The seven beautiful warriors of the golden era of women’s figure skaters, the “dignified rising stars shining in the rink” who “practiced in a backwater formation”.
The best shots of the first half of the season, which fascinated fans, are now on view!
At the All-Japan Figure Skating Championships held until December 24 last year, the women’s singles representatives for the Four Continents Championships to be held from the end of January and the World Championships in March were decided.
Rising star Hana Yoshida (18/Kinoshita Academy), who made a splash in the first half of this season by taking 3rd place in her first appearance at the Grand Prix (GP) Finals, is expected to be the next ace candidate after Kaori Sakamoto (23/ Sysmex).
Professional skater Takahito Mura, who has competed in three World Championships himself, explains the appeal of Yoshida.
Her quick and precise steps are her strong point. Her dynamic triple axel, which she jumps big from the speed, is also a big weapon of hers.
Hina Yoshida (18)
Dancing like a crane, a new ace candidate
Like Yoshida, Mone Chiba (18), who also belongs to Kinoshita Academy, has her first ticket to the World Championships in her hands.
She is also a member of the Kinoshita Academy. “I had a bad first half of this season’s GP series due to asthma,” she said. However, she was able to finish as runner-up at the All-Japan Championships, where she said, “I trained like I was running out of water. I have the impression that his jumps were out of order in the beginning of this season, perhaps due to the effect of moving his training base from Sendai to Kyoto just before the season, but he has corrected it in All-Japan. His smooth, flowing skating is also his strength,” said a reporter from the sports department of a national newspaper.
This season’s World Championships will be very important for her qualification to the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo in ’26.
The slots for the Olympics will be allocated based on the results of the ’25 World Championships. It is imperative that we send three athletes to the ’25 Games in order to win a slot. If the top two finishers at this year’s World Championships finish with a total ranking of 13 or below, they will receive three slots in the crucial 2013 World Championships, which they have held since 2007. The fate of the Japanese team will depend on whether Sakamoto, who is aiming for a third consecutive title, will be followed by Yoshida and Chiba.
Rinka Watanabe (21)
Late-blooming Cinderella Girl
Some of the athletes who narrowly missed the World Championships also fought hard. The first of these was last year’s World Championships representative, Rinka Watanabe (21, TOKIO Incarami/Hosei University).
She placed 6th in All-Japan, but has shown signs of recovery, including a triple axel, which she did not show in the GP series. There are high hopes for her comeback at the Four Continents Championships, where she has qualified for the competition.
Rion Sumiyoshi (20)
Her long arms and legs look good on the ice.
Rinon Sumiyoshi (20, Oriental Bio/Meiji University), who competed in the GP Finals for the first time, made a great leap forward this season, although she did not make the podium.
She has been practicing her quadruple toeloop, her big move, with a lot of confidence to succeed in it. She has a graceful jump without effort, and her performance with her long arms and legs is also attractive,” said Mura.
