Mao Asado and Yu Na Kim

We've seen these names mentioned often but, not many in Golden Skate have seen them on TV but some members have seen them live and on Asian TV. Can any of you give us a report on them and how they compare with each other and the present senior field?

Joe

Joe,

In Canada they showed both the junior grand prix final and Junior world so I have seen both of these skater. If I was still living in Ontario I would have gone to Junior Worlds. Ya Na Kim didn't make much of an impression with me But Mao Asado just floats across the ice effetlessly. Both of these skaters still look like little girls, definetly prepubesent so who knows if either will be around in a couple of yeares

Janet

Having seen both of these skaters on TV, both of these girls have a long way to go before challenging the top senior skaters. Mao's triple axel and other triples are somewhat underrotated and fairly small (or at least small compared to Midori Ito, Irina and even MK). Both of these skaters have beautiful style and are finished though their young physiques take away from their look on the ice and there isn't a lot of power flowing from their skating (unlike Tara Lipinski who had a lot of power in her basic stroking).

I think the talk of Mao dominating seniors is extremely premature. She's not going to fare well when her jumps are scrutinized. It seems that in juniors, they are forgiving a lot of underrotations which would be called in the senior events. Or it could be that the judges are harder on the seniors in undervaluing jumps due to underrotation.

All the talk of Kimmie... even more premature b/c she's NOWHERE near these girls' levels.

From what I have read, Yu-Na Kim is far less enthusiastic about skating than her mother is. The time may come when Yu-Na shuts down the way AP McDonough did and just refuses to continue.

Here are some random videos of Asada and Kim
Yu Na Kim 2004 Junior Grand Prix Budapest LP (someone’s home video)
http://s16.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=104S6ET9J1HWW0WCYT1BMO3US5
Mao Asada 2004 Japanese Nationals LP
http://s16.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1JAE88A060FZL2O75G6F0YHEIM
Mao Asada 2005 Jr. Worlds SP
http://s14.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3902C7LKOG3YW257WTTWVWENUC

janetb said:

Both of these skaters still look like little girls, definetly prepubesent so who knows if either will be around in a couple of yeares

Click to expand...

I agree with you, Janet. I think both of these skaters have some difficult years ahead of them. Asada's legs are very thin and frail looking, and I think she will need to make adjustments in her technique when she adds muscle to her legs. I think she really needs to work on her arm movements because now they remind me of Yoshie Onda the way they are usually at her sides and not part of the choreography. Her sit spin positions are also weak.

To my eyes, Asada has an underlying musicality that will come through regardless of any body changes she might go through. Kim's presentation struck me as perfunctory, but this could change, if she really doesn't hate it as much as her expression implies.

I watched a few Mao video on the net, haven't seen Kim at all. I have heard about Mao on the net for at least 5 years. I am glad she is competing in the GP series next year. Too bad jr GP will not be televized in the USA, but Mao was good enough to beat them all including Kimmie.

I find Kim to be an extremely sensitive skater with interpretation ability beyond her years. Her long program is just beautiful and filled with details highlighting the nuances of the music. Her frustration with her training schedule might even have added to the fragile look she has on the ice, and it's IMO very appealing. But I do hope her team will find a way out of this and give her the right kind of motivation..she's too talented to quit. I much prefer Kim and Meissner to Asada at this point; IMO Asada skates like a little girl while the other two don't.