Wakaba Higuchi Places 3rd at Trophee de France

From November 11 – 13, this year’s edition of Trophee de France took place in Paris. This was the fourth event in the International Skating Union’s 2016 – 2017 Grand Prix Series. Wakaba Higuchi took third place in the women’s portion, making her the only Japanese skater out of the four present to medal at this event.

In her senior Grand Prix Series debut, Wakaba Higuchi placed third with a total score of 194.48, 5.87 points behind the second place finisher, Russia’s Maria Sotskova. This score is currently Wakaba’s personal best combined score. Her short program received a score of 65.02, putting her in fifth place, 1.59 points behind Laurine Lecavelier of France. Wakaba botched a planned triple flip in her final jump and received no score for the element. “I felt some nerves but my body was moving fine,” she said afterwards. “I thought the score was going to be much lower. I’ve been aiming to get (high scores) and it’s a real plus to be able to manage that in a big event like this.” She added, “The triple flip turning into a double was a close one. I might have slacked a little bit.” Wakaba’s free skate was the third highest scored of the night with 129.46 points, 2.18 points behind Maria. This score is currently Wakaba’s personal best free skate score. Her program featured a triple Lutz-triple toe combination and three more triples. “I wasn’t expecting to stand on the podium so I’m really happy. I’m pleased with the points I got but I also made some major mistakes. I’m really eager to work on fixing those,” she said after the event.

Mao Asada, two-time winner and four-time medalist at this event, came in ninth with a score of 161.39, 4.5 points behind American Gracie Gold. This is her worst finish in her 22-competition Grand Prix Series career, which started in the 2005 – 2006 season. Her short program received a score of 61.29, putting her in eighth place, 2.58 points behind Russia’s Alena Leonova. Mao under-rotated her triple flip in a combination jump. “I’ve somehow managed to come through,” Mao said. “It’s good I could put them together given the condition I was in when in Japan. I’m relieved. I didn’t really feel things were clicking while practicing in Japan,” she continued. “(But) I felt they were finally getting back in shape (during practice on Friday).” Mao’s free skate was given a score of 100.10, putting her in tenth place, 7.08 points behind team mate Yuka Nagai. Mao landed just one clean triple jump, a triple loop. “I’ve lost confidence in myself but I hope I’ll be able to bounce back from this disappointment at the National Championships,” Mao said, referring to the December 22 – 25 competition in Osaka. “I’ll have to be determined and have a strong will.” Her chances to qualify for next month’s Grand Prix Final are slim, but there is now the very real chance that Mao might not even make Japan’s team for the World Championships this season. Japan has three spots for the women at Worlds, but unless Mao turns matters around quickly, she will be watching the competition on TV.

Takahito Mura finished in fifth place with a score of 248.42. Yuka Nagai finished in tenth place with a score of 159.49.

This coming weekend sees Rika Hongo and Mai Mihara taking the ice at Cup of China in Beijing.

Wakaba Higuchi

Short program