Introduce a 12-year-old Chinese skater- Zijun Li

[hongligl]

Zijun Li just won the silver medal at the Chinese national games by losing only to Yan Liu. She is only 12 years old and has been training at Kwan family's rink for the past few months under Caroline Zhang's current coach.

She is very light and smooth on the ice. Her spins/spirals are excellent. She is now able to do four different triples-3flip, 3(f)lutz, 3s and 3t in competitions. I think she's very competititve at novice level even in the U.S.


SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOpk7joqJLw

Zijun Li EX LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tigJ-gtZGB4

Zijun Li's LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2O9njREr_E

Another 12-year-old Chinese boy to keep an eye on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNSrt...eature=channel

Thanks for posting the links! I love them both! Great potential.

[shine]

Wow, this is the first skater from China that I've actually be impressed with since Lu Chen, but then I tend to be impressed by younger skaters when they show that they have developed solid skating fundamentals. Her spins are surprisingly great for a chinese skater and she reminds me of Mirai Nagasu in that she has that effortless flow across the ice and very crisp movements, especially for a 12-year-old. She just rides those edges, and she actually knows how to do real twizzles!!

I do worry about her jump technique though. Like many other skaters who have good spring and height in their jumps but tend to lean forward in the air, she will risk underrotating some of her jumps (especially toe jumps). I hope her coach will help her correct that soon, because she's really promising and it'll suck to see a talented skater like this being marred by downgrades.

Thanks for posting this! Will she be on the JGP series next season? I really look forward to seeing more of her!

[LeCygne]

Maybe its from training with Caroline? They most likely learn from each other so Caroline may have helped her with the double axel.

Well Caroline herself needs a lot of help with that double axel of hers, so I don't think she would be helping someone else with it... It's probably just a coincidence, their technique..

It's not just Zijun, I sometimes wonder if a skater like Caroline Zhang could be doing a whole lot better with a coach like Orser.

Definitely, I'm almost getting tired of saying it, but I really think Caroline needs someone else at this point. It's been 2-3 years since we first saw her on the scene, and she still has the same problems and has made minimal improvement in them.

Will she be on the JGP series next season? I really look forward to seeing more of her!

Isn't there an age limit for JGP? I seem to remember it's 13, but I could be wrong. She's only 12 now, so maybe not?

[redshirt]

Isn't there an age limit for JGP? I seem to remember it's 13, but I could be wrong. She's only 12 now, so maybe not?

I don't think she can do JGP since her 12-year-old birthday was in Nov or Dec in 2008. So she is indeed very very young. Regarding her jumps, I think she has made significant stride over the past 12 months. She could barely land 2A, 3T in early 2008, and now she can land 3flip/3f(l)utz. I don't think any American novice medalist even tried jumps above 3loop this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5uv_MHguNo

There's another 10-year-old, Xuehan Wang who has some good potential. She can do 2A & 3T and has good artistry. It's just too early though as I don't usually get excited by any girl who has yet to land more than 2 to 3 different triples at age of 12, 13... Without triple jumps, artistry/spins/skating skills are pretty much meaningless.

Exhibition LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ja6DuuzGI
SP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_TJVRgIRY

She does seem to progress well though. A clip of Xuehan Wang at age of 8.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV0L9ashpp0

[Sinclare]

So talented and so young! I hope her coaches pace her progress. She is still too young to compete in the JGP. Wow, she does not have that mule kick either. Very impressive!

[shine]

I don't think she can do JGP since her 12-year-old birthday was in Nov or Dec in 2008. So she is indeed very very young. Regarding her jumps, I think she has made significant stride over the past 12 months. She could barely land 2A, 3T in early 2008, and now she can land 3flip/3f(l)utz. I don't think any American novice medalist even tried jumps above 3loop this year.

If that's the case, then she indeed has made strides! I remember watching a 13-year-old Mao Asada underrotating many of her triple jumps and triple-triple combination. Yet they were much bigger and more beautiful by the time she won Jr. Worlds (15). Passing puberty also did not destroyed her but made her jumps even more powerful. So there's definitely hope if she gets the right guidance.

[shine]

She has beautiful back flexibility and great height and ease on her jumps, but she is still a very little girl. It is too soon to predict what her future will be. She still skates very much like a little girl....but she is only 12. I noticed that she shares the flutz and the hesitation before the double axel with Zhang. I wonder if that is because of their coach...or just coincidence.

From the videos, I don't think she does her 2axel the way Caroline does it. She does telegraph it a bit, but she's far from coming to a stand-still, neither does she take off on her toe-pick the way Zhang does. Besides, she actually jumps up and gets pretty good air and ice coverage on it. I think she has MUCH better fundamentals than Zhang.
I know I probably shouldn't get too excited about a skater this young but I just can't get over her skating skills and how well she moves on the ice...IMO it's truly amazing for a skater her age. I would love for her to receive the correct guidance to help her hone her skills. And I think she is the kind of young skater that even the top name coaches would love to have as a pupil.