Mana Kawabe
| Mana Kawabe | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_by_Sandro_Halank%E2%80%93291.jpg) Kawabe at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | |||||||||
| Native name | 河辺 愛菜 | ||||||||
| Born | October 31, 2004 Nagoya, Japan | ||||||||
| Hometown | Takatsuki, Osaka | ||||||||
| Height | 1.54 m (5 ft 1⁄2 in) | ||||||||
| Figure skating career | |||||||||
| Country |  Japan | ||||||||
| Coach | Mie Hamada, Yamato Tamura, Haruko Okamoto, Cathy Reed | ||||||||
| Skating club | Kansai University KFSC | ||||||||
| Began skating | 2009 | ||||||||
Medal record
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Mana Kawabe (河辺 愛菜, Kawabe Mana, born October 31, 2004) is a Japanese figure skater. She is the 2019–20 Japanese junior national champion. She placed in the top eleven at the 2020 World Junior Championships.
Personal life
Mana Kawabe was born on October 31, 2004 in Nagoya, Japan. She enjoys reading.[1] Kawabe looks up to training mate Rika Kihira.[2]
Career
Early career
Kawabe began skating in 2009, after being inspired by fellow Nagoya native Mao Asada.[3][4] She was coached by Hiroshi Nagakubo, Yoriko Naruse, Miho Kawaume, and Yuko Hongo at Howa Sports Land in Nagoya until Nagakubo's retirement in 2017.[4] Kawabe then switched to her current coaches, Mie Hamada, Yamato Tamura, Haruko Okamoto, and Cathy Reed, and moved to train with them in Takatsuki.[5]
Kawabe is the 2015–16 Japanese national novice B silver medalist. On the advanced novice level internationally, she is the 2017 Coupe du Printemps and 2017 Asian Open Trophy champion.[6] Kawabe did not qualify for the 2018–19 Japan Junior Championships, and competed with an injury for much of the season.[4]
2019–2020 season
Kawabe made her junior international debut at 2019 JGP United States, placing fifth. She then improved to fourth at 2019 JGP Croatia. In October 2019, Kawabe won Kinki Regionals ahead of Moa Iwano and Riko Takino, before winning Western Sectionals in November, ahead of Nana Araki and Hanna Yoshida.[7]
_by_Sandro_Halank%E2%80%93334.jpg)
At the 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships, Kawabe led Tomoe Kawabata and Rino Matsuike in the short program by over a point.[7] She then landed her first officially ratified triple axel in the free skate and completed eight clean triple jumps in total to take the title over Kawabata and Yoshida by nearly fifteen points.[5] Kawabe told media afterwards: "This is unbelievable. I didn’t think I could win."[8] As junior national champion, she was named to represent Japan at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics and the 2020 World Junior Championships.[5] Kawabe was also invited to compete in the senior division at the 2019–20 Japan Championships, alongside the rest of the top six finishers in the junior division.
Kawabe struggled in both the short program and the free skating at 2019–20 Japan Championships to finish thirteenth overall.[2] However, she successfully landed her opening triple axel in the free skating and said her "satisfaction was about 65%."[9]
At the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in January, Kawabe set personal bests in all segments, but finished fourth overall behind You Young of South Korea and Russians Ksenia Sinitsyna and Anna Frolova. She expressed disappointment at her mistakes on her triple axel and her triple lutz.[10] Kawabe was the only member of the Japanese team not drawn for the team event.
Kawabe skated a clean short program to place eighth at the 2020 World Junior Championships, but made several mistakes in the free skating to drop to eleventh overall.[11]
Programs
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2019–2020 [3] |
|
|
Competitive highlights
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
| International: Junior[12] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 14–15 | 15–16 | 16–17 | 17–18 | 18–19 | 19–20 |
| Youth Olympics | 4th | |||||
| Junior Worlds | 11th | |||||
| JGP Croatia | 4th | |||||
| JGP United States | 5th | |||||
| International: Advanced novice[6] | ||||||
| Asian Open | 1st | |||||
| Coupe du Printemps | 1st | |||||
| National[6] | ||||||
| Japan Champ. | 13th | |||||
| Japan Junior | 21st | 1st | ||||
| Japan Novice | 19th B | 2nd B | 4th A | 5th A | ||
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew | ||||||
Detailed results
Junior level
_by_Sandro_Halank%E2%80%93288.jpg)
| 2019–20 season | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Level | SP | FS | Total |
| March 2–8, 2020 | 2020 World Junior Championships | Junior | 8 64.47 |
13 105.15 |
11 169.62 |
| January 10–15, 2020 | 2020 Winter Youth Olympics | Junior | 4 65.84 |
3 119.38 |
4 185.22 |
| December 18–22, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Championships | Senior | 14 56.52 |
10 112.76 |
13 169.28 |
| November 15–17, 2019 | 2019–20 Japan Junior Championships | Junior | 1 64.95 |
1 128.62 |
1 193.57 |
| September 25–28, 2019 | 2019 JGP Croatia | Junior | 7 53.12 |
4 110.61 |
4 163.73 |
| August 28–31, 2019 | 2019 JGP United States | Junior | 6 53.78 |
5 109.26 |
5 163.04 |
References
- ^ "河辺 愛菜 KAWABE Mana" (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation.
- ^ a b "河辺愛菜らが３回転半に挑戦、転倒もフリーに意欲" [Mana Kawabe and others try three and a half rotations and fall] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. December 19, 2019.
- ^ a b "Mana KAWABE". International Skating Union.
- ^ a b c "「ザ・ドキュメンタリー ～マナのフィギュア日記 ～１３歳の選択肢～～」" ["The Documentary – Mana's Figure Skating Diary – A 13-Year Old's Choices"] (in Japanese). Kakaku.com. March 26, 2018.
- ^ a b c "河辺愛菜が全日本ジュニアＶ 初の３アクセル成功も" [Mana Kawabe also succeeded in the first triple axel at All Japan Junior V] (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. November 17, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Mana Kawabe". Stats on Ice.
- ^ a b Gallagher, Jack (November 16, 2019). "Yuma Kagiyama, Mana Kawabe win short programs at Japan Junior Championships". The Japan Times.
- ^ Gallagher, Jack (November 17, 2019). "Yuma Kagiyama, Mana Kawabe leave rivals in dust to win at Japan Junior Championships". The Japan Times.
- ^ "全日本ジュニア女王 河辺愛菜が3回転半成功" [All-Japan Junior Queen Mana Kawabe succeeded in landing triple axel] (in Japanese). Chunichi Shimbun. December 22, 2019.
- ^ "河辺愛菜は４位「もっと練習しないと戦えない」" [Mana Kawabe is 4th: "I can't fight without more practice"] (in Japanese). Sankei Sports. January 14, 2020.
- ^ "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results – Junior Ladies". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Mana KAWABE: Competition Results". International Skating Union.