- Joined
- Jun 3, 2009
Kexin Zhang - she was the top Chinese ladies skater at Worlds last year, and withdrew from her competitions. Massive disappointment, as she really had potential.
Has Mirai herself made any comment about this? It would be impolitic to do so, but maybe she did not want to contest the full Grand Prix this season and is content with CoC, an early senior B, and plenty of time to build for Nationals.
It appears Mirai is being treated as a second or even third alternate every time there is consideration to fill a spot. My guess, however, is that she is being "saved" for consideration of NHK once AC decides she needs to withdraw because all she can do are double jumps and a single axel. Mirai would get another GP spot, but also another loooooooong trip to make to Asia which may even disrupt her training at home this fall.
Another thing to consider is this ... is Mirai not being given GP assignments so that she would be REQUIRED to perform in Regional and Sectional Competitions to qualify for US Nationals? In my view, Mirai should be REQUIRED to qualify for Nationals given her poor performances last year, both in the GP series and at US Nationals.
Mirai does NOT deserve a BYE to Nationals this year, and maybe USFS is holding her back to make her earn her spot at Nationals and FIGHT for it and PROVE herself. She has not yet proven herself to be a consistently high-level performer the USFS can count on at EVERY competition to skate well.
I think she should blow off CoC, even though she will get money for it, stay home, train for Sectionals and prove she can still compete at the highest level and restore USFS enthusiasm about her.
Just my 2 cents.
There's definitely something going on with the passing over of Mirai. I can only hope it's that the people who need to know, already have the inside tip that Alissa will be withdrawing from NHK and Mirai will get the replacement invite and this has been the plan all along.
That is the only explanation that makes sense.
Although, not really. If everyone already knows that Alissa will not be going to NHK, why the charade?
^ But then again, it is hard to see any advantage for Alissa to go to NHK if she is not prepared to do her best. She can't make the GP finals no matter what, and if she does not place high she will not make enough money to cover expenses.
It might be more like, some days she feels pretty good, like she is on the road to recovery, and then others days not so much. So she is keeping her options open. Sort of like Michelle at the 2006 Olympics.
Michelle knew in her secret heart that it wasn't going to happen, but she hung in there hoping for a miracle. While at the same time telling Emily Hughes to keep her bags packed.
If everyone already knows that Alissa will not be going to NHK, why the charade?
Then again, if Mirai wins Cup of China the Japanese Federation might not want her to get a second assignment and a chance to knock one of the Japanese girls out of the finals.
At this point I feel like this skater has as good a chance of getting a gp spot as anyone else...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuG9i5cwGW0