Japanese Nationals Dec. 24 to 26 | Page 22 | Golden Skate

Japanese Nationals Dec. 24 to 26

wonderlen3000

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
The layout is good if she does the second 3F not in combo, isn't it? Does Mao have problems with the loop (like Yu Na does)? If not, why doesn't she substitue the loop for the lutz, since she gets edge calls on the lutz?

I dont think so. If Mao is planning to include the 3A, she can afford the second 3Loop-2A sequence and 1/2 half way mark she can get huge score. I think its better if her stick to realistics layout like 3A, 3F+2Lo+Lo, 3Lo, 3F+2Lo, 3Lo-2A, 3S, 3T. In this way she can get 7 triples without any edge call, and if her 3A got <, the base value will be same as 3Lz so not much point will be lost. chances are Her 3+3 will be < more than her 3A. She can also boost up her TES score by doing 2A+3T instead of solo 3T and allow her to do extra 2A. Anyone know she compete it this jump combo recently?? the last time i saw was back in 2007 FS.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I dont think so. If Mao is planning to include the 3A, she can afford the second 3Loop-2A sequence and 1/2 half way mark she can get huge score. I think its better if her stick to realistics layout like 3A, 3F+2Lo+Lo, 3Lo, 3F+2Lo, 3Lo-2A, 3S, 3T. In this way she can get 7 triples without any edge call, and if her 3A got <, the base value will be same as 3Lz so not much point will be lost. chances are Her 3+3 will be < more than her 3A. She can also boost up her TES score by doing 2A+3T instead of solo 3T and allow her to do extra 2A. Anyone know she compete it this jump combo recently?? the last time i saw was back in 2007 FS.

She did 2A-3T at Japan Open earlier but the 3T was downgraded. I think Mao should try the 3F-3T. Loop combos are so hard to get ratified these days.
 

burntBREAD

Medalist
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
She did 2A-3T at Japan Open earlier but the 3T was downgraded. I think Mao should try the 3F-3T. Loop combos are so hard to get ratified these days.

ITA. I think that she didn't do too many -3T combos because she had a bit of a toe axel, but that seems to have been cleared up.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
I finally have the chance to post my thoughts on Mao's FS (& SP), which I watched earlier today. :)

Her SP was very nice, though both the 3A & 3R were underrotated by 1/3, but she skated clean ~ YES! :thumbsup:

And then the FS, extremely lovely & elegant as always, but once again she underrotated the 3A by 1/3, yet she skated another clean program (her first two all season long). For that she deserves another thumbs up from me. :thumbsup: Also, her other jumps were fully rotated by 1/4 per the rules, therefore deserving of full credit. :)^)

That said, it seems to me that she is reverting back to her old technique in order to complete the jumps in order to make the World Team, which makes sense but still it leaves me a tad bit unsettled. It's like she's back where she started from ~ she still underrotates the 3A & 3R (when in combination) ~ and flutzes her 3L. But then I think "big deal", I love the old Mao, that's what made me her fan in the first place. :) I'll take a slightly underrotated 3A & 3R (in combo.) & 3Flutz anyday over anything I see on ice nowadays, and that's the truth. But for her sake, I truly hope she does what makes her happy, and if it's correcting her 3flutz and fully rotating her 3A & 3R (in combo.), then I hope she goes for it, even if it costs her a medal here & there.

And I think if she's serious about correcting her technique, then I maintain (as I have all season long) she will be a non-factor when it comes to medalling at Worlds. BUT, if she reverts back to old technique, et al, like she has at Japanese Nationals, then of course she's in the hunt for a medal at Worlds.

As a big fan of hers, I confess I personally would like to see her skate two clean programs at Worlds. It's exciting & joyful & exhilarating when she skates clean with 3axels & 3/3s galore, it's like nothing I've ever felt since the days of Tonya & Midori! But that's me being selfish. And when I stop & think about it I realize the little things like underrotations on a few jumps & a flutz will most likely cost her in the long run, as it did at the most recent Olympics. But if she fixes it now imho she'll be unbeatable and won't have to rely on others making mistakes in order to win. She will be able to go head-to-head with anybody in the world on her own merit, and that's includes Yuna Kim, up & comers, et al.

p.s. before I forget, Congrats to Miki as well!!!!!!!!!!!!! :party:
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I finally have the chance to post my thoughts on Mao's FS (& SP), which I watched earlier today. :)

That said, it seems to me that she is reverting back to her old technique in order to complete the jumps in order to make the World Team, which makes sense but still it leaves me a tad bit unsettled. It's like she's back where she started from ~ she still underrotates the 3A & 3R (when in combination) ~ and flutzes her 3L. But then I think "big deal", I love the old Mao, that's what made me her fan in the first place. :) I'll take a slightly underrotated 3A & 3R (in combo.) & 3Flutz anyday over anything I see on ice nowadays, and that's the truth. But for her sake, I truly hope she does what makes her happy, and if it's correcting her 3flutz and fully rotating her 3A & 3R (in combo.), then I hope she goes for it, even if it costs her a medal here & there.

Her flip has improved. It's definitely different from last season's. She isn't leaning forward as much as before. I don't think she changed her 3loop technique, so there isn't any difference. She hasn't corrected her flutz but the landing has become more solid. She used to shake a bit on the landing if I recall. I think Mao may have reverted back to her old technique for her 3A in the LP but in her SP, her 3A looked different to me. She seems to opt for distance instead of height for that jump. I thought her 3A in the LP looked better but the callers gave full credit to the one in the SP. :think:
 

hikki

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 18, 2007
Country
Japan
Re: Mao's 3axel

Wobbly landing doesn't always mean an UR jump. Looking at slo-mos I agree with the calls for SP and LP.
 

jasminum

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/101227/spm1012270503003-n1.htm
Akiko says her jumps were not in good condition before the competition. She doesn't think she will compete at Sochi but she cannot retire with this result. She wants to conclude her armature career in more satisfying way.

In today's Nikkei, she said she wasn't in good condition but she did her best. However, she wasn't able to do jumps without thinking anything. She was thinking to decide whether she'd retire or not after each season, but she cannot retire with this result.

Akiko also wrote on her twitter. "Thank you everyone for supporting me. I will make a new start after refreshing mentally and physically. I will pursue my dreams a little further."

I took the liberty of translating her message on twitter because I wanted to share it with her fans who do not understand Japanese.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Addendum:

I'm having an enjoyable time on wikipedia looking up National Title Record Holders in Figure Skating (Singles).

Btw, the reason why I decided to investigate in the first place is because I recall Mao saying in the past that she wanted to win 10 National Titles. A worthy undertaking indeed, and one I've always wished her great sucess on. It's unfortunate she didn't win this year, but totally understandable, and she still has 6 more chances until 2016! She will only be 26 yrs. old at the time. And I know she can do it because she has already broken records left & right galore ~ first woman to land two 3Axels in the FS, first woman to land a 3Axel combo. in the SP, first woman to land three 3Axels in the same competition, and this year she should shatter Midori Ito's record for the most ratified 3axels ever performed by a woman.

***Note: and when she does all the triple jumps she has planned, including 3axels & 3/3 combos., she will make history once again by being the first woman to execute 8 triple jumps in the FS. Only a woman that has a 3axel in her arsenal can even attempt this feat, as women are only allowed 7 jumping passes, therefore one must be able to execute a 3axel in order to do 8 triple jumps (aka Mao Asada). :) ***

Okay, back to what I was stating originally ~ National Title Record Holders in Singles (for women only):

Gabriele Seyfert (GER) -- ten!!!!

Michelle Kwan (USA) -- nine!

Chen Lu (CHN) -- nine!

Midori Ito (JPN) -- nine!

Constance Wilson-Samuel (CAN) -- nine!

Anne Karin Dehle (NOR) -- nine!


The number 9 seems to be the magic number for most, as only the East German lady Gabriele Seyfert holds the most at 10! :eek: Btw, for the men, a handful have actually achieved this feat (i.e. 10) ~ Carlo Fassi (ITA) and two SWEDISH gentlemen (Bo Mothander & Hans Landh). However, NOBODY (man or woman) has ever won 11 National Titles, bar none...

That said, if Kristoffer Berntsson of Sweden wins another one next year he will tie the aforementioned gentlemen with 10 of his own. :) Likewise, Evgeni Plushenko has 2 more to go before he ties with them as well. :cool: And if either one really wants to reign supreme, then they know what to do. ;)
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Ooops, just now noticed that Nobuo Sato (aka Mr. Sato/Sensei Sato) has also achieved the remarkable feat of having won 10 National Titles, so please add his name to the list of men. :) My apologies. Lol, I should know this, after all he is now the coach of one of my favorite skaters, Mao. :party:
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Okay, back to what I was stating originally ~ National Title Record Holders in Singles (for women only):

Gabriele Seyfert (GER) -- ten!!!!

Michelle Kwan (USA) -- nine!

Chen Lu (CHN) -- nine!

Midori Ito (JPN) -- nine!

Constance Wilson-Samuel (CAN) -- nine!

Anne Karin Dehle (NOR) -- nine!

**Addition: Maribel Vinson-Owen is tied with Michelle Kwan for the record in U.S. Nationals Ladies' titles.

Thanks for compiling the list, by the way!
 
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Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Thanks for that, aftertherain, I feel so embarrassed. :eek:: I meant no disrespect, just a tired mind is all, which I meant to rectify ASAP, but am glad to see that you did so, thanks! :)

And please feel free to add to the list, everyone, as I find it most interesting & fascinating...

Btw, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays, especially Christmas, and next up New Year's! :party:
 

sidneyke

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 25, 2004
For me, Mao deserved to win. Her program and her skating are GORGEOUS. She gave the best performance by far. Beautiful lines and flow. Interpretative, continuous choreography. In terms of jumps Miki did more, but Mao was better on the spins and spiral and footwork sequence so I don't even think Miki really deserved much higher of a tech score. Mao's skating is just so much better than Miki's. She should have had a huge PCS lead over her. I wouldn't say Miki nailed everything either. Some of her landings could have been better. ALL she has is her jumps. None of her other technical elements are great and that program is so bad. She does spins (and not pretty ones) back-to-back and just walks around the ice and doesn't become one with the music, waiting until the halfway point to do a ton of jumping passes in a row (not the best interpretation of music there either).

Miki's program is nothing but a setup to gain points as easily as possible. She does barely anything in the first half of the program. It's not hard to put all those jumps in the second half of the program when you take, literally, a 50 second break beforehand. She seriously does nothing but STEP around the ice (and not in a way like Florent Amodio that takes a lot of energy and requires great talent to sell the movements), and a very simple spiral, all of that time before the second half of the program kicks in.

I think Kanako even should have been ahead of Miki in the Freeskate. Her performance had less energy than usual, she seemed more nervous, but she hit all of her jumps in a layout that is a bit harder than Miki's (albeit with not as good of technique) and has FAR better choreography than Miki. I honestly believe Miki's choreography is the biggest joke of this season. I don't want to put her down, but she objectively should be receiving 5's and 6's for Choreography and Interpretation. *shrug*

Although I like Miki's unique qualities, you couldn't have stated the realities of this ladies comp better. Mikki has great jumps but on the rest of the elements she's far behind Mao, on footwork, spins and spirals. But even worse she does a lot of slow skating and standing around in her programs, not to mention telegraphing and stalking her jumps. I fail to see how she's connected to the music in any way. The fact that she could be scored higher than, or even equal with Mao on musical interpretation is a joke. Also, there's no way her choreography could touch even Kanako Murakami's. While Murakami may be young and unrefined, she performs, really performs in both the SP and LP. And in those programs, she shows two very distinct styles. In the Zorro LP, she takes many moments to meet the music in her movements, not to mention that she skates with great speed, two things which Miki lacks in spots of her programs. Also, Kanako landed 7 triples (one edge call) in a program packed with choreographic content. Conversely, Mikki landed 6 triples with no 3/3 with no choreography.

Now if the Japanese Federation has decided that Mikki should have been the champion, OK. She skated very well, possibly well enough to win. But please don't insult our intelligence by giving her a 137, 10 point lead on Mao & Kanako in the free. Especially when Murakami won a bronze at the GPF when Ando could only place 5th. I add this to say that there is no way Mikki's skating skills are that much better than Kanako's and definitely not Mao's. These comments are NOT meant as knocks against Mikki. I like her. She is what she is - a great athlete. I'm thinking more about the injurious judging of Mikki's LP at this point.
 

Nadine

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Lol, I'm up late going bananas trying to find all National Title Record Holders in Singles! :laugh:

So the following is what I have to add to the list:

J. Ferguson Page (BRITISH) & Oliver Honer (SWISS) hold the record for M-E-N with 11 National Titles respectively! :eek:

Also, besides Kristoffer Berntsson, Stephane Lambiel is also one shy of joining the 10 club (aka Carlo Fassi, Nobuo Sato, Bo Mothander, Hans Landh).

Gabriele Seyfert (GER) holds the record for W-O-M-E-N with 10 National Titles! :rock:

And Jenna McCorkell & Sarah Meier are both one shy of joining the 9 club (aka Maribel Vinson-Owen, Michelle Kwan, Chen Lu, Midori Ito, Constance Wilson-Samuel, Anne Karin Dehle).

I'm too tired to search for more, but will have another go at it tomorrow. :)
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Thanks for that, aftertherain, I feel so embarrassed. :eek:: I meant no disrespect, just a tired mind is all, which I meant to rectify ASAP, but am glad to see that you did so, thanks! :)

And please feel free to add to the list, everyone, as I find it most interesting & fascinating...

Btw, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays, especially Christmas, and next up New Year's! :party:

There's really no reason to apologize. Hahah.

I hope you're having a good one as well!
 

iluvtodd

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 5, 2004
Country
United-States
Congrats to all the medalists :)love: "my" Taka!). So glad that Mao rebounded here after such a difficult GP series. I really like Kanako, but was hoping that Akiko would make the World team. Anyway, I'm glad that she'll compete at 4CC.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Miki has never been my type of skater but I have a tremendous amount of respect and like for her. She, IMO, has improved the most over the years of any skater, ever. She was this jumping bean in winning Jr Worlds 2004 and hyped to hold her own at Sr Worlds 2004. All that hype about the 4s and 3lz/3lp seemed to be her destiny, the way she was to leave her mark. Yet, she has developed into a very well rounded skater and really has improved in every aspect or her skating! I am soooo impressed I cannot put it into words!!!

Mao, though, is a sentimental favorite of mine. I love her kind of skating. I don't even know how to say what it is that I like except everything she does seems easy, natural. I love her spins, spirals, footwork and how she strokes across the ice. I love her arm motions and the tilt of her head. I don't care if she does a 3a but I admire her greatly for her determination to succeed. I greatly respect her dedication for becoming the best she can be by fixing her weaknesses instead of playing up her strengths.

Long story short-I am extremely happy with the 1-2 finishers this competition!

That does not go to say I am not happy for Kanako-she is a delight and such a joy to watch! I really hoped Akiko would be Bronze, but she just did not Bring It. I look forward to seeing the top 3 at Worlds, competing in their home country!

I agree with you on all counts. And isn't it great that both Miki and Mao have such incredible perseverance? Both just keep going no matter what, even through defeat. People have given both of them up for finished, and it's like motes of dust in the sunlight to them. They just keep going, and they keep getting better. As you say of Mao, everything about her skating is gorgeous. You and I are both Michelle fans, so you know that it takes a lot for me to say that any element is better than Michelle's, but I think Mao's arm movements are more beautiful than post-Lori Nichol Michelle's. They are balletic in their placement, yet completely natural in their flow. I could watch Mao endlessly, and I hope she does achieve her wish of winning ten Japanese championships, so we get to enjoy her at her peak for many years to come.

Miki is someone I admire greatly, both as a skater and a person. If she wins Worlds, I might be disappointed on behalf of Mao and YuNa, but I won't mind it at all. It takes a lot to hold your own as a skater in Japan these days, and notice that Miki's been at or near the top for more than five years. Good for her!

Kanako I've only seen once, at Skate America. She's certainly worthy of taking her place in that exalted group. And she might even get better! Isn't it amazing? We are lucky viewers indeed.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I agree with you on all counts. And isn't it great that both Miki and Mao have such incredible perseverance? Both just keep going no matter what, even through defeat. People have given both of them up for finished, and it's like motes of dust in the sunlight to them. They just keep going, and they keep getting better. As you say of Mao, everything about her skating is gorgeous. You and I are both Michelle fans, so you know that it takes a lot for me to say that any element is better than Michelle's, but I think Mao's arm movements are more beautiful than post-Lori Nichol Michelle's. They are balletic in their placement, yet completely natural in their flow. I could watch Mao endlessly, and I hope she does achieve her wish of winning ten Japanese championships, so we get to enjoy her at her peak for many years to come.

Olympia, I always admire your eloquence and optimism. :) As a fan of Michelle, I have also realized how she wasn't the same after she left Lori. Sadly, the same can be said about Lori. The pair together (with Caroll) was just a magic combination. I much prefer Lori's choreography for Mao to TAT's but I also feel she has become predictable over the years. So I'd like for Mao to seek out other choreographers in the future.
 
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