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Post by Admin on Nov 27, 2020 19:39:40 GMT
Muramoto Kana and Takahashi Daisuke (64.15 points) placed a credible second in the rhythm dance just six points behind leaders Komatsubara Misato and Tim Koleto in their ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating ice dance debut at the NHK Trophy. Skating to music from "The Mask", Muramoto/Takahashi presented a routine that belied the fact Takahashi, the Vancouver 2010 men's singles bronze medallist, only switched to ice dance and started skating with Muramoto in January. It was an elegant dance, albeit not the most polished. However, it did impress the fans, who gave the pair a standing ovation. "I was pretty nervous at the morning practice but I felt pretty calm in competition. I had a few hiccups but didn't make any huge mistakes so all things considered, the performance went well," Takahashi told media afterwards. "I didn't know figure skating could be this different - singles and ice dance is that different. When you're preparing for competition in singles, you have to take the good and bad all on your own. But now, say if I'm not in the right place mentally, I have Kana here to help me out. "I'm glad the first skate is behind me. I saw our marks and I now know where we need to improve. "I'm relieved but also looking forward to seeing how I can get better from here on." – Takahashi Daisuke For her part, Muramoto added: "We hadn't competed at all so we just did not know how people were going to look at us. So given that, a 64 gives us a lot of confidence. We weren't perfect but I thought it was a good result. "We only recently completed our programme. We've come into the (competition) not having skated for around two months so we're pretty happy with how we did here. "We won't worry about the score tomorrow and show the crowd what we can do. Rhythm dance is totally different from the free and I hope we have a good skate."
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Post by Admin on Nov 27, 2020 22:34:11 GMT
Daisuke Takahashi, an Olympic bronze medalist and world champion in singles figure skating, began what he hopes is a run to a first Olympics in ice dance on Friday. Takahashi, 34, and partner Kana Muramoto shook their heads in unison in acknowledgement, if not approval, after tallying 64.15 points for the rhythm dance at NHK Trophy in Osaka. They placed second in a three-team competition that also included Japan’s top two ice dance couples from last season. The men’s and women’s free skates and the free dance are Saturday, streaming live and on demand on Peacock Premium. A full TV and streaming schedule is here. “It is very special to perform for a live audience,” Takahashi said, according to the International Skating Union. “Not everything was the way we hoped and it was not a 100 percent, but the rhythm dance was good. I did not realize how difficult ice dance is. So hat off to all ice dancers.” Muramoto, a 2018 Olympian, and Takahashi performed to music from the 1994 film “The Mask” in a program they began working on in September — a short amount of prep time, especially for a couple that started training together in January. And for Takahashi, who spent nearly a decade performing at the top international level in singles. Muramoto and Takahashi set a goal to qualify for the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, which would make him the first skater to make Olympic teams in singles and ice dance as medal sports. Their coach, Florida-based Marina Zoueva, said before NHK that they have the potential to qualify for this season’s world championships. To do that, they likely must win the Japanese Championships next month. Also Friday, Kaori Sakamoto topped the women’s short program with 75.60 points. Sakamoto, sixth in PyeongChang, skated a clean program that included a triple flip-triple toe loop combination. She distanced Wakaba Higuchi by 5.89 points. Yuma Kagiyama, the 17-year-old world junior silver medalist, led the men’s short with a pair of quadruple jumps and 87.26 points, despite popping an Axel. Top Japanese singles skaters Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, Rika Kihira and Satoko Miyahara are sitting out the competition, which is mostly Japanese skaters due to coronavirus pandemic-related travel measures.
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Post by Admin on Nov 28, 2020 19:36:33 GMT
Daisuke Takahashi has stressed to his coach that he didn’t envision switching to ice dance would be so difficult.
Takahashi, an Olympic bronze medalist and world champion in singles, and partner Kana Muramoto learned over the last two days just how much work is ahead in competition to unseat Japan’s top couple and qualify for a world championships or Olympics.
Muramaoto, a 2018 Olympian, and Takahashi placed third out of three couples at NHK Trophy, their debut event and the first-ever dance competition for the 34-year-old Takahashi. He switched to dance less than a year ago.
Misato Komatsubara and Tim Koleto, Japan’s two-time reigning national champions, won with 179.05 points — 21 more points than Rikako Fukase and Eichu Cho and Muramoto and Takahashi.
Muramoto and Takahashi dropped from second in the rhythm dance after Takahashi stumbled and put his hands on the ice during twizzles in Saturday’s free dance.
“I made a mistake, and I hate that,” Takahashi said, according to the International Skating Union. “Even in practice I don’t make such a big mistake on the twizzle and other mistakes in the transitions. So I guess that is what the competition means.”
It will take a massive change over the next month for Muramoto and Takahashi to qualify for March’s world championships, which would likely require winning the national title.
Takahashi’s ultimate goal — to become the first skater to make Olympic teams in singles and dance as medal sports — in 2022 remains attainable as the door is open. Japan didn’t have a couple in the top 50 in the world last season.
“We are happy to have made our debut,” said Muramoto, who matched Japan’s best-ever Olympic dance finish of 15th with the late Chris Reed in PyeongChang. “We were calm but made mistakes we never do, so there are many things to work on, but I feel that we can do better in the next competition. We are a team that has just started. We are all excited, and coaches are telling us that we will bring a new breeze into this world so we are just excited to have started.”
Earlier, Kaori Sakamoto landed seven triple jumps and ran away with the women’s title by 28.53 points. Sakamoto, sixth at the PyeongChang Olympics, totaled 229.51.
Wakaba Higuchi, the 2018 World silver medalist, became the 13th woman to land a triple Axel in international competition, according to Jackie Wong. She placed second against a field that lacked Japan’s other top women in recent seasons, Rika Kihira and Satoko Miyahara.
Yuma Kagiyama, the 17-year-old world junior silver medalist, landed five quadruple jumps between two programs to win the men’s title. Kagiyama, the 2019 Japanese senior bronze medalist, totaled 275.87 points to win by 49.25 over a field that lacked Olympic gold and silver medalists Yuzuru Hanyu and Shoma Uno.
NHK Trophy, which typically gathers top skaters from around the globe, was a mostly domestic event due to coronavirus pandemic-related travel measures. It was the last competition of the fall Grand Prix Series.
The next major competitions are national championships in late December (Japan, Russia) and January (U.S.).
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Post by Admin on Nov 29, 2020 19:43:21 GMT
Takahashi Daisuke didn’t have to write another chapter with his figure skating. But the 34-year-old Olympic bronze medallist in men’s singles has always marched to the beat of his own drum. http://instagram.com/p/CHEpLgEHvgS After an initial comeback to singles to 2018 after having retired in 2014, Takahashi is now skating alongside Muramoto Kana in ice dance, making the pivot to a new discipline some 10 years after he became the first Japanese man to win a world title – not to mention win an Olympic figure skating medal, as he did at Vancouver 2010. Here, we explore five things to know about the expressive, artistic and bold athlete who is making a second career for himself, with the hopes of qualifying for Beijing 2022. http://instagram.com/p/BUpe81QD6mh A storied singles career It’s hard to put into words just how much Takahashi accomplished as a singles skater – and how he helped Japanese men rise to power internationally in the sport. The first Japanese man to win a junior world title in 2002, Takahashi qualified for Torino 2006, where he would finish eighth. Overall, he would collect 19 Grand Prix medals in his career, including nine golds – five at NHK Trophy. His “firsts” for Japan extend to his Olympic bronze and world title, and at Sochi 2014 he would place sixth. Takahashi initially retired from singles in 2014 before announcing a singles comeback in 2018, wherein he mostly competed domestically. In 2019 he said he was joining forces with Muramoto in dance.
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Post by Admin on Nov 30, 2020 19:48:30 GMT
A unique love for dance Takahashi has always had a style of his own on the ice, and worked with choreographers like Lori Nichol, Shae-Lynn Bourne, Nikolai Morozov and others to bring out his best artistically when competing. He has been a mainstay in Japanese ice shows outside of sanctioned ISU events, and in 2017 teamed up with American dancer Cheryl Burke to bring her “Love on the Floor” dance show to Tokyo, where they were joined by the likes of Olympic gold medallists Meryl Davis, Charlie White, Kristi Yamaguchi and more. Burke said of Takahashi’s dancing, according to Tokyo Weekender: “I tell you – if he were ever to do ‘Dancing with the Stars’ here in America, he would win hands down.” Following his initial retirement from the sport, Takahashi also spent time in New York City, training at Broadway Dance Center, where he worked on different disciplines. http://instagram.com/p/CGNugcpHJ2q After winning bronze at Vancouver 2010, Takahashi went to the figure skating world championships in Turin, Italy, beating Patrick Chan and Brian Joubert for gold, and winning alongside countrywoman Asada Mao. The pair of achievements made him a household name in Japan, and he said he began to be recognized on the streets, according to a 2010 interview with International Figure Skating Magazine. He would do a series of skating shows that spring and summer, and also serve as an advertising spokesman for marketing campaigns.
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