Han Yan

[Gliding on ice]

This thread is for Han Yan (first name: Han, last name: Yan) from China.

Yan made his senior international debut at the 2013 Four Continents Championships in Osaka, Japan, where he took the bronze medal with a personal best score of 235.22 (SP: 85.08, LP: 150.14).

Yan’s SP performance at 2013 4CC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5_PmrOdIaY

Yan started skating at the age of 5. He used to train in Harbin, but has moved to train in Beijing starting this year. He won the gold medal at the 2012 World Junior Championships, becoming the first Chinese to win the men’s junior world title.

Yan’s favorite skaters:
- Patrick Chan
- Tomas Verner


Some links:

Han Yan’s Wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yan_Han...gure_skater%29

Han Yan’s Chinese Wiki
http://baike.baidu.com/view/3573950.htm

Han Yan’s Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter)
http://weibo.com/u/1991083414


Yan is only 16! And he already has a great foundation (i.e. incredible speed, amazing ice coverage, great flow, effortless jumps, good presentation, musicality, etc) which he will only continue to build on as he gets more experience from the senior circuit. With polishing and better choreographed programs, there is no doubt that Han Yan is the future for China.

[SkateFiguring]

I discovered Han two years ago and was extremely impressed. I predict he will not just be the future of figure skating for China, but for the world. Watch out for Yan Dynasty!

[os168]

Very cool to see him doing so well, between him and ZiJun among many new young talents, hopefully China will get a good shot with these new generation of skaters.
(What I also love about his name is is there's no silent g at the end! I have been trying to remove that silent g out of Chinese names for the longest time. Nice to see the Mandarin speakers doing this job nicely.)

[spikydurian]

I discovered Han two years ago and was extremely impressed. I predict he will not just be the future of figure skating for China, but for the world. Watch out for Yan Dynasty!

Yan Dynasty ..... Yes, he's impressive. He has speed and effortless jumps. I do hope China keeps 'polishing this precious gem'. It will be encouraging to other men skaters in China if they can have a skater who can break into the top 10 if not top 5 in the near future. They haven't had a dominating male skater before, right?

[dorispulaski]

Chengjiang Li was as high as fourth at Worlds, AFAIR, so yes there has been a very good Chinese male skater before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Chengjiang

He also finished third at the GPF once, and won Four Continents once.

[gardenernaga]

Thank you for opening a new thread for Han Yan, one of my favorite young skaters.

He has already acquired have a lot of fans not only in China but also in Japan.
I myself enjoy watching his weibo every night since he started tweeting there!

[deedee1]

The distance of his jumps are just AMAGING! Han's 3As are best in the business.

I heard that those who were at front rows of the arena at this 4CC almost screamed with disbelief by distance and height of his jumps and they accordingly feared that he would fly across the board!

[giulia95]

Baby Han

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9rpg-e2NjE

[Aesthetics]

Chengjiang Li was as high as fourth at Worlds, AFAIR, so yes there has been a very good Chinese male skater before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Chengjiang

He also finished third at the GPF once, and won Four Continents once.

Now that you mention Chenjiang Li, I remember he had good quad and was one of few Chinese skaters with good artistry.

Wish Yan Han will develop Li’s artistry and nice jumps someday.

The distance of his jumps are just AMAGING! Han's 3As are best in the business.

I heard that those who were at front rows of the arena at this 4CC almost screamed with disbelief by distance and height of his jumps and they accordingly feared that he would fly across the board!

I saw 4cc live in Osaka. Yan Han’s 3A was not that great – it was good but no way that was the best in the business. I did not hear people screaming with disbelief. People screamed with disbelief after Reynold’s lp, which was amazing to watch live. Yan’s jumps had distance, yes, but there was almost no height in any of his jumps. I much prefer Takahashi’s 3As at NHK or Worlds for example. When I saw them live, Takahashi’s 3As had more height and was right on to the music at NHK.

[jjane45]

Baby Han

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9rpg-e2NjE

Here is an even younger version from 2005 =)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml8XT32kOec

[jjane45]

And another cute video circa 2006 where he demonstrates compulsory steps (?) level 3B.

[jjane45]

Cross posting zydeco88's translation:

4CC - Q&A session with Japanese fans after the FS small medal ceremony
(Aaron was present earlier but switched places with Han Yan for the medalists' photo and Q&A sessions)

Source:
nico nico douga (registration required to view the video; longer version as it was taped from the beginning of the Q&A session)
YT (taped right as Yuzu began to answer the first question; marked with * below)

Some words are hard to decipher though, due to the background noises. Hope that the translation does justice and still retains the gist of the questions and answers

MC: Let's give a huge applause to the skaters.
(Yuzu, Kevin and Yan starts leaving the venue by mistake, only to be summoned back for the Q&A Must have been embarrassed)
MC: Please raise your hand if you'd like to pose a question.
Q1: I'm directing my question to Mr. Hanyu. You've had some problems with your Lutzes this time and I'd like to know why you always looked over your shoulder the minute before initiating the jump take-off.
*Yuzu: Well, Brian suggested looking behind right before initiating the jump take-off. He said by doing so, I'll be able to confirm my body's axis and the flight path. So, that's why I did that. But more importantly, I've let myself stumble while on a stroll down Parisienne Walkways (Crowd: Laughs). I'll keep this in mind and do it properly next time. (Crowd: (Cheers) Do your best!)
[Parisienne Walkways = Pari no Sanpomichi (パリの散歩道) in Japanese. So, he was making a pun with the word Walkways (散歩道) and walk/stroll (散歩) to indirectly refer to his singled Lutz in the SP ]

MC: Has anyone got any questions for Mr. Kevin?
Q2: Is there any skater you aspire to be like?
Kevin: (In English)
MC: Is there anyone who has questions for Mr. Han Yan?
Q3: Um, why do you always take close-up pictures of your face and upload it on the net (on his personal weibo blog)?
Crowd: (Roars in laughters and cheers)
Yan: (Smiles sheepishly) Because I've got nothing else to do.
MC: Lastly, please pose a general question to all three skaters. C'mon guys, liven things up! Let's ask this little girl over here, who's probably the youngest among those who put up their hands just now.
Little girl: Please give me your autographs. (Crowd: Laughs)
MC: Let's ask another person, the one who wished to direct her question to Kevin just now.
Q4: Looking back, what do you think of your performance?
Kevin: (In English)
Yuzu: (Repeats what Kevin's said) Me too, right from the get-go of the short program up until the last pose in the free.... (Crowd: Laughs) Am I not allowed to say the same thing? Oh well, since I speak Japanese, I should give a proper answer. Firstly, I'm really disappointed for having missed the Lutz in the short and botched the quad sal in the free. Well, I did nothing but botched (a lot of things) this time. The result's turned out pretty disappointing, but I won't let it end like this, so I'd like to work hard to be able to stand in the same place as the person next to me is standing (1st place finish) at the Worlds Champs. And of course, we, Japanese men won't let this end on such a low note. Me and my seniors will band together, acknowledge this outcome and go the extra mile (for the next competition)
Crowd: (Cheers) Do your best! Admirable! Boss! Boy, you're really cool!
Yuzu: (Completely embarrassed, but there's no corner to hide in, so his knee-jerk reaction is to hide his face behind that scanty pint-sized box he's been holding )
Yan: I think things have turned out quite well. But it's a little bit risky to have this kind of result.

LOL @ the question directed to Han regarding his weibo posts. I think at the end he said 还行,很惊险 in Chinese about his performance, the interpreter phrased it little awkwardly, I personally would translate it as "Okayish, a near miss."

[zydeco88]

LOL @ the question directed to Han regarding his weibo posts. I think at the end he said 还行，很惊险 in Chinese about his performance, which sorta kinda translates as "Okayish, a near miss."

LOL, too @the irrelevant question, but it really got the crowd going. Yan comes across as a shy person and doesn't talk much in public, but is quite a narcissist in private. XD
And thanks for the clarification on what he said at the end. Completely relied on the interpreters as I don't understand Chinese.

[jjane45]

Sorry zydeco88 for not being specific in my post, it was very clear you were using the English translation. my fault... And thank you again!

After this episode I think he posts less about himself and opts to post about his adorable little kitten.

[jjane45]

On a more serious note, cross posting myself from FSU:

YAN Han's weibo reply to a fan (2/27/2013 8:56am local time): 我短期没比赛 or I have no competitions in the immediate future. Combined with other recent posts showing disappointment... Still don't know but maybe his chances got very slim :(