The Shoma Uno fan thread - Go for número UNO!

Allskate

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Congratulations to Shoma! His long program was fantastic! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. :D My favorite program of the entire World Championships. I'm so glad that the injury did not prevent this and that he was able to perform so well under the pressure of skating at home in Japan.

For those of you in the U.S., his long program is here. I've already watched it about a half dozen times. https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2023/03/25/ilia-malinin-shoma-uno-figure-skating-world-championships/
 

Sylvia

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Awwww :): https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr7jAeVOX8u/

ETA that the photos linked above were taken at the Prince Ice World shows May 3-5 - Shoma performed a new program to "Come Together" and last season's exhibition "Padam, Padam" by Patricia Kaas; his next PIW shows will be on June 10-11.

His summer show schedule also includes:

The Ice tour: https://fs-theice.com/
July 22-23 in Aichi (3 shows)
July 25-27 in Nikko (3 shows)
July 29-30 in Osaka (3 shows)
August 2-4 in Morioka (3 shows)

One Piece on Ice - August 11-13 in Yokohama & Sept. 2-3 in Nagoya: https://www.onepiece-on-ice.com/
Article:
 
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Allskate

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I really love both his step sequences this season. And I thought he deserved that win at NHK. No number of 'q' calls is really going to diminish the vast gap in choreography and musicality between him and the gold medalist.

I think Yuma and Shoma are both wonderful, but Shoma is my favorite. I think Kagiyama has improved. However, I definitely think that Shoma is more artistic and musical than Kagiyama and that the PCS score difference doesn't show that enough. (I do think that's a chronic problem with the way programs are scored.) Shoma doesn't just have movement that matches the choreography (which Kagiyama does). I never would have picked the music Shoma chose this season and it isn't as dynamic as Kagiyama's. But, Shoma interprets that music so beautifully with his whole body and makes it seem so organic. I can't imagine many skaters being able to interpret that music well.

Kagiyama does have beautiful jumps. But, he fell on the axel, had fewer quads, and didn't have any quads later in the program. I don't think the tech score adequately reflected this. I hope this doesn't get into Shoma's head or diminish his interest in competing. Maybe it will just fuel him.

They are both wondeful, and Japan is lucky to have them.
 

On My Own

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I never would have picked the music Shoma chose this season and it isn't as dynamic as Kagiyama's.
Uno's music is difficult to choreograph with the CoP requirements of skating. I won't say it's perfect, but the attempt to interpret the quietness of the music is amazing, and he does it very well, and the way they tried to fit all the requirements to the quiet section does deserve extra consideration.

Kagiyama's music is very obviously oriented to CoP skating. The tempo of the music rises towards the end, so he can easily show he can maintain the glide. The turn clusters can be more easily choreographed. Of course it's going to take good basic skating to actually skate the steps like that, but if you look at his body movement and his face, it's very sloppy and unfinished. (and this is why Rain in your Black Eyes has become a warhorse - easy, basic music for CoP style skating, and yet none of the attempts have been close to Sui/Han's or Papadakis/Cizeron's)

Kagiyama does have beautiful jumps.
I would say he has great landings. His take offs on the toe jumps have always been flawed, and his amplitude isn't that great. His (!) calls on the lutz vanished after he started winning Senior national medals, lol.

Which isn't to say Shoma's jumps are done with great technique, but he does have harder jumps, and attempts some of the quads later in the program.
 

On My Own

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Lambiel's not wrong that the result at NHK was foolish, but I'm rolling my eyes at him calling it a 'scandal'. The word 'disagreement' is totally fine, sometimes.
 

Sylvia

TBD
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80,554
Shoma’s Worlds winning streak may be over but I still appreciate his skating!

Translation of paywalled post-FS interview: https://x.com/chaosice4/status/1772211652152414715
ETA: "before everyone freaks out, he doesn't say he is retiring. It's an interview filled with gratitude, acceptance and love, so whatever your take is, take those feelings as well💜(also: i was careful with the wording and I think i've stayed close to his words, but i am not a pro)"
 
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