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

[Jeschke]

Can Hanyu still be named to 4CCs/Worlds team without competing at Nationals?

funny you

 

[rosewood]

So what happens now? Can Hanyu still be named to 4CCs/Worlds team without competing at Nationals?

Yes, technically he can be selected for Worlds/4CC/Asian Games. See the criteria below.

JSF published 2016-2017 selection criteria for international competitions
http://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/image_data/fck/file/2016/160622_FS_Senkokijun.pdf
(my rough translation)
...
Worlds
*Skaters are required to participate in Nationals which is the final selection meeting. That said, if a skater who's ever placed 3rd or higher in Worlds in the past was unable to participate in Nationals due to unavoidable reasons, there will be possibilities that the skater's previous results prior to the point when the unavoidable reasons i.e. injuries occurred are evaluated based on the selection criteria above and at the same time prospects of the conditions at the point of Worlds will be taken into considerations.

Asian Winter Games
*Skaters are required to participate in Nationals which is the final selection meeting. That said, if a skater who's ever placed 3rd or higher in Worlds in the past was unable to participate in Nationals due to unavoidable reasons, there will be possibilities that the skater's previous results prior to the point when the unavoidable reasons i.e. injuries occurred are evaluated based on the selection criteria above and at the same time prospects of the conditions at the point of Asian Winter Games will be taken into considerations.

4CC
*Skaters are required to participate in Nationals which is the final selection meeting. That said, if a skater who's ever placed 3rd or higher in Worlds in the past was unable to participate in Nationals due to unavoidable reasons, there will be possibilities that the skater's previous results prior to the point when the unavoidable reasons i.e. injuries occurred are evaluated based on the selection criteria above and at the same time prospects of the conditions at the point of 4CC will be taken into considerations.

 

[sweetsparky]

Thanks for the update rosewood. A pity but better now that at Worlds.

 

[kittyjake5]

Oh that is to bad. Get Well soon Yuzu!

 

[tamms]

Wishing Yuzu a speedy recovery. Always sad to see skaters come down with an illness or injury.

 

[Loves_Shizuka]

Get well soon Hanyu.

And good move Rika!

 

[rosewood]

Previews for Nationals.

(1)Kaori Sakamoto
She injured in the second half of last season and had to keep out of ice. After she came back to the competitions, she felt her rivals improved a lot during her short break. She's working so hard this season and it's being paid off. She says her weak point has been the expression area as well as she's being told she's sloppy. She plans to go up to Sr field next season and for that she's working on expressions these days to prepare for competing with senior skaters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgR-klbDfNA

 

[rosewood]

(2)Mai Mihara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUk3sAuRPuE

She made a debut in Sr field this season. She loves to watch other skater's videos recorded in her phone to improve her own skating. She was a Jr skater who had a reputation as a very promising girl. Sonoko Nakano is a coach who thinks it's very important to teach her students how to live their lives as well as wishes her students to enjoy skating. Mai is a hard worker at school as well. Her friend says it's amazing many teachers praise her as a high achiever academically despite she's very busy traveling around the world, and she's inspiring to her classmates.

Mai: Suddenly my knees were unable to move when I got up. There were times when I had this kind of trouble but never had that awful pain before.

Last December she was diagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It occurs to 1/10,000 kid. It gives a patient serious pains in his/her every joint of his/her body. At present the cause of the disease is unknown.

Mai: When I was told to enter hospital, it was as serious as I was unable to walk. I was not sure I can make a comeback to skating. It was depressing. That said, I thought at the time "If I give up here, it's the end of the game. I'll believe in myself."

Narration: While it was supposed her comeback was impossible, she never gave up.

Mai: I saw Nationals in my hospital room. Skaters' performances encouraged me a lot. It was the strong feeling in my mind, "I want to skate there together with them once again!"

She made a comeback on the ice after 4 months (in May). She started with single revolution jumps. Then she was very fast to get her triple jumps back. She still needs to attend to the hospital once a month.

Coach Nakano: Sometimes her physical condition goes down and it makes her performance significantly lowered. In such cases I said to her "If you do this, try your best. Try your best up to the level where you fall down." Then her energy came back. I think she is a fighter whose will is stronger than everyone.

In this season as her comeback season Coach Nakano gave her a Synderella program. Caoch wished her to dance all up in this bright program.

Mai: If I were alone, I could not have come where I am now. My friends, my mom, Coach Nakano, Coach Urano...thanks to everyone's support I came here. I must not forget about this gratitude.

Narration: She got over the big difficulty with her hard working. The day is coming when she comes back to the stage where she wished so much to skate.
____

Go Mai!! I'm looking forward to seeing your skate of your soul!

I think I love Coach Nakano's students (training in Kobe) like Mai & Kaori. I can see pure joy of skating from them. Their stunning skating skill and solid jumps are killing!

 

[Wyliefan]

She dances all up in this bright program, for sure! Such a brave and talented girl.

 

[AxelAnnie]

(2)Mai Mihara
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUk3sAuRPuE

She made a debut in Sr field this season. She loves to watch other skater's videos recorded in her phone to improve her own skating. She was a Jr skater who had a reputation as a very promising girl. Sonoko Nakano is a coach who thinks it's very important to teach her students how to live their lives as well as wishes her students to enjoy skating. Mai is a hard worker at school as well. Her friend says it's amazing many teachers praise her as a high achiever academically despite she's very busy traveling around the world, and she's inspiring to her classmates.

Mai: Suddenly my knees were unable to move when I got up. There were times when I had this kind of trouble but never had that awful pain before.

Last December she was diagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis. It occurs to 1/10,000 kid. It gives a patient serious pains in his/her every joint of his/her body. At present the cause of the disease is unknown.

Mai: When I was told to enter hospital, it was as serious as I was unable to walk. I was not sure I can make a comeback to skating. It was depressing. That said, I thought at the time "If I give up here, it's the end of the game. I'll believe in myself."

Narration: While it was supposed her comeback was impossible, she never gave up.

Mai: I saw Nationals in my hospital room. Skaters' performances encouraged me a lot. It was the strong feeling in my mind, "I want to skate there together with them once again!"

She made a comeback on the ice after 4 months (in May). She started with single revolution jumps. Then she was very fast to get her triple jumps back. She still needs to attend to the hospital once a month.

Coach Nakano: Sometimes her physical condition goes down and it makes her performance significantly lowered. In such cases I said to her "If you do this, try your best. Try your best up to the level where you fall down." Then her energy came back. I think she is a fighter whose will is stronger than everyone.

In this season as her comeback season Coach Nakano gave her a Synderella program. Caoch wished her to dance all up in this bright program.

Mai: If I were alone, I could not have come where I am now. My friends, my mom, Coach Nakano, Coach Urano...thanks to everyone's support I came here. I must not forget about this gratitude.

Narration: She got over the big difficulty with her hard working. The day is coming when she comes back to the stage where she wished so much to skate.
____

Go Mai!! I'm looking forward to seeing your skate of your soul!

I think I love Coach Nakano's students (training in Kobe) like Mai & Kaori. I can see pure joy of skating from them. Their stunning skating skill and solid jumps are killing!

I love this kid. You see a glimpse of her soul when she skates. I think her musicality is super special, and she has a good handle on the tech side. I watch her skates over and over. To now see that she is doing all this with a potentially debilitating diagnosis is nothing short of a miracle.

 

[midori]

Team for Worlds
Suto/Ode
Muramoto/Reed
Uno, Hanyu, Tanaka
Miyahara, Higuchi, Mihara

 

[midori]

4CC
Uno, Hanyu, Tanaka
Miyahara, Higuchi, Mihara
Suzaki/Kihara
Hirai/Asuncion

Jr world
Tomono, Shimada
Sakamoto, Honda, Shiraiwa
Fukase/Tateno

Asian Games
Uno, Mura.
Miyahara, Hongo
Suzaki/Kihara, Takahashi/Shibata
Muramoto/Reed, Mori/Suzuki

 

[Jeschke]

OMG, they really send Mihara to worlds?
I feared they'd chose Hongo though

Holy crap yes!
Slay Mihara

 

[Jammers]

To be honest i think Hongo is going to have a hard time making the World team in the future. The new younger girls like Marin, Yuna and Wakaba along with Mai are going to do nothing but get better in the future.

 

[Dobre]

Yuna!

Good girl. Classic my kind of skater. Knocks the skunk out of the triple lutz/triple combo & the triple loop in the short, then pops the double axel & has a costume malfunction/loses her entire final spin.

But comes roaring back in the free skate and earns the highest tech mark of the night with both her triple triple combinations.

Such a wonderful group of programs & fighters in this Japanese ladies field. Artistry. Technical firepower. And guts.

Congrats to all the Japanese skaters qualifying for Worlds, Junior Worlds, and 4CCs.

 

[mgobluegirl]

To be honest i think Hongo is going to have a hard time making the World team in the future. The new younger girls like Marin, Yuna and Wakaba along with Mai are going to do nothing but get better in the future.

TBH I think Miyahara is going to struggle against these girls in a few years as well. She's safe for now but her days are numbered.

 

[jlai]

TBH I think Miyahara is going to struggle against these girls in a few years as well. She's safe for now but her days are numbered.

Yup. The other girls have the quality Miyahara has but some have bigger jumps. Of course, puberty changes everything so we will see.

 

[shady82]

This was one of my favorite Nationals competitions. The Russian ladies have more depth, but I actually enjoyed the Japanese competition more because the skaters all have such outstanding basics, edge quality, and speed.

To be honest i think Hongo is going to have a hard time making the World team in the future. The new younger girls like Marin, Yuna and Wakaba along with Mai are going to do nothing but get better in the future.

if Hongo can tidy up her URs, I think she can stay in business. I actually thought her presentation and carriage improved a lot and I seem to be one of the few who liked her programs this year.

 

[Jun Y]

I'm a fan of Wakaba Higuchi. She has such pure techniques. If only she could manage the urge to rush her jump timing, she may become ... Well I don't want to jinx her. Let's just say I have rarely enjoyed watching jumps so much.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Marin Honda is the future. The only girl who has the potential to become the next Mao. Star quality all over!

That petition under the guise of blood donation in an attempt to bar Yuzu from the World Team is just outrageous. Those people are just full of...sickness!

 

[Sedge]

I'm a fan of Wakaba Higuchi. She has such pure techniques. If only she could manage the urge to rush her jump timing, she may become ... Well I don't want to jinx her. Let's just say I have rarely enjoyed watching jumps so much.

To me...Wakaba sitting in the bronze medal spot at the first JGPF in Barcelona was the star of the Jr Ladies event and the one with the purest technique to take herself forward to Senior.
I still feel that.

 

[mikeko]

That petition under the guise of blood donation in an attempt to bar Yuzu from the World Team is just outrageous. Those people are just full of...sickness!

Please produce a photo if it IS true. So far, I have seen none. All I've seen is some people spreading the rumor on Twitter. Many people who went to Nationals tweeted that they didn't see a Red Cross vehicle.

 

[MAXSwagg]

Please produce a photo if it IS true. So far, I have seen none. All I've seen is some people spreading the rumor on Twitter. Many people who went to Nationals tweeted that they didn't see a Red Cross vehicle.

Are you kidding me?! He is a spokesperson for Red Cross and has been for some time now. They were using that to trick people. Just because there wasn't a damn truck there at the rink (which would be more unusual than if there wasn't) doesn't prove or disprove anything. This, his haters, has gone back years now, especially when he won his first national title and some in the audience called him "radiation boy" during then medals ceremony and implied that he only won because JSF felt sorry for him! Oh, but I am sure that is fake as well...

When the president of JSF posts on her Facebook that Dai and Machida were the real gold medalists in Sochi and cuts Hanyu out of the photo, what more needs to be said. The fact is some in JSF don't like that they can't really control him because he gets almost if not all of his support from ANA (his ONLY sponsor), that he doesn't train in Japan, that he comes from an essentially defunct skating club, etc. The presence of this "anti-Hanyu" faction among fans and the federation is nothing new.

 

[mikeko]

Are you kidding me?! He is a spokesperson for Red Cross and has been for some time now. They were using that to trick people. Just because there wasn't a damn truck there at the rink (which would be more unusual than if there wasn't) doesn't prove or disprove anything.

Who is the spokesperson for Red Cross, and where is his statement? And please show us a photo.

 

[oleada]

What exactly is going on? Someone care to explain?

 

[MAXSwagg]

Who is the spokesperson for Red Cross, and where is his statement? And please show us a photo.

I am just speechless. You are probably one of those people who thinks he withdrew from Nationals just to avoid a competition and isn't really that sick...

 

[mikeko]

I am just speechless. You are probably one of those people who thinks he withdrew from Nationals just to avoid a competition and isn't really that sick...

I take it as you have nothing to show to prove anything.

 

[MAXSwagg]

What exactly is going on? Someone care to explain?

A faction of sickos were going around at Nationals trying to get people to sign a document in support of blood donation, which Hanyu is a spokesperson for. In reality, it was actually a petition to keep Hanyu off of the Worlds team. This wasn't reported by just one person, but by many people in attendance there. Fortunately they got caught.

 

[oleada]

A faction of sickos were going around at Nationals trying to get people to sign a document in support of blood donation, which Hanyu is a spokesperson for. In reality, it was acrually a petition to keep Hanyu off of the Worlds team.

If that's true, that's really messed up.

 

[mikeko]

A faction of sickos were going around at Nationals trying to get people to sign a document in support of blood donation, which Hanyu is a spokesperson for. In reality, it was actually a petition to keep Hanyu off of the Worlds team. This wasn't reported by just one person, but by many people in attendance there. Fortunately they got caught.

And people like you are spreading the rumor without a photo on social network. Smells like Trump.