Wakaba Higuchi | Page 45 | Golden Skate

Wakaba Higuchi

I love Wakaba and both of her programs this year are fabulous. Her FS is to die for, my favorite out of any lady this season. She was really close to Lena and Kaori after the short and maybe the Wakaba of last season would’ve succumbed to the pressure and taken herself out of medal contention in the free. Not today’s Wakaba though. Super impressed with how she held herself together and the competitive fire and grit she’s displayed this season so far. I think this competition was an important test of her mental game and as far as I’m concerned she passed. Keep building on this success Wakababy. I was also pleasantly surprised with her PCS scores today. I was expecting her PCS to be held back but 68 is a good improvement from last season.
 
Post Wakababy previous ex.
youtube suggested to me. I was enchanted, this version is not completely clean, but for some reason I was a little teary :p, I then went on watched a bunch of other versions including clean ones.
Maybe it is the falling of hair band.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySlU45BSqn8
Wakababy may not be a first-sight charmer. but she truly understands music. She may not have an artistic body-type but she has an artistic soul.
@OS recommend to you, I think you will like this ex from wakababy:)

I just love how she opens herself entirely surrendering herself to whatever programs she does with such commitment, guts, but never forget this is still a sport where power, strength, speed, attack need to go hand in hand with finesse and grace. Rarely fail to carry the whole choreography movement through while also owning these movements beyond instructions. She clearly resonant wth her music, and expresses them using her entire body which is a lot of effort that requires high concentration that may not earn her justifying rewards (PCS) but it is so important to the integrity of any artistic program. The balance of art and sport... no time wasting empty spots. She got down to business like a boss!

More importantly, she skates hungry, love it. Will totally cheer for her all season.
 
I just love how she opens herself entirely surrendering herself to whatever programs she does with such commitment, guts, but never forget this is still a sport where power, strength, speed, attack need to go hand in hand with finesse and grace. Rarely fail to carry the whole choreography movement through while also owning these movements beyond instructions. She clearly resonant wth her music, and expresses them using her entire body which is a lot of effort that requires high concentration that may not earn her justifying rewards (PCS) but it is so important to the integrity of any artistic program. The balance of art and sport... no time wasting empty spots. She got down to business like a boss!

More importantly, she skates hungry, and I like it. Will totally cheer for her all season.

This is meaningful transitions!!!! which nowadays, rarely anyone does it. That is WHY wakaba's every program is DIFFERENT! and others felt just like changing background music

Liked B EUROSPORT's commentary of Wakababy, they write her out, but SHE earned it back with NO publicity/politicking whatever, but the solely virtue of her program/performance.
 
I'm very proud of her! She held it together and delivered two solid 3-3's and a 3F with no tech calls. Even though she was clearly thrown off after popping the salchow, and was behind the music for the entire second half of the program, she held it together and didn't let the performance suffer too much. We all know that she's motivated, determined and strong-willed. She will only get better as the season progresses.

Was the second 3-3 planned or did she throw it in there? Because in either case, that takes guts! Can't wait to see an absolutely clean version of this program, and without the lutz being flagged. (I think it was? I didn't think it was a deep inside edge or anything, seems to have gone maybe straight before take-off, but maybe need more angles. Or maybe I'm thinking of the SP haha ).

This is meaningful transitions!!!! which nowadays, rarely anyone does it. That is WHY wakaba's every program is DIFFERENT! and others felt just like changing background music

Liked B EUROSPORT's commentary of Wakababy, they write her out, but SHE earned it back with NO publicity/politicking whatever, but the solely virtue of her program/performance.

B Eurosport have been my favorite commentators since 2006. No political favoritism, just a talent favoritism. :agree::luv17:
 
She's great this season. I didn't really notice her last year and preferred Marin but this year, the Bond girl is pretty fabulous and fierce!
 
Was the second 3-3 planned or did she throw it in there? Because in either case, that takes guts! Can't wait to see an absolutely clean version of this program, and without the lutz being flagged. (I think it was? I didn't think it was a deep inside edge or anything, seems to have gone maybe straight before take-off, but maybe need more angles. Or maybe I'm thinking of the SP haha ).

There is an absolutely clean version already!

Wakaba Higuchi FS at Lombardia Trophy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpPPJLV-i7s It has better jumps, better execution, better camerawork and (imho) better costume. :laugh:

She has had two 3Lz-3T's in the long program for the third season now (actually, at the beginning of the 15-16 season it was 3Lz-3T and 3Lz-3Lo, :shocked: :bow: but she changed it to two 3Lz-3T's later in the season).

No her lutz was not called by the tech panel, just by GS forum members. :) Her flip was called ! in the SP, but not in the FS.
 
Well done Wakaba! Loved her performances this weekend, I still think she has the best programs of any lady this season, and she delivers them magnificently, and passionately. New FS costume looked fabulous... and there is a sophistication and maturity to her skating these days, that makes it hard to believe she is still just 16. Loved the look she gave the judges when she did The Walk...!

Great achievement to win the bronze medal. I think she was unlucky not to get the silver medal (or rather, Caro was lucky to escape UR calls on quite few jumps! O_o) It will be difficult to reach the GP final now - but it's not impossible, and I'm sure she will fight hard for it at CoC!

...

One thing that's bothering me: Perhaps something is getting lost in translation... but was she actually unaware that UR on her combo 3T could be an issue? Until she got called for it in the short program? Seems she was able to fix it right away for the free skate, once she was aware of it? (and Flip edge too)

If that is so, then on the face of it, those calls in the SP seem like very costly failures by her coaching team...? Which may have cost her a silver medal here... which in turn may have damaged her changes of reaching the GP final... and which ultimately may damage her chances of making the Olympic team?!

Or am I misunderstanding, and/or over-thinking things?
 
Well done Wakaba! Loved her performances this weekend, I still think she has the best programs of any lady this season, and she delivers them magnificently, and passionately. New FS costume looked fabulous... and there is a sophistication and maturity to her skating these days, that makes it hard to believe she is still just 16. Loved the look she gave the judges when she did The Walk...!

Great achievement to win the bronze medal. I think she was unlucky not to get the silver medal (or rather, Caro was lucky to escape UR calls on quite few jumps! O_o) It will be difficult to reach the GP final now - but it's not impossible, and I'm sure she will fight hard for it at CoC!

...

One thing that's bothering me: Perhaps something is getting lost in translation... but was she actually unaware that UR on her combo 3T could be an issue? Until she got called for it in the short program? Seems she was able to fix it right away for the free skate, once she was aware of it? (and Flip edge too)

If that is so, then on the face of it, those calls in the SP seem like very costly failures by her coaching team...? Which may have cost her a silver medal here... which in turn may have damaged her changes of reaching the GP final... and which ultimately may damage her chances of making the Olympic team?!

Or am I misunderstanding, and/or over-thinking things?

Out of my head, I cannot think of other Japanese ladies can pull that (that walk) off convincingly. And Wakababy is only 16.

yes, those UR is not called in Carolina's case

for the UR in wakaba's SP I think she is just careless, obvious not due to stamina.
She get dinged this time, Hopefully her team will be more careful about that.
 
Regarding Wakaba's jumping: After 195945784 edge calls, Wakaba's coach insists on mantaining the 3F as her solo jump. WHY WHY WHY :palmf: She has an incredible 3lo that has almost the same bv and more goe. Please, wake up Wakaba team!! She does have a good flip, but her blade gets a bit to the outside briefly before the toepick and that makes her edge a bit unclear.

For the URs, unfortunately the call on her SP was right, for some crazy reason she sometimes doesn't get all the way on her 3T. But I find her jumping technique great overall.
 
Even skating novices can easily see using the 3F in the short is a mistake. I can't think of a reason for it. If a loop is good enough for Medvedeva, it should be fine for Wakaba too.
 
I love Wakaba SP and LP , it's a little sad she's not going to try a 3A this season, but she can do it the next, she's only 16 and she's very talented. Her expression and interpretation have improved greatly. She's really in the role. I hope the judges give her the PCS she deserves.I love her dress for Bond girl, it really favors her, and her makeup is beautiful <3:luv17:
 
I love Wakaba SP and LP , it's a little sad she's not going to try a 3A this season, but she can do it the next, she's only 16 and she's very talented. Her expression and interpretation have improved greatly. She's really in the role. I hope the judges give her the PCS she deserves.I love her dress for Bond girl, it really favors her, and her makeup is beautiful <3:luv17:
I hope the 3A will become a staple of her skating in the future, but for now I'm glad she's not going for it. It's not helping Mirai, it rarely helped Mao. I think it could have really helped Liza, but it was very short-lived. It kind of works for Kihira because her jumps are small and really effortless so the 3A isn't too much of a burden for her, but Wakaba is a powerful jumper, and it would affect her much more
 
I hope the 3A will become a staple of her skating in the future, but for now I'm glad she's not going for it. It's not helping Mirai, it rarely helped Mao. I think it could have really helped Liza, but it was very short-lived. It kind of works for Kihira because her jumps are small and really effortless so the 3A isn't too much of a burden for her, but Wakaba is a powerful jumper, and it would affect her much more

It's also not really helping Mirai. If anything it's a big mental sink and I think Wakaba should avoid it for now and focus on her expressive skating and nailing every single jump.

Also, British Eurosport COR gala: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbNZjMGRzdE

Makes me all emotional every time. The versatility with which she is able to harness both softness in programs like this and attack in programs like James Bond is absolutely rare in skaters nowadays. Usually you either get one or the other, but never both in such flawless execution. :luv17:
 
Found the first new practice pics of Wakaba (and Mai & Marin): 1, 2

I can't wait to see her skating again, feels like forever that we saw her! :luv17: And it was only 1,5 weeks ago, and I even saw her live... :laugh:
 
Great Short Program by Wakaba today!

It was the stand-out performance of the competition for me, and the BESP guys agreed - they loved it! She interprets the music and portrays her character brilliantly - with fire, passion, and personality.

Hoping for a clean Free Skate tomorrow! Can't wait!
 
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