Chapter 68 2013 NHK Cup Results
◎ Gaining a foothold in the adult group◎
Ji Tiantian stood on Tang Yi's legs, her whole body bent backwards like a tightly stretched bow. She stretched her hands and raised them above her head, as if she was shouting, as if she was demonstrating. Her petite and slender body was as dazzling as the sun, emitting endless energy.
There was a burst of cheers at the scene, and even many Japanese audiences gave heartfelt applause.
Feifei and many audience members couldn't help but wipe away tears.
Every season, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi can bring them familiar yet different feelings.
Not to mention, Ji Tiantian had just experienced a low point at this time.
In just five days, she quickly adjusted herself in the Japanese race and performed an extraordinary lift, flying out of the trough like an eagle.
"So amazing..." Suzuki, a Japanese athlete standing on the edge of the ice, looked at Ji Tiantian and couldn't help but exclaimed in amazement.
After the lift, Ji Tiantian stepped onto the ice. The lift of level 4 requires the athlete to use difficult postures to exit and enter the lift.
According to the choreography, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi needed to do a waltz jump together as an exit pose. However, due to a leg injury, Ji Tiantian suddenly became unstable when landing on the ice.
She was secretly shocked and thought that the waltz might be over, but Tang Yi discovered the abnormality in time.
He quickly picked up Ji Tiantian and did a small lift.
It only took him a split second to react.
Ji Tiantian put her hands on Tang Yi's shoulders, her eyes sparkling with infinite surprise. She lifted her lower limbs with the help of her partner's strong and reliable arms, adjusted her center of gravity at the moment her feet left the ice, and after a slight lift, landed steadily on the ice.
After a safe transition, they entered the second set of steps and then the finale.
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi knelt on one knee on the ice at the same time. Ji Tiantian made a gesture of holding something up from the ice with both hands, as if she had found the seed of hope she had been looking for for a long time.
She looked up and smiled at Tang Yi. The world was bleak, and in the light of hope, they stared at each other.
In the face of her encouraging smile, his expression and posture became more relaxed.
Tang Yi remained kneeling on one knee, holding Ji Tiantian with both hands, watching her slowly stand up with hope in her hands. His face was dotted with a tired but relieved smile.
During the long journey, he helped her find courage and hope again, but before he knew it, his energy had already been exhausted.
Tang Yi held Ji Tiantian's waist tightly with both hands, leaned his head against her, and slowly closed his eyes. His ten strong fingers were spread out, and the veins on the back of his hands were slightly bulging. He seemed to be using the last strength of his life to help her.
With Tang Yi's help, Ji Tiantian touched the ice with the tiptoe of one foot and stretched the other leg straight behind her.
She straightened her body, put one hand gently around the back of Tang Yi's neck, and with the other hand, palm facing the sky, she slowly raised it in the posture of holding up hope.
Just believe
As long as you believe
You will when you believe
As long as you believe in miracles, they will happen
She raised her face and smiled with relief.
Ji Tiantian's costume was very simple, and her look was not as gorgeous as in the short dance. However, her slender and powerful body made her the undisputed focus of the audience.
Tang Yi, kneeling on the ice, snuggled up to her, like a silent cornerstone.
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi's free dance "When You Believe" ended here.
The music stopped, Ji Tiantian stepped firmly on the ice, gasping for breath, and greeted the thunderous applause from the audience with a smile.
“Great sweetie!”
"We believe in you ahhhh!" the audience shouted.
The Grand Prix adult group has strict qualification requirements. Participants are either their own country's athletes or the world's top athletes. This makes it more grand than the youth group.
When a contestant gives a sincere and wonderful performance, the applause he or she receives is comparable to that in the finals.
Ji Tiantian looked down at Tang Yi. Tang Yi let her go, but did not stand up for a while, and his breathing was particularly violent.
The adult group's ice dance free dance has more lifting movements than the youth group, and the strength requirements for the male partner are more stringent. Moreover, Ji Tiantian was injured, so he not only took care of his own performance throughout the competition, but also kept an eye on her movements, which was very energy-consuming.
Ji Tiantian lowered her head and rubbed Tang Yi's sweat-soaked hair with gratitude.
Tang Yi pulled her hand down, gently rubbed the back of her smooth hand with his thumb, then took her hand and stood up. They raised their hands towards the audience and bowed to salute.
"Ahhh, the sweet candy is so sweet! I want to roll around!" Some Chinese audience members in the audience shouted with happiness.
"It's worthy of the long-awaited Olympic season! Woohoo, so satisfied!"
"I'm going to go home and watch the replay a hundred times, woooooo!"
"This free dance is so heartwarming and exciting, woooo." Some audience members had tears in their eyes, "I felt like I was fed a knife by The Story of the Ming Palace, and now I'm being fed candy woooo! It's so good woooo but it's not enough, I want more!"
"Come on, Tiantang!" Feifei shouted towards the ice.
Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi waved to the audience, and then Tang Yi helped Ji Tiantian walk down to the ice.
"Tiantian doesn't seem to be in a very good condition..." Feifei felt her heart tighten as she watched Ji Tiantian's somewhat frivolous skating. "To be able to complete such a great program in this condition...they are better than before."
"The injury from the fall during the China Cup hasn't fully healed yet." A senior ice fan sitting in the front row said, "When they were competing just now, I really didn't feel that Tiantian was skating with an injury... Now they have more experience in playing with injuries."
"Yeah..." Feifei couldn't help but have tears in her eyes when she heard these words. She really hoped that the athletes from her country didn't need such experience.
"I'm so nervous," she sniffed and looked at the score display nervously, "I wonder what score the judges will give me."
At this time, Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi came to the waiting area accompanied by their coach.
"The program content score of the youth group is generally lower than that of the adult group. When you reach the adult group, it is time for a real competition in program creation." A senior ice fan said, "Generally speaking, the youth group players will have a bonus in program content score after being promoted to the next group."
"But no matter how much you add, you can't beat the European and American contestants." Ni Chuan sighed heavily, paused, and then asked, "Speaking of which, why didn't Tiantian and Yige use the Chinese theme this season? If you use their program content points, wouldn't it be easier to increase it?"
"Generally, there is an internship period for athletes to be promoted from the youth group to the adult group. During this period when athletes and adult judges are adapting to each other, even the most stylish athletes will choose choreography and music with wide adaptability. If they do something particularly unique right from the start, if the judges cannot adapt well, their career will be affected in the future." said a senior ice fan. "But Tiantian and Tang Yi have their own characteristics no matter what music they choose. Their performances always resonate with people."
At this time, Ji Tiantian was sitting in the waiting area, holding the sweet goose and Melody thrown down by the ice fans in her arms.
She was a little nervous. She was not sure whether their lift had been downgraded.
The originally planned difficult exit action was temporarily changed from a waltz to a small lift. If a sharp-eyed judge noticed the fleeting abnormality of her feet, then their lift would probably be downgraded to level 3 because of the inadequate exit posture.
For step sequence, 1.5 basic points will be deducted for each level down from level 4. GOE will be deducted as appropriate. For lift, 0.5 basic points will be deducted for each level down from level 4. If you look at the score alone, it will feel that it is not a big deal if the lift is not done well. However, this is the internship season for the adult group after all. If the referee is not optimistic about them, he can seize their small mistakes and deduct more points from GOE and program content.
They have not established a firm foothold in the adult arena, do not possess the "godhood" of the first echelon, and will not be taken care of.
However, apart from that lift with some flaws, Ji Tiantian felt that their other technical moves were performed very well.
She felt that she had done a great job in the step sequence, lift, and combined rotation. Although the synchronized twist did not reach five weeks, the speed was enough. This was her last ditch effort after the China Cup.
There was nothing to regret about her musical interpretation and performance. She had done her best, and now it was up to the judges.
Because of nervousness and anticipation, her breathing became tight. Tang Yi sensed it and stretched out his hand. She shook his fingers without hesitation. She mustered up her courage and looked at the score display.
Soon, their free dance results came out.
The technical score was 48.41, the program content score was 51.21, and the total score for the free dance was 99.62.
Together with the short dance score of 67.82, the total score is 167.44, temporarily ranking first.
"Ahhh, it's so high!" There was an exclamation from the audience.
"It's a lot higher than the China Cup!"
"Tiantian is in great form this time, with full emotions and movements!"
"They adjusted so quickly. They were fully recovered in just five days!"
"Actually, it's not full health... It's real. You're performing with all your might, right?"
"Woo woo woo I always love sweets!"
The Japanese ice fans who supported their country's athletes fell silent in the audience.
They no longer looked indignant at the scores like they did during the short dance. Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi's highly infectious free dance conquered most of them.
At the edge of the ice, Japanese players Suzuki and Kotani also applauded along with the audience, with smiles of satisfaction on their faces.
"It's much taller than when she was in the youth group!" Feifei looked at the display screen, her eyes moistened, "Tiantang has established a firm foothold in the adult group!"
"Is their score okay this time?" Ni Chuan touched his chin and asked the senior ice hockey fan sitting in the front, "The referee didn't deduct too many points from them, did he?"
"The adult group has one more lift than the youth group, and this season there is also a choreographed lift that accounts for more than one point, so it is reasonable for the technical score to rise." A senior ice fan said with some emotion, "As for the program content score, it would have risen a little more than the youth group. This time, they have performed steadily. It all depends on the scores of the Canadian and American groups."
Ji Tiantian looked at the results on the display screen, breathed a sigh of relief, hugged Tang Yi and the coach, then left the waiting area to get her own score sheet.
The score was not beyond her expectations. The two sets of connecting steps required in the free dance were level 3, and one lift was downgraded to level 3 due to the difficulty and irregular withdrawal of the movement. The other technical movements were all level 4.
However, for the lift that was deducted, two of the nine judges gave it the highest execution grade of 3, and the other judges gave it a grade of 2. The lowest execution grade is -3, and the highest is +3. The execution score of each action, multiplied by the corresponding coefficient and added to the basic score of the action, is the score of the competitor's action. The execution grade is judged by the quality of the competitor's action. Generally speaking, an execution grade of +2 is excellent, and +3 is rare. An execution grade of 3 is almost unheard of in the youth group.
This shows that although her lift while standing on Tang Yi's legs did not get the highest grade, their performance and efforts were still appreciated by some judges.
Ji Tiantian couldn't help but smile. What she wanted to express was seen.
On the ice, Canadian duo Judy Jayne have already started their performance.
They wore American 19th century style costumes and the theme of the performance was Gone with the Wind.
The two dressed up like the male and female protagonists in the movie. To the cheerful, majestic and familiar soundtrack of the movie, the two performed their passionate and lingering ice dance on the ice.
In order to show the lively character of the heroine, Judy's dance steps include many brisk and brisk steps. Her steps are obviously more skillful than those of the Japanese group.
This is a combination where the female partner is obviously stronger than the male partner. Under Judy's guidance, the two completed a set of tacit and dedicated steps.
Next, they had to complete a twist and lift. Judy faced Jayne and did a vertical split, with one leg resting on Jayne's shoulder and the other leg being held by Jayne, and the two of them rotated.
However, the male partner's strength was unstable, and Judy, who had originally opened her arms on both sides of her body, had to hug Jayne's neck in the middle to stabilize her body.
Ultimately, they were unable to complete the six turns required for the twist lift and only completed five. The way they landed on the ice was also somewhat awkward.
Soon, the two finished their free dance and came to the waiting area.
"With only five turns, their twist lifts should be downgraded to level 2." Xu Chi, who was standing at the edge of the ice, said to Jiang Lin, "The step sequence should be level 3. Their overall technical moves should not be as good as ours."
"Well, their overall performance scores are probably not as good as ours, Tiantian and Tang Yi. The distance between the two of them in their twist was a bit far. The male partner didn't get close to the female partner in time when they started the synchronized twist..." Jiang Lin and Xu Chi discussed, with a hint of uneasiness on their faces, "But looking at the short dance, their program content score should be quite high. I guess their score will be very close to ours, on par...it depends on who the judges favor more."
"The situation is similar to that of the short dance. The Canadian pair's technical moves are a little bit behind ours, but I don't know what the P points will be." said a veteran ice fan in the audience.
“Okay, let’s see what kind of score the player who possesses the fifth godhood in the world can get!” Ni Chuan rubbed his hands nervously.
At this time, not only Feifei and Ni Chuan, but many viewers also stretched their necks and looked at the display screen nervously.
The score of the Canadian pair Judy Jayne, ranked fifth in the world, will determine a lot.
For example, the new season's pattern, for example, if Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi are in good shape, how high can they rank in the fiercely competitive adult group. With Judy Jayne's results as a comparison, everything will soon be settled.
After a while, Judy Jayne's results came out.
The technical score was 47.24, the program content score was 51.57, and the total score was deducted 1 point because of the overtime of the lift. If the short lift exceeds the stipulated 6 seconds, it is the same as falling, and additional points will be deducted.
Thus, Judy Jayne's free dance score was 97.81 points, plus the short dance score of 68.42, for a total score of 166.23.
He is currently ranked second after Ji Tang with a total score of 167.44.
"Great! Beat the world's fifth!" Ni Chuan and many ice fans stood up excitedly.
"The world's fifth-best player can't suppress Tiantang." The veteran ice fans in the front row laughed and applauded along with the audience. "After this, Tiantang also knows where she stands."
"World Youth Champion! Asian Miracle!" Excited ice fans in the audience shouted.
Judy, who was waiting in the waiting area, stared at the score display screen in a daze. She didn't stand up for a long time, as if she didn't want to accept the fact. Even when her partner Jayne pulled her, she didn't move.
A staff member came over and urged Judy to do it, and she reluctantly stood up and left.
She left the waiting area and couldn't help but look at Ji Tiantian who was happily chatting with her dance partner.
Ji Tiantian also noticed Judy's gaze, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes and give her a happy smile.
Judy was stunned for a moment, then turned around and walked away quickly, stumbling as she went. Jayne tried to help her, but she shook him off.
"It's all your fault!" Judy couldn't accept being surpassed by Ji Tang and couldn't help but get angry at Jayne.
"We were actually overtaken by Asians... It must be because this is the Asian race, the referees are biased towards them." Judy clenched her fists.
She took a deep breath, controlled herself, and continued to talk to Jayne: "Hurry up and stabilize your skills. Next time, I will definitely surpass them!"
"The judges were quite lenient in scoring the Canadian team's short dance." Ni Chuan spoke to senior ice fans in the audience, "Do you think they would have thought that Tiantian and Tang Yi's free dance scores would exceed those of the Canadian team?"
"I think they thought of it." The senior ice fans nodded and said, "When scoring the short dance, they gave Tiantang a relatively conservative score. Considering Canada's reputation and qualifications as the fifth in the world, the referees did not dare to give other groups higher scores than them. Even the newly crowned world junior champion. After all, ice dancing is a project that is more based on seniority. However, when seeing Tiantang's free dance performance, the referees still gave a relatively fair score. With strong strength, it is really hard to suppress them. Although Tiantang's total score seems to be very close to that of the Canadian group, the veteran ice fans should all understand that Tiantang's score shows that their actual strength has surpassed the Canadian group by a large margin."
"If it weren't for this..." The veteran ice fan looked up at the display screen and almost whispered, "They wouldn't be able to complete this leapfrog."
"World Youth Champion! Asian Miracle!" The cheers from the audience echoed continuously.
"So young, yet so dazzling..." A Japanese ice fan in the audience said with emotion, "It's really a miracle..."
Next up were the American players Rita and Thompson, who were third in the World Championships last season and the top pair in the US, and naturally received loud applause as soon as they appeared on the stage.
The costumes they wore this time were very futuristic. The female companion Rita wore a black high-necked off-shoulder dress, while the male companion Thompson wore a high-necked shirt.
"Rita! Thompson!" Many European and American ice fans who came to see them shouted enthusiastically.
As soon as Rita and Thompson got into their starting positions, their soundtrack started.
Their soundtrack comes from the hit movie Pacific Rim, which was released in July. Many viewers who watched the movie expressed surprise.
"The movie was released in July, and the round-robin tournament started in October. In such a short period of time, a complete free dance was choreographed with music. This can only be done by the big guys." An ice fan in the audience exclaimed.
"That's amazing. It turns out that the big guys are the big guys. They keep up with the trend."
As if he had anticipated the admiration he would receive, Thompson smiled confidently at the audience as he and his partner began to skate to the powerful movie soundtrack.
Ji Tiantian stood silently at the edge of the ice and watched.
The pair of Thompson and Rita gave a completely different feeling from the Canadian pair. The American pair's male partner was obviously stronger than the female partner, and the lifting movements were very powerful. In comparison, the female partner's posture was a little too soft.
Objectively speaking, Thompson is indeed a hexagonal warrior, with good performance tension and technique. The powerful music not only did not cover up his performance, but made his extremely deep blade and extremely fast sliding more dazzling. With the fast music, the high-speed synchronous twisting steps are also remarkable.
But Ji Tiantian didn't like this American duo very much. She always felt that Thompson's skating was a bit chauvinistic.
His female companion Rita followed him closely, with no expression or emotional change, a bit like his male companion's prop on the ice.
As expected, there is advantage only when there is comparison. Ji Tiantian feels that Tang Yi beside her is becoming more and more outstanding.
Although Tang Yi has more experience on the ice than her, he has always respected her opinions, which is one of the foundations for her to make continuous breakthroughs in the competition.
Soon, Rita Thompson finished their free dance and came to the equal section.
"The technical grade should be similar to Tiantang's." A senior ice fan in the audience said to Ni Chuan and Feifei, "The step sequence should be level 3. There was a lift that missed the difficulty and withdrew from the move, so it will be downgraded to level 3."
"Why do I feel like there were so many mistakes in this lift?" Ni Chuan asked.
"For experienced ice dancers, doing a single level 4 lift is not a problem. But in the free dance, including the choreographed lifts, there are a total of five lifts. As the number increases, the frequency of mistakes naturally increases."
"That's right." Ni Chuan touched his chin, "I wonder how many program content points the world's third place can get this time."
"I don't like their performance very much. It looks like a solo performance by the male lead." Feifei made a dissatisfied sound, "It's better to go with Tiantang and Harmony."
After a while, the free dance scores of the American group appeared on the display screen.
The technical score was 48.62, the program content score was 53.62, and the free dance score was 102.24.
Including the short dance score of 70.02, the total score was 172.26, surpassing Ji Tang and temporarily ranking first.
"This... this technical score is about the same as ours, but is the P score serious?" Ni Chuan looked at the display screen with a surprised expression.
"The situation is now very clear. Tiantang can beat the world's fifth, but they can't shake the world's third Shen Ge for the time being." The veteran ice fan smiled, "This situation is similar to what I expected. It's okay, after all, there is a long way to go."
The free dance competition finally ended, and the contestants' scores were displayed on the display in descending order.
NHK Japan Grand Prix results:
1st place: Rita Thompson of the United States 172.26
2nd place: China's Ji Tiantian Tang Yi 167.44
3rd place: Judy Jayne of Canada 166.23
Fourth place Japan's Suzuki Yumi Kotani Ichiro 145.87
"Fifth in one race, second in another, it looks like there's no way I can make it to the finals." Feifei looked at the final ranking, feeling a little disappointed, but she quickly cheered up, "But Tiantang should be able to get a good bonus this time!"
Ji Tiantian, who was standing on the edge of the ice, had just been notified that she would receive a bonus of $13,000 for second place in the station.
"13,000 US dollars, about 80,000 RMB... 20,000 in hand... It's a lot. I have never received so much prize money! The adult competition is just different!" After Ji Tiantian calculated, she made a surprised sound.
In fact, she also received a bonus of 2,000 US dollars for finishing fifth in the China Cup, which is 2,500 US dollars in total, which is not a lot of money for Ji Tiantian at the moment.
"Tang Yi, we are rich now!" Ji Tiantian shook Tang Yi's hand.
"Pay attention to the injury and don't move." Tang Yi frowned and looked at her.
Ji Tiantian snorted softly. Compared to the joy brought by being rich, the pain is nothing.
Then the award ceremony began.
Tang Yi and Ji Tiantian stood on the runner-up podium and gave polite hugs to the other winners.
The chair referee presented awards to the winning contestants and placed the shining silver medals on the chests of Ji Tiantian and Tang Yi.
Ji Tiantian lowered her head, holding the medal, and couldn't help but smile.
This was their first medal in the adult category.
On the road to success, they left another clear footprint.
Ji Tiantian raised her head and looked towards the place where the national flag was about to be raised.
She could feel that the champion American team and the third place Canadian team around her were looking at her from time to time.
The way they looked at her and Tang Yi was completely different from before.
They seemed to be looking at two monsters from Asia. They felt confused, puzzled, and a little bit afraid.
After the award ceremony, Ji Tiantian, holding Melody and Sweet Goose given by ice fans, and wearing medals, happily went to the interview area with Tang Yi and the referee.
Seeing Ji Tang appear, reporters from various countries immediately made a noisy noise and rushed towards them one after another. Jiang Lin and Xu Chi were caught off guard and were pushed away.
"Ji, Tang, I noticed that many spectators here are very excited about your performance today. Your results are much better than those in the China Cup. May I ask, what do you think of today's results?" a Japanese reporter asked politely.
Tang Yi lowered his eyes and looked at Ji Tiantian, motioning for her to speak.
"We feel that we played at our best today." Ji Tiantian looked at the camera lens and smiled, "We all hope to maintain our current results, and then continue to make progress step by step."
Another reporter rushed to ask: "What is your ideal ranking for the Winter Olympics?"
"Like other countries, our country will decide who will compete in the Winter Olympics after internal selection." Ji Tiantian still smiled, "We don't know whether we are qualified to go to the Winter Olympics yet. But we will do our best and hope that all the national team players will achieve good results."
"So the China Cup was just an accident, right?"
"Will accidents like the China Cup never happen again?"
"Do you have the confidence that there won't be any more mistakes?"
"How do you ensure that you can always maintain the level of the NHK Cup? Do you have any ideas or insights?"
Some reporters, fearing that the athletes might have too good a mentality, asked questions one after another.
However, the Ji Tiantian they were facing at this time was no longer the rookie player who first stood on the world stage.
She remained strong despite the blows of public opinion, accidents and injuries, and found her place in the fierce competition in the adult group.
"After falling down at the China Cup, I thought a lot. We can't control accidents, but my partner and I have enough experience in dealing with them." Ji Tiantian turned to look at Tang Yi and smiled at him, "We won't fall into the same pit twice. I believe that in the future we will continue to improve and make up for the regrets of the China Cup."
"We also ask the fans who were disappointed with our performance to wait for us a little longer." Ji Tiantian turned around and faced the camera and microphone again, with a twinkling light in her bright eyes. "Please give me and Tang a little more time. We will definitely present the most perfect performance to everyone."
The seeds have grown into big trees, the young eagle's wings have grown full, and Ji Tiantian is looking at the camera with a sweet smile.
The world of ice and snow is their battlefield and their territory. They will create miracles here one by one.
Faced with Ji Tiantian's smile, many reporters who were embarrassed turned off their microphones.
"During those low days in the past, has your dance partner always been with you?" a reporter asked Ji Tiantian.
"Well, Tang is a very good dance partner. He told me to always trust him." Ji Tiantian said truthfully, "We can overcome all difficulties together."
"Ahh, so sweet!" a reporter exclaimed, "You guys are really great!"
"Excuse me, are you really just dancing partners?" a reporter asked unwillingly, "You are 16 and 18 now, you are in your prime years, and it's a good match."
"I think I'm still young." Ji Tiantian smiled, "and we are all concentrating on the game now and have no time to think about anything else." Now, Ji Tiantian has sufficient experience in dealing with similar problems.
"Really?" The reporter still refused to give up.
"This season is the first season after Ji Sheng and I teamed up." Just when Ji Tiantian felt a little embarrassed, Tang Yi stepped forward and said, "We are all focused on the game, and I hope everyone can do the same."
"Let's go eat oden." Tang Yi whispered to Ji Tiantian. Then, without waiting for the reporter's response, Tang Yi grabbed Ji Tiantian and wanted to leave the interview area quickly.
But Tang Yi suddenly remembered that Ji Tiantian had a leg injury. After a one-second pause, he grabbed Ji Tiantian's legs, walked forward quickly in a princess hug posture, broke through the encirclement, and left all the reporters behind.
"Ahhh, such a good boyfriend..."
"Woo woo woo, they must be having a show!"
"They're real! They're real!"
Ji Tiantian hugged Tang Yi's neck in a daze, listening to the words coming from behind, and couldn't help showing a somewhat conflicted, yet slightly happy smile.
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