The Japanese fans in attendance today at the World Aquatics Championships - 2023 Fukuoka witnessed history as both final events were won by Japanese athletes.
First, Sato siblings Yotaro and Tomoka won the Mixed Technical Duet event.
Japanese fans didn’t have to wait long for an encore as Moe Higa and Mashiro Yasunaga claimed the top honours in the Women Technical Duet event.
Technical Mixed Duet Finals
After receiving one base mark in the preliminary round, Yotaro and Tomoka Sato understood the necessity of flawlessly executing their choreography “Tarzan” to be successful.
“In qualifying we got the base mark with the first hybrid, and I mainly made corrections there just before the final,” Tomaka Sato noted after the competition. “I'm relieved that we were able to work together and deliver this result. As the song and theme is ‘Tarzan’, we put a lot of effort into giving wild expressions and movements.”
Added Yotaro Sato: “As a result, my first goal was to finish without getting the base mark, so I'm glad we were able to achieve that goal together. Even if we don't say anything, we have the same goal, we have the same points to pay attention to, and I think the good thing about siblings is that they can act as one.”
The Sato’s, who won the silver medal at the World Aquatics Championships - Budapest, were rewarded 255.5066 points and the full 30.30 difficulty points to climb to the top of the podium and claim the 2023 World Champion title.
The Brother and sister duo were eager to thank those that have aided their success. Tomaka said, “We would like to thank our former teachers, juniors, family members, and many other people who have helped us get to the big stage here at the World Aquatics Championships. I hope they can see how we have grown. I think it turned out to be a memorable championship.”
Yotaro followed up, adding: “I think I have been able to fulfill my potential and give back to the people who have helped me up until now. We were overwhelmed by the cheers, and we felt the privilege of hosting the event in our own country.”
Spain’s Dennis Gonzalez Boneu and Emma Garcia earned silver – and made history by winning their country’s first World Championship medal in this event.
As they did in the preliminary round, the Spaniards performed their choreography swum to classic electronic music by Dark Moor named “Vivaldi’s Winter” flawlessly to receive 248.0499 points.
“The truth is that we were super nervous to do as well as we did yesterday and keep the first place, and today we fought until the end,” Gonzalez Boneu shared immediately following the duo’s performance. “Without our family and supporters, all this would not have been possible. The work and everything we have achieved - it is thanks to them.”
Added Garcia: “We are very happy, and I think we were practically flawless. We gave it our best right until the end. We enjoyed it and we are so very happy with our work. We have had unconditional support every day. That is what is behind all this, so without our family, friends and supporters this would not have been possible.”
After a difficult preliminary round, the Chinese decided to switch duet partners for the final round.
Budapest World Championships bronze medalist Wentao Cheng performed the routine “Unstoppable” with Haoyu Shi instead of Yiyao Zhang. The music and the choreography expertly allowed the Chinese pair to express their strength and speed in the water. The Chinese duo scored 247.3033 points to claim the bronze medal once again.
After the results were final, Cheng Wentao said “We are so happy. The final was very challenging because we changed partners after yesterday’s event (preliminary round). But today’s performance was perfect. Thank you so much.”
Technical Women Duet Finals
The finals of the Technical Women Duet may be the most shocking result up to now for this 2023 World Championships. The Chinese duet, after a strong, sharp, and clean performance in the preliminary round, seemed to be unbeatable.
In contrast to the Chinese, many of the duets considered to be medal contenders had been unable to execute their declared difficulties. Japanese Moe Higa, and Mashiro Yasunaga barely made it into the final round which meant they would be the first competitor. This time around the Japanese pair nailed the performance of the “Mysterious” choreography, for which they received the full 34.30 difficulty and a total of 273.9500 points. Then the waiting began to see if the next eleven competitors would be able to surpass this very solid score.
Yasunaga remarked on the team’s miraculous preliminaries-to-finals turnaround.
“We barely made it to the finals finishing 12th in the preliminary round, so we knew we wouldn't fall any further,” Yasunaga said. “We thought only of what we had to do and to do our tricks accurately.”
Added Moe Higa: “After the preliminary rounds, I changed my mindset and practised with the mindset that I would definitely win a medal.”
Both gold medal winners remarked on the positive impact of performing in front of a home crowd.
“From the moment we stepped out, they cheered us on in Japanese and said ‘Ganbare!’I thought it would be an important experience for me to be able to compete in Japan with spectators,” said Higa.
Yasunaga echoed her teammates sentiments on the passionate crowd.
“It was the first time for both of us to compete with spectators, so the cheering was different from previous competitions. It gave me power.”
Next up was the Italian duo of Lucrezia Ruggiero and Linda Cerruti who scored 263.0334 points, almost thirty points more than the preliminary round where they ranked eighth.
Ruggiero and Cerruti’s silver medal-winning routine earned Italy it’s first medal at these World Aquatics Championships.
Ruggiero, like everyone else, in shock over the developments of the top seeds in the event.
“We did not expect it - we did not even bring our suit to wear to the medal ceremony! Ruggiero said. “But we are happy for what we've done and it is a big step for us for next year and the Olympics.”
Cerruti noted that experience may have been at play with their stunning turnaround in the finals.
“It is my seventh World Championships, and I did not expect it,” Cerutti said. But now it’s a completely different sport, so you can win and you can be the last one, so today is our day.”
The Spanish duo Iris Tio Casa and Alisa Ozhogina Ozhogin earned Spain their third medal in Fukuoka for their swim on “Let's play Baseball” to the song “Proud Mary” by Ike and Tina Turner. The Spaniards received 257.8368 points and the bronze medal.
Zhogina Ozhogin expressed her surprise at the results:
“We are still in shock. It feels like a dream because we didn't expect it at all. Of course, we were going with everything we have, but to win against China and opponents that we would never have imagined was incredible. We are in shock. “
Added Tio Casas: “We have been working hard behind this duet performance and it feels great to win this medal - it's the greatest reward.
“It feels spectacular because it's amazing to win a medal at the World Championships. It's been my dream since I was little so I'm super happy.
“Thank you very much also to the team that was cheering us from the stands and to all the family members and also the people that work with us in the ‘CAR de Sant Cugat’ day’ by day that help to make this possible.”
China dominates the Technical Mixed Team Preliminaries
In the Technical Mixed Team preliminary round, most of the twenty-two National teams received one or more base marks resulting in surprises as well as disappointments in the final ranking and qualification for the final round scheduled for Tuesday, July 18th at 7:30 pm local time. Only four teams were able to execute their declared difficulty to receive their maximum difficulty score.
WOW! Moment
Team China declared and executed an impressive 40.2 for difficulty and leads the rest of the field by more than forty points. The Chinese’s performance captivated the crowd and had the WOW factor from the very start through the moment that the score was revealed on the scoreboard. Noteworthy were the initial acrobatic move and the required cadence action, executed as close to perfection as humanly possible.
Greece ranked second, Israel ranked fifth, and Singapore - who just missed qualification for the final round in thirteenth - were the other three teams who executed their declared difficulty without errors.
Italy and USA, who are in third and fourth respectively, each received one base mark. Rounding out the top ten Spain, Japan, Ukraine, and Mexico each received two base marks.
X-Factors
The new scoring system continues to provide opportunities for every competitor. The unpredictable results, ranging from positive, exciting, and improving to disappointing, heartbreaking, and lost opportunities, are making this World Aquatics Championship different than anyone before it.
Australia and Egypt executed with minimal errors and qualified for the final round by outranking teams that in the past were ahead of them.
Who to Watch in the Finals
The finals are going to be exciting with nine teams capable of making it to the podium with China. Italy, Spain, USA, and Ukraine had similar difficulties and higher than Japan, France, Greece, Mexico, and Israel.
However, Spain, Japan, Ukraine, and France received higher marks for their artistic impression.
These nine finalists are so close that the execution of the declared difficulties will be the determining factor.
SCHEDULE & RESULTS
The full results can be found on the World Aquatics Website. The schedule for the Artistic Swimming Championships (local time GMT +9) is as follows:
Monday July 17th
9:00 Women Solo Free Preliminaries
14:00 Men Solo Technical Finals
19:30 Acrobatic Finals
Tuesday July 18th
9:00 Women Duet Free Preliminaries
15:00 Men Solo Free Preliminaries
19:30 Mixed Team Technical Finals
Wednesday July 19th
16:30 Men Solo Free Finals
19:30 Women Solo Free Finals
Thursday July 20th
10:00 Mixed Team Free Preliminaries
19:30 Women Duet Free Finals
Friday July 21st
10:00 Mixed Duet Free Preliminaries
19:30 Mixed Team Free Finals
Saturday July 22nd
10:00 Mixed Duet