NHK Trophy 2015

I know Mao be sick, and therefor couldn't go all out, but really her scores, and most importantly the call she got on the 3f was sooo strange, I keep repeating it and there is nothing wrong with it, i sometimes wonder if they just randomly call something just to do it!

I hope Mao gets better...

ballerinamao wrote:

I know Mao be sick, and therefor couldn't go all out, but really her scores, and most importantly the call she got on the 3f was sooo strange, I keep repeating it and there is nothing wrong with it, i sometimes wonder if they just randomly call something just to do it!

In slow-mo, both of her flips looked UR. The kind of a good news is that her lutz received ! and not e.

She looked so disappointed.

zarinaballerina wrote:

Oh Mao...  Well, it's still 4 months untill worlds where she needs to peak. So better have problems now than later.  Her dissapointed face though...  at least it will light the fire in her.
Having said that, they gave her 66 in PCS.  WTH is wrong with them?! 66?!!! Are they blind? Honestly...

I've seen this LP so many times, and still get goosebumps when she does her step seq.

What is just a unfair to me as Mao's deflated PCS is that Mao only got level 3 on her incredibly beautiful step sequence. Adelina Sotnikova last  week in her LP got 69 PCS with a lower tech score than Mao. Tech scores and PCS are linked for some skaters and irrelevant to others.

I didn't say anything about it but in Mao's run through she didn't complete all her jump elements during the program. I think she definitely lacked stamina because of her illness.  

Also, my friend and I who watched Mao skate both felt sure when we looked at her finishing pose that Mao was sick because she couldn't even muster up the strength for a smile and kneeled on the ice for a long time, as if she were weak. She was also sweating a lot and looked pale. I think the sweating is a sign of a fever. There were many people who posted that Mao appears to be sick here and on forums at the LP thread for NHK trophy.

This link was posted by rosewood: This person posted a short gif of Mao putting her palm on her forehead and sniffling.
https://twitter.com/maoyuupiano/stat...51569552592896

I think Mao skated beautifully given her condition, the positives concerning the jumps were especially the 3lutz getting a ! and the fully rotated 2A /3T. What I like best is Mao doesn't complain or make excuses about it. To me, this is one of her most stunningly beautiful programs.

I really sympathize with Mao having to try and fulfill the expectations of so many fans especially at home in such a condition.

It reminds me of a quote Mao made in the following video which I have posted before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQD0k4IgDA4 at 1:50

While it is mortifying for people to see my mistakes I feel there is meaning in competing while I am in this condition, only here at the NHK it was Mao's illness not reworking her jumps.

Congratulations to Mao for making the Grand Prix final in this condition. It showed guts to do it in her condition. I hope she rests for a while to recover and get her health back.

WowMao wrote:

What is just a unfair to me as Mao's deflated PCS is that Mao only got level 3 on her incredibly beautiful step sequence. Adelina Sotnikova last  week in her LP got 69 PCS with a lower tech score than Mao. Tech scores and PCS are linked for some skaters and irrelevant to others.

I didn't say anything about it but in Mao's run through she didn't complete all her jump elements during the program. I think she definitely lacked stamina because of her illness.    

Also, my friend and I who watched Mao skate both felt sure when we looked at her finishing pose that Mao was sick because she couldn't even muster up the strength for a smile and kneeled on the ice for a long time, as if she were weak. She was also sweating a lot and looked pale. I think the sweating is a sign of a fever. There were many people who posted that Mao appears to be sick here and on forums at the LP thread for NHK trophy.

WHAAAAT?!  What do you mean level 3?!   Mao does not do level 3 step sequence.  I haven't seen the protocols yet, but what the heck?!  First PCS, now this? Honestly, I'm going to have a fundraising event, to buy glasses for those  idiot judges.

Yes, she did look awful at the end. I'm so proud of her for pulling through. It must be a nightmare skating a 4min LP, being sick. Hopefully she'll be able to recoer in time of GPF.  It starts in less than 2 weeks.

Edit: Here's the protocol.
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpjpn2015/gpjpn2015_Ladies_FS_Scores.pdf

They gave her a level 3 and only +1.14 goe. I don't get it. Was the step seq changed somehow? She's always gotten level 4.

I hope Mao gets well soon. I also thought something was wrong with her....probably, she was not feeling very well.

Additionally, coming back is not easy and even though she says she only wants to compete for herself and results are not important, it's obvious that she's feeling pressure and wants to win. I mean, she's been competing for years and she's won almost everything...it's impossible for a person like her not to feel upset and disappointed when she has a subpar performance and doesn't win. She's such a humble and joyful girl, but she's is human and, of course, wants to be on the top of the podium again. And this is how it should be, otherwise she wouldn't be competing. Now the thing is, she really has to get calm and skate without pressure the way she wants. Saying this is easy, but doing it is much harder.

As for the technical issues, I hope she can solve them as the season progresses. I'm worried for her flips in combination. Honestly, she tends to lack almost 1/4 in order to gain momentum for the next loop, but it's a bit risky and some judges might call it, as happened today. Sometimes, especially when she is capable of finishing the combo with the loop, the mistake is almost unnoticeable, but when something goes wrong it becomes more evident. I know underotations are difficult to correct, but she should try to avoid this small errors which have been there for years.

And finally, PCs. I'll try to be optimistic and wait until all these ladies skate together and see how PCs are scored. Ok, Adelina got 69 PCs but it was in Russia, and everyone's PCs were inflated (Lena, Zhenya, etc). I mean, if Lena got 66 I agree with Adelina getting 69. Maybe if Mao had skated there she would have received 69 or 70. Still too close but well...in Adelina's favour (and I'm not a fan of hers, especially of her Sochi LP which I think was massively overscored) I want to say that at least she has quite good SS and skates with passion and fierceness, so interpretation and performance are not bad at all. I think that the key for Mao is not to let mistakes affect her performance...she needs to keep her determination and skate with more fierceness and killing instinct (like Hanyu, for instance). I guess judges want to get the impression that the skater is selling the program no matter what, and sometimes you can see that worriness in Mao's face that gives you the impression that she's going to fail.

Just my thoughts. Anyway, go Mao and skate lights out in the GPF!!! I'll be there in person, first time seeing Mao live!! It will be an epic competition with Mao, Yuzu, Patrick...I love them all!

OMG, Iceriver, I'm so jealous! Please post your impressions of her. Like you, I hope she'll skate lights out in barcelona.

And I hope Yuzu will have a repat of NHK at worlds. He was simply out of this world here.

How i hate when i see people on other threads playing technical specialists, it just makes me want to vomit

I thought these were really moving photographs of Mao's condition after her LP performance. I noticed in her first two performances she only dropped to one knee without leaning back, but in this first picture after the LP at NHK you can see Mao fall to two knees and lean back in apparent exhaustion after the performance. In the second photo, she covers her face while kneeling down. Right click the mouse and press save as to save a better version of the picture.

http://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/mao-asada-of-japan-competes-in-the-ladiess-free-skating-news-photo/499038732

http://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/mao-asada-of-japan-reacts-after-her-performance-during-the-news-photo/499036506

Fortunately, Mao seemed to be feeling a bit better during the Medal ceremony:

http://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/satoko-miyahara-and-mao-asada-of-japan-pose-with-medals-news-photo/499038740

I hope she gets to feeling better quickly,

Many photos of Mao at NHK 2015 can be found at the following site. Just right click and save the image.

http://www.gettyimages.ae/photos/mao-asada-nhk-trophy-2015?excludenudity=true&family=editorial&page=1&phrase=Mao%20asada%20nhk%20trophy%202015&sort=best

I can't read Japanese, but the poster,urara, left this post and cited this article concerning Mao's illness: http://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/o...k_3/index3.php (in Japanese)

The writer of this article also noticed that Mao was not fine and looked tired on both days.
And, yes, Coach Sato replied Mao was not feeling well.

Mao will never make excuses about it, though.

Congratulations, Mao!
Have a good rest and get well soon!

Thanks IceRiver for your analysis. It echoes some of my feelings on Mao's return.

Do you think Mao should think about attempting 3F-3T instead? I was pleasantly surprised that her combo was finally ratified at NHK, but knowing how judges don't like loop combos, it seems an alternative might be better.

And just for curiosity sake, do you think her combo in the Sochi LP should have been ratified?

Hi aoi88!!!

I honestly think that it's much more difficult for Mao to rotate 3 Toes than 3 loops. Even her 2A-3T is usually right in the 1/4, even though the 2A is a very good jump for her. To rotate a 3T after the flip, she would need a very good landing in the first jump, keeping the speed going. I doubt she can fully rotate a 3F-3T combination easily, otherwise she would have attempted it in competition in recent years. It's not that easy, I suppose. The combo ending with loop is easier for her and it's worth more points. If she could rotate a 3T completely, then great, but if not, it's not worth it.

As for loops in combination...I don't think that judges don't like them. It's just that they are really difficult to rotate and are underotated in many occasions.

Her Sochi combination lacked 1/4 so I would have given it full value. After all, UR means that the jump lacked 1/4 to 1/2 revolutions, so she should have been given the benefit of the doubt if it was in the quarter mark.

My biggest complaint about Sochi is how inconsistent the judging was. I know that this opinion might be controversial here (due to all the Yuna vs Adelina argument), but I can't help but feel that Adelina's scores were outrageously inflated in comparison to Mao's. After all, Adelina flutzed her lutz (as always) and underotated her 3T in the combo. Not only the judges didn't call that, but she was given GOE +2 and +3 for a combo with a flutz and and underotation. Mao would never, ever receive such GOE for a combination like that. With that same criteria, both of Mao's combinations shouldn't have been called.

Thanks Iceriver for the reply.

I still think it's worth the investment. I do feel the judges favor the 3T combos, because they do look impressive due to more ice coverage. And as you mentioned before, perception of a jump's quality often do help. Her 2A-3T have been credited more times than her 3F-3L, after she started doing both combinations again in competition. Also, Mao only brought back 2A-3T a few years ago, so I think it's totally possible for her to practice a new combination. I remember Mao tried 3F-3T a few times back in 2008. She was never comfortable with it, but it did look impressive the few times she landed it.

I am glad you agree her Sochi's combination should've been ratified. I thought that was one of the best 3f-3l she ever did in competition.

I like these pictures of Mao with Yuzu at the gala practice.    







Hope Mao got lots of positive energies from Yuzu!

^ Love this pictures!

Iceriver wrote:

My biggest complaint about Sochi is how inconsistent the judging was. I know that this opinion might be controversial here (due to all the Yuna vs Adelina argument), but I can't help but feel that Adelina's scores were outrageously inflated in comparison to Mao's. After all, Adelina flutzed her lutz (as always) and underotated her 3T in the combo. Not only the judges didn't call that, but she was given GOE +2 and +3 for a combo with a flutz and and underotation. Mao would never, ever receive such GOE for a combination like that. With that same criteria, both of Mao's combinations shouldn't have been called.

I comletely agree with you. It would've been much easier to swallow all the BS calls on Mao's jumps, IF others had received the same treatment. But they didn't. Both, Adelina's and Yuna's UR's were "overlooked", yet Mao's landings which were within the allowed 1/4 UR, were all called. On that day I lost all respect for Lakernik, and really started to hate him. He's right up there with Amano.

zarinaballerina wrote:

^ Love this pictures!  

Iceriver wrote:

My biggest complaint about Sochi is how inconsistent the judging was. I know that this opinion might be controversial here (due to all the Yuna vs Adelina argument), but I can't help but feel that Adelina's scores were outrageously inflated in comparison to Mao's. After all, Adelina flutzed her lutz (as always) and underotated her 3T in the combo. Not only the judges didn't call that, but she was given GOE +2 and +3 for a combo with a flutz and and underotation. Mao would never, ever receive such GOE for a combination like that. With that same criteria, both of Mao's combinations shouldn't have been called.

I comletely agree with you. It would've been much easier to swallow all the BS calls on Mao's jumps, IF others had received the same treatment. But they didn't. Both, Adelina's and Yuna's UR's were "overlooked", yet Mao's landings which were within the allowed 1/4 UR, were all called.  On that day I lost all respect for Lakernik, and really started to hate him. He's right up there with Amano.

It was so clear how UR Yuna solo 3LZ and Adelina's Flutz, plus the 2t in the 3f-2t-2t? was severely under rotated. The fact that neither girls received any calls whatsoever is utter and complete BS, when all of Mao's jumps that were called were within the 1/4 rule.