Rika Kihira, Mako Yamashita, Riko Takino in running for coveted Japan women's junior crown
With Kaori Sakamoto, Marin Honda and Yuna Shiraiwa having moved on to the senior ranks, Japan will crown a new junior women's queen this weekend at the Japan Junior Championships at Gunma Ice Arena. Honda and Shiraiwa's training partner Rika Kihira, one of only eight ...
Kihira clinches spot in Junior Grand Prix Final
Rika Kihira's bronze medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Egna and Bologna, Italy, on Saturday was good enough to qualify her for the JGP Final for the second straight season, but it didn't come easy. After a wonderful short program on Friday that saw ...
Mako Yamashita shows consistency with silver medal
Mako Yamashita continued her fine run in the Junior Grand Prix over the past two seasons with a second-place finish at the Croatia JGP in Zagreb on Saturday. The result put her on the podium for the fourth time in her four career JGPs. The ...
Sumoto wins Riga JGP as coach gets emotional
This was more like it. After consecutive weeks of bringing home a solitary bronze medal, Mitsuki Sumoto gave Japan its first gold of the Junior Grand Prix season with a comeback victory at the Latvia JGP in Riga on Saturday, while Rika Kihira collected a ...
Inspired Sakamoto takes lead over Honda at Japan Junior Championships
Kaori Sakamoto grabbed the lead ahead of reigning world junior champion Marin Honda on the first day of the Japan Junior Championships at Tsukisamu Gymnasium on Saturday night with a sublime short program. Sakamoto gave a polished performance to "The Artist" and earned a score ...
Talented field set to compete for top spots at Japan Junior Championships
Bragging rights will be on the line when a group of highly successful skaters take the ice on Saturday at the Japan Junior Championships at Tsukisamu Gymnasium. Reigning world junior champion Marin Honda, Rika Kihira, Kaori Sakamoto, Yuna Shiraiwa and Mako Yamashita will all be ...
Has Mao come to end of line with triple axel?
Three-time world champion Mao Asada did something unusual at the Challenger Series event in Finland last week. For a rare instance in the last 10 years, she didn't attempt a triple axel in either her short program or free skate. Was it a sign of ...
Kihira shows great potential in Junior Grand Prix debut
Rika Kihira continued Japan's fine start to the Junior Grand Prix season on Saturday when she finished a close second at the event in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Close second is almost too ambiguous to describe how narrowly she missed topping the platform in her JGP ...
