Quote:
Originally Posted by
JasPR 
Hi, You have done a VERY nice job at correcting this fish's conformation! Really excellent!
I think the sumi is the fish's best feature. And the condition of this fish's skin is excellent.
In South Africa you will go by ZNA rules so I think this fish will do well in ginrin A. If this fish is up against real matsunosuke gin, in the normal sanke class, it will likely loose. The reason is, yours is niigata gin and real ginrin. And this tends to make your beni look that light orange, which might influence the judges eyes?
The pattern is fine but what Japanese consider 'primitive' in evolutionary style. If you study the great kohaku and sanke of Japan you will notice that the pattern, variable as they may be, tend to all be evolved patterns. What I mean by this is the plates of beni form step patterns and balance all the way down the dosal region. Sanke can get away with longer patterns like inazuma and large moyo because of the stepping stone sumi that helps break it up. But in this case, your excellent sumi is a bit clustered so you loose that effect.
All and all, your koi is excellent and again, I'm impressed that you have gotten the very most out of this fish. The competition on the day will tell whether my concerns for the beni and long pattern will be a major issue or a minor one. Best of luck. JR