- Source: Masaya Morita
Masaya Morita (森田 真沙也, Morita Masaya, born November 16, 2003) is a Japanese ice dancer who currently competes with Utana Yoshida. Together, they are the 2023–24 Japanese national bronze medalists.
With his former partner, Nao Kida, he is a two-time Japan junior national champion (2021–22, 2022–23) and the 2022 JGP Czech Republic bronze medalist. They also competed at two World Junior Championships (2022, 2023).
Personal life
Morita was born on November 16, 2003. In 2021, after graduating from Kyoto Ryōyō High School, he would enroll at Doshisha University's Faculty of Commerce.
He admires Japanese singles skater Kazuki Tomono and Canadian ice dance team Gilles/Poirier.
Career
= Early career
=Morita began figure skating in 2013. He originally competed as a singles skater and trained at the Kyoto Daigo Figure Skating Club, where he was coached by Hikako Watanabe. At the age of thirteen, Morita would make the decision to switch to the ice dance discipline due to his struggles with mastering jumps. Prior to the 2017–18 figure skating season, Morita would team up with Nagomi Okada. Together, they won silver on the novice level at the 2017–18 and the 2018–19 Japan Championships. The team parted ways in 2019 and Morita briefly returned to singles skating for the 2019–20 figure skating season.
= Partnership with Kida
=2020–2021 season
Prior to the season, Morita moved his training base to Kyoto's newly established Kinoshita Academy. There, former Japanese ice dancer Cathy Reed became his new coach. Subsequently, Morita teamed up with former singles skater Nao Kida.
Kida/Morita debuted as a team at the 2020–21 Japan Novice Championships, where they won the gold medal.
2021–2022 season
Kida/Morita began the season in November by competing 2021–22 Japan Junior Championships, winning the gold medal. They would go on to make their international debut at the 2022 Bavarian Open, where they placed ninth on the junior level.
Selected to compete at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, the team finished in twelfth place.
2022–2023 season
Kida/Morita started the season by competing on the 2022–23 ISU Junior Grand Prix. They won the bronze medal at 2022 JGP Czech Republic, becoming the first ice dance team from Japan to win a Junior Grand Prix medal. Subsequently, the team finished eighth at 2022 JGP Poland.
In November, Kida/Morita won the 2022–23 Japan Junior Championships for a second consecutive time. They would then finish the season by placing sixteenth at the 2023 World Junior Championships in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The pair parted ways following the season.
= Partnership with Yoshida
=2023–2024 season
In April 2023, Morita sent a message to the then-partnerless Utana Yoshida on Instagram, asking if she would be interested in having a tryout with him. Yoshida agreed to this and the two would met up at the Okayama International Skating Rink in Okayama, where their tryout was monitored by Morita's coach, Cathy Reed, and Yoshida's coach, Rie Arikawa. This tryout would prove successful and end with Yoshida/Morita agreeing to pair up on that same day. Yoshida moved to Uji, Kyoto to train with Morita at the Kinoshita Skate Academy under both of their coaches, Reed and Arikawa.
Yoshida/Morita made their international competitive debut on the Challenger circuit at the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, where they finished in fifth place. They next competed at the 2023–24 Japan Championships, which proved to be a tight contest between them and two other senior teams. They finished third in the rhythm dance after Morita fell in their twizzle sequence, coming behind Yoshida's former partner Nishiyama and his new partner Azusa Tanaka and the four-time national champions Komatsubara/Koleto. Yoshida/Morita then won the free dance, but they remained in third place overall for the bronze medal. Yoshida said that they were "happy to have skated at Nationals," but admitted they had come just short of their goal of hitting 110 points in the free dance.
With the close result at the national championships, the Japan Skating Federation opted to postpone assigning Japan's lone berth at the 2024 World Championships pending the results of all three teams at the 2024 Four Continents Championships. After traveling to Shanghai to compete, Yoshida/Morita finished tenth overall but more than sixteen points behind national champions Komatsubara/Koleto.
2024–25 season
Yoshita/Morita started the season by competing at the 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, where they finished in fifth place. Going on to make their Grand Prix series debut, the duo finished ninth at the 2024 NHK Trophy.
Programs
= Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
== Ice dance with Nao Kida
=Competitive results
= Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
=GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series
= Ice dance with Nao Kida
=JGP: Junior Grand Prix
Detailed results
= Ice dance with Utana Yoshida
== Ice dance with Nao Kida
=References
External links
Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita at the International Skating Union
YOSHIDA Utana / MORITA Masaya at the Japan Skating Federation
Utana Yoshida / Masaya Morita at SkatingScores.com
Nao Kida / Shingo Nishiyama at the International Skating Union
Nao Kida / Masaya Morita at SkatingScores.com
Masaya Morita on Instagram
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- Masaya Morita
- Utana Yoshida
- Masaya Matsukaze
- 2024 NHK Trophy
- Cathy Reed
- 2024–25 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating
- 2023–24 Japan Figure Skating Championships
- 2024 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
- 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
- 2024 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
