Japanese Figure Skating 2016/17 season news, national team, updates

[rosewood]

Thanks so much @rosewood

She seemed quite fine yesterday in practice besides the lutz, so I hope without that jump and a different strategy girl might be still able to succeed! Love her determination!
Go Nagai!
#3rdspot

OK Tell me who are the other two girls? Miyahara and Higuchi?
Mao
________

Anyways, apparently Nagai has troubles aside from her injury in her right ankle. Let me post a bit more info.

TV Asahi's twitter report at Skate Canada official practice.
https://twitter.com/figureskate5ch/status/791667458180456448?lang=ja
(my rough translation)
....
The first Japanese skater [to do a run-through] is Yuka Nagai! Reportedly she's reworking on jump techniques from the bottom basics, she cautiously started her practice from single jumps. She did her practice little by little like she was trying to grab good sense in jumping. In the end of the practice she did triple jumps too. Badly wish she'll do her best in the competition!
_________

I haven't read the article yet but heard about an interview with her on a recently published Japanese FS magazine. According to my hear-say, she started reworking on jumps from this past off season from the bottom of the basics. She started single jumps and now she came up to triple loop jump. She felt something wrong with her jumps back from the end of her junior days. I also heard her coach once mentioned they are thinking about going to Beijin Olys. So it might be a long plan reworking. And in the beginning of the reworking she got injured in her right ankle. So this season must be a very much tough time for her. You must cheer her up even louder than usual, @Jeschke! I love this girl as a person as well as a big jumper. So let's support her together. That's why I let you updated.

 

[Jeschke]

OK Tell me who are the other two girls? Miyahara and Higuchi?

Of course it's Miyahara and Mao. Japanese fed did not let Dai down, they won't Mao!
Only da Miki

You must cheer her up even louder than usual, @Jeschke!

Ah c'mon, you know I will! Like a crazy schoolgirl I will cheer


Btw. alert function did not work again

 

[breathesgelatin]

Ah, I put Nagai as one of my spoilers in my Skate Canada fantasy bracket... oh well! Hope she gets through this, she's a lovely skater.

 

[Jeschke]

i do not have nagai in my top predictions but i hopes he can deliver like last year in canada and fool us all.
overall skating seems to have improved that much. slay!
#teamnagai

 

[kwanfan1818]

The Japanese Fed did not let down da Miki in 2010.

 

[Sylvia]

Sad that Sota Yamamoto has not recovered enough from his ankle (re)injury that he had to WD from both of his GP assignments (Trophee de France & NHK).

Re-posting from the GP Assignments thread:

From last year's Japanese Nationals, six of the top seven have two GP's, and Kozuka retired. Here are the next five finishers from Senior Nationals:

8. Ryuju HINO 7 7 213.17 -- SB 57. National "A" team per @rosewood's post from June
9. Shu NAKAMURA KANSAI UNIV SKATING CLUB 8 11 194.84 -- last competed 2016 Jr. Worlds. National "B" team.
10. Daichi MIYATA Hosei 10 10 193.17 -- 10th at Nepela, first senior international. National "A" team.
11. Koshiro SHIMADA 17 9 188.76 -- competed in JGP (Tallinn).
12. Sei KAWAHARA 9 13 188.39 -- SB 69. 9th at Nebelhorn. National "B" team. Closer to the World minimums than Miyata at Nepela.

Top 3 in seasons best list (senior international):
66) 184.43 Sei KAWAHARA JPN ISU CS Nebelhorn Trophy 2016 23.09.2016 (9th place)
69) 181.25 Ryuju HINO JPN ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2016 09.10.2016 (11th)
86) 170.65 Daichi MIYATA JPN ISU CS Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2016 01.10.2016 (10th)

 

[Jeschke]

The Japanese Fed did not let down da Miki in 2010.

She earned her spot there rightfully. Due to the nominations criteria best finisher at gpf 09/10 was guaranteed a spot. She came in 2nd behind Kim, so she earned it here.

Though I admit, Nakano staying at home was a hard pill to swallow.

 

[kwanfan1818]

She earned her spot there rightfully. Due to the nominations criteria best finisher at gpf 09/10 was guaranteed a spot. She came in 2nd behind Kim, so she earned it here.

Though I admit, Nakano staying at home was a hard pill to swallow.

The Japanese Fed set the criteria to ensure that Ando would be selected for the Olympic team. I would say they didn't let her down.

 

[Jeschke]

The Japanese Fed set the criteria to ensure that Ando would be selected for the Olympic team. I would say they didn't let her down.

The criteria were announced after the gpf?

(@rosewood )

 

[kwanfan1818]

I don't remember the specifics, just the discussion that the criteria were set up for Ando to be on the team, something to do with major sponsorship(s) she had. Perhaps someone else remembers the specifics. But IIRC, the Olympic team criteria were set after some of the results that counted were already in.

 

[Jeschke]

I don't remember the specifics, just the discussion that the criteria were set up for Ando to be on the team, something to do with major sponsorship(s) she had. Perhaps someone else remembers the specifics. But IIRC, the Olympic team criteria were set after some of the results that counted were already in.

ok, that would have been...ehm...not so fair.

 

[kwanfan1818]

But IIRC, that's how Takahashi was considered for Torino, and also how Ashley Wagner's results from the season before were considered. And I don't think the timing was unprecedented or unusual.

 

[rosewood]

Oh Nooooooo
Daisuke Murakami withdrew from FS at Eastern Sectionals due to an injury he got in the SP. It means he won't be able to skate at Japan Nationals.
https://twitter.com/fskating_Life/status/795088966630313984

 

[shah]

Oh Nooooooo
Daisuke Murakami withdrew from FS at Eastern Sectionals due to an injury he got in the SP. It means he won't be able to skate at Japan Nationals.
https://twitter.com/fskating_Life/status/795088966630313984

That whole talk about lost causes made me think of Haruka Imai - is she still skating? Or did I miss some important announcements?

 

[Jeschke]

That whole talk about lost causes made me think of Haruka Imai - is she still skating? Or did I miss some important announcements?

damn right you are.
maybe #teamdetroit retired all along

 

[Jeschke]

Oh Nooooooo
Daisuke Murakami withdrew from FS at Eastern Sectionals due to an injury he got in the SP. It means he won't be able to skate at Japan Nationals.
https://twitter.com/fskating_Life/status/795088966630313984

a shit, that's a shame.
he gets no bye somehow?

poor kid.

 

[shah]

damn right you are.
maybe #teamdetroit retired all along

Team Detroit - a real proof that fs coaching trends can change so fast...
As for Imai, though - I remember she had a Japanese coach last season. And skated to that hopeless version of "Malaguena"...

 

[Jeschke]

And skated to that hopeless version of "Malaguena"...

in a hopless dress

 

[Sylvia]

That whole talk about lost causes made me think of Haruka Imai - is she still skating? Or did I miss some important announcements?

if Google translate is accurate, Haruka Imai placed 7th at Eastern Sectionals this weekend - link to the Japanese qualifying competitions/results thread in Kiss & Cry: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...6-2017-and-other-domestic-competitions.99398/

for Daisuke Murakami. Sota Yamamoto WD from Western Sectionals Senior Men held at the end of October - does this mean he also can't compete at Nationals?

Can someone let us know how many advance to Senior and Junior Nationals from each Sectional this year? TIA!

 

[all_empty]

Not sure where else to put this but kudos to Yura Matsuda at CoR.

Bummer about the combo in the short but she had the most interesting program and costume of the competition in the free skate.

She also hit the 2A+3T+3Lo, which she did earlier in the season, a unique combination that allows her to do interesting jump layouts.

Some of the middle of the pack (middle for Japan, at least) skaters aren't really the full package like she is.

 

[rosewood]

Can someone let us know how many advance to Senior and Junior Nationals from each Sectional this year? TIA!

2016-2017 season criteria
http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/image_data/fck/file/2016_Figure/DomCompetitions/2016yosentsuka0925.pdf

Spots for Nationals, () means a bye

Eastern Sectional: Jr Ladies 4, Jr Men 8, Sr Ladies 14 7 (including Yuka Nagai due to CoF) plus Wakaba Higuchi as a seeded skater due to a silver at last Nationals, Sr Men 9 plus Yuzuru Hanyu as s seeded skater due to a gold at last Nationals

Western Sectional: Jr Ladies 20 plus Yuna Shiraiwa and Yuhana Yokoi as seeded skaters due to placing 3rd or higher at last Jr Nationals, Jr Men 17 plus Kazuki Tomono as a seeded skater due to placing 3rd or higher at last Jr Nationals, Sr Ladies 14 (including Kanako Murakami & Yura Matsuda due to CoR, Mai Mihara & Rika Hongo due to SC) plus Mao Asada & Satoko Miyahara as seeded skaters due to a bronze and a gold at last Nationals, Sr Men 12 (including Keiji Tanaka due to CoR) plus Shoma Uno & Takahito Mura due to a silver and a bronze at last Nationals

Note: A skater who is seeded or given a bye is not counted as a skater who wins through to Nationals. (i.e. Higuchi Wakaba, who skated at Eastern Sectionals despite seeded, is not counted as a skater included in the 14 skaters who win through to Nationals.)

ETA:
Sorry, a seeded skater is not included in the number but a skater given a bye is included in the number. I added a strike-through to my original post.

 

[Sylvia]

[Edited out the quoted part here because rosewood has since made the correction above.]

Thank you as always, @rosewood, but doesn't the document say 7 Eastern Senior ladies advance to Nationals, not 14? Haruka Imai gets in because she is the 6th highest, not counting Higuchi in 1st and adding in Nagai who had a bye.

Re-posting these relevant news items from the Kiss & Cry section:

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20161106/fgr16110620350009-n1.html
This article says Yoshiko Kobayashi the head of figure skating section in JSF announced Daisuke Murakami has no chance to participate in Nationals due to the withdrawal from FS at Eastern Sectionals which was the qualification meeting for Nationals.

My take of Sota Yamamoto's case is he still has a chance to get a spot for Sr Nationals if he wants. He placed 3rd or higher at last Jr Nationals. So he is a seeded skater for JUNIOR Nationals. If he places high at Jr Nationals, JSF will give him a spot for Sr Nationals as a recommended skater. JSF usually select several Jr skaters as their "recommended skaters" to give spots for Sr Nationals.

That said, I don't know he'll recover from the injury by Jr Nationals or he wants to go back to Jr Nationals at this point. We'll see.

BTW, there was Mura's case who withdrew from a Sr GP event in 2008 due to which he was given a bye to Western Sectionals but given a spot for Nationals. In his case, he finished 3rd or higher at 2007-2008 season's Sr Nationals. He was a seeded skater for Sr Nationals due to it. So I don't think Sota will be treated as the same case as Mura's in 2008-2009 season.

 

[rosewood]

Thank you as always, @rosewood, but doesn't the document say 7 Eastern Senior ladies advance to Nationals, not 14? Haruka Imai gets in because she is the 6th highest, not counting Higuchi in 1st and adding in Nagai who had a bye.

Re-posting these relevant news items from the Kiss & Cry section:

Sorry, you are right about the number of Eastern Sr ladies, which is 7. My bad! Maybe I copied Western Sr ladies' number. I'm not good at dealing with this kind of complicated things. I'm always admiring you.

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ Mistakes here and there are inevitable, no big deal. Oh, and I'm always admiring you and all the useful information/translations you contribute here.

 

[Marco]

Are only reigning National medalists guaranteed a return to Nationals? Such a bummer!

 

[rosewood]

Odaddy's THIRD son was born on the same day as Kanako's birthday (November the 7th). Congrats to the happy family! And happy birthday to Kanako!
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20161107-00000300-oric-ent

 

[inskate]

Odaddy's THIRD son was born on the same day as Kanako's birthday (November the 7th). Congrats to the happy family! And happy birthday to Kanako!
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20161107-00000300-oric-ent

Congrats to the happy family!

I don't remember the specifics, just the discussion that the criteria were set up for Ando to be on the team, something to do with major sponsorship(s) she had. Perhaps someone else remembers the specifics. But IIRC, the Olympic team criteria were set after some of the results that counted were already in.

I think that discussion was related to 2006, not 2010. In 2006, Miki's condition was visibly deteriorating throughout the season, but there was no way she wouldn't make the team because she gathered so much points over the previous seasons that doing poorly at NHK/GPF/Nationals was not enough to put her out of the contention. Not only that, but Yukari Nakano (the skater who, according to the general consensus, deserved to go) wouldn't make the team even if Miki withdrew (Yoshie Onda would be her replacement, in that case - she had more points than Shizuka Arakawa!).

If anything, the 2010 criteria were established in such a way as to avoid the 2006 fiasco:
1st spot: the skater who places the highest on the podium at GPF.
2nd spot: the winner of the Japanese Nationals.
3rd spot: the skater who does the best at Nationals (aside from the winner and the already qualified top GPF medalist), with the International results taken into consideration.

Miki won her spot fair and square - not only she won silver at the GPF, but had the most successful GP season of all the Japanese ladies Even in 2006 it wasn't like the criteria were created to save Miki's hide - they'd been announced way back before Miki started struggling.

Oh Nooooooo
Daisuke Murakami withdrew from FS at Eastern Sectionals due to an injury he got in the SP. It means he won't be able to skate at Japan Nationals.
https://twitter.com/fskating_Life/status/795088966630313984

Well, that's a rotting bummer. I hope the time off will allow his injury to heal... But the inability to compete an Nats (and hopefully get assignments to 4CC/Worlds) will probably really hurt his chances of qualifying for the Olys/Worlds next season

 

[kwanfan1818]

Even in 2006 it wasn't like the criteria were created to save Miki's hide - they'd been announced way back before Miki started struggling.

Thank you for the correction -- 2006.

My point was not that the criteria were set retroactively, but that they were set up so she'd be a lock, regardless of how she did in the Olympic season. Similarly, the criteria in 2014 were set to give leeway to the Fed, just like USFS' to allow them to choose Wagner, even though she faltered at US Nationals, which, except for medical byes, had dictated the team.

 

[rosewood]

Not sure where else to put this but kudos to Yura Matsuda at CoR.

Bummer about the combo in the short but she had the most interesting program and costume of the competition in the free skate.

She also hit the 2A+3T+3Lo, which she did earlier in the season, a unique combination that allows her to do interesting jump layouts.

Some of the middle of the pack (middle for Japan, at least) skaters aren't really the full package like she is.

Yura Matsuda moved to Yamada from Nagakubo last season. I think it was her turning point. Nagakubo has too many students and his team have not done that great since Akiko retired except Rika Hongo and Sota Yamamoto. I kind of don't like Sota repeating the injury in the same place for two seasons and Rika staying as a super rounded-shoulders skater when I look back these 2-3 years when they showed good potentials but they haven't showed any way to get over the issues (yet).

Yura has kind of graceful upper body movements while she has UR issues as well as her feet are not strong enough yet. That said, she's showing upward momentum under Yamada and Higuchi. It can be tough situation to Kanako to have a up-coming rival in the rink but can be a good circumstance to Yura to skate with Kanako as well as Mako Yamashita who is showing good potential in Jr field not to mention Shoma. Yura may have ditched 2A-3T-3Lo under Nagakubo but I assume Yamada will encourage her to keep it as long as possible to let her stand out of the deep field. Yamada is getting elderly but she still is a great coach and she has Higuchi in her team. I'm hoping Yura will have some more upward momentum from now.

ETA:
Yura Matsuda from CoR
SP https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELDlXx5-70E
FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXSPL6qYEUk

 

[SamuraiK]

2016-2017 season criteria
http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/image_data/fck/file/2016_Figure/DomCompetitions/2016yosentsuka0925.pdf



Eastern Sectional: Jr Ladies 4, Jr Men 8, Sr Ladies 14 7 (including Yuka Nagai due to CoF) plus Wakaba Higuchi as a seeded skater due to a silver at last Nationals,


ETA:
Sorry, a seeded skater is not included in the number but a skater given a bye is included in the number. I added a strike-through to my original post.

So If I get this right. Imai didn't qualify for nationals . There were 7 spots available at Eastern Sectionals with one already taken by Nagai and Haruka placed 7th