Japanese skater/skating news & updates

[MikiAndoFan#1]

I sooo wish I could see Miyahara's SP on youtube but it is geoblocked in Germany. Is there any other site where it is uploaded to?

Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVP_XuXqWyk.

[Ziggy]

Looks like some Americans are really shocked to see "mature" Cecario was beaten by "juvenile" Miyahara.

Read my location, genius.

I must say the gap between them is even bigger than the "flutz".

Yes, it is.

Cesario has much higher jumps, better spins, better lines, better choreographed programs, better lines, more power in her skating. Do I need to go on?

BTW Miyahara has gained more points in spins than Cesario.

Which says much more about the quality of the judging than the quality of her spins.

Well if we learned anything from JGP Brisbane, we know that the judges have no problem focusing in on one aspect of a program rather than looking at the program as a whole.

The problem is the opposite. The judges ARE looking at the program as a whole, instead of evaluating different aspects of it and giving credit where it's due.

Because Miyahara is a very competent jumper, the judges gave her high points for everything else when, at the moment, all that she is is a jumping bean.

I'll give credit where credit is due to Miyahara for at least attempting to bring something else to her skating. No her presentation isn't as polished as Cesario, but it's nice to see a 13 (or is she 14?) year old doing more (or trying to do more) than just skate and jump.

Skate and jump is pretty much all that she did in the SP.

In the FS she at least tried to skate to the music, at least part of the time.

But the program seemed to have no concept whatsoever and she just moved her arms randomly in a chaotic and pointless fashion that made Plushenko look sophisticated.

Her posture and lines were not good and it just all looked like a complete car crash and made me wish, she just skated and jumped and spared us that.

[NMURA]

Axis of Evil = Washington + New York? or Seoul?

Anyway, I don't think the patriot Ziggy's comment is not persuasive at all. You must be believing you're much more knowledgeable than the judges. An "overall" skater won't be staying junior after 18 y/o in the first place. Only overall mediocre skaters would.

[VALuvsMKwan]

Axis of Evil = Washington + New York? or Seoul?

Anyway, I don't think the patriot Ziggy's comment is not persuasive at all. You must be believing you're much more knowledgeable than the judges. An "overall" skater won't be staying junior after 18 y/o in the first place. Only overall mediocre skaters would.

NMURA, Ziggy is of Polish nationality, not American (for which I am sure he utters thanks every day upon rising).

Please be sure about what you post before you make assumptions about nationalities of individuals (and was the additional of the "Seoul" comment really necessary?). Thank you.

[Sylvia]

An "overall" skater won't be staying junior after 18 y/o in the first place. Only overall mediocre skaters would.

I disagree. Yuki Nishino turned 18 in September and Samantha Cesario 18 in August. Nishino is about to skate in her 8th JGP since 2007. Cesario will compete in her 3rd JGP coming up. Skaters develop at different rates, and there's nothing wrong with getting valuable competitive experience (and ISU ranking points/Season Best scores) on the JGP if the ladies' fields are as deep as they are in both Japan and the USA.

[Ziggy]

Axis of Evil = Washington + New York? or Seoul?

Apparently, copying and pasting a phrase into Google is too hard for you, so here is my helping hand:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_of_evil

You must be believing you're much more knowledgeable than the judges.

No, it is not that simple.

1) The way the current judging system works, means that the judges play safe. Because if they are out of line, there are repercussions.

2) The way the human mind works means that we focus on the whole and not the constituent parts. The problem is, IJS in constructed exactly in the opposite fashion. It requires the judges to focus on particular details IN ISOLATION.

And then there is another related psychological mechanism, anchoring. If I give a skater a high mark for something, it automatically reduces my range. My other marks will be close to that mark.

And then there is a third related psychological mechanism (very closely linked to the one above). We want to be consistent. If we say A, we want to say B.

Of course, humans are not machines. I am sure that if judges received appropriate psychological training regarding the above and if they became aware of those mechanisms, they would be able to control them.

But ISU doesn't seem to notice or acknowledge this problem, therefore nothing is being done to remedy it.

3) I generally pay loads of attention to detail and I am much more nitpicky than the average person. I know that.

An "overall" skater won't be staying junior after 18 y/o in the first place. Only overall mediocre skaters would.

A very cheap shot.

Skaters might choose to remain Junior for loads of different reasons.

NMURA, Ziggy is of Polish nationality, not American (for which I am sure he utters thanks every day upon rising).

I think I would rather be American than Polish, actually.

But then the grass is always greener...

On a more serious note, I very deeply despise the concepts of nationalism, patriotism, etc. and I cheer for all skaters (especially ones from nations were skating isn't developed and who have no political backing) and I couldn't care less where a skater is from, as long as they are good and/or interesting.

(There are of course are some Polish skaters that I support like crazy but it's because I know/like/respect/etc. them and not just because they are Polish)

[Jenna]

I disagree. Yuki Nishino turned 18 in September and Samantha Cesario 18 in August. Nishino is about to skate in her 8th JGP since 2007. Cesario will compete in her 3rd JGP coming up. Skaters develop at different rates, and there's nothing wrong with getting valuable competitive experience (and ISU ranking points/Season Best scores) on the JGP if the ladies' fields are as deep as they are in both Japan and the USA.

Thank you.

As I said before, not every girl can peak at age 13. Some of us develop at different rates and the older skaters shouldn't be scored negatively because of their age..

[kwanatic]

The problem is the opposite. The judges ARE looking at the program as a whole, instead of evaluating different aspects of it and giving credit where it's due.

Because Miyahara is a very competent jumper, the judges gave her high points for everything else when, at the moment, all that she is is a jumping bean.

But that's what happened with Hicks and Shoji. Hicks skated fast (and all over the place) and jumped big (and fell twice). Yet her PCS were the highest of the night. I was shocked b/c most of the time two falls, or two blatantly obvious mistakes, are penalized across the board. Hicks sloppy delivery in addition to her technical errors didn't seem to factor into her score at all.

Shoji OTOH had a ratified 3-3, a 2-3, beautiful choreography and musical interpretation, and no visible errors. I completely disagreed with the judging of that competition and I really think Shoji wuzrobbed. She should have won, if only slightly.

I agree that Cesario got lowballed in this competition, particularly in the PCS, as is customary when it comes to holding skaters down. I do like Miyahara and think that she has a certain spark about her. She's rather far away from being soup but I think she's one to keep an eye on in the future.

But yeah, so far some of the judging for these events has been off...

[pinky166]

Looks like some Americans are really shocked to see "mature" Cecario was beaten by "juvenile" Miyahara..

Yup I was annoyed when it happened but I can't say I was surprised after what happened in Australia when "messy" Hicks beat "elegant" Shoji. I personally think both Risa and Samantha are gorgeous skaters who delivered great programs at their respective events and deserved to score higher for what they put out. Both girls have elegance and maturity which most of the other competitors lacked, Cesario has huge jumps, Shoji's aren't so big but she did land a ratified 3-3-2 and a 2a-3t in her program speaking to her high degree of technical ante, both girls spin well, and they both are packaged well and have the right look/body type for the sport. I don't get it, but whatever, I guess judges prefer jumping beans, regardless of how tiny these jumps are or how clunky the in-between skating is. I personally prefer Risa and Samantha to Miyahara and Courtney, and think they are both better skaters in their respective situations. But that's just my opinion and maybe I'm in the minority. And in the situation of Risa and Courtney, they are both the same age and look the same age and are right in the middle age of juniors (15), so that whole angle doesn't even play a factor in their case.

[feraina]

Miyahara and Hicks are both fast (and sloppy), but importantly, both have a lot more transitions in their programs than Cesario and Shoji -- at least an order of magnitude more, especially compared to Cesario, who does mainly cross-overs and mohawks in between her elements (albeit very elegantly).

[shine]

I was super impressed with Miyahara's SP. And ITA with ferania about the amount of transitions in her programs. She has great skating skills and is one of those few skaters that can handle non-stop changes of edges in the step sequences with ease. I also think she moves really well to the music for her age and has a spark depite being rough around the edges. I really like her relaxed shoulders and the ease she skates with. She seems to be using the entire body during her steps without over doing it and has a wide range movement compared to others. I see that as great potential to handle very interesting and dynamic choreography in the future. I think a lot of people are being overly critical of her "junvenile" presentation just because she looks about 8. But that doesn't mean she skates like she's 8.

[ponta1]

I was super impressed with Miyahara's SP. And ITA with ferania about the amount of transitions in her programs. She has great skating skills and is one of those few skaters that can handle non-stop changes of edges in the step sequences with ease. I also think she moves really well to the music for her age and has a spark depite being rough around the edges. I really like her relaxed shoulders and the ease she skates with. She seems to be using the entire body during her steps without over doing it and has a wide range movement compared to others. I see that as great potential to handle very interesting and dynamic choreography in the future. I think a lot of people are being overly critical of her "junvenile" presentation just because she looks about 8. But that doesn't mean she skates like she's 8.

I agree with everything you said. I really don't understand all this criticism of Miyahara--I think she's a really lovely skater!

[miki88]

Although I agree Miyahara has a lot of spark, I am not overly impressed with her. She doesn't have the elegance I see from Risa Shoji or Lipnitskaya. However, I also think she has potential, but for now, she seems pretty average to me.

[sleepypanda]

Short clip of Mao practicing her short program on her blog. There's a link to a Quicktime vid at the end of the entry.

Blog: http://maimao-asada.com/mao/news/2011/09/23/150/

- - -

Short Program "Scherherazade" desu.

Short program "Scherherazade" desu.

Since some years ago, whenever I went to Tatiana-sensei, (this piece) was on her list of music. I thought it was a kawaii* Scherherazade.

The music has a variety of tones so I want to show a variety of expressions that fits throughout this program.

*kawaii is the Japanese word for cute, but it also has other meanings too... lovely, charming, pretty... don't get too caught up in what the word "cute" implies in English.

[Hedwig]

Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVP_XuXqWyk.

thanks but this one does not work either.
It is the music that is blocked in Germany via youtube.

If someone is able to upload it to another server and give me the link I would be forever grateful.

[MikiAndoFan#1]

thanks but this one does not work either.
It is the music that is blocked in Germany via youtube.

If someone is able to upload it to another server and give me the link I would be forever grateful.

How about this one?

[Hedwig]

How about this one?

You have no my undying love.

Forever!!
Amen!!!

Wheee

[Hedwig]

whee, and now I can join the love!!

She is really expressive and musical for a 13-year-old! Cannot wait to see what will become of her in a couple of years!

And she had already more transitions in this one program than Ksenia Makarova had in all her programs put together.

[pinky166]

whee, and now I can join the love!!

She is really expressive and musical for a 13-year-old! Cannot wait to see what will become of her in a couple of years!

And she had already more transitions in this one program than Ksenia Makarova had in all her programs put together.

I agree she's talented but I still prefer Risa personally. She has the technical goods, but there's also a lot more than that to her skating. I actually prefer Risa to Kanako too, but Kanako does seem to have come into her own this summer based on videos I've seen, so that opinion may change based on how she's skating this season and if she's finally dumped cutesy or not. Miyahara seems solely focused on jumps at this point.

[Hedwig]

Hanyu win with over 10points:
http://www.deu-event.de/results/Nebe...1/CAT001RS.HTM

Good for him!