Background
Wakaba Higuchi was born January 2, 2001 in Tokyo, Japan.
樋口新葉
Wakaba Higuchi was born January 2, 2001 in Tokyo, Japan.
She is a two-time World Junior bronze medalist (2015, 2016), the 2014-2015 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and a two-time Japan senior national medalist (bronze in 2015, silver in 2016). Early career
Higuchi began skating at age three. She appeared internationally on the novice level for three seasons beginning in 2011-2012.
At thirteen, Higuchi was invited as a guest skater to skate in the gala at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan.
2014-2015 season
In the 2014-2015 season, Higuchi became age-eligible for international junior competitions. Having opened her season at the Asian Trophy, she made her Junior Grand Prix (JGP) debut in Ostrava, Czechoslovakian Republic, taking silver.
With a gold medal at her second JGP event in Dresden, Germany, she qualified for the 2014-2015 JGP Final. Ranked fifth in the short program and third in the free skate, she finished third overall, behind Evgenia Medvedeva and Serafima Sakhanovich.
She then took the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the Japan Championships.
2015-2016 season
At the beginning of the 2015-2016 season, Higuchi suffered from a back injury. Competing in the JGP series, she finished 5th in Linz, Austria before winning silver, behind teammate Marin Honda, in Zagreb, Croatia. In March, she competed at the World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.
(Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at International Skating Union Championships – Worlds, Four Continents, and Junior Worlds At team events, medals awarded for team results only).