Miura and Kihara win historic pairs Gold for Japan
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan perform their Free Skate at 2022 Skate Canada in Mississauga, Ont.
2022 Skate Canada – Pairs’ Recap
Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara took historic gold in the Pairs’ event at 2022 Skate Canada, winning the first Grand Prix gold medal for the discipline for Japan. USA’s Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe won the silver, while Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii of Italy earned the bronze.
Skating to “Atlas: Year Two,” Miura and Kihara delivered a good triple twist, but struggled on the first jumping pass, the side-by-side triple toe-double toe-double toes. However, that was the only mistake the 2022 World silver medalists made as they rallied back to produce solid triple Salchows, a throw triple Lutz, throw triple loop, and level-four lifts. They scored 138.63 for a first place finish in the free skate and overall (212.02) to win the title.
“We are very happy that we were able to win,” said Miura. “Riku injured herself during the summer and we could not train until September. We have been doing run throughs for only one week. It is only the fifth time we skated the whole program. We were not really confident, but the support from the audience helped us.”
“Even in practice, we did not manage to finish in time with the music,” he added. “That is why we laughed at the end. This first medal for Japanese pairs figure skating means a lot to us. We are sure that there are skaters in Japan who are much more talented than we are. If they can challenge themselves, they will be able to achieve what we achieved. This gives a lot of hope for Japanese figure skating!”
“I thought that I could never reach a medal when I participated in my first Grands Prix (with previous partner), but then I met Riku and it changed,” said Miura. “It is true that the field is not as deep as before, but a lot of teams get a chance to do well. It is an added motivation for everyone.”
Chan and Howe’s side-by-side triple Salchow-double Axel-double Axels were downgraded and Chan fell on the triple toe in their routine to “Unchained Melody.” Chan also stepped out of the throw triple loop and later doubled the throw Salchow, but all three lifts were graded a level four as was the pair combination spin. The 2022 U.S. International Classic silver medalists earned 119.09 for a third-place finish in the free skate, but with a total score of 186.48, were able to maintain second place overall.
“We feel super happy with the medal!” said Howe. “We want to especially improve on the throws. We had some setbacks with injuries this summer, so we are happy to be where we are right now and just want to keep progressing. We will see where that leads us.”
Conti and Macii had a tight catch on the triple twist, which was graded a level two and Conti fell on the throw triple loop. The 2022 Lombardia Trophy Champions otherwise showed side-by-side triple Salchow-Euler-double Salchows, triple toes, and a good throw triple Salchow in their program to music from Cinema Paradiso. All three lifts and the pair spin were graded a level four and the team scored a new personal best of 119.52 for second place in the free skate. With a total score of 186.18, they missed the second spot on the podium by 0.30 points for the bronze.
“It was not a perfect program for us with the fall and the struggle on our last lift, but we feel incredibly happy,” said Conti.
“We are doing a lot of run-throughs and practice, practice, practice!” added Macii. “Our goal is to improve the triple twist and have a competition season with the clean programs.
Canada’s Brooke McIntosh and Benjamin Mimar, who stood in fourth (60.82) after the short, landed their opening triple toe-double toe jumps, but their side-by-side triple Salchows were downgraded to a double. Two lifts were graded a level four, and while the throw triple flip was clean, she fell on the throw triple loop. Nevertheless, the 2022 World Junior bronze medalists earned a new personal best of 114.67 for their performance to music from Les Miserables, placing fourth overall (175.49).
USA’s Valentina Plazas and Maximiliano Fernandez placed fifth overall (164.14) ahead of Jelizaveta Zukova and Martin Bidar of the Czech Republic (153.50) and Canada’s Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Ethier (152.09).
Germany’s Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert withdrew prior to the Free Skate due to injury.
Miura and Kihara will compete next at NHK Trophy alongside Chan/Howe and McIntosh/Mimar. Conti and Macii are schedule to compete at the MK Wilson Trophy in Great Britain in two weeks.
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