The All Japan Championship of Figure Skating, which also serves as the representative selection for the Beijing Olympics to be held in February next year, has begun.
Misato Komatsubara and Takashi Komatsubara, who are aiming to win the tournament for the fourth consecutive time, took the lead in the rhythm dance of the ice dance held on the 23rd.
The couple of Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi was in second place due to a fall during the performance.
The All Japan Figure Skating Championships will be held from the 23rd to the 26th at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama City, which will also serve as the representative selection for the Beijing Olympics to be held in February next year.
In the rhythm dance of the first half of the ice dance, which was the first event, a couple of Misato Komatsubara and Takashi, who are aiming to win the tournament for the fourth consecutive time, marked 68.16 with a relaxed performance and took the lead.
The couple of Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi had a fall during the performance, and the score was only 63.35, which was the second place.
Takahashi, who fell in the middle of the performance, seemed to regret, "I never made a mistake in practice," while waiting for the score to be announced.
Ice dance and free dance in the second half will be held on the 25th.
Muramoto / Takahashi falls second
A couple of Muramoto and Takahashi, who finished second in the first half of the rhythm dance.
This season, we have continued to produce results in the games we have played so far.
Takahashi, who played an active part in the men's single, couldn't adapt to the ice dance-specific skating that requires a breathtaking slide with the opponent who forms a couple last season, and the lift that lifts the opponent lacks a sense of stability. It was.
However, he overcame that challenge by energetically doing strength training during the off-season, and at the NHK Trophy held last month, he marked the highest score ever as a couple of Japanese players.
Last year, every time I looked back on my acting, I talked about technical and mental issues, but after the NHK Trophy, "I was able to act calmly in a high tension, which was the result of my practice. It's the growth of the past year. "
In front of the chance to get a ticket for the Beijing Olympics, which has been his biggest goal since he formed the couple, Takahashi said after the ceremony practice on the 22nd, "I have to do my best here to go to the Olympics. I hope that you will perform and follow the results, "he quietly burned his fighting spirit.
Although there was a fall in the rhythm dance on the 23rd, he slipped to the second place with a confident expression to the song based on Soran Bushi.
Aim for the position of only one Olympic representative in ice dance by reversing.