Japanese Nats

Miki landed the triple lutz/ triple loop in her short, and quad sal in the long. WOW!!

Is the quad sal recognized as a fully rotated jump?

Congratulations to all the Japanese ladies.

rtureck said:

Miki landed the triple lutz/ triple loop in her short, and quad sal in the long. WOW!!

Is the quad sal recognized as a fully rotated jump?

Congratulations to all the Japanese ladies.

Click to expand...

Yep, it's been ratified a couple of times in competition.

Nadine, thanks for the links. Those are beautiful photos. believe it or not, my favorite of Miki Ando is this one -- she shows so much personality!

http://www.jgpfinal2003.se/158_5873.JPG

How old is Angelika Pylkina (Sweden, pairs)?

http://www.jgpfinal2003.se/155_5537.JPG

Mathman

Nipponianippon from FSU video taped the ladies free live and has just put up two freeskates for download. The files will be removed in 12 hours. They are pretty small so dial up users should be able to get them too.

Miki Ando
http://49.dip.jp/~up/up/img/49up14032.avi

Yukina Ota
http://49.dip.jp/~up/up/img/49up14016.avi

gkelly said:

At 1993 Worlds, Baiul skated her short program to a flamenco piece by Ottmar Liebert and the long was a medley of Broadway tunes. Her exhibition was Ave Maria with a Michael Jackson encore.

In 1994, she skated her short program to Swan Lake, same Broadway medley for the long, Saint-Saens "The Swan" for an exhibition at the Olympics, and also skated an exhibition duet w/ Viktor Petrenko to a mix by Jive Bunny and the Mix Masters.

So, Nadine, either you didn't set eyes on her at 1993 Worlds, or she wasn't skating to Swan Lake the first time you saw her.

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Hi gkelly,

Yes, you are right, and I apologize for misremembering.........can only attribute my faulty memory to currently suffering a bad case of the flu & being lucid only half the time .........btw I urge everyone to have a flu shot before you catch this deadly virus (one of my childhood friends had to be rushed to the hospital a couple of nights ago; no lie; think I caught it from him btw).

Back to Oksana & Miki. Actually, the first time I ever saw Oksana was at the 1993 Worlds (no lie; can still remember my crying along w/her; lol my daddy got a kick out of that). However, the first time I ever saw her otherworldly Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky) & The Dying Swan (Saint-Saens) was at the 1994 Olympics (no lie, I'm lucid now ) ~ at the time was unable to catch her during the Grand Prix (later on was able to b/c of a friend's tape), so my very first viewing of Swan Lake & The Dying Swan were not until the Olympics. And, ah, can still recall that first magical time of seeing these two masterpieces. Nobody but nobody does it better. JMHO. Though Sarah & Miki's versions are also forever ingrained in my memory (btw think ALL three have the perfect body for this particular piece of music). JMHO. ^)

rtureck ( ), thanks for adding that part about Miki landing the 3Z/3R in the SP........my stats only include the FS over the years........however I have noted the 3Z/3R in the SP b/c, IIRC, it also is a first for her. Meaning this was the first time she has ever landed that particular 3/3 combo. in the SP (please correct me someone if I'm wrong; thanks in advance). Btw, IIRC, Miki has been gradually working up to that combo. in the SP b/c she just recently tried & landed the 3Z/2R at the 2003 Japan Jr. Nationals last month! ^)

***Note: as regards ratification of the 4S, it has been ratified at the 2002 JGPF as well as 2003 Japan Jr. Nationals. Btw, she also landed it at 2003 Jr. Worlds (1foot landing but 3 turns & a few hops afterward so didn't count) & at 2003 Japan Sr. Nationals last night (still waiting on confirmation of ratification).***

Mathman ( ), lol about that particular pic. (;^D I do agree that she does show personality there........just look at how feminine she appears while sitting on the ice..........as well as the position of her delicate hands & fingers. Btw, IMHO, she radiates that Audrey Hepburn elegance as well as that underlying power which is so cleverly hidden by the feminine exterior. JMHO.

***Note: have no idea about Angelika Pylkina - sorry - what a tiny doll though.***

Peace, Love, & Happy Holidays! Nadine

In honor of Miki, Sarah, & Oksana, I post my other all-time favorite performer of Swan Lake (aka Adam Cooper - The Swan): http://images.andale.com/f2/115/106/3632169/1072428370208_sl_mb_6.jpg

WOOHOO!

Thanks, shine & Nipponianippon, am currently in the process of trying to download these two programs. ^)

Peace & Love, Nadine

P.S. So far I've only been able to download the song.....no visualization.....only hear clapping etc. ^(

Thanks for the clip of Miki. The 3/3 was gorgeous. I watched the 4Sal a few times and maybe it's just me, but I thought it was cheated by 1/2 a rotation!

Very surprising that Miki Ando won! I've never seen her skate either. Everybody thought it was going to be a two-way race between Fumie and Shizuka.

I agree that Japan is extremely strong in ladies skating, second only to the U.S. There is a lot of depth and talent on the team. I think to some degree it may be because success breeds success. Japan produced two ladies world champions -- Midori Ito and Yuka Sato -- and a few ladies world medalists. I'm sure many of these girls grew up watching Midori and Yuka.

Miki, Fumie and Shizuka will be a formidable trio at worlds.

Is there any other clips from the Japanese Nationals. the clips that were post i couldnt see them

Japan Nats

I report perfomance of each skater in order of starting list of free.

#8 Chika Suguri
I saw her skating for the first time. She can skate at good speed, and move gracefull. But she seems to be weak in jumps. She landed only toe and sal as triple.

#16 Yukari Nakano
The beginning 3A was landed on 2 feet. She fell on 3flip and 3lutz, and other jumps tended to lean in the air. This season, hard time for her. But I think her artistry and skating skills are quite ipmroved compared with last season. I like her style and please everyone, cheer Yukari to skate on big stage.

#17 Mai Asada
3A was landed in incomplete rotation, but other 5 kinds of triple jumps were safe. She is tall and slim, like a rhythmic-gymnast. So cute! I think she needs more strength in skating and moving.

#18 Aki Sawada
She has more strength compared with Mai. She fell on 3A and 3lutz, but the rest of jumps were almost good. She may needs another attraction besides jumps to be a survivor in selections of Japanese representative.

From here, final warmingup group

#19 Fumie Suguri
She could not have enough practice for nats because there was only about one week from coming back to her home link from GPF. And 2 weeks before GPF, she skated at NHK. This tight schedule seemed to have worn her out. Her skating speed was not so good compared with NHK or GPF. 3sal and 3loop(these jumps are always hard for her) were incomplete rotation, and she fell on 2nd 3lutz. But 1st 3lutz ,two 3flips and 2A were good. She didn�ft do her best but judges gave her high marks. Federation�fs estimation of her is very high.

#20 Yoshie Onda
She had to skate so well to convince federation that she is suitable for World team. It seemed she was nervous, but she landed jumps in succession. Her only mistake was 2nd lutz(triple�¨single). She skated well but she could not get higher marks than Fumie. The 3rd ticket depends on performance of Yukina and Miki at this moment.

#21 Yukina Ota
As Yoshie skated well, she maight feel pressure. 3flip stepping out, sal was double, 3loop touched one hand on ice and some other jumps were cheated. She was ranked below Yoshie. I think, her artistry is No. one in Japan, but she must do more efforts about jumps and must have strength in movement. That is the way to survival.

#22 Shizuka Arakawa
As she said in interview aftarward, she felt a lot of pressure for winning. She touched one hand on ice on begininng 3lutz, 3flip and 2nd 3lutz were 2feet landing. Because she missed on difficult jumps till the middle of program, she attempted to jump exra 3toe-3toe at the end of program. This was almost successful but second 3toe was cheated. I think she was also tired because of GPF.

#23 Mao Asada
She landed 3A(but little bit cheated)-2toe, 3lutz-3loop combination. She attempted 3flip-3loop-3toe combination but fell on first flip. She jumped 2A at the middle of program, but I think she planed 3A considering the speed and course of the jump. She is getting improved in all point. She is only 13.

#24 Miki Ando
All in the rink waited for her. The beginning 3lutz was overturned so she could not put 3loop with it. She felt pressure, but it came the point of that jump, and she landed clean.
All cried �gWow!!!�h. I could see her successful 4sal just in front of me. I won�ft forget about that moment. After 4sal, 2A and a triple jump(I don�ft remember because I was so excited)were not perfect landing, but they were not big problems. She was ranked 1st. She shed tears a lot.


Miki�fs ability is really excellent. She at first had only good jumps, but recently she is improving all skills and artistry. Meeting Nobuo Sato was her turning point. He is a great coach known as coach of Yuka Sato(his daughter) and Fumie. I don�ft believe that she get podium at senior worlds this season(but she will win junior worlds easily), but she can be a gold medalist at next olympic, as our federation expects.

In Adition
In ladies competition,Miki landed quad. But in mens competition, no one landed.

To ahhhhhhhhh

Here is the link of SBC cup(junior GP series competition in Japan). Not Japan nats, but dial up user can see Miki and Mai by video clip.
http://sbc21.co.jp/sports/2003jgp/

P.S.
"Miki" means "beautiful princess" and "Mai" means "dance" in Japanese.

Re: Japan Nats

In Adition
In ladies competition,Miki landed quad. But in mens competition, no one landed.

Click to expand...

Thank for the details, Kenji.

Thank you so much, Kenji, for such a great report!

Re: Japan Nats

Thanks Kenji for the excellent report!

Just wanted to make some comments of my own about the following skaters (btw I was able to watch a clip of Miki & Fumie's respective LPs):

Kenji said:

#16 Yukari Nakano
The beginning 3A was landed on 2 feet. She fell on 3flip and 3lutz, and other jumps tended to lean in the air. This season, hard time for her. But I think her artistry and skating skills are quite ipmroved compared with last season. I like her style and please everyone, cheer Yukari to skate on big stage.

ME: yes, I'm really pleased to read about her improvements in presentation/artistry.......will never forget her landing of the 3A on my birthday & then following it up w/a ratified one at Skate America a few weeks later........am definitely going to be cheering her on at 4CC! ^) Btw, IIRC, Fumie, Shizuka, & Yukari swept the podium at last year's 4CC - here's hoping that Yukari can improve on her bronze winning performance there. {cheers}

#17 Mai Asada
3A was landed in incomplete rotation, but other 5 kinds of triple jumps were safe. She is tall and slim, like a rhythmic-gymnast. So cute! I think she needs more strength in skating and moving.

ME: yes, I agree w/you about Mai needing to build up strength in her skating, but IMHO that comes from the maturation process, which hasn't quite happened to her yet. Until it does, I wish her luck in maintaining the jumps she has now. And hope that she doesn't grow any more upwards, as I find her extremely tall & thin as it is. JMHO.

#19 Fumie Suguri
She could not have enough practice for nats because there was only about one week from coming back to her home link from GPF. And 2 weeks before GPF, she skated at NHK. This tight schedule seemed to have worn her out. Her skating speed was not so good compared with NHK or GPF. 3sal and 3loop(these jumps are always hard for her) were incomplete rotation, and she fell on 2nd 3lutz. But 1st 3lutz ,two 3flips and 2A were good. She didn�ft do her best but judges gave her high marks. Federation�fs estimation of her is very high.

ME: from the talk on the net over at FSU, I was expecting to see a disaster of a performance from Fumie (likewise only 2 triples). However, I was pleasantly surprised when I viewed a clip of her FS this morning.......3Z/2T, 3F, 2A, 3F/2T, spins and footwork were pretty darn good........but especially the SPEED! In fact, I say that the speed, power of her jumps, footwork, maturity, and not giving up (after she fell on the 3Z and badly 2footed & underrotated the 3S & 3R) were what made the decision so close between her & Miki ~ i.e. 5-4 split in favor of Miki. Though I admit I haven't gotten around to seeing Shizuka & Yoshie's programs yet (for all I know she could have been held up by her federation, as is typical w/all federations IMHO).

#20 Yoshie Onda
She had to skate so well to convince federation that she is suitable for World team. It seemed she was nervous, but she landed jumps in succession. Her only mistake was 2nd lutz(triple�¨single). She skated well but she could not get higher marks than Fumie. The 3rd ticket depends on performance of Yukina and Miki at this moment.

ME: too bad for Yoshie Bear ......have always had a soft spot for her.......but maybe this is a blessing in disguise and she'll work more on her moves in between (aka similar thing happened to Irina Slutskaya when she was left off the Russian Team back in 1998/99). Still, IMHO, Yoshie has the best darn jumps of ALL her countrywomen (tied w/Julia Sebestyen).......powerful in the style of Midori Ito, high w/gorgeous delayed rotation .......only thing holding her back is her presentation (though I think she has made incremental improvement over the yrs; no lie).

#21 Yukina Ota
As Yoshie skated well, she maight feel pressure. 3flip stepping out, sal was double, 3loop touched one hand on ice and some other jumps were cheated. She was ranked below Yoshie. I think, her artistry is No. one in Japan, but she must do more efforts about jumps and must have strength in movement. That is the way to survival.

ME: hmm, to me, she has the exact opposite problem of Yoshie.......needs to work on the anemic-looking jumps that she currently has.......btw I notice that this is more of a problem w/skaters that are built tall & thin (ala Mai Asada). However, a skater like Carolina Kostner of Italy is an exception to the rule - very tall & thin but lightning FAST w/fully rotated 3/3s galore - and is an inspiration for someone like Yukina. Whoa, could just imagine Yukina with that added element ~ already has wonderful presentation ~ but the jumps could make her another Chen Lu!

#22 Shizuka Arakawa
As she said in interview aftarward, she felt a lot of pressure for winning. She touched one hand on ice on begininng 3lutz, 3flip and 2nd 3lutz were 2feet landing. Because she missed on difficult jumps till the middle of program, she attempted to jump exra 3toe-3toe at the end of program. This was almost successful but second 3toe was cheated. I think she was also tired because of GPF.

ME: drat, wish I was able to see her performance for myself........b/c, to me, she is the overall complete package.......lovely presentation along w/strong technical (ala 3/3s & 7 triple programs). In fact, as I have said in the past, I think she is combo. of her countrywomen Fumie & Yoshie ~ the best type IMHO. I read over on FSU that she landed 4 triples all together, but had problems, as it appears ALL the women had (including the winner, Miki). Too bad, would love to see Shizuka skate to her potential one of these days. However, I realize that the one whom takes more risks, such as Shizuka w/her 3/3s & 7 triple programs, is usually the one whom is more inconsistent.

#23 Mao Asada
She landed 3A(but little bit cheated)-2toe, 3lutz-3loop combination. She attempted 3flip-3loop-3toe combination but fell on first flip. She jumped 2A at the middle of program, but I think she planed 3A considering the speed and course of the jump. She is getting improved in all point. She is only 13.

ME: hmm, from the clips I have seen of Mao, I find her enjoyable but cannot really get into her skating yet b/c she is basically still a child - isn't anywhere near puberty - and if her sister is an example she will eventually end up tall & thin like her. And I fear as a result she will lose all these great attempts at the difficult jumps, especially since they are already underrotated and will probably be moreso as she gets older. JMHO. But would love to be proven wrong since I'm a lover of those big jumps (ala Midori Ito style)! ^D

#24 Miki Ando
All in the rink waited for her. The beginning 3lutz was overturned so she could not put 3loop with it. She felt pressure, but it came the point of that jump, and she landed clean.
All cried �gWow!!!�h. I could see her successful 4sal just in front of me. I won�ft forget about that moment. After 4sal, 2A and a triple jump(I don�ft remember because I was so excited)were not perfect landing, but they were not big problems. She was ranked 1st. She shed tears a lot.

ME: YES, I was able to view a great clip of Miki's performance this morning! And this is how I saw it ~ beautiful long held correct edge going into the 3Z (like they used to do in the old days to show control) but overrotated w/a couple of turns afterward, a bit slow going into the 4S but what a MOMENT (heard the roar of the crowd), nice held out/stretched flying camel w/great centering & very good position, 2A nicely done w/superb held out landing in an arabesque position, slow section begins w/a pause & lovely arm movements & a great way to show off her lovely long limbs/line here, aaahhh absolutely gorgeous catchfoot fan spiral (rivals Sasha Cohen's, no lie) leading into a short backward traditional spiral (need more stretch/tension, not held long enough, please refer to Sarah Hughes same spiral of this type in her 2002/2003 FS) into a forward traditional spiral (please see my comments about the backward one, ditto here), 3T (very good)/1T (huge pop but not too distracting), camel spins nicely centered & stretched (could use more speed though), Music Picks Up Speed, 3F, split jump into 3R, 2A (step out), layback w/great flexibility in back but poor leg position, ends w/combo. spin (best part is the scratch, reminiscent of Fumie's). WTG!

Miki�fs ability is really excellent. She at first had only good jumps, but recently she is improving all skills and artistry. Meeting Nobuo Sato was her turning point. He is a great coach known as coach of Yuka Sato(his daughter) and Fumie. I don�ft believe that she get podium at senior worlds this season(but she will win junior worlds easily), but she can be a gold medalist at next olympic, as our federation expects.

ME: yes, I too am impressed w/Miki's gradual improvement in all areas, especially the gorgeous catchfoot fan spiral. However, IMHO, she still needs to work more on her presentation. Could just imagine what a really good choreographer could do for her (same goes for Carolina Kostner btw; another favorite of mine). I would especially like for her to show off her lovely long limbs/line more when it comes to the MITF (aka spirals, spins, layback, choreography, etc.). Also, a little more speed & some footwork. But boy-o-boy what potential she has! I, too, don't think she'll make the podium at Sr. Worlds ~ a Top 10 placement is more realistic (btw same thing happened to Carolina Kostner at her first Worlds last year). However, all bets are off next year on the Sr. GP! ^D

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Peace & Love, Nadine

P.S. I think if both top coaches in Japan work together they'll have even more success. By that I mean the skaters should go to Midori Ito's old coach for the jumps & for Yuka Sato's father for the MITF ~ Miki Ando, so far, is the first one to do so.

The almost fragile delicacy of Yukina's skating is simply breathtaking. I think she's the most exquisite skater I've ever seen. She is looking more and more artsy each time I see her. Those arms!
But it seems to me (and increasingly so) that she is so focused on the artistic aspect of her skating and the musciality of her movement that she is overlooking the jumps. It almost looks like as though she doesn't have the strength in her leg to land the jumps and takes no effort to fight for the landings. And not to mention the underrotation; it's not even like she doesn't have the spring in her jumps so I can't figure out why she cheats the landings so often. Now here's a skater who I really, really want to see accomplish something big, and I seriously think it's time for Yukina to seek out a good jump specialist to help her.

shine said:

The almost fragile delicacy of Yukina's skating is simply breathtaking. I think she's the most exquisite skater I've ever seen. She is looking more and more artsy each time I see her. Those arms!
But it seems to me (and increasingly so) that she is so focused on the artistic aspect of her skating and the musciality of her movement that she is overlooking the jumps.

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Shine - ITA. Yukina's style is at the moment unmatchable, imo. Everything is so fluid and lyrical, it's hard to believe she is skating. Hopefully, the jumps will fit in next season, and of course during the Olys 2006. There are a few of us who think skating goes beyond quads.

Joe

Yukina

Joesitz said:

Shine - ITA. Yukina's style is at the moment unmatchable, imo. Everything is so fluid and lyrical, it's hard to believe she is skating. Hopefully, the jumps will fit in next season, and of course during the Olys 2006. There are a few of us who think skating goes beyond quads.

Joe

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Yukina sounds to me like another Naomi Nari Nam. I surely hope she doesn't follow the same path that Naomi did, and I hope that she develops into a more consistent jumper, so that she can give those other girls a run for their money. If worse comes to worse, she can always move to Canada and skate pairs =)

Thisthing - I can't tell if you are being facetious or not? It sounds to me like you are either putting down Pairs Skating or Canada or both.

I'm not even sure what NNN has to do with Yukina. I haven't heard of any injuries, and if so that would leave out Pairs. More than others the most dangerous discipline in figure skating.

Joe

I think thisthing is just referring to the fact that a former Japanese singles skater, Utako Wakamatsu, is now skating pairs for Canada with Jean-Sebastian Fecteau. Many singles skaters who can't jump well enough to keep up with other singles skaters in their country become pairs skaters, sometimes great ones. Jamie Sale and David Pelletier both competed as singles skaters. Maxim Marinin too. I don't see how that could be an insult. Many excellent pairs skaters were once fairly accomplished singles skaters. Pairs skating may be tough, but it has less emphasis on jumping.

Realtorgal, I also saw a cheat on Miki's quad in the video clip. To me, it looked closer to a quarter of a rotation, slightly more perhaps. She needs to fix that if she wants the quad to count under the new system. Can anyone who's seen her do a quad anywhere else tell me if she completed the rotation there?

Joesitz said:

Shine - ITA. Yukina's style is at the moment unmatchable, imo. Everything is so fluid and lyrical, it's hard to believe she is skating. Hopefully, the jumps will fit in next season, and of course during the Olys 2006. There are a few of us who think skating goes beyond quads.

Joe

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Quads? The girl needs to learn how to land TRIPLES consistently. Even the jumps she managed to pull off at nationals were iffy. She doesn't really have the luxury of waiting around to see if "hopefully the jumps will fit in next season". At this level, she needs to have these jumps down pat already. She needs a jump coach NOW. Otherwise, we will see a major talent go to waste. :\