2015 Japanese National Championships: A Preview
SYWTW FS
It’s that time of the year again! Japanese Nationals is just around the corner, and as always, the competition promises to be fierce. Here’s a quick preview of some of the competitors.
Complete entries & results (in Japanese)
Note: Placement at Nationals is not the only deciding factor for the 4CC and World teams. Performances on the GP, season’s best scores and world ranking are also taken into account. The men have two spots for Worlds and the ladies have three. All disciplines have three spots for 4CC. The Junior World team is not announced until after senior nationals, as performances of juniors there are also taken into account.
THE MEN
Yuzuru Hanyu is going to win his fourth straight national title, the end, everyone go home. The plain truth is that he has no domestic competition and might as well see Nationals as just another practice event. Personally, what I’m most interested to see is whether he will manage to have three clean competitions in a row - it would be very impressive if he does, but since this competition is not extremely important for him in the long run, it would also make sense to have a cool down period before Worlds. (Programs: SP Chopin Ballade No.1 | FS Seimei) (Season’s best score: 330.43)
Shoma Uno, last season’s Junior World champion, took the senior level by storm and never looked back. Shoma has experienced a meteoric rise since last season, qualifying for and winning a bronze medal at the Grand Prix Final in his first senior season, smashing his personal best free skate and total scores along the way. He will likely make the World team even if he doesn’t medal at Nationals, given his incredible performance at the GPF, but naturally I hope that he will be able to defend his national silver medal. If he can keep up his present level of skating, he will make the podium for sure. He’s been very successful with his free skate this season but often has issues with his short program; hopefully he will manage to skate a clean SP this time. (Programs: SP Legends | FS Turandot) (Season’s best score: 276.79)
Daisuke Murakami has been fairly solid this season, winning a bronze medal at Skate Canada and qualifying for his first GPF at the ripe old age of 24. Although he had some jump issues at GPF and finished in 6th place, he has still been improving slowly but surely and has a good shot at medaling at Nationals. He has never made the national podium before, and it remains to be seen whether he can keep his momentum going and show that he has firmly grown out of the shadow of his teammates. Daisuke has never been on the World team and with only two spots for the Japanese men this year, his chances look slim, but a strong showing at Nationals will still help out his reputation for the future. (Programs: SP Bring Him Home | FS Anniversary) (Season’s best score: 252.25)
Takahito Mura had a rough start to the season with a 10th-place finish at Skate America, but he rebounded at NHK Trophy with a bronze-winning performance. He has some ground to make up against Daisuke Murakami, since he did not qualify for the GPF, but Mura at his best is definitely capable of making the national podium. Mura has made the World team 3 times in the past, including last season; his chances for Worlds don’t look too good this season, but strong performances at Nationals will show that he is definitely back on track again. (Programs: SP Dark Eyes | FS O) (Season’s best score: 242.21)
Takahiko Kozuka is the oldest skater in this field at 26 and injuries have not been kind to him lately. He withdrew from Cup of China this season with a tendon injury and finished 9th at Cup of Russia with a sub-200 score. Though his skating skills are the class of the field, it was rather apparent that the jumps…just weren’t there. His condition at Nationals remains to be seen. Taka managed to pull off a miraculous free skate at last season’s Nationals, finishing 3rd and making the World team, but I’m not counting on another miracle. Personally, I just hope he can score over 200 points this time. (Programs: SP Respeto y orgullo | FS Io ci saro) (Season’s best score: 195.48)
Keiji Tanaka, resident #popstar extraordinaire - or perhaps no longer? Keiji’s reputation as a Hot Mess precedes him, but he has been on a roll this season, medaling at the US Classic and performing quite well at regionals, sectionals, and NHK Trophy, where he set personal best scores in all segments and finished a respectable 5th. I don’t want to jinx it, but if Keiji has truly finally Gotten It Together, he might place better at Nationals than many would expect. There’s a new confidence to his skating and I hope it will serve him well at Nationals as he aims for a spot on the 4CC team. (Programs: SP Primavera Portena | FS La Traviata) (Season’s best score: 234.90)
Sota Yamamoto is the current Junior National champion and JGPF bronze medalist. He recently upgraded his free skate to include two 3As and two 4Ts, which hasn’t worked out very well for him so far; he’s prone to popping his harder jumps when he’s tense. But at 15 years of age, the 4T and 3A are still fairly new for him and he’s made decent progress with them so far. Japanese junior skaters at senior nationals must modify their programs to suit the senior layout, including lengthening the free skate by ~30 seconds; this can often have an impact on skaters’ stamina in the free. Sota will mainly be looking for two decent performances at Nationals, as he has already been named to the Junior World and Youth Olympic teams. (Programs: SP Poeta | FS Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1) (Season’s best score: 232.42)
Other skaters to watch out for:
Juniors: (* = old enough for senior international competitions) Kazuki Tomono*, Daichi Miyata*, Shu Nakamura*, Koshiro Shimada, Mitsuki Sumoto
Ryuju Hino, 6th at 2015 Finlandia Trophy. SB: 203.42
Sei Kawahara, 10th at 2015 Skate Canada. SB: 195.21
Hiroaki Sato, 10th at 2014 Nationals. An engaging performer. SB: 173.90 (regionals)
THE LADIES
Satoko Miyahara, aka. #TinyQueen, will be seeking to defend the national title she won last year, and so far she looks on track to be doing just that, having won NHK Trophy and the silver medal at the Grand Prix Final with stellar performances and personal best scores. Despite lingering problems with underrotations, Satoko has both consistency and excellent programs on her side. Her performances so far have shown that she is the one to beat this season, and luckily the judges are finally starting to reward her the PCS she deserves. (Programs: SP Firedance | FS Un Sospiro) (Season’s best score: 208.85)
Rika Hongo has been pretty solid this season, save for some unexpected errors at Cup of Russia that left her off the podium. She has improved markedly in her expression in the last couple of seasons and her programs this season are her best ones to date. As long as she mostly keeps it together, there’s a good chance that she will make the national podium and the World team. (Programs: SP Incantation | FS Riverdance) (Season’s best score: 195.76)
Mao Asada started off her comeback season with a great free skate at Japan Open and a great short program at Cup of China, but then sort of fell apart afterwards. When she’s on there’s no doubt that she is one of the best skaters in the world, but her inconsistency so far - not helped by her illness at the GPF, where she finished in 6th place - puts a large question mark over her condition at Nationals. As long as she isn’t a complete disaster she will probably make the podium and the World team, but she might well finish behind Satoko and Rika, both of whom have beaten her in at least one segment of a competition so far this season. (Programs: SP Bei Mir Bistu Shein | FS Madama Butterfly) (Season’s best score: 197.48)
Kanako Murakami has struggled with her jumps for the last season and a half, and the double axel has proved to be her main enemy this season. Her energy and fire make her very engaging to watch, but her issues with underrotations and pops lately make it difficult for me to see her on the national podium or World team. It would take a fair amount of luck for her to medal at Nationals, but it’s still too early to count her out - as I’ve learned over the years, anything can happen in skating. (Programs: SP El Tango de Roxanne | FS Memoirs of a Geisha) (Season’s best score: 171.59)
Yuka Nagai made her senior Grand Prix debut this season, winning the bronze medal at Skate Canada. One of many resident #popstars in the ladies’ field, Yuka is known for almost always popping at least one jump per competition. She is a lovely skater and has good jumps when she’s on, but her biggest enemy at competitions is usually herself. Depending on how many jumps she pops, she could place pretty much anywhere at Nationals - especially considering the depth of the ladies’ field. (Programs: SP Madama Butterfly | FS August’s Rhapsody) (Season’s best score: 172.92)
Wakaba Higuchi is the defending senior national bronze medalist, current Junior World bronze medalist and 2-time Junior National champion. Wakaba got off to a rough start on the JGP this season, failing to qualify for the JGPF, but came back strong at Junior Nationals, where she won her second title in a row. She has struggled with her technical content upgrades this season but when she’s on, she has possibly the most explosive jumps in this field. If the top skaters should falter, Wakaba has a very real chance of making the senior national podium again, although she is not yet old enough to compete in senior international competitions. As the Junior National champion, she has already been named to the Junior World team. (Programs: SP Capriccio Espagnol | FS The Mask of Zorro) (Season’s best score: 189.23)
Marin Honda, a first-year junior, will make her debut at senior nationals this year. Billed as a prodigy and appearing in the news since she was a novice, Marin is a very good skater when she’s on, but unfortunately her biggest weakness is inconsistency. She won the bronze medal at the JGPF after finishing 6th at Junior Nationals. I have no idea how she’ll do at senior nationals; with her, you can never tell. But if she has two good days, she has the potential to place very well. Like Wakaba, she is still only 14 and thus too young to compete in senior international competitions, but will be looking for a good performance at senior nationals in order to secure a spot on the Junior World team. (Programs: SP Beethoven Violin Sonata No.5 | FS Beetlejuice) (Season’s best score: 181.22)
Yuna Shiraiwa will also make her debut at senior nationals this year along with training mate Marin Honda. Yuna turned heads on the JGP this season by winning both of her JGP events and qualifying for the JGPF, where she finished 5th. She is also the current Junior National silver medalist. She can bring in the big points if she lands all of her jumps, so don’t be surprised if you see her beating some of the senior skaters - however, like Wakaba and Marin, she is too young to compete in senior international competitions. (Programs: SP Over the Rainbow | FS A Little Night Music) (Season’s best score: 186.80)
The Japanese ladies’ field is incredibly deep and there are several other skaters who could place well depending on how they perform, but alas I don’t have time to cover nearly 20 ladies in this post! Some of the other skaters to watch out for include:
Juniors: (* = old enough for senior international competitions) Yuhana Yokoi*, Rin Nitaya*, Kaori Sakamoto*, Yuna Aoki
Yura Matsuda, 3rd at JGP Spain, 1st at Western Sectionals (senior). SB: 178.98
Haruka Imai, 2nd at Skate Canada Classic. SB: 174.89
Mariko Kihara, 10th at NHK Trophy. SB: 163.19
Riona Kato, 5th at Ondrej Nepela Trophy. SB: 166.55
Miyu Nakashio, 11th at Skate America. SB: 153.29