kurako
Regular Member
Do you know the reason Akane withdrawn?
No, unfortunately not. I don't think it is an injury, though.
Neither do I believe that there is any particular understanding between Okuhara and Yamaguchi with respect to 'sharing tournaments'. This is the Olympic race; they (and their corporate team/sponsor) will not want to take any chances, not with Ohori also pushing to move up the rankings.
I am a little concerned about Saishunkan on the whole. Shida/Matsuyama haven't participated in the last couple of tournaments that they were entered for, either.
Wondering why Hoki/Kobayashi is selected not Inoue/Kaneko?
I was surprised with the choice, too. The only thing that comes to mind is that the third MD pair is not going to be utilised anyway, and that Hoki/Kobayashi comprise a slightly better XD back-up (Hoki/Nagahara = Rank 25).