Japan's Rika Kihira was steadfast that she was going to land a triple axel at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship.
She didn't land it during the short program and found herself in fifth place going into Friday night's free skate. She successfully nailed it on her first jump and put together a flawless four-minute program set to "Beautiful Storm" by Jennifer Thomas.
"I was hardly able to practice my triple axel in this rink but I was determined, very focused, and kept my concentration," Kihira said.
Kihira scored 153.14 points in the free skate and finished with 221.99 points, easily outdistancing Kazakhstan's Elizabet Tursynbaeva by more than 14 points. Her triple axel earned 10.51 points but she also had a pair of combinations that scored well - triple lutz-triple toe loop combination (11.95) and triple lutz-double toe loop-double loop (11.39).
"I was able to leave yesterday's mistake behind. During this season, I learned how to keep my concentration in my free skating no matter what happens in my short program," said Kihira, who won the Grand Prix Final earlier this season.
Tursynbaeva - who had 139.37 points in the free skate and 207.46 overall - said she didn't expect to be on the podium. She wasn't the only one who was surprised. She had planned to do a triple lutz on her opening jump, but instead attempted a quad salchow. She got all four rotations in but was unable to land it.
"I'm happy I attempted it and will keep trying until I land it. I started working on the jump in 2016 but only started putting it in my program a couple weeks ago," she said. "I will have the same programs at Worlds, so I will keep working on the programs, I want to do better next time and will try the quad again."
Japan's Mai Mihara placed third after being in eighth after the short program, and defending champion Kaori Sakamoto was fourth.
Americans Bradie Tennell and Mariah Bell were in the top three after the short program but struggled. Tennell was the leader after the short program, but made an error on a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, under rotated two other jumps and finished fifth.
"I have been hitting it every time all week, the only place I've been missing it is in competition so it's very frustrating," she said.
Tennell said she felt "shaky" during her skate and that it is normally something that doesn't happen. This was the first international competition that Tennell had led, but she didn't feel like the pressure affected her.
Bell, who was third after the short program, fell on a triple loop and wound up sixth.
"There were silly mistakes today. My mind kind of got away from me," Bell said. "I was surprised by the fall on the triple loop and then I kind of had a hard time re-focusing after that."
Rika Kihira wins Four Continents title
The Japan Times, AP Feb 9, 2019
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - Rika Kihira was steadfast that she was going to land a triple axel at the Four Continents Championships.
She didn’t land it during the short program and found herself in fifth place going into Friday night’s free skate. She successfully nailed it on her first jump and put together a flawless four-minute program set to “Beautiful Storm” by Jennifer Thomas.
“I was hardly able to practice my triple axel in this rink but I was determined, very focused and kept my concentration,” Kihira said.
Kihira scored 153.14 points in the free skate and finished with 221.99 points, easily outdistancing Kazakhstan’s Elizabet Tursynbaeva by more than 14 points. Her triple axel earned 10.51 points but she also had a pair of combinations that scored well — triple lutz/triple toe loop combination (11.95) and triple lutz/double toe loop-double loop (11.39).
“I was able to leave yesterday’s mistake behind. During this season, I learned how to keep my concentration in my free skating no matter what happens in my short program,” said Kihira, who won the Grand Prix Final earlier this season.
Tursynbaeva — who had 139.37 points in the free skate and 207.46 overall — said she didn’t expect to be on the podium. She wasn’t the only one who was surprised. She had planned to do a triple lutz on her opening jump, but instead attempted a quad salchow. She got all four rotations in but was unable to land it cleanly.
“I’m happy I attempted it and will keep trying until I land it. I started working on the jump in 2016 but only started putting it in my program a couple weeks ago,” she said. “I will have the same programs at worlds, so I will keep working on the programs, I want to do better next time and will try the quad again.”
Mai Mihara (207.12) placed third after being in eighth after the short program, and defending champion Kaori Sakamoto (206.79) was fourth.
Americans Bradie Tennell and Mariah Bell were in the top three after the short program but struggled. Tennell (202.07) was the leader after the short program, but made an error on a triple lutz/triple toe loop combination, underrotated two other jumps and finished fifth.
“I have been hitting it every time all week, the only place I’ve been missing it is in competition so it’s very frustrating,” Tennell said.
Uno takes men's title at Four Continents JapanToday, Feb 10, 2019
By JOE REEDY, ANAHEIM, Calif
Japan's Shoma Uno successfully landed three quadruple jumps during Saturday night's free skate, including one in combination, to win the men's title at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
Uno was in fifth place after the short program and was the first skater in the final group. The 2018 Olympic silver medalist scored a 197.36, which is the highest score in a long program in an international competition this season, and posted a total of 289.12 points. Uno said earlier this week that he had reinjured his right ankle after winning Japan's national championship in December.
China's Boyang Jin finished second in the free skate with 181.34 points and trailed Uno by nearly 16 points in the final standings with 273.51 points.
American Vincent Zhou led after the short program and had some technical errors during his free skate. He was fifth in the long program (172.04) but still got a podium spot by placing third overall with 272.22 points. Jason Brown was fifth (258.89 points) and Tomoki Hiwatashi eighth (236.79).
Shoma Uno captures Four Continents title after flawless free skate
The Japan Times, AP, Kyodo
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - Shoma Uno was the first skater in the final group of the men’s free skate on Saturday at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. He ended up executing a flawless program that no one was able to match.
Uno won the men’s title by successfully landing three quadruple jumps during his four-minute program, including one in combination. The 197.36 points was the highest score in an international competition this season.
The 2018 Olympic silver medalist — who was in fourth place after Thursday’s short program — posted a total of 289.12 points, which was nearly 16 points better than China’s Jin Boyang, who was the defending champion. American Vincent Zhou was third with 272.22 points.
Uno said earlier this week that he had reinjured his right ankle after winning Japan’s national championship in December. That didn’t stop him from keeping in three quads.
His program, set to Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata,” began with a quad flip and quad toeloop, which earned a combined 25.75 points. Halfway into the program he had a quad toe loop-double toe loop combination (13.51 points) along with a triple axel-single euler-triple flip combination for 14.15 points.
He collapsed to the ice at the end of the program, which was more out of relief than elation.
“I think I was able to do everything I can,” Uno said. “There weren’t a lot of happy emotions when I collapsed, it was like ‘I really did it.’ I thought about how I was injured after Nationals and how I can bring my skating to the next level.”
Uno’s score in the free skate surpassed the previous high of 190.43, recorded by compatriot Yuzuru Hanyu on Nov. 4 in the ISU Grand Prix’s Helsinki competition. The ISU revamped its scoring system last July, so only scores from this season count toward world records.
Jin finished with 273.51 overall points but was frustrated with his free skate, which included one fewer quad than usual.
“I wanted to put on a better performance. My skating wasn’t that relaxed,” Jin said. “Two minutes before stepping on the ice, I decided to not do the quad salchow in my program and change some of the choreography.”
Zhou led after the short program but under rotated on a couple of his quad jumps during his free skate. He was fifth in the long program (172.04) but was still pleased to get on the podium.
“I’m proud of myself at this competition and I’m continuing that upward trend,” Zhou said.
Elsewhere for Japan, Keiji Tanaka was sixth in the free skate and finished seventh overall with 251.54 points. Kazuki Tomono was 12th in the free program and also 12th overall with a total score of 206.41.
Earlier, China’s Wenjing Sui and Cong Han edged Canada’s Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro by six-hundredths of a point to win the pairs competition.
