Mao: post-Sochi news and articles

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

WowMao wrote:

Here are some interviews that Mao has done in English. Her pronunciation of English is so adorable.

It is interesting that you brought this up now, because only a few hours before your post, I was just thinking about my favorite mini-interview of her's.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2578cz_2014-03-29-cbc-2014-worlds-ladies-fs-mao-asada_sport

The "Would you think about going on, or is this the end of Mao?" part was actually included in a Japanese documentary about her. She also makes a point of explicitly mentioning "the audience was very nice", which I think we know why, given what she can compare to...

I also agree with you about using Swan Lake if she needs to redo a program. It is already choreographed for 8 triples, fresh and ready to go without any modifications.
My problem with reusing Rach II is: Any program using this music, including by other skaters, will be overshadowed into oblivion by the Sochi LP.
If she does have a successful comeback, I wouldn't want it to be overshadowed by her own earlier work.

Thanks for the mini-interview clip. She is so polite and gracious. Mao's Swan Lake performance especially at Worlds has really grown on me and I would love to see Mao do it as well as she did her Sochi LP, but a new program would be great too. I agree Rach II is magnificent but she has already given the definitive performance of it.

rosewood mentioned that Mao said in an airweave interview that she felt back pain during training and that Mao had asked her manager to bring her an airweave mattress to her hotel to help alleviate it. I know she has battled chronic back pain before as recently as between Nationals and Sochi, but I hope that Mao doesn't feel it's necessary to push herself too hard to make a comeback because she has already proven what an incredible skater she is. I just hope the pain goes away.

Here is the post: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/inde....89260/page-29 post number 870

Here is the interview where Mao mentioned her back pain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ods_Ed01zAo

Here is a picture of Mao in Canada with Zijun Li. That makes two years in a row they have met each other there so maybe they are becoming good friends. They are both really beautiful.

https://instagram.com/p/3rl8LFTX44/?taken-by=lizijunn

COHK wrote:

And they want to respect the timeline of ISU announcement so no announcement will be made otherwise (until Jun 15th).

This means, I presume, Mao's name is on the list.

Yuzu's new LP music is from the Japanese movie "Onmyoji" set in Heian era (8th ~ 12th century).
I want Mao to choose Japanese style program, too.

Here is a video and music from the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qmvfpAdbJo&feature=youtu.be

And Yuzu's new costume.

https://twitter.com/europeonice

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20150613-00000158-spnannex-spo

Yeeeeeeees!

NHK (for sure!)  and ..... ?

Mao is assigned to Cup of China and NHK
http://isuprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/207789/gp_ladies.pdf

I'm so glad that she doesn't have to travel a long distance and her competitions are not held back to back.  I really hope she will not push herself too hard and Mr. Sato will take a good care of her health.

Men
http://isuprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/207792/gp_men.pdf

Hmm.... COC has Lena and Anna (and Zijun and SY and Karen Chen and Hannah Miller. I'm going to watch it), and NHK has Anna and Ashley and Satoko (and Zijun and Osmond and Artemieva.)

I think she's got a good chance of winning a both of them.

Maaaaaooo!!!!

This means that she is actually in really good form, otherwise Sato wouldn't have let her participate in the GPS. I think this is good if she feels like it. Mao is not the type of skater to appear at one competition, win and go away. She needs to test her skates and build momentum. And she loves skating so I don't see her going to just one competition to win and thats all.

Well, she wants to skate, we want to see her skate and Sato believes she is in good form, so no problem at all. I'm sooo happy right now!

I'm conflicted about this news. I wanted her to stay away from GP's and fully prepare, but Mao and her team know best. So if she put her name up for GP's then she must feel she can be fully ready. Needless to say, I can't wait to see her back!
Though I really don't want to be a party pooper,I do hope this was solely her decision and she wasn't being "helped" by JSF and ISU.

Now I can't wait to see her new SP.  Is there any chance she might get a new LP, or is it certain she'll recycle an old one?

If she'll recycle, I'm hoping for a Rachmaninov or Swan Lake.

I didn't want to post any related news prior to the final confirmation of GP assignments, as the Jpn news reports were very confusing regarding if Mao would show up in GP or not. And now everything is clear. I almost forgot that by Mao's standard, she won't want to have half of the GP series and will go for full. That's Mao!

I hope she'll take everything easy with the GP and upcoming competitions.

BTW, I just come across with a Chinese Weibo by a Chinese sports reporter who's close to some Chinese skaters. As we all know that some Chinese skaters are also in Canada for their summer training, it is reported by them that Mao seems to be in quite good condition and is getting beautiful program (...not sure about the number of the program, sorry, in Chinese the noun does not specify numbers!)

Beautiful program(s)?    

I really hope both her LP and SP are new!


https://twitter.com/msKOSTNER

^The photo together with Lori and Caro means they are probably working on the collaborative work for 'The Ice'. Actually, from the tweet by Chukyo TV (チュッキョ @ctveventkawa), it says that the choreography has been done, and it's a collaborative piece for Mao, Caro, and Joannie. It's going to be a wonderful (piece of art) work.

I'm glad that Mao seems to be able to stay for a longer term for this time. At least she stays after the changes to the rules have announced. So there's no worry about fitting the updated rules for the moment. I hope she'll be able to get new programs as well. But we will see.

Another news update is that, JSF had a meeting on 19th and ratifies Mao's status as returning to one of the "special strengthened" athletes. So she decides to use the 'come-back' condition and thus gets 2 GP assignments.
http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20150619-00000059-dal-spo

Thanks for the info, COHK!

And it seems that Yuka Nagai and Haruka Imai are also added to the special strengthened athletes.

COHK wrote:

Actually, I'm glad that Mao seems to be able to stay for a longer term for this time. At least she stays after the changes to the rules have announced. So there's no worry about fitting the updated rules for the moment.  

Indeed!  


CoC official (?) has uploaded the photos of the participants.
Their choice of photos is good!

http://ww3.sinaimg.cn/large/6b96acb4jw1et9hztswlmj20e64cdas0.jpg …     Ladies
http://ww1.sinaimg.cn/large/6b96acb4jw1et9hzs0vesj20el4slqlv.jpg …        Men
http://ww2.sinaimg.cn/large/6b96acb4jw1et9hzv6v23j20du3dik7l.jpg …      Pair
http://ww1.sinaimg.cn/large/6b96acb4jw1et9hzwf1vnj20dm2wbtlz.jpg …     Ice Dance

silenceisgolden wrote:

Beautiful program(s)?    

I really hope both her LP and SP are new!

Me too, but I don't know if she'll have the time. I do wish though, she'd use different choreographers and not just Lori. If she doesn't have time to stay abroad, than there's a genious right at her door steps, named Kenji Miyamoto.    Mao, please use him!  

COHK wrote:

I'm glad that Mao seems to be able to stay for a longer term for this time. At least she stays after the changes to the rules have announced. So there's no worry about fitting the updated rules for the moment.

Yep, it seems ISU is not capable of going into the new season without changing some rules every freaking year.  This time at least, "only" base values of some jumps have been changed, and a new -4 GOE has been implemented for the quads.

Here's the link to the new base values. Only 3T and 3Sa have been upgraded. And twofooting a jump gets you an automatic -3 GOE. Can't remember if this was the case before.    
http://static.isu.org/media/207718/1944-sptc-sov-communication-2015-2016.pdf

zarinaballerina wrote:

And twofooting a jump gets you an automatic -3 GOE

http://static.isu.org/media/207718/1944-sptc-sov-communication-2015-2016.pdf

• Touch down with one hand or free foot: -1
  
• Landing on two feet in a jump: -3
  

Hopefully the judges don't confuse "landing with two feet" and "free foot touchdown".

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

[
Hopefully the judges don't confuse "landing with two feet" and "free foot touchdown".

THIS.

There was a period where Mao has landed her jumps on one foot, however when she streched her free leg, on some jumps, it touched the ice just for a moment. I wonder if this falls under the "free foot touchdown".

I hope she'll manage to fix the UR's. The real ones, not the imaginary ones that only a certain technical panel can see.

Needless to say, I never want to see Amano or Lakernik on the panel again. EVER.

zarinaballerina wrote:

I hope she'll manage to fix the UR's.

Her last 3 performances do not have any underrotations, she is done relearning the jumps. Even with 2 fake downgrades, and a fall on the opening of a 2A-3T combination, her Worlds performance is over 6 points higher than any score by any current competitor. The total PCS gap should be at least a dozen points, perhaps even 10 in the LP and 5 in the SP.

She is allowed to make reasonable errors, and still win even if everyone else skates clean.

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

Her last 3 performances do not have any underrotations, she is done relearning the jumps. Even with 2 fake downgrades, and a fall on the opening of a 2A-3T combination, her Worlds performance is over 6 points higher than any score by any current competitor. The total PCS gap should be at least a dozen points, perhaps even 10 in the LP and 5 in the SP.

She is allowed to make reasonable errors, and still win even if everyone else skates clean.

 


Bolero by Hiroaki Sato at Dreams on Ice.  

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2uv0rr

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

Her last 3 performances do not have any underrotations, she is done relearning the jumps. Even with 2 fake downgrades, and a fall on the opening of a 2A-3T combination, her Worlds performance is over 6 points higher than any score by any current competitor. The total PCS gap should be at least a dozen points, perhaps even 10 in the LP and 5 in the SP.

She is allowed to make reasonable errors, and still win even if everyone else skates clean.

Um, she received 2 UR's and "e" on Lutz in Sochi, and 4 UR's and and again "e" on Lutz at Worlds.
I completely agree with you about her calls in Sochi being absolutely bogus. That program was clean. "e" may have been deserved since it's very difficult fixing the take off edge, but those UR's, heck no.

I haven't watched her worlds LP in a long time so my memory isn't the best, but I do remember she looked a bit tired. So if an UR on 3F-2lo-2lo was deserved, it wouldn't surprise me. It's very easy getting an UR on a loop jump. But still, 4 UR's? I know I probably sound completely paranoid, but watching the tech panel finding nonexisting UR's during all those years, or giving Mao justified UR's but ignoring those of others, make me worried about her return. I really don't want to see her getting lowballed by the judges again.

I agree with you completely on the PCS. But I don't think it's going to happen.

silenceisgolden wrote:

Bolero by Hiroaki Sato at Dreams on Ice.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2uv0rr

His costume...

Downgrades at Worlds 2014 were stupid and only showed the lack of logic that some technical judges have. A strong relationship between the final score and what most people perceive at first sight must exist, otherwise the system is wrong or the judges don't know how to use the system to make it work properly.

Please, before replaying every single jump, let's think a little bit, let's use our brains.

1) The triple axel looked beautiful and rotated. After checking it, one can see that rotation is close (as usual) but taking into account that there's 1/4 prerotation (which is allowed) and a little bit less than 1/4 underrotation the jump is correct. Not much GOE because it's close, but, at the same time, it had good height, good position in the air and beautiful landing. I believe that a +1 GOE is fair. How can a beautiful jump, with good height, good air position and great landing be marked as underotated and get negative GOE? Again, brainless judges. People who only know about rules and camera angles but are incapable of thinking a little bit on their own.

2) The 3F-3L combo was one of the best she's done in terms of rotation and one of the best -3L combination I've seen from any skater in recent years. The rotation on the loop was great. She even lost the axis on that jump because of the momentum she gained after landing the flip. It looked a little uncontrolled because of the great power in the second jump. But...wait!! The judges found out that the 3F was short of rotation! What the...I mean, are you kidding?? I bet judges were looking for an underotation on the loop but failed to found it, so they decided to destroy the flip. Mao normally rotates the flip a little bit less than usual in 3-3L combinations so as to have a little more "room" to generate momentum before the take off of the second jump. It's never more than 1/4, but again, some zombie judges can't think...

3) Edge call on the Lutz is correct. No doubt about it, I'm sorry to say.

4) The 3F-2L-2L combination was good enough, although I can somehow understand the judges here. I think Mao has always had a tendency to jump the 2L in combinations too softly, to such an extent that rotation looks suspicious. I mean, by "nature" loop jumps are prerotated quite a lot (1/4-1/2, probably closer to 1/2). If, additionally, the skater lacks rotation in the landing judges might have a tendency to mark them as underotated. A double loop is an easy jump for Mao, so she should try to jump it with more power to guarantee a fully rotated landing. She is capable of jumping 3L as second jumps so this should not be a problem for her. Probably, a 3F-2T-2L would be a better option if she's having trouble keeping the momentum throughout the whole jumping pass. Anyway, I wouldn't have called both loops...maybe the second one but it was not that obvious.

My conclusion: Mao's score at worlds should have been much higher than it was. Accounting for the fact that she didn't complete the 2A-3T combo, I think that a score of about 146 would have been fair. Of course, this is just my opinion but after watching Mao's performance many times (and rewatching it now) I think it's quite reasonable.

Iceriver wrote:

Downgrades at Worlds 2014 were stupid and only showed the lack of logic that some technical judges have. A strong relationship between the final score and what most people perceive at first sight must exist, otherwise the system is wrong or the judges don't know how to use the system to make it work properly.

My conclusion: Mao's score at worlds should have been much higher than it was. Accounting for the fact that she didn't complete the 2A-3T combo, I think that a score of about 146 would have been fair. Of course, this is just my opinion but after watching Mao's performance many times (and rewatching it now) I think it's quite reasonable.

Great analysis, iceriver.  

I think that scoring fiasco that is occuring at almost every competition, is one of the main resons  this sport is losing fans at a rapid pace. I don't know if the judges really don't understand the system (most of the time), or it is done on purpose, but it needs to change. It's happening in all disciplines.  

I'm still laughing at the judges giving Mao an UR on her 3F in 3F-3L.    I mean seriously...  I know she'll probably never fix the take off edge on the Lutz, but I hope she'll manage to fix it enough to get ! instead of e.

I'm not even going to start on her 3A. When everyone, the commentators and the judges think it's round, yet the tech panel finds a misterious UR, there's really not much left to say.

About her score at worlds. I think you're correct in your estimation. The judges had her around 146-148, before the tech panel got to work and started to find UR's only they could see. I think one of the members here said, this was because they were trying to cover up the Sochi fiasco. How can a skater who skated a perfect program (though Lakernik disagreed) in Sochi received only 142, yet at worlds where she made a visible mistake she would receive 146+. So they found reasons to lower her score.

I trully hope Cinquanta has come to his senses and will start treating Mao fairly.    The other option would be, that JSF would grow some balls and officialy complain over all the injustice, but I'm not holding my breath.    So my only hope is that the idiot who is running the whole show, will stop being an idiot.  

the above discussion about Mao's jumps from Sochi and World 14' actually reminds me this: http://www.sankeibiz.jp/express/news/150615/exe1506151340012-n3.htm
It's a commentary by Yukari Nakano about Mao's returning to competitions. In part of the commentary, Yukari mentions that she once heard from Sato Coach commenting about Mao showing 'a phenomenal growth' esp. within one month between Sochi and World 14. What Yukari explains is that, comparing to Sochi, Mao seemed to have much spared (energy? room?) for her jumps at World (I'm not quite sure the exact translation, perhaps it's something like delay in jumps?). On the other side, I also believe in another Jpn commentary (by someone else) that I come across about Mao's return, mainly in that if Sato Coach is willing to take Mao in again, it must mean that he thinks there's potential in Mao to reach the top again, or else he'd simply turn her down.

On a side note, in her latest radio program, she answers the question from an audience about the 'new skill' she's practicing now. I assume it's the 3-jump combination of -1L-3S that has been rumored around. She sounds very positive about challenging the new combination, though she said it's not for certain whether the new jumps will be added to the new program.

Thanx COHK for the summary.

"if Sato Coach is willing to take Mao in again, it must mean that he thinks there's potential in Mao to reach the top again, or else he'd simply turn her down."

I love this sentence. Go Mao!

Off topic; Yukari looks gorgeous. I hope she has a fulfilled life and career outside the skating.

Iceriver wrote:

Downgrades at Worlds 2014 were stupid and only showed the lack of logic that some technical judges have. A strong relationship between the final score and what most people perceive at first sight must exist, otherwise the system is wrong or the judges don't know how to use the system to make it work properly.

Please, before replaying every single jump, let's think a little bit, let's use our brains.

1) The triple axel looked beautiful and rotated. After checking it, one can see that rotation is close (as usual) but taking into account that there's 1/4 prerotation (which is allowed) and a little bit less than 1/4 underrotation the jump is correct. Not much GOE because it's close, but, at the same time, it had good height, good position in the air and beautiful landing. I believe that a +1 GOE is fair. How can a beautiful jump, with good height, good air position and great landing be marked as underotated and get negative GOE? Again, brainless judges. People who only know about rules and camera angles but are incapable of thinking a little bit on their own.

2) The 3F-3L combo was one of the best she's done in terms of rotation and one of the best -3L combination I've seen from any skater in recent years. The rotation on the loop was great. She even lost the axis on that jump because of the momentum she gained after landing the flip. It looked a little uncontrolled because of the great power in the second jump. But...wait!! The judges found out that the 3F was short of rotation! What the...I mean, are you kidding?? I bet judges were looking for an underotation on the loop but failed to found it, so they decided to destroy the flip. Mao normally rotates the flip a little bit less than usual in 3-3L combinations so as to have a little more "room" to generate momentum before the take off of the second jump. It's never more than 1/4, but again, some zombie judges can't think...

3) Edge call on the Lutz is correct. No doubt about it, I'm sorry to say.

4) The 3F-2L-2L combination was good enough, although I can somehow understand the judges here. I think Mao has always had a tendency to jump the 2L in combinations too softly, to such an extent that rotation looks suspicious. I mean, by "nature" loop jumps are prerotated quite a lot (1/4-1/2, probably closer to 1/2). If, additionally, the skater lacks rotation in the landing judges might have a tendency to mark them as underotated. A double loop is an easy jump for Mao, so she should try to jump it with more power to guarantee a fully rotated landing. She is capable of jumping 3L as second jumps so this should not be a problem for her. Probably, a 3F-2T-2L would be a better option if she's having trouble keeping the momentum throughout the whole jumping pass. Anyway, I wouldn't have called both loops...maybe the second one but it was not that obvious.

My conclusion: Mao's score at worlds should have been much higher than it was. Accounting for the fact that she didn't complete the 2A-3T combo, I think that a score of about 146 would have been fair. Of course, this is just my opinion but after watching Mao's performance many times (and rewatching it now) I think it's quite reasonable.

I am not a tech expert, but these are my thoughts, some of which is new some of which I have said before. The score you have given Mao (iceriver) is much fairer than that given overall, but in Mao's LP the original GOE given to her triple axel was +1.6 GOE by a judging panel that didn't have any member from an Asian country or Japan as I remember. Consistent with this after looking at the jumps many times, the jump looks fully rotated to me. It didn't look a quarter turn short to me. I don't know how anyone can look at the scoring system as anything but corrupt if a jump with +1.6 GOE is downgraded and the fact that practically no journalist called them on it is a real travesty.

I do think Liza is a good jumper, but I think her jumps are not as good as they are made out to be and that Mao is a better jumper based on the reasons below. Even the judges thought Mao's 3F / 3L should have had a +1.3 GOE before the tech crew rigged that combo too.

In contrast to Mao's very good to excellent jumps (over +1) being called urd , some of LIza's textbook jumps are actually ur to my eyes. In Liza's 3T / 3T combo in the Worlds SP 2015 in which she almost broke Mao;s record, it is obvious based on looking at the slo mo replay that Liza's second 3T was under-rotated because of the large amount of spray that went up and the significant hook on the landing. Also, the first 3T had less obvious under-rotation but a wonky landing, which has historically caused Mao to get downgrades as for example, in her Worlds LP 2010 when the 3A / 2T was called ur'd  even though there was only a slight shift on the skate on the landing of the 3A and a little more noticeable on the 2T, which cost Mao 5-6 pints. In my opinion, Liza's "wonk" was more than Mao's yet neither jump was called and she still got +1 GOE with under-rotation, obvious telegraphing through preparatory revolutions of the arms and legs in entry to the jumps (while Mao has straight skating and intricate balletic movements), inferior posture to Mao, less symmetrical rotation in the air and less erect posture on exit to her jump sequence.Yet,Liza's 3T / 3T in the Worlds SP got a higher GOE than EVERY ONE of Mao's jumps in her Sochi LP for a performance that the Russian pair's champion Maxim Trankov called "the performance that only an Olympic champion can do."" I also think Mao's flow and transitions out of her jumps are better larger due to her greater speed and fluidity. In my opinion, Mao is also better at establishing symmetry between height and distance which forms an aesthetically pleasing arc shape, while Liza's tend to be more up and down.  

I love Mao's skating, so I am really impressed that she is brave enough to continue to skate in such a disadvantageous situation,but it sure is going to make me tense.

News clip from Chukyo TV news "Catch" just broadcast, they include clip of Mao working with Lori during the last two weeks for her new programs, and the EX collaboration with Caro and Joannie, which will be debuted during 'The Ice'

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2vcqe8_0625-jo-%E6%96%B0%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0%E4%BD%9C%E3%82%8A_sport

They don't say in the clip if it is for her new SP or FS, but in the end they mentioned that more coverage about the new EX will be reported next week. So it could be for the new EX.

COHK wrote:

News clip from Chukyo TV news "Catch" just broadcast, they include clip of Mao working with Lori during the last two weeks for her new programs, and the EX collaboration with Caro and Joannie, which will be debuted during 'The Ice'

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2vcqe8_0625-jo-%E6%96%B0%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%A0%E4%BD%9C%E3%82%8A_sport

They don't say in the clip if it is for her new SP or FS, but in the end they mentioned that more coverage about the new EX will be reported next week. So it could be for the new EX.

Thanks for the video link CONK.