Yuma Kagiyama won the NHK Cup of figure skating for the first time in three years.
He won a close match against his rival with the "perfection of his technique" that he had honed while facing his injured self.
(Sports News Department Reporter Koji Fukushima)
I realized how rough my acting was...
Kagiyama is still affected by the left leg injury he suffered in July last year, and he has not been able to return to the state of the loop that he has mastered in the three types of quadruple jumps of the toe loop, the Salchow, and the loop.
Under such circumstances, Kagiyama has been focusing on improving the "perfection of each technique" and refining his expressive skills.
While he was not able to practice as much as he wanted, he had more opportunities to watch his performances on video, and he realized the "roughness" of his own performances.
With a new coach
To compensate for this weakness, we invited Karolina Kostner, the bronze medalist in the women's singles at the Sochi Olympics, who had a reputation for the beauty of her performance, to be her coach.
Learn from Carolina Kostner
For example, we reviewed the basics of how to raise the arms, such as using the shoulder blades and the entire upper body to make the performance look bigger, rather than just raising the arms.
Also, in terms of jumping, instead of practicing blindly for a long time like before the injury, we changed to a method of carefully jumping one by one and crushing the task each time.
Getting a good response at the NHK Cup
At the NHK Cup, Kagiyama scored the world's highest score of the season in the short program in the first half of the tournament and took the lead.
Chasing is rival Masama Uno, who is aiming for a third consecutive tournament title, with a gap of just over five points.
In the free skate, Kagiyama's performance consisted of two quadruple jumps less than Uno's, and his total base score was nearly 4 points lower.
Still, he jumped the opening quadruple Salchow perfectly, earning a high score of 4.4 on the finish point, and then scored on all of his subsequent jumps, except for the triple Axel, which he fell over, without under-rotation or misstepping.
All spins and steps are also level four, and the "performance composition points" that evaluate expressiveness and other factors have been restored to those of last year's Beijing Olympics, where they won the silver medal, although it is not possible to make a strict comparison due to the change in the scoring system last year.
Masama Uno
While Uno, who took on the challenge of a difficult configuration, made a series of small mistakes, such as under-rotating all of his quadruple jumps, and was unable to improve his score, Kagiyama steadily scored with his "high level of perfection" and managed to maintain his lead in the short program.
KAGIYAMA Yuma:
"I think I was able to keep my composure in the first half, and I think I was able to ride the song well from the steps to the spins in the second half, so it was a good harvest."
On top of that, he also talked about his response.
"Since Mr. Kostner taught me, he has taught me the details of expression and how to use my body very carefully, so I hope I can make use of that."
Kagiyama will compete in the Grand Prix Final with his rival Uno in December.
In addition to the "perfection of the technique" that you have honed, if your condition is further restored, you will be able to see the path to the top of the world that has not yet been seen.