Ladies Short - Start Order

[silverlake22]

That would be very unprofessional.

23

[janetfan]

Here is Mirai's SP:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcKKB29Bjpo

Was this the last time we will see her charming "Pirates" program?
I will miss it - but expect for the team of Mirai, Frank and Lori to come up with great new ideas for next season.

[Ryan O]

23

What does 23 mean?

[silverlake22]

What does 23 mean?

She won the olympics by 23 points

[Poodlepal]

OMG! I was at work, so I didn't see it, but I just checked the scores. Mirai, you go girl!
If Mirai skates clean in the long program, but she is thrown off the podium for "underrotations" that you can only see on super slo-mo, I will never watch this sport again. I mean it.

I don't care if she goes to bronze because YuNa makes a miraculous comeback, or because Mao lands a couple of axels and gets more points. That's what I expect to happen, anyway.

If she makes mistakes and falls off the podium, oh well, too bad she didn't skate well.

But if she is jobbed by someone who falls but has "deep edges" or something, I have had it with this sport.

Of course, I'll probably be over it by the Grand Prix of 2010. (;

[Ryan O]

She won the olympics by 23 points

Oh, okay.

I was just responding to someone above that said maybe Yuna would withdraw after the short program result. I was pointing out that it would be unprofessional to withdraw from an event just because of a low placement. As it turns out she is a professional and will be skating in the long!

[miki88]

If Mirai manages to win, that will be an upset comparable to the one at 2005 GPF where Mao beats Irina. Sign of an new era approaching?

[lavender]

I hope Mao takes this one although Mirai's a fav. I think Mao needs this more and I would like to see her smile again. Hopefully Mirai can grab a spot on the podium with Yu na.

Too bad Miki is too far down.

[yunasashafan]

That's very interesting. What's the standard procedure? I always thought DGed triples in combination in the SP were still counted. My hunch is that ISU has no official rules, perhaps some wishy-washy ones open to interpretation. Why give so much power to the technical specialist? Why not put it down on stone? Weird.

Prolly the tech panel had a bad day or something. I remember Tat protesting that very strongly b/c she said Mao shouldn't be penalized like that. That's where she did so badly that she lost any chance at making GPF Tokyo.

I hope Speedy gathers all the judges, tech controllers and the respective panels for the various disciplines and work out a common set of standards. Moves legal in one competition and potentially illegal in the next, skaters suddenly getting music deductions ... it's getting too much.

But then again, it's Speedy. Not going to happen.

Mao actually landed a double axel that was downgraded to a single with a double toe. Her second double axel then did not count. I am sure she intended a triple but it looked like a bad double. See for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8KbOXVA7RQ

The protocals are here: http://www.isuresults.com/results/gp..._SP_Scores.pdf

[miki88]

I hope Mao takes this one although Mirai's a fav. I think Mao needs this more and I would like to see her smile again. Hopefully Mirai can grab a spot on the podium with Yu na.

Too bad Miki is too far down.

I am also rooting for Mao; she deserves it after a hard season. But I would also be happy if Mirai manages to pull it off because she is on a roll this season. I am hoping everyone does well tomorrow!

[silverlake22]

If Mirai manages to win, that will be an upset comparable to the one at 2005 GPF where Mao beats Irina. Sign of an new era approaching?

Haha that would be cool. Speaking of the youngsters, anyone else a fan of the Dutch girl Manouk Gisman? I'm excited she made the LP! I just watched her SP and I found her lovely. She's no Mirai but she's only 16 and has some nice jumps, and is really pretty ! I think she could be competitive on the European stage in a few years. Anyone else agree?

[wonderlen3000]

I think Mao could win this and it will be an excellent confident booster for her! But then if she did retain her title, she would continue to rely too much on her 3A and 3A, which has been double edge sword for her.

Marai should medal, but probably not gold because it will be too much for her too soon. The media will hype her, not that she doesn't deserve it, and pressure will get to her as defending champion. If she won bronze or silver, at least she has goals to improve and stay in the game longer. I don't want a repeat of Meissner, when young skater come out and then just as quickly fade away.

Yuna settling for silver behind Mao will be nothing new and well we could always use 'Kim vs. Asada + Marai' saga for the next four years. Which I am hoping Yuna will stay till sochi. I mean who is going to entertain us if all the bots are gone?? lol

[R.D.]

I really don't see Yuna being any lower than 3rd unless she has a meltdown, which I don't see happening.

I definitely wouldn't rule it out. However, it's probably unlikely.

ETA: I definitely agree about Nagasu- a lot of me really wants her to win but then again, it might put too much pressure on her moving forward- particularly since there doesn't seem to be another American even in medal contention.

Still, ANY podium finish from Nagasu would end a 3-year drought for US ladies at worlds.

[wonderlen3000]

I hope Mao takes this one although Mirai's a fav. I think Mao needs this more and I would like to see her smile again. Hopefully Mirai can grab a spot on the podium with Yu na.

Too bad Miki is too far down.

My though exactly. I hope Miki can make it to top 6 and retain 3 spots for Japan.

[miki88]

I think Mao could win this and it will be an excellent confident booster for her! But then if she did retain her title, she would continue to rely too much on her 3A and 3A, which has been double edge sword for her.

Marai should medal, but probably not gold because it will be too much for her too soon. The media will hype her, not that she doesn't deserve it, and pressure will get to her as defending champion. If she won bronze or silver, at least she has goals to improve and stay in the game longer. I don't want a repeat of Meissner, when young skater come out and then just as quickly fade away.

Yuna settling for silver behind Mao will be nothing new and well we could always use 'Kim vs. Asada + Marai' saga for the next four years. Which I am hoping Yuna will stay till sochi. I mean who is going to entertain us if all the bots are gone?? lol

Yea, you're right. But I also think that Mao has realized (especially with Mirai coming on top with her 3/3 this time) that having a 3/3 is very important.