NHK Trophy 2012

NHK Trophy 2012 press conference

Thanks for posting this. I want to see that trophy in Mao's hands.

me too goo Mao, she looks beautiful in those pictures

http://photos.nikkansports.com/sports/women/img/photogyala121007mao1.jpg
http://photos.nikkansports.com/sports/women/img/photogyala121007mao2.jpg
http://photos.nikkansports.com/sports/women/img/photogyala121007mao3.jpg
http://photos.nikkansports.com/sports/women/img/photogyala121007mao4.jpg

news clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqAXKSHUni0

http://www1.nhk.or.jp/figure/index.html official website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cPlRLLRhJ_0
(First few minutes are on Mura at TEB)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rJ3T9WHx6Ow

I almost fell of my chair when I visited Liza's group at vkontakte and saw this message:"Guys, please cheering for Asada and Suzuki at NHK trophy and wishing them victory and all the best!"

polosatik wrote:

I almost fell of my chair when I visited Liza's group at vkontakte and saw this message:"Guys, please cheering for Asada and Suzuki at NHK trophy and wishing them victory and all the best!"

Dear polosatik, please pardon me. I didn't get it. Isn't it a nice message? :-)
As long as Mao and Akiko grab gold and silver, ET should also be in. :-D

YAY!!!!!! Another competition with Mao!

any practice clips?

ballerinamao wrote:

any practice clips?

Practices usually start on Thursday, it's a bit earlier... I'm sure the Japanese media will talk a lot about Mao since tomorrow!

kitty wrote:

polosatik wrote:

I almost fell of my chair when I visited Liza's group at vkontakte and saw this message:"Guys, please cheering for Asada and Suzuki at NHK trophy and wishing them victory and all the best!"

Dear polosatik, please pardon me. I didn't get it. Isn't it a nice message? :-)
As long as Mao and Akiko grab gold and silver, ET should also be in. :-D

Yes, but I find kind of fun when person asked to cheer just because then your skater can get in GPF. It seems an admin is a little girl or something.

Mao2012 wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

any practice clips?

Practices usually start on Thursday, it's a bit earlier... I'm sure the Japanese media will talk a lot about Mao since tomorrow!

thanks for the info mao2012, i look really forward to see Mao again!

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/winter/news/20121122-OHT1T00084.htm
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20121122/fig12112212180000-n1.html


sounds like in good shape.

read somewhere that Dai will change his choreography of FS back to JO version since he didn't feel good when skating to it in CoC.

I love Mao's new training suit! And oh, that move on the picture !!! Thanks shikure!

She has her game face on in that picture. Perfect. GO MAO!!! GO TO SOCHI!

polosatik wrote:

I love Mao's new training suit! And oh, that move on the picture !!! Thanks shikure!

you are welcome, polosatik.
The thing I like most is she doesn't lose weight maybe slightly thinner than summer but not too thin.

ETA: comments from Mao
http://sportsnavi.yahoo.co.jp/winter/skate/figure/headlines/20121122-00000008-spnavi-spo.html (the title said she landed 3A)

「（アクセルを跳んでいたが？）昨日は跳べる気がしなかったんですが、今日はやってみたら跳べました。

did you try axel (i think they mean 3A)...didn't feel like to try yesterday but wanted to try it today then did.


（中国杯からＮＨＫ杯にかけてのテーマは？）ジャンプを中心に練習をしました。（中国杯では）回転不足の判定が厳しかったので、そういった部分を重点的に。演技はこんな感じかなと思ったんですが、結果が優勝だったので、ファイナルへ向けて少し気が楽になりました。

she focused on jumps during the period from Coc to NHK. because there were UR calls so she focused on that. other part of the performance just like what it is. the winning in Coc let her feels more relief for GPF.

（ジャンプについて、佐藤信夫コーチからのアドバイスは？）いろいろありますが、１つはスピード、あとは流れを良くとか。その時によって注意は違いますが。滑っていて良い滑りができていると思いましたが、でも信夫先生には……（笑）。

what is the advise from Sato coach about jump? a lot, one of them is speed then is flow.

　今入っている構成でシーズンを越えるわけではないので、これよりもレベルアップできたらと思います」

Thank you again shikure! Mao looks confident, I like it!

shikure wrote:

今入っている構成でシーズンを越えるわけではないので、これよりもレベルアップできたらと思います」

Think you forgot to translate the last quote, shikure...Mao said in the very end that she's not intending to go throughout the season with the layout they have now, so she hopes she can 'level up'...I think when she said that she hopes to 'level up' which is the exact words she used in the Jpnse quote, it's not about getting higher levels for her elements but simply to become capable of doing more difficult stuff (hopefully a 3-3!).

I so wish that Mao and Akiko can make 1st and 2nd not only for their sakes, but for Liza too!
But at the same time I hope Mirai would do well...so I guess my predictions and wishes are...

1 Mao
2 Akiko
3 Mirai
4 Zijun, Elene or Haruka

But if Haruka can just get over her nerve problems, I think she has a pretty good chance of making the podium too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZjvNVqcXE the 3A

thank you Pochi for finishing what I have done half way.
my boss came over then i just saved it LOL then just don't have time to get back to finish it.

shikure wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZjvNVqcXE the 3A

thank you Pochi for finishing what I have done half way.
my boss came over then i just saved it LOL then just don't have time to get back to finish it.

You made my day!

shikure, thanks for posting the pics and translation! I love those pics, she looks like she's really enjoying herself.

Alokya wrote:

She has her game face on in that picture. Perfect. GO MAO!!! GO TO SOCHI!

YES! Go Mao, you can do it!!!

polosatik wrote:

Mao looks confident, I like it!

I agree, hopefully she'll bring this confidence to competition as well.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

.Mao said in the very end that she's not intending to go throughout the season with the layout they have now, so she hopes she can 'level up'...I think when she said that she hopes to 'level up' which is the exact words she used in the Jpnse quote, it's not about getting higher levels for her elements but simply to become capable of doing more difficult stuff (hopefully a 3-3!).

This is great news. Hopefully she'll go for 3-3 and leave the 3A out of her programs.

My dream podium is:

1. Mao
2. Akiko
3. Elene

I really hope Elene will manage to keep her nerves in the LP. And I love her SP, so I hope she'll manage a bronze here.

shikure wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZjvNVqcXE the 3A

thank you Pochi for finishing what I have done half way.
my boss came over then i just saved it LOL then just don't have time to get back to finish it.

It looked quite good, maybe a bit <, but the jump is still there! But I hope she won't just focus on it in the next months, but works on the 3-3 and on getting non-UR triples, she could maybe try it at Nationals and, if she feels confident, leave it in her programs for 4CC and Worlds, but I hope she won't try it at GPF, or, at least, not in the SP...

shikure wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZjvNVqcXE the 3A

thank you Pochi for finishing what I have done half way.
my boss came over then i just saved it LOL then just don't have time to get back to finish it.

thanks for posting this clip, Mao looks really good from this short clip, i am getting soooooooooooooo excitet to see Mao again!

Some more news on Mao...

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121122-00000077-nksports-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121122-00000604-san-spo
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20121122-00000058-mai-spo

Both articles are in Jpnse with no new photos, so don't bother to check if you can't understand them. And they're both about all the main Jpnse skaters not just Mao, so I'll only translate what she said in them:

Quote :

浅田はジャンプを重点的にチェック。「氷の感覚が、だいぶ合ってきた。ショートプログラムは確実に滑り、フリーでは（前戦の）中国杯のミスを直したい」と意欲を見せた。

Asada checked her jumps mainly (today at practice). She said "I'm getting used to the feeling of the ice pretty much. I want to skate my SP without flaws, and would like to fix the mistakes I made in COC in my FP" with ambition.

Quote :

中国杯で優勝し、ＮＨＫ杯は４位以内でファイナルに進める浅田はリラックスした様子でジャンプの感触などを確認。「（ファイナルで）ソチに行って、五輪に近づいている感じを自分も味わいたい」と意気込んだ。

Asada who won COC and will be able to make Finals if she ends in at least 4th place seemed relaxed and checked her jumps. She showed motivation saying "I'd like to go to Sochi (for GP Finals), and feel the sensation of Olys coming soon."

Quote :

スケーティング強化が中心だった佐藤信夫コーチとの練習も、ジャンプ練習が増えてきたといい、「いい滑りができている実感がある。（中国杯で取られたジャンプの）回転不足を改善したい」と語った。

(Asada said that) Her trainings with Sato which had focused on her overall skating, but they've started to put more weight on practicing jumps, and said "I can really feel that I'm skating well. I'd like to fix the URs I got (for some jumps in COC)."

So she's really eager to get no more URs at NHK! I hope she can overcome that problem.

Btw, Dai and Yuzuru seemed to have been succeeding quads and like Mao they all seem to be in pretty good condition. Not much has been written about Akiko except that she said she hopes to be able to show all that she achieved in practice...(the usual stuff Jpnse skaters say most of the time) but it hasn't been reported that she's in bad condition either.

Once again it's been confirmed in some articles that Dai and Yuzuru both need to make either 1st or 2nd place to get their tickets to Finals for sure. If not I think they may still have a chance, but then it might depend on their actual scores in total. Mao needs over 4th place; should nothing go terribly wrong, I think she'll make it. Akiko needs to be in 2nd place or higher, the same goes for Agnes, and Mirai needs to be in 1st place.

The most comlicating case in ladies would happen if Mirai ends in 1st, Agnes in 2nd, Akiko in 3rd and Mao in 4th place. If NHK should end like this, these 4 skaters and Julia will all have 24 points in total for standings, so the skater who has the highest ranking in one of their assignments will get their tickets to Finals first; in this case, since Mao won at COC and Mirai won NHK they'll be the ones. 2 of the other 3 skaters left (Julia, Agnes and Akiko) who have the highest actuall scores for their performances will get to go to Finals too. But I highly doubt that Mirai, Agnes and Akiko will all win over Mao like this; maybe one of the girls might score higher than Mao if she makes lots of mistakes, but I can hardly see all of them scoring higher. In any case, I think ending up in 4th place would be the worst scenario for Mao, and even if that happened she'll still get to go to Finals!

I think maybe for just this once, I'll be able to relax and just enjoy Mao performing live, rather than being worried sick and nervous for her like I usually am!