Is Mao back in the mix? | Golden Skate

Is Mao back in the mix?

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Peaking at the right time.

Well, Yu-na Kim has shown that she has vulnerabilities after all. (Although, to keep things in perspective, no one has beaten her yet.)

Joannie Rochette, Carolina Kostner, Aliona Leonova, the Finns, the Americans -- no one has taken the bull by the horns so far.

Mao Asada was disappointed with her performances in the early Grand Prix events. But that is ancient history now. I, for one, can't wait for Japanese Nationals!
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
I, for one was shocked at how none of the commentators mentioned missing Mao during the GPF this weekend, even when they discussed Yu-na defeat last year. It was like they were trying to make to public forget about her. I still see no way that Mao can win the olympics, or anyone other than yu-na...she just proved that she will win, but just might not break a world record to skate either program clean in doing so.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
I suspect after watching the GPF that Mao was given a major pyschological lift.

She had to see how poor some of the skating was and also had to see there was not a performance at the GPF she is not capable of beating.

Sometimes a boost in spirit can go a long way. Earlier I thought like many that Yuna would be untouchable in Vancouver. It may still turn out that way but I think Mao missing the silly competition this weekend was the best thing for her.

I guess we will see at Japanese Natls if she has gotten her mojo back. If she has - lookout Vancouver!
 

CARA

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 16, 2009
Country
United-States
I,for one, will be in Japan, soon. Can't wait to see the Nationals. We'll know more about how Mao is faring then. But I agree that Mao might have gotten psychological boost over watching the GPF. It's not a small thing especially in the Olympic year.
 

prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
meowmix

I'd ask that question again AFTER Japan Nats.

I agree.

I did miss Mao, though. This will come off as mean :frown: but the GPF ladies should have had 6 skating contenders, but it rather felt like only 3. Mao definitely should have been in on that...
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I hope Mao will do well at the Olympics. I don't think people have forgotten about her, it's just at this point Yuna is a lot better. Mao does not do 3-3s and her cominations often look UR, and her 3axel is hit or miss. Anyhow, I hope she does well this year because next year I expect Kanako Murakawi :love: to take over as the best Japanese skater, she's 15 and just won the junior GPF. She's amazing :biggrin: and I think she could beat Mao, Miki, Akiko, the best of the Japanese ladies. Mao should try to reclaim her glory while she still can...
 

prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
I hope Mao will do well at the Olympics. I don't think people have forgotten about her, it's just at this point Yuna is a lot better. Mao does not do 3-3s and her cominations often look UR, and her 3axel is hit or miss. Anyhow, I hope she does well this year because next year I expect Kanako Murakawi :love: to take over as the best Japanese skater, she's 15 and just won the junior GPF. She's amazing :biggrin: and I think she could beat Mao, Miki, Akiko, the best of the Japanese ladies. Mao should try to reclaim her glory while she still can...
I am not sure if Miki or Akiko will continue skating competitively after this year, but I am admittedly a little skeptical about Kanako Murakami being better than Mao. At 15, Mao won the (Senior) GPF...
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
I wonder what Mao will be skating like at Natls. Will her two programs be the same :eek:

Will she still try the three 3A's?

I miss Mao but don't miss what I saw earlier this season from her.

Such a great and talented skater should be competitive - this of all seasons - and not lost somewhere between Russian Divadom and a splattering of missed 3A's.
 

Marrymeyunakim

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
IMO, Mao was never out of the picture but if she continues to skate the way she has done this season, it may mean very well mean the end of her Olympic chances. Having no 3-3, flutzes and having hit very few of her triple axels this season have done little to bolster her confidence this season. That and choreography/music that doesn't suit the light nature of her beautiful skating... I feel sad for Mao. As if one triple axel wasn't risky enough... three!?!?!
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I am not sure if Miki or Akiko will continue skating competitively after this year, but I am admittedly a little skeptical about Kanako Murakami being better than Mao. At 15, Mao won the (Senior) GPF...

Mao was probably better than Kanako at 15, but Kanako is probably better than Mao is now, or how Mao has been skating recently. Mao at 15 was better than Yuna and beat all three of the 2006 ladies OM at one point that season. She was also quite a bit better than Yuna...things change. Kanako is GREAT for sure though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAC5fNFmlE . Compare that to Yuna at 15 and she might even be better :)
 

prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Mao was probably better than Kanako at 15, but Kanako is probably better than Mao is now, or how Mao has been skating recently. Mao at 15 was better than Yuna and beat all three of the 2006 ladies OM at one point that season. She was also quite a bit better than Yuna...things change. Kanako is GREAT for sure though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFAC5fNFmlE . Compare that to Yuna at 15 and she might even be better :)
Wow, you weren't kidding. Kanako has everything--including speed. :eek:

I'm not sure why you bring YuNa up, though. YuNa didn't peak when she was 15 years old. She steadily continued to improve.

Anyway, that's kind of depressing. I don't know why. Considering how truly amazing Mao was back then, one wonders why she didn't continue to get better and better. Without getting too deeply into it, I do feel like she may have been mismanaged, and you're right, the prospect of Kanako competing against her does sort of worry me a bit. Will Mao be passed on as Japan's darling to make way for Kanako? Just the thought of that kinda breaks my heart. I think I'd still cheer for Mao, though, and I hope to God (if only I were a theist) Mao comes back to her true form. Kanako is insanely good, but she's not quite as breathtaking as Mao was, and can be, when she shines.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I don't see any reason to feel sorry for Mao Asada just because there's a new kid on the block. That's the way it is. There's always competiton coming up behind you. To be Japan's darling for four years -- well, that's four years more than most people get.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Wow, you weren't kidding. Kanako has everything--including speed. :eek:

I'm not sure why you bring YuNa up, though. YuNa didn't peak when she was 15 years old. She steadily continued to improve.

Anyway, that's kind of depressing. I don't know why. Considering how truly amazing Mao was back then, one wonders why she didn't continue to get better and better. Without getting too deeply into it, I do feel like she may have been mismanaged, and you're right, the prospect of Kanako competing against her does sort of worry me a bit. Will Mao be passed on as Japan's darling to make way for Kanako? Just the thought of that kinda breaks my heart. I think I'd still cheer for Mao, though, and I hope to God (if only I were a theist) Mao comes back to her true form. Kanako is insanely good, but she's not quite as breathtaking as Mao was, and can be, when she shines.

I'm confused about Mao's decreased success as well. For Meissner, I think it was more of an issue with her body, she went from being really short and thin to taller and more muscular with bigger hips. Mao isn't much taller or heavier than she was at 15 and certainly does not have big hips, so I wouldn't blame her development on her current troubles. So what did cause them then?

I kind of feel like Mao didn't really get much worse, but rather that other people got better. Like you said, Yuna did not peak at 15. She was great at 15, but still a little frail and awkward, every year she got better as she matured. Miki had a great comeback after her bad performance at the 2006 Olympics, Joannie has ramped up her skating, and Rachael Flatt being 2 years younger than Mao did not become a factor until a few years later. Because Mao was bouncing around from coach to coach for awhile, I feel like she lost momentum. Also, she has and continues to focus on her 3axel when she really should be focusing on fixing her flutz and 3-3s. Because she hasn't focused on these things, she's fallen behind the other top ladies whenever she doesn't hit her 3axel

And I told you Kanako was good :love: . There are two little Russian girls who are also amazing and an American Christina Gao who trains with Brian Orser and is like a mini-yuna. The future looks bright
 

prettykeys

Medalist
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
I don't see any reason to feel sorry for Mao Asada just because there's a new kid on the block. That's the way it is. There's always competiton coming up behind you. To be Japan's darling for four years -- well, that's four years more than most people get.
I wouldn't disrespect Asada to go as far as pitying her...

I guess the way I feel is that there is a good, hopeful opportunity for Asada to rebound and catch up by the Olympics for a medal. But in case that doesn't happen, I suppose I took it for granted that the following years would surely be hers and now I'm finding out that the stage is becoming crowded with fresh new talent. To add to that, there is a sense of loss from my perspective. I realize it's coloured a bit because my favourite was her most sensationalized rival, but especially in the past year or so it's been a rollercoaster with a step in the wrong direction (excluding her marvelous exhibition pieces.)

To be honest, Kanako reminds me of a mini-YuNa (I have not seen Christina Gao yet) (or perhaps a little better than a 15-year old YuNa was) but I'm not exactly jumping off the couch in excitement... :cool:

ETA: for silverlake22, I have seen those junior Russian girls, as well... :eek:
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
To be honest, Kanako reminds me of a mini-YuNa (I have not seen Christina Gao yet) (or perhaps a little better than a 15-year old YuNa was) but I'm not exactly jumping off the couch in excitement... :cool:

ETA: for silverlake22, I have seen those junior Russian girls, as well... :eek:

Hehe. The little Russian girls are so good, and there are so many of them that are so good :)

Here is Christina Gao from her GP event in Istabul, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSHroGMQhAg , the video of her LP from the JGPF is not yet on youtube (it was really good). She is built very much like Yuna was at her age and they have similar jump technique (good jump technique :agree: ) . She is competing at senior nationals this year I believe, how funny would it be if we had a repeat of what Mirai did 2 years ago and she wins :yes:
 

doug_log

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 5, 2004
Mao is definitely in this. I agree with R.D. that we should wait till after Japanese nationals, though. But just imagine the following scenario:

If Yuna skates a subpar SP, and Mao skates AFTER her, then Mao could play it safe with a 3f-2L and 3L in the SP and take the lead. I think she'd beat anyone else (3/3 or not) unless Kostner hits her 3f-3t, which, unfortunately, doesn't seem likely. Let's face it, the judges favorites are Yuna, Mao, Carolina, Miki, and Joannie (and maybe Laura). A clean, conservative Mao should receive enough PCS and +GOEs on her non-jump elements to beat everyone but a clean Yuna, even without a 3A or a 3-3.

That would leave 4 long minutes to determine the podium. If Yuna skates like she did in 2 of her 3 LPs this year, then Mao (clean or close to clean) should have no problem winning. (Of course, I'm assuming that the rest of the field won't play into the gold medal race. I think the judges would prefer a clean Mao to any performance except a clean skate by Yuna.)
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Mao is definitely in this. I agree with R.D. that we should wait till after Japanese nationals, though. But just imagine the following scenario:

If Yuna skates a subpar SP, and Mao skates AFTER her, then Mao could play it safe with a 3f-2L and 3L in the SP and take the lead. I think she'd beat anyone else (3/3 or not) unless Kostner hits her 3f-3t, which, unfortunately, doesn't seem likely. Let's face it, the judges favorites are Yuna, Mao, Carolina, Miki, and Joannie (and maybe Laura). A clean, conservative Mao should receive enough PCS and +GOEs on her non-jump elements to beat everyone but a clean Yuna, even without a 3A or a 3-3.

That would leave 4 long minutes to determine the podium. If Yuna skates like she did in 2 of her 3 LPs this year, then Mao (clean or close to clean) should have no problem winning. (Of course, I'm assuming that the rest of the field won't play into the gold medal race. I think the judges would prefer a clean Mao to any performance except a clean skate by Yuna.)

Keep in mind that Mao had a pretty good performance at TEB, hitting both her 3axels (one was DG) in the long. Her only mistakes was a poped 3axel in the short and 1 fall after a rotated 2axel in the long. Her score was 173.99. If Mao had completed the 3axel and it was clean in the short that would add 8.2 points. 8.2 + 1 (for the fall) + 173.99 = 183.19 . If her 2nd 3axel in the long had not been DG you would add 4.7 (difference in point value between 3a and 2a) and that still only gets her to 187.89. THAT'S WITH 3 FULLY ROTATED 3AXELS. Yuna got 188.86 after her conservative showing at the GPF where her 3-3 was DG in the short, she popped her flip, did a 3-2 in the long, and got her 3t on her 2a+3t DG in the long. That's a lot of mistakes and her score is still higher.

So basically, Yuna wins. Mao is bound to pop, UR, or fall one at least one of her 3 3axel attempts. If she does, even if Yuna is subpar, Yuna will probably win. Plus then there's Mao's flutz and potential UR calls on her 2loops at the end of combinations. With the technical panel so strict recently, Mao would be smarter to abandon some of her 3a attempts, but the thing is, she needs them to have a shot at winning. Even with them, she won't get a 210 like yuna does
 
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