tsuyoboogie

Yes, that was at Mentor Torun Cup in January. Kana and Chris (Sr. ID), Sumire and Francis (Sr. Pair), Rikako and Aru (Jr. ID), Riku and Shoya (Jr. Pair), and Utana and Takumi (Adv. Novice ID) were all sent to compete. All teams medalled, except for Rikako and Aru, after Aru had an unusual fall during their SD twizzles. Utana and Takumi (nicknamed Utakumi by Japanese fans) placed 1st in the FD (53.09) and 1st overall (79.61) out of 8 entries in their category. Utakumi's Mentor Cup 2017 FD Utakumi's FD from National Novice Championship (Oct. 2016) I first took notice of them when, as Novices, they placed 2nd in the FD out of 6 teams at Junior Nationals last year. They recently debuted their SD for next season at Kurashiki FSC's Support Appreciation Day event. (unfortunately no video so far) https://twitter.com/kurashiki_fsc/status/860775999088152576 They'll be skating to Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha and Taka Rari. https://twitter.com/keikitosk8/status/860852247814524929

I apologize for being off the current topic. Riku and Shoya have actually been training together for at least 2 years now. However, this past season was their first competing internationally. With Ami Koga's unfortunate injury and dissolved partnership with Spencer Akira Howe, Riku and Shoya were sent to Mentor Torun Cup to gain the minimum TES needed to qualify for WJC. They've recently started working on a 3LzTh. It still needs work, but on April 15, both Riku and Shoya uploaded a clip to their twitter accounts (@BestShoya @miurariku1217) of them practicing this throw jump. I would've posted a link but can't since it's my first post here. Also, for anyone interested and able to read Japanese, back on September 25, 2015, Shoya retweeted a link to an interview he did with J Sports where he talks about his experience as a beginner Pairs skater. Sorry, but I am not proficient enough to translate. Rikako and Aru have been skating together since 2014. You've probably seen them compete before since they've participated in JGPs and WJC for the past two seasons. With Rikako and Aru moving to Seniors next season, there seems to be a lot of anticipation for promising Ice Dance team of Utana Yoshida and Takumi Sugiyama to make their Junior debut.