Japanese Nats

about Mao

Mao Asada

Date of birth : 25/9/1990 (so she is now 13-year-old)
category : novice (but she will skate Japan senior Nats exceptionally )
Height : 141cm
weight : 31kg
coach : Machiko Yamada, Higuchi Mihoko
Choreographer : Lea Ann Miller

She has 3-3-3 combination and 3A, training 4sal, 4roop and 4lutsz. But due to Lipinski rule, she cannot go next Olympic.

I will go Japan nats in Nagano(but only second day). I will report this exciting competition!

Kenji

Thanks for the information.

If anyone's interested, you can find a clip of Mao Asada from last year's nationals here:

http://www.jimandmaryjo.com/MK/mao.htm

You need to download it, since the owner of the webpage does not want anyone streaming her videoclips because of bandwidth.

She landed a triple axel, a triple flip-triple loop-triple toe, and a triple lutz-triple loop all in this one performance. Some landings were a bit cheated, but considering she was only twelve years old her jumps are still very impressive! She finished seventh in the country with this performance.

Starting orders and results for Japanese Nationals.

The short program results are just in for the ladies:

1. Shizuka Arakawa
2. Miki Ando
3. Fumie Suguri
4. Yukina Ota
5. Yoshie Onda
6. Mao Asada
7. Aki Sawada
8. Yukari Nakano
9. Mai Asada
10. Nana Takeda

Chika Suguri is 14th. Complete results are here:

http://skate.cx/competition/results.cgi?d=200304;12;72na_sr&c=l1&l=ec

Judging by the marks, Arakawa and Ando skated cleanly, and Suguri must have made a mistake. Looks like Ando, Ota and Onda will be fighting it out for the third spot at worlds.

Surprising!

I�fm surprised! GPF champion Fumie is the 3rd,and she is below Miki! And more surprising that novice Mao advances to free in final group! And Yukina! She is over Yoshie and Yukari. They(and Miki) are competing each other for the rest of one ticket for worlds.
I want to see Miki's quad and Yukina's gracefull skating tomorrow.

Japan has incredible figure skaters. I love their skating especially young girls Yukina and Miki. I hope one of them will go to Dortmund

I'm not surprised they are 2th and 4th

Arakawa clean, with techno swan lake.

Miki Ando clean with triple lutz/triple loop.

Fumie fell on the triple flip.

that is a lot

of Japanese girls! We only have 21 senior ladies at our Senior Nats, and Japan had 31! I think I even saw some familiar last names in there, like Sato!

I remember during the emergence of Chen Lu and Shen/Zhao, the skating world had pegged China as the next great superpower, but I think it's Japan.

Japan is definitely the next superpower in ladies', but China is much stronger in pairs.

I just read on another board that Fumie Suguri and Shizuka Arakawa will not attend the four continents championships. So the top three skaters besides these two will be sent. Will the Japanese federations use 4CC to choose the third woman on their world team?

Re: that is a lot

thisthingcalledlove said:

of Japanese girls! We only have 21 senior ladies at our Senior Nats, and Japan had 31!

Click to expand...

I think the USFSA deliberately limits entries. Only 12 can earn their way into US Nats by winning the top spots at sectional comps. The others all received Byes to get in. But there could conceivably be many more. Naomi Nari Nam got 5th at her sectional comp and did not make Nats this year.

I am so amazed at the tremendous depth of the Japanese Ladies. This year I have become a gushing fan of Yukina Ota, and already was a huge fan of Fumie and Shizuka. There are so many up and comers in Japan now I can foresee the day in the next couple of years when Japanese ladies will sweep Worlds.

Please Yukina skate well!!!!! Please please please let this deprived fan get to see you skate again at Worlds!!!!!!!!!!

Wow MIKI WON!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!
See you at Worlds Miki

1 Miki ANDO 2 1 2.0
2 Fumie SUGURI 3 2 3.5
3 Shizuka ARAKAWA 1 4 4.5
4 Yoshie ONDA 5 3 5.5
5 Yukina OTA 4 5 7.0
6 Mai ASADA 9 6 10.5
7 Yukari NAKANO 8 7 11.0
8 Mao ASADA 6 8 11.0
9 Aki SAWADA 7 9 12.5

Wow! That's surprising. She apparently landed another quad! So, the world team is Suguri, Arakawa and Ando. 4CC team is Ando, Onda and Ota.

Spark - I've never seen Miki skate. Presumably we'll see her at the Worlds on TV unless she will be at 4CC.

So could you let me know if there is more to Miki than a quad?

Joe

Miki wins!

I just came home from Japanese Nats. Yes, Miki wins!

Her 4sal gave her the third ticket for worlds. So, world team is Fumie, Shizuka and Miki.The substitute is Yoshie.And 4cc team is Yoshie, Yukina and Yukari (not Miki).The substitute is Fumie. These are the decision of Japanese federation.
As for mens, 4cc team is Takeshi, Yamato Tamura and Daisuke Takahashi. The substitute is Yasuharu Nanri(junior skater) . World team will be decided by the result of 4cc. But Takeshi must get the ticket, so Yamato and Daisuke compete for the second.

I want to tell more about Nats. I will write it tomorrow.

Joesitz, the only thing I've actually SEEN of Miki is this clip here:

http://www.jimandmaryjo.com/MK/ma.htm

It only shows a couple jumps though. Watch it if you want to see what her jumps look like. She seems to be built kind of like Shizuka Arakawa. She's slim, but not tiny. The height on her jumps is good, but not like Harding's or Ito's. She's neither a muscular powerhouse nor a childlike pixie. Since the clip only shows her jumps, I don't know what the rest of her skating is like. But she seems graceful from the little the clip shows. Kenji will write about it.

These were her marks for that program:

58 57 55 54 57 57 58 56 58
55 55 55 56 55 56 55 56 57

So, it looks like Ando's presentation isn't as strong as Suguri's or Arakawa's, but those marks aren't bad at all. She's only fifteen, so she's got time to develop.

As much as I like Fumie, she was held up. She only landed two or three triples. And if you compare the technical marks, they are somewhat similar. Ando had 4 triples and a quad. She has the same coach as Fumie so I suppose she has similar qualities as Fumie.

WOW!!

Thanks for the video link; that's the first footage I've seen of Miki Ando, too. Did you see how easy that quad was???? There was no cheating on that at all! Amazing!

CONGRATULATIONS, MIKI ANDO!!!

Knew you could do it........just a matter of time........what a way to end the year. ^) Now time to relax, enjoy the new year, and begin preparing quietly for Jr. & Sr. Worlds respectively in March (only 2 weeks apart).

For those new to Miki, here are some links to recent pics of her:

http://jp.a1.yimg.com/7/50/6316/107.../jijp/20031227-01591321-jijp-spo-view-001.jpg

***the above shows a podium pic of Miki, Fumie, & Shizuka at 2003 Sr. Nationals***

http://www.jgpfinal2003.se/pictures_sunday.html

***absolutely gorgeous pics of Miki at the 2003 JGPF a few weeks ago (need to scroll down a bit) - shows off her stunning tall/lithe figure, especially in that lovely layback (soooo flexible) - btw the gold blades, which make her stand out & which she started wearing about a year ago, were inspired by Irina Slutskaya (she saw Irina's & emulated her; no lie)***

I, myself, have been a Miki Fan since I first saw her skate Swan Lake at 2002 Jr. Worlds almost two yrs. ago. Kinda funny b/c the same exact thing happened to me w/Oksana Baiul & Sarah Hughes (no lie).......became lifetime fans of them also when I saw each, respectively, skate Swan Lake.......Oksana at 1993 Worlds & Sarah at 1999 Worlds. Weird how the first time I ever set eyes on these particular skaters was when they skated Swan Lake and, consequently, I fell in love w/their skating. Ah, there must be something about "Swan Lake" and me.

Back to Miki, the following are some stats I have kept on her over the last two years for those interested:

MIKI ANDO (JPN, 12/18/87, 160 cm., aka "Quad Queen")

Japan Jr. Nationals - 1st 2001, 2002, 2003 ***Tied w/Shizuka Arakawa for most consecutive wins ever at Jr. Nationals*** Also, first time she ever landed both the 3Z/3R & 4S together in the FS at 2003 Jr. Nationals!

JGPF - 1st 2001 & 2003 ***First lady skater ever to land a quadruple jump - 4S - in competition at the 2002 JGPF.***

Jr. Worlds - 2nd in 2003 & 3rd in 2002.

Japan Sr. Nationals - 1st 2003, 5th 2002, 3rd 2001.

JGP Series - 1st in ALL competitions she has entered since she hit the junior grand prix in the 2001/2002 season ~ Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, et al.

By the way, Miki has been practicing the 3Z/3R & 4S since the 2001/2002 season, but the former more than the latter. In fact, she has landed the 3Z/3R practically each time she has tried it in competition except at the 2002 JGPF, 2003 Jr. Worlds, 2003 JGP Japan, & 2003 Sr. Nationals. I'd say her percentage rate is around 64% successful taking into consideration she has tried it 11 times & has landed it 7 out of those 11 times. However, for the 4S she has only tried it 7 times, and has landed it 4 times out of those 7, with the first one attempted & landed at the 2002 JGPF and the last one at 2003 Sr. Nationals! {two thumbs way up} ^D

***Note: Miki is overall fairly consistent, but not as consistent if she weren't trying high level risky elements such as the 3Z/3R & 4S. She is gaining little by little as each year passes though - has averaged at the very least 5 triples per competiton except at 2003 JGP Japan (2 triples) & 2003 Sr. Nationals (4 triples).***

Peace & Love, Nadine

"Having a dream, I'll go up into the sky" - M.F. Thomson

MODIFIED TO ADD: Miki has always reminded me of the late actress Audrey Hepburn (think she looks like her), especially in looks & body build. JMHO. ^)

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.