Mao Asada's SP backup plan

Tinymavy15 said:

Just showing the judges a triple Axel will not be enough. It worries me a lot that even her doubles and easy triples are being downgraded. Mao needs a 3/3 and a triple axel, something I hope she realizes next season. So far she has not had that much more sucess rotating her triple axels than her 3/3's.

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I think there are just a lot of really good ladies competing at once. Yuna, Mao, Miki are all kind of legendary. You have amazing girl, triple-axel girl, and quad girl competing all at once!

Mao is probably in trouble, but that's just because Yuna is amazing :agree:
please don't hurt me

silverlake22 said:

I think there are just a lot of really good ladies competing at once. Yuna, Mao, Miki are all kind of legendary. You have amazing girl, triple-axel girl, and quad girl competing all at once!

Mao is probably in trouble, but that's just because Yuna is amazing :agree:
please don't hurt me

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don't worry, you're safe. But Mao's troubles really have less to do with Yuna or any other skater than herself. I see Mao is battling with herself now. Oh, does Miki still attempt the quad?

miki88 said:

don't worry, you're safe. But Mao's troubles really have less to do with Yuna or any other skater than herself. I see Mao is battling with herself now. Oh, does Miki still attempt the quad?

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Not in her programs but she does in practice. Like her 3-3, it irritates me because I see her 3-3 in practice videos and in the warm up and it's awesome but then she never does it in her programs :no:

Originally Posted by Figure88

LOL! I didn't base my opinion on Sonia's assessment. Sonia basically broke down Mao's mistakes for me as I didn't see the program component sheet for her World's performance. Her 2 edge calls and her DG on her 3X3, along with her faceplant on her 3A would have been deducted severely by today's judging standards, and as a result, she would be out of medal contention. Look at Mao now, she's making the same misktakes and recently she placed out of medal contention at Worlds and didn't even qualify for GPF. It's ridiculous that Mao fans should think that her problems just arose recently, since it's obvious that she always had jump problems except judges looked the other way in the past.

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wonderlen3000 said:

Are you kidding?? Mao did get slapped severely for all her mistakes. -3 GOE + 1 point deduction for the fall, -2 GOE each for her both flutz and her 3+3 not only got <, also get slapped with -GOE. Her score from both 2008 and 2009 are almost in the same 180+ range. She double her Lutz in SP and fall on the second triple, and also no triple lutz in the LP. She always judges the same way since COP rules got tighten after 2007W. Its just she is falling and poping jumps more than she used too.

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To further elaborate on my previous point:

Worlds 2007 SP - popped jump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj_m4Zc7_4Y

Worlds 2007 FS - two footed triple axels, obvious mistakes on other jump elements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5G3Ns2i86U

GPF 2007 SP - fall, missed jump element

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2wtYBY-6I

Did her jumping problems just begin this year? It seems she's always had trouble with them.

Figure88 said:

To further elaborate on my previous point:

Worlds 2007 SP - popped jump

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj_m4Zc7_4Y

Worlds 2007 FS - two footed triple axels, obvious mistakes on other jump elements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5G3Ns2i86U

GPF 2007 SP - fall, missed jump element

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk2wtYBY-6I

Did her jumping problems just begin this year? It seems she's always had trouble putting together 2 clean programs.

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This also applies to some other skaters,like XX,you know what I mean

Wow what a thread. Total cat fight here . Well, I'm sorry to rip the bandage off a festering wound (people seem be starting to moving on), but going back to the 2008 Worlds, I just think that was an underwhelming event, reminiscent of Torino 2006. In other words, a splatfest. I think all ladies performed sub-par performances (when considering their actual potential), but in the end, Mao won and people should give respect where it's due. I think the one objection most Yu-na fans have is that all three ladies on the podium performed worse than they had in GPF, but Mao's and Carolina's PCS increased, while Kim's actually decreased. I have no stance on that, as I haven't done any thorough analysis on actual performances and will not any time in the near future, but at face value that seems to be a reasonable objection, although clearly no reason to "downplay" another skater's accomplishments.

Although I'm a huge Kim fan, I have no objection to Mao's gold, as she deserved it when all was done and over with (and I love sweet Mao-chan), but I am troubled by the other standings. My ideal podium would have been:
Gold: Mao
Silver: Kim
Bronze: Yukari

Sorry, but I'll be very straightforward about this: Kostner didn't deserve a medal for her performances. Yes, who am I to judge, but I think many people will concur with me when putting her skates in perspective, in particular broadening the horizon to include Yukari's LP. Now that was the LP of the evening, putting aside that shaky 3A. When she was left out of the Japanese Olympic team ... I wanted Akiko to go to Vancouver, but I still felt awful when Yukari didn't make it. She should have gone in 2006. In an ideal world, Japan would've been given four tickets to the Olympic games, as their ladies are obviously highly-highly-highly-talented.

Good for Mao :agree: Backup plans are always necessary. Like a previous poster has mentioned, even the mighty Kween had one -- because indeed the ice is slippery. If there is one wish I have (other than my very Kim-biased one, which will receive hammering from any Mao bots present ), it is that each skater delivers the SOHL, a skate to never forget and never regret. I don't want to have another bawl-like-a-baby moment with a skater I love like I had with the Kween during "Fields of Gold." Let everyone skate like a dream, and may the triumphant emerge by virtue of their own spectacular talents, not by the implosion of everyone else. Go Vancouver 2010!

P.S. Don't be so mean to bots, though. I think people can get rather disrespectful in the language they use -- at times, very derisive and inconsiderate. Let's not sink to such fathoms of ignominy. In other words, be nice.

I'm so glad she has a backup. It's really smart of her. It would just be awful (not just for her, but for the competition as well) if she were to lose credit for certain jumps because of mistakes in the short.

dlgpffps said:

entire post

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Nice post! And it is entirely possible to like more than one skater--it doesn't mean you are anti-the other skater.

Thanks dlgpffps for your post. As the thread starter, I didn't expect this thread to become a catfight. Didn't expect people to bring up 2008 Worlds. But as Mao's fan, I have to defend her right? It would be nice if everyone made reasonable arguments like yours.

dlgpffps said:

Sorry, but I'll be very straightforward about this: Kostner didn't deserve a medal for her performances. Yes, who am I to judge, but I think many people will concur with me when putting her skates in perspective, in particular broadening the horizon to include Yukari's LP. Now that was the LP of the evening, putting aside that shaky 3A. When she was left out of the Japanese Olympic team ... I wanted Akiko to go to Vancouver, but I still felt awful when Yukari didn't make it. She should have gone in 2006. In an ideal world, Japan would've been given four tickets to the Olympic games, as their ladies are obviously highly-highly-highly-talented.
.

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Nice post :agree:. I agree about Kostner, but unfortunately I think the Europeans ARE held to a lower standard precisely because the Japanese and Yuna are so highly talented. If it was an asian podium sweep at every competition it would get a little boring, so it's nice to see a European, Canadian, or American slip in there sometimes, even if they aren't nearly as good. The European skaters, men and women, I will say have excellent edging as a whole as well as good speed. Most of them are very good looking as well which is always fun . I remember last Olympics I thought Brian Joubert was the coolest thing ever, mostly because he's gorgeous

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20100113it.html

This recent article confirms Mao is sticking to her two 3As in the LP. The writer thinks she should stick with one 3A but I don't think Mao can win with just one if she won't add a 3-3. The article also talks about the controversy Hersh mentioned and I liked that this writer takes a objective stand on the issue.

miki88 said:

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sp20100113it.html

This recent article confirms Mao is sticking to her two 3As in the LP. The writer thinks she should stick with one 3A but I don't think Mao can win with just one if she won't add a 3-3. The article also talks about the controversy Hersh mentioned and I liked that this writer takes a objective stand on the issue.

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Since she is sticking to her two 3A's in the LP, it's good that she has a backup plan, I think. Also, I agree with you that this article is very objectively written, unlike Hersh's article.