her. I still believe she can win. One can hope. And ice is slippery. Thou shall not trash my hopes and her hopes, especially not in her fan thread.

I don't think she back loaded that much. She did her combo in the first half. And the flip and axel in the second half. That is pretty balance for a SP layout. She just started with a step sequence and not an opening combo which is fine and different from others, which is also fine. Ans if she wanted to, she can backload like the queen. In her free skate, she does a triple Lutz-Toe or sometimes Lutz-Loop combination in the second half along four other jumping passes.
 
JuliaHols said:
Don't put my hopes down. Still praying for her. I still believe she can win. One can hope. And ice is slippery. Thou shall not trash my hopes and her hopes, especially not in her fan thread.

I don't think she back loaded that much. She did her combo in the first half. And the flip and axel in the second half. That is pretty balance for a SP layout. She just started with a step sequence and not an opening combo which is fine and different from others, which is also fine. Ans if she wanted to, she can backload like the queen. In her free skate, she does a triple Lutz-Toe or sometimes Lutz-Loop combination in the second half along four other jumping passes.
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I'm not trying to trash your hopes. But Wakaba's chance of winning depends on others messing up. It's possible. But I don't want to wish others messing up their performances either.

She placed all 3 of her jumps in the 2nd half of the SP. I think that might be the main problem. If she does 3lz3t at the beginning of the program, she is less likely to mess up the combo. There is no chance to make up for the mistakes in the SP, so it's better to take a bit less risk in the SP.
 
Actually, Wakaba has about 2 points BV advantage over the top 3 girls (if she does 3Lz+3Lo), and she has the highest PB for FS among them of 124.30. Marin and Alisa often does well at SP and struggles at FS, like Alisa's FS at JGPF was 113.94 (though I think she's in better form here), and Wakaba won over Marin at Junior Nationals by 8 points, at Nationals by 14 points. Masha's most recent score from YOG is 116.10 (she was in much better shape at JGPF... her jumps look just a bit tighter recently :(). I'm not saying that Wakaba can definitely win and I really like every one of these girls, but it is just too early to say she cannot win.

BTW, I'm so amazed how much she improved her SS and TR yesterday. She opened that program with very smooth use of edge and I loved that!

ETA: It's not that I'm counting on others to mess up, but I take the position that probability is a (quite a big) part of the game. I used to love horse race, you can see that ;)
 
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That was a good come back! Of course, it's not the world title, but the fact that she gains a place on the podium is still great! Congrats Wakaba! :cheer: On overall, I'm happy with how the Japanese girls fought.
 
Looks like I missed a lot in this thread! Just wanted to say that regardless of her finish (which wasn't bad!), I'm so proud of wakaba this season. So many people were writing her off after her poor gp showings, saying that she was just good for one season, etc. Although this result probably wasn't what she wanted (especially after her fantastic senior nationals performance), I am so glad that she could finish the season with a clean FS!

She will be a senior next year, I believe, and I wish her a successful Grand Prix debut! I also hope she can continue to work on PCS, which she has mentioned is her goal.

Now I will need to take a break to update her PB score in the original post :agree:
 
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