[ICE TIME] Wakaba Higuchi Finishes 2nd at GP de France to Qualify for GP Final

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The resurgence of Wakaba Higuchi took another big step over the weekend of November 1-3 when she finished second at the Grand Prix de France in Angers.

Higuchi, a world silver medalist in 2018, whose career has been up and down the past several seasons, won the season-opening Skate America in October and clinched a spot in the prestigious six-skater Grand Prix Final in December in Grenoble, France, with her result on Saturday, November 2.

The Tokyo native finished second in Angers behind American Amber Glenn. Glenn's winning total score was 210.44 points, while Higuchi tallied 206.08. Rion Sumiyoshi took third for the second consecutive year at 201.35.

Mai Mihara finished seventh with 174.93.

France's Adam Siao Him Fa won his home country's GP for the third year in a row in the men's event with a mark of 246.58. Siao Him Fa rallied from eighth place after the short program to take the gold. Koshiro Shimada claimed the silver on 233.84, while Andrew Torgashev of the United States got the bronze with 233.64.

Kazuki Tomono came in fifth at 231.48.

Milestone Win for Glenn

Glenn, the American champion in the 2023-24 season, landed six clean triples on the way to victory. The 25-year-old fell on a triple flip midway through her free skate to "I Will Find You The Return." She notched level fours on two of her spins in achieving the first GP win of her career.

"I still don't believe it. It is crazy but very good," Glenn stated. "Coming in today I was very nervous. It was my first time being in first place at a major event in a short program and there was a lot happening, a lot of excitement. For me, it was, 'Oh I did another program,' so it was very odd and had a lot of emotions."

Added Glenn, "I made a lot of small mistakes today that caused the fall on the flip and the hands down and that was due to both fatigue and just self-doubt." 

Higuchi Returning to GP Final After a 7-Year Absence

The 23-year-old Higuchi, who took off the 2022-23 season to relax and recover from years of competitions, skated to "Nature Boy" and "Running Up That Hill" in her free skate and landed four clean triples. She was judged one quarter rotation short on two jumps (a triple loop and a triple salchow), but earned level fours on all of her spins.

"This result means one more competition for me," noted Higuchi, who was sixth at the 2017 GP Final. "And a lot of traveling, I will have to adjust but I am looking forward to it. I tried to focus on doing my performance like usual and not think too much about the result."

Added Higuchi, "I didn't make any big mistakes in my jumps but I wanted to give everything I had in my last steps. But I felt a bit tired going into them, so I think I could have done a bit more in my last steps."

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Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.