#nagaoka moriguchi

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite 2023/2024 Programs Pairs SP

Pairs event at Worlds was so fucking good even without the Russians. (You'll only see me saying this for pairs. This is the only discipline where Russians were legitimately above the rest). But this season did prove that the field can actually manage without them.

Have to say tho that most the programs aren't really good and we're desperately in need of some good Choreo which is too rare at this point (Cheng Peng save me!).

So here's list if my favourite programs from this season. Rankings are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Honorable mentions go to

Ghilardi/Ambrosini (The Ecstasy of Gold). Choreo did not left an imprint but I love the music choice the costumes and the general vibe. G/A had some great packaging this season.

Ariano Kent/Laliberté Laurent (500 miles). You just can't keep the Canadians away from Sadboi music and this baby pairs came out with the weepy ballad variant of 500 miles. It's an experience for sure.

7th - Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi - Can’t Take My Eyes of You, by John Lloyd Young, choreo by Cathy Reed

Fun. Charming. Nice to watch. Nothing special but this is one of those feel good programs. The fact that YunaSumi for their first season together have better packaging than RikuRyu is nothing short of tragic.

6th - Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos-Moore - Architect of the Mind, by Kerry Muzzey, choreo by Jonathan Guerreiro

Recycled from last year. I love the baby Australians so much and this routine show why. Ability to follow the relentless pace of the music. A sense of drama. Good unisson and well matched lines. I especially love the step sequence where their bodies unfurl to the swirls of the music a bit like an accordion. It scratches an itch. Love Nastya's lines and love Hektor's commitment to the performance.

5th - Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin - Stay, by Rihanna, choreo by Paul Bolle and Mark Pillay

Not the most original thing and Virtue/Moir did it better. But Hase/Volodin are not Tessa and Scott, nor do they need to be. It could be a bit bland and tbh if the team were only slightly less talented it would be.

But instead we have a nice, light, romantic program. It goes perfectly well with Minerva's softness. Volodin is very solid but non existent as a performer and that's ok ! They only have to move prettily to the music and it works for them.

4th - Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea - East of Eden, choreo by Drew Meekins

What good skating skills does to a motherfucker !!!

Even with the tech shortcomings (that throw jump is not even close to ready), when I saw them live in Angers this seasons they blew everyone put of the water with this SP. Skating skills are so rare among pairs skaters and it's so good to see them being rewarded by the judges for it. The sheer ice coverage the breath the ease of their skating is wonderful to see live. And East of Eden, overused as it is, is a perfect match for their brand. The music is suitably intense. Definitely one of the highlights of the season.

3rd - Cheng Peng/Lei Wang - The Storm Driven Sea, by Christopher Tin, choreo by Lori Nichols

Definitely the best choreo of the bunch, gets bumped from first place because Peng/Wang are a new pair and it shows. We sadly did not get the performance that short program deserved. The drama the position, the intensity... Unmatched.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps - Oxygen, by Cirque du Soleil choreo by Julie Marcotte

I HATED the music at the start of the season. The loud breathing triggered my misophonia and the vocals were grating.

I love it ! It's unlike anything else in the current pairs' field. Cirque du Soleil doesn't get more Québécois than that. The step sequence is fun. The lift rocks.

1st - Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel - I Love Rock and Roll, by Joan Jett, choreo by Luca Lanotte

Speaking of rock... Best short of the season hands down. Gorgeous lifts with hard and creative dismount? Check! Massive throw jump? Check! Big twist? Check! Great step sequence with loads of attitude? Check! Music that will make the audience loose it? You bet! Performance levels? Unmatched!

Of fucking course they judges hated it and they were robbed blind at worlds.

[figureskatingfanblog]

Sumitada Moriguchi has found a new partner.

Her name is Yuna Nagaoka. From what I can see, she is 18 and has been competing in singles on the junior-level for Japan nationally. So Japan has a second senior-level Pair now.

[sywtwfs]

Team Japan: 2024 ISU Championships

World Championships

Men: Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Kao Miura (alt: Sota Yamamoto, Shun Sato, Kazuki Tomono)

Women: Kaori Sakamoto, Mone Chiba, Hana Yoshida (alt: Mai Mihara, Rinka Watanabe, Rion Sumiyoshi)

Pairs: Miura/Kihara, Nagaoka/Moriguchi*

Ice Dance: TBD

Four Continents Championships

Men: Yuma Kagiyama, Sota Yamamoto, Shun Sato (alt: Kazuki Tomono, Tatsuya Tsuboi, Nozomu Yoshioka)

Women: Mone Chiba, Mai Mihara, Rinka Watanabe (alt: Hana Yoshida, Yuna Aoki, Rion Sumiyoshi)

Pairs: Miura/Kihara

Ice Dance: Komatsubara/Koleto, Tanaka/Nishiyama, Yoshida/Morita

Junior World Championships

Men: Shunsuke Nakamura, Rio Nakata, Haru Kakiuchi (alt: Daiya Ebihara, Seigo Tauchi)

Women: Mao Shimada, Rena Uezono, Ikura Kushida (alt: Yo Takagi, Ayumi Shibayama)

Pairs: Shimizu/Honda*

Ice Dance: Kishimoto/Tamura (alt: Yamashita/Nagata*)

*Pending TES minimums

Source: 1, 2, 3

[justnotkrikkit]

Worlds team:

Shoma Uno, Yuma Kagiyama, Kao Miura

Kaori Sakamoto, Mone Chiba, Hana Yoshida

Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara, Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi

[No Ice Dance named (yet?)]

[figureskatingfanblog]

Today was the third day of competition at Japanese Nationals.

Yuka Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi competed unopposed.

Shoma Uno won his sixth national title. Yuma Kagiyama won the free skate and came up to win the silver. Sota Yamamoto won the bronze.

Results in English below the cut.

Men's Overall:

Shoma Uno - 298.04

Yuma Kagiyama - 292.10

Sota Yamamoto - 287.00

Kao Miura - 280.00

Shun Sato - 273.04

Kazuki Tomono - 271.52

Tatsuya Tsuboi - 252.34

Nozomu Yoshioka - 249.38

Sena Miyake - 226.12

Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda - 217.62

Koshiro Shimada - 215.97

Takeru Amine Kataise - 212.26

Haruya Sasaki - 208.87

Shunsuke Nakamura - 207.70

Kazuki Kushida - 204.27

Takumi Sugiyama - 202.64

Rio Nakata - 200.27

Haru Kakiuchi - 196.30

Daiya Ebihara - 192.96

Sena Takahashi - 191.77

Seigo Tauchi - 190.01

Kosho Oshima - 189.36

Yuto Kishina - 188.12

WD - Tsudoi Suto

[figureskatingfanblog]

Japanese Nationals started today.

Yuka Nagaoka and Sumitada Moriguchi are competing unopposed.

Shoma Uno is in line for his sixth National title.

After the short program -

Shoma Uno

Sota Yamamoto

Yuma Kagiyama

Kao Miura

Shun Sato

Kazuki Tomono

Tatsuya Tsuboi

Nozomu Yoshioka

Shunsuke Nakamura

Sena Miyake

Koshiro Shimada

Kazuki Kushida

Tsudoi Suto

Lucas Tsuyoshi Honda

Takumi Sugiyama

Rio Nakata

Haruya Sasaki

Takeru Amine Kataise

Sena Takahashi

Kosho Oshimo

Haru Kakiuchi

Yuto Kishino

Seigo Tauchi

Daiya Ebihara

Kazuki Hasegawa

Keisuke Kadowaki

Sakura Odagaki

Ryota Kitamura

Minato Shiga

Taiga Nishino

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Nagaoka/Moriguchi out of worlds for failing to get the TES minimums for the SP 😭😭😭

[figureskatingfanblog]

It has been announced that the Japanese host picks for the NHK Trophy are Tatsuya Tsuboi, Yuna Aoki, and Yuga Nagaoka / Sumitada Moriguchi. They have not been added to the ISU website yet.