Welcome to the live blog for the women’s all-around competition at the 2021 NHK Trophy, held in Nagano, Japan!
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2:12 pm. FINAL STANDINGS
1. Murakami Mai 168.030
2. Hatakeda Hitomi 166.196
3. Hiraiwa Yuna 163.230
4. Sugihara Aiko 162.196
5. Teramoto Asuka 160.761
6. Hatakeda Chiaki 159.628
7. Yamada Chiharu 157.296
8. Matsuda Towa 157.030
It’s announced at the end that Sugihara Aiko will get the final spot!
2:10 am. IT’S OFFICIAL! Murakami Mai, Hatakeda Hitomi, and Hiraiwa Yuna are on Japan’s Olympic team!!!!!
I imagine the fourth spot will be between Sugihara Aiko and Teramoto Asuka. Sugihara may be the stronger all-arounder right now, but I can see Teramoto’s bars making her desirable based on the current team.
2:05 am. Murakami Mai FX: Starts out with a big double double, and then a double layout, just a small hop back on the latter. 2.5 to front full, also a solid landing, maybe a little wild out of the 2.5 but good job to get control back. Switch ring. I think I missed her last pass when I was refreshing results but I can only assume she had NO PROBLEM hitting. We’ll see if there’s a replay. 14.2 (5.8, 8.400)
2:00 am. Hatakeda Hitomi FX: Good full-in to start, then a double turn in front attitude. Also had a 2.5 to front full, I think the full was supposed to be laid out but looks like she tucks her knees slightly. 13.466 (5.3, 8.166)
1:55 am. Hiraiwa Yuna FX: Triple spin at the start. Double layout with a tiny hop forward, good in the air! Maybe a little low. Switch ring to tour jeté half, clean. 2.5 is pretty messy, gets the front layout out of it though. Memmel to full turn. Triple wolf turn I think, I missed the beginning. Seemed like three! Hit the last pass, I couldn’t see what it was, maybe a back 1.5? We’ll see if we get a replay. Oh, no, a front double full! Even more impressed in that case. Good routine overall. Even better, a GORGEOUS routine, both in her choreo and in her glorious over-splits. 13.466 (5.2, 8.266)
She finishes about a point ahead of Sugihara, meaning HIRAIWA IS GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!!
1:50 am. Sugihara Aiko FX: I think a quad turn at the beginning! Nice high Arabian double front, slides into a step back. Triple full, then I think a Mustafina turn after that, may have been a Memmel with a third kind of cheated around. 2.5 to front layout, super solid there. Switch ring to tour jeté half. After a terrible quad with one billion injuries, this woman REALLY figured out how to peak for Tokyo! Nails the double pike at the end. Fabulous. She looks overjoyed. 13.266 (5.2, 8.066)
1:45 am. Teramoto Asuka FX: Kinda iffy on the double L turn, I’d give her a full but a little hard to see her heel. 1.5 through to double tuck, hop back. 2.5 with messy legs to front tuck, decent landing. She looked almost a little wonky coming out of the 2.5 but had no problems correcting the landing into the tuck. Front double full, some leg form. Switch ring to switch full. Double pike, NOOOOO, comes up just a little short with a wild bounce, can’t control it, and puts her hands down!!!!!!!!! 11.833 (5.2, 6.633)
1:40 am. ROTATION 3 STANDINGS
1. Murakami Mai 153.850
2. Hatakeda Hitomi 152.730
3. Hiraiwa Yuna 149.764
4. Sugihara Aiko 148.930
5. Teramoto Asuka 148.928
6. Hatakeda Chiaki 145.062
7. Yamada Chiharu 143.096
8. Matsuda Towa 142.797
1:36 am. Hatakeda Hitomi BB: Switch leap mount, punch front tuck into her jump series, perfection. Front aerial, solid. She looks all business. Side aerial, lands it facing sideways but dances out of it, clever. Side somi, great. Switch to switch half, perfect. She’s like I am literally here to do a job and I’m going to do it exactly how I need to, goodbye. Super solid bhs loso. Full turn, also lands that facing to the side but again dances through the landing into her next pose. Excellent double pike with a step. That was golden. 13.566 (5.5, 8.066)
1:35 am. Why is it taking a full 3 minutes for a beam score to come in?
1:32 am. Going into floor, Sugihara is at 148.930 and Teramoto is at 148.928 HAHAHA.
1:30 am. Hiraiwa Yuna BB: Wobbled through the wolf turn, I THINK it was a triple? Bhs layout, lands with a leg up, so a check there, but good fight. Switch ring, misses a foot on the landing, she’s competing nervous. Front aerial to split ring jump. Side aerial to split jump to wolf jump, good. 2.5 with a hop forward, some crossed ankles, but really good body position overall. After the first few skills/combos she calmed down a bit. 13.433 (5.4, 8.033)
1:24 am. Sugihara Aiko BB: Back dive to chest stand for the mount, side aerial to split jump to Korbut, very nice! Bhs loso, solid there. Full Y turn, wobbly when she finishes it, front aerial to split ring jump, wobbles her arms to hold on, but that’s such a good combo and her ring isn’t THAT bad, at least from this angle. Switch ring to back handspring to ring leap to split jump, I think I got the order of those correct, but my GOODNESS that was ambitious. Maybe a pause between the ring leap and split jump. Her rings are maybe a little angular but she’s getting close to the shape, if not there fully on all of them. Double pike, step forward. 12.833 (5.0, 7.833)…seems REALLY low, I assume she didn’t get a few of her expected CVs. She looks disappointed.
1:23 am. We didn’t see it, but Hatakeda Chiaki just did floor and got a 13.3 (5.5, 7.800).
1:21 am. Teramoto Asuka BB: Back dive to chest stand mount. Double wolf turn, a little wobbly. Stumble out of the double spin. Side aerial loso, just some bent knees on the latter. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump, excellent there. Side somi, tiniest check. Switch leap. Double pike with a hop back, chest is pretty low too. Pretty fab routine, really just the two turns that could have been better. And the dismount but everyone’s double pike could be better, tbh. 13.633 (5.6, 8.033)
1:17 am. Murakami Mai BB: Back dive to chest stand mount. Punch front pike, solid, and pretty good shape until just before the landing. Bhs loso, break at the hips but good fight. Front aerial to split jump to straddle jump. Punch front tuck, little adjustment again but not severe. Really works to get that triple wolf turn around. Double is better. I like that even though she has two, she at least does them in different directions. Switch ring, shape is iffy from this angle. Solid double pike. Breathes a sigh of relief at the end. 13.533 (5.6, 7.933)
1:14 am. ROTATION 2 STANDINGS
1. Murakami Mai 140.297
2. Hatakeda Hitomi 139.164
3. Hiraiwa Yuna 136.331
4. Sugihara Aiko 136.097
5. Soma Ui 135.497
6. Teramoto Asuka 135.295
7. Hatakeda Chiaki 131.762
8. Matsuda Towa 130.564
1:11 am. Hiraiwa Yuna UB: Maloney to Pak, clean. Van Leeuwen, also really nice. Stalder half to front giant to VERY high piked Jaeger! Toe full, not the tightest, and a hop back on her double pike. Her rhythm isn’t super natural but she has a lot of very clean elements. 13.4 (5.2, 8.200)
1:08 am. Sugihara Aiko UB: Toe-on to Maloney to Gienger, close with bent arms. And by close I mean she came close to busting her face on the bar hahaha. Goodness. Toe half to piked Jaeger, also really low there but catches no problem. Toe full, a little late with bent elbows into the bail, Ray back up to the high bar, and a hop back on the double pike. Not a bad routine for her! She stayed on. 13.166 (5.4, 7.766)
1:02 am. Soma Ui UB: Okay, she’s going…I fear for her knee but it looks heavily taped now. Stalder full to Maloney to Pak, nice. Van Leeuwen, maybe a little crooked, toe half to piked Jaeger, some leg separation, stalder, double layout, and there goes her knee. Literally a Strug landing. Is limping off and near tears. She’s icing now, but has been in tears since leaving the podium, this poor kid. 13.4 (5.4, 8.000)
12:59 am. Teramoto Asuka UB: Inbar half to piked Jaeger, a little weak on the inbar, toe-on to stalder full, messy legs, to Gienger, blind change to straddle Jaeger, a little low, bail to Ray, full-in with two big steps back, solid set. 13.4 (5.4, 8.000)
Looks like Hatakeda Chiaki just got a 12.0 on beam (5.5, 6.500) which unfortunately won’t do her any favors, as that’s her strongest event and she really needed a hit to make this team.
12:55 am. Murakami Mai UB: Church, catches with one hand and has to take an extra swing to cast back up, that looked like it hurt, I have LITERALLY no idea how she held on, Pak, Maloney to Gienger, bent arms on the catch. Blind change to piked Jaeger, really short on the toe full before a bail to Ray (and her arms are bent throughout the entirety of the turn), and hit the full-in with a hop. 13.033 (5.5, 7.533)
12:51 am. Hatakeda Hitomi UB: Inbar full to Maloney to Pak, some leg separation, to stalder to van Leeuwen, a little crooked with some leg form, and she twists SO late! Inbar half to piked Jaeger, blind change to toe full, a little crooked but good rotation in vertical, and hits the full-in dismount! Good work. 14.466!!!!! (6.1, 8.366)
FYI I can’t see most of the low bar due to a black square on the screen for some reason so excuse me if I can’t tell inbars from stalders from toe-ons!
12:47 am. Soma Ui is back up and getting ready to do the touch on bars, thank goodness! But after taking a turn she comes off the podium and seems like she gets her knee checked again.
12:45 am. ROTATION 1 STANDINGS
1. Murakami Mai 127.264
2. Hatakeda Hitomi 124.698
3. Sugihara Aiko 122.931
— Hiraiwa Yuna 122.931
5. Soma Ui 122.097
6. Teramoto Asuka 121.985
7. Hatakeda Chiaki 119.762
8. Yamada Chiharu 117.830
This is just the top group, still four more to go on other events from what I can see. ICYMI these results are a combination of All-Japan QF+AA, plus then today’s scores.
12:44 am. Hatakeda Chiaki UB: Ooh, they’re going back and showing her routine. Maloney to stalder full, stalder half to Jaeger, bail to stalder to toe shoot, and a full-in dismount, not bad for her on bars! 12.833, puts her in 7th currently.
12:37 am. Instead of showing anyone else they’re just showing interviews from the top girls. And old routine clips it looks like, probably from All-Japan.
12:34 am. Looks like we’re just going to be following the top six, which makes sense I guess. Only the top seven from All-Japan were really in contention for the team…with Hatakeda Chiaki being the seventh.
Live scores aren’t working for me but I’ll update with standings when they do!
12:32 am. Sugihara Aiko VT: She’s in the Santa Claus leo! Hahahaha. DTY, pretty clean in the air for the most part, just lands super low with her chest at her knees, big step back. 14.433
12:29 am. Soma Ui VT: DTY, comes off the table a little low and crunched, actually looked like she did something to her knee on the landing, but her coach has her do a few tests and it looks like they say no to medics. Or waves them over? The first twist looked fine but she loses her form in the second to compensate for the lack of power, not the cutest. Okay, now someone is looking at her knee. I hope she’s okay! 14.266
12:27 am. Teramoto Asuka VT: Okay, SHE’S doing the Rudi! She gets the landing, and is more upright with more pop off the table than I expected, but she’s a bit of a mess in the air, unfortunately…piked and her legs fully apart. Step back on the landing. 14.733 is…interesting lol.
12:25 am. Murakami Mai VT: I thought I read that she was doing the Rudi here but she has the number for the Yurchenko double up. Maybe she’ll do two vaults? DTY was solid enough, just a large-ish hop back. Some soft knees but body shape overall is strong. 14.7
12:23 am. Hatakeda Hitomi VT: Yurchenko 1.5, not bad! Pretty solid in her form, just not as tight as Hiraiwa’s, just a hop to the side. Couldn’t see if she went OOB. Let’s see in the replay…maybe a toe if anything. 14.1
12:21 am. Hiraiwa Yuna VT: Yurchenko 1.5, stuck!!! That was incredible!!!!!!!! Legs are glued, maybe some slight hip angle at times, but my goodness, that was fabulous. 14.3!!
12:19 am. Hiraiwa Yuna is rocking China 2008 star hair clips and I’m obsessed.
12:16 am. The touch warm-up starts now!
12:13 am. The athletes are marching out and taking off their warmups. I think they’ll be doing a touch any second now.
12:09 am. The intro video was SO DRAMATIC, I’m screaming. But I mean, the Olympic team is literally being named within HOURS so it should be dramatic.
12:06 am. The competition itself will start at 1:15 pm in Japan (which is 12:15 am on the U.S. east coast) so I’ll get started with the blog as soon as it begins.
12:00 am. Giving live blogging this meet a shot, but I’m using a VPN so I’m not sure how well it will go!
It looks like the feed is working for me, so if you also have a Japanese VPN, you can access it here.
Article by Lauren Hopkins