World Championships 2011 - Pre-competition thread

worlds will soon beginn!!! therefor I think it's time to open this threat and share our feelings, concern, and most importantly be able to discuss mao and her process as well as support her...

When does it start exactly? Does anyone have the schedule? I'm so anxious.

I'm so nervous for Mao! I hope she skates a nice SP so she doesn't have to play catch-up in the LP, and I hope she goes for the 3-3 in the LP and becomes the first ladies skater to ever land 8 triples in the long!

alyssa wrote:

When does it start exactly? Does anyone have the schedule? I'm so anxious.

Here's the schedule from the website of the championship:

http://www.worlds2011.jp/schedule/

Wow! Mao has three weeks!

I can't believe it!! I'm getting anxious too
I hope Mao, Dai, Taka, Nobu, Miki & Kanako do great!! It would be awesome if Dai and Mao repeat as World Champions

hazelq wrote:

I can't believe it!! I'm getting anxious too
I hope Mao, Dai, Taka, Nobu, Miki & Kanako do great!! It would be awesome if Dai and Mao repeat as World Champions

That would be indeed awesome!
But i hope for both of them to at least medal there, since its in their home country!

And i guess, that if Miki makes her goal there and win at least a medal, im afraid it will be her last competition!

Btw, no videos yet?

Last time when Miki first won World title at Japan
and Mao was 2nd, Kim was 3rd, I thought it is
because of Nenkou Joretsu (Age order) that made
Miki won over Mao. At that time, her spins and jumps
were not purified. It seemed struggled not like Mao's
Czardaz.

So this time, as I saw Miki's program through the
season, I think she is strong enough to prove her
real title.

The one who has no miss will be champion. Hope
Mao relaxes and not feels pressure. 2nd time World
Champion seems nothing and no pressure as the first
so she can concentrate.

In addition, as this will be the last season for Takahashi,
I hope he can defend 2nd World Champion before retire.

BowbowDaijin wrote:

Last time when Miki first won World title at Japan
and Mao was 2nd, Kim was 3rd, I thought it is
because of Nenkou Joretsu (Age order) that made
Miki won over Mao. At that time, her spins and jumps
were not purified. It seemed struggled not like Mao's
Czardaz.

So this time, as I saw Miki's program through the
season, I think she is strong enough to prove her
real title.

The one who has no miss will be champion. Hope
Mao relaxes and not feels pressure. 2nd time World
Champion seems nothing and no pressure as the first
so she can concentrate.

In addition, as this will be the last season for Takahashi,
I hope he can defend 2nd World Champion before retire.

Takahashis last season?

Haidogirl wrote:

BowbowDaijin wrote:

Last time when Miki first won World title at Japan
and Mao was 2nd, Kim was 3rd, I thought it is
because of Nenkou Joretsu (Age order) that made
Miki won over Mao. At that time, her spins and jumps
were not purified. It seemed struggled not like Mao's
Czardaz.

So this time, as I saw Miki's program through the
season, I think she is strong enough to prove her
real title.

The one who has no miss will be champion. Hope
Mao relaxes and not feels pressure. 2nd time World
Champion seems nothing and no pressure as the first
so she can concentrate.

In addition, as this will be the last season for Takahashi,
I hope he can defend 2nd World Champion before retire.

Takahashis last season?

Yes there were rumors after 2010 worlds -
That he is going to retire...
Then few days later - he announced he will defend his world title in Tokyo!

Since then - blah no news of him retiring -
It would be a waste - He is young and extremely talented!
I'd wish see him skate!


Frankly in 2007 -
The skating rules were new - way more different than they are now!
The judges seem to always prefer skaters who give an overall decent performance than someone who has striking pros with slight mistakes!
Miki was 'clean' while Mao had some landing issues on her 2-3T and UR jumps -
I am in love with Mao's LP in 2007 worlds - She was a treat to watch!


Miki has all her chances in few weeks!
I truly believe she is an exceptional skater and can do wonders -
Obviously it would be a different story if Kim is pristine-clean and Mao worked her missed/UR jumps!
Let's not omit Kanako! (even if I expect her to shine in 2012 )

But if Daisuke retire i would be like
He made me watch and love figure skating ~~ *sigh*

Btw, i would love to see Kanako win a medal there! If she is like Mao, then silver on her first Worlds
MAybe 3 jap. woman on the podeum *off to dreamland*

I don't even want to think about Dai retiring from competitions , he made me love figure skating too! Can't he compete forever?

But thinking about his health, he will probably undergo surgery to remove the bolt he has in his knee and it will take months to recover from that I guess I only wish to have the opportunity to watch him skate live, too bad I live soo far from Japan

I wonder if Mao will compete on next year's 4CC? That would be awesome since I could actually go to.

I read somewhere that Miki will continue competing until Sochi I think Morozov said something like that, not sure.. maybe I was just dreaming

hazelq wrote:

I read somewhere that Miki will continue competing until Sochi I think Morozov said something like that, not sure.. maybe I was just dreaming

You weren't dreaming. Miki said she wanted to take a break after the Olympics, but since Worlds are in Japan, she decided to compete this season. Now she is taking a break next season and returning in 2012.

This championship marks 4 years since i first saw Mao! For years in which I watched her succeed and struggle, I've watched her becoming a woman! 4 years ago she amazed me with her fresh, young, pure skating.And now, she will skate again in her home country and I wish her all the best! Her 2007 world Lp still gives me chills. Maybe 4 years after this world championship I will re-watch her 2011 performance with the same appreciation. It's amazing to see how beautiful her skating became, how she looks so fragile and in the same time, so fierce!

Lady_in_black wrote:

This championship marks 4 years since i first saw Mao! For years in which I watched her succeed and struggle, I've watched her becoming a woman! 4 years ago she amazed me with her fresh, young, pure skating.And now, she will skate again in her home country and I wish her all the best! Her 2007 world Lp still gives me chills. Maybe 4 years after this world championship I will re-watch her 2011 performance with the same appreciation. It's amazing to see how beautiful her skating became, how she looks so fragile and in the same time, so fierce!

THIS! It's been 4 years since I became a fan of Mao too, and I agree with everything you said here.

bellarina wrote:

Lady_in_black wrote:

This championship marks 4 years since i first saw Mao! For years in which I watched her succeed and struggle, I've watched her becoming a woman! 4 years ago she amazed me with her fresh, young, pure skating.And now, she will skate again in her home country and I wish her all the best! Her 2007 world Lp still gives me chills. Maybe 4 years after this world championship I will re-watch her 2011 performance with the same appreciation. It's amazing to see how beautiful her skating became, how she looks so fragile and in the same time, so fierce!

THIS! It's been 4 years since I became a fan of Mao too, and I agree with everything you said here.

It's been 4 years since I became a fan of Mao too!

I can't wait until worlds! But I'm also a bit anxious about it. However, since it seems like a lot of general fans are putting their hopes on either Yuna or Miki to take the gold, Mao is sort of the underdog now. I think this will actually help her in a way, because Mao always seems to surprise people when they least expect it.

About Takahashi Daisuke, he should get surgery next season
as I heard before this season started. What he aimed this season
was to be 2nd reigning World Champion before surgery. (I think
surgery will affect him for jump again.) If he wants to continue
his career after surgery, he must rest for 2 years and come back
at Sochi and 3 years later, he is 28 (if he was not Plushenko 2nd,
he will be too old to be jumping machine.)

During the season, he hurt more with Kozuka so it will be sure
that he will take a rest next season. What about the following
year? I don't know. But he will have to get rehab. Since Japan
has the next stars, Oda, Kozuka, Hanyu now so they will not
force Takahashi to take competition. By these assumptions, we
should watch Takahashi's program before we cannot see in the
future.

I also appreciate Takahashi and think that he may be a mighty
choreographer in the future.

This wait is killing me. Is it me or Mao became more quiet after she went to Sato? It seems that we have less news about her between the competitions, what do you guys think?

babayaga wrote:

This wait is killing me. Is it me or Mao became more quiet after she went to Sato? It seems that we have less news about her between the competitions, what do you guys think?

It's probably because they have enough to deal with, with the complete overhaul of technique in the fall, and now the additional technical difficulty. Scheduling media days takes up too much time and is a distraction to Mao's training. Also, we are more anxious this season because of Mao's struggles and great improvements that we want to know what is going on.

Think about it positively - like an element of surprise

I am trying I do think it is better for her to have less media attention but I am frustrated as a selfish fan. Speaking about surprises - I didn't expect them to start working on the lutz now, I thought they will leave that till the off season. So that was nice to see - a much improved lutz so soon (especially the one she did during the warm-up in 4CC). Now this is one of the things I am looking forward to - how she will improve on that particular jump. I think that if she will be able to do one at world championship without the edge call that would be almost a miracle

For Mao, i really hope her to win, but it she performs just like what she did in 4CC, i don't think shes going to win since Miki is so strong this season.
Mao would really have to perform a 'no miss' SP and FS with clean 3As and a 3-3 combination jump (Miki is planning to do a 3Lutz-3Loop and double axel-triple loop) in order to win.

And don't forget Yuna Kim is competing too. If she receives crazy GOE score like last year, she's still going to win.

Anyway i'll just pray that Mao will be in her best condition, so as Miki and the rest of the skaters.

For Dai, i'm worried for him since he is not quite consistent this season. And..to be honest i think its gonna be a really tough competition. I watched Patrick Chan's performance at the Canadian Nationals. He got over 280 overall, with 3 quads, one in combination to triple toe loop. Dai must give everything he has and perform without a mistake.
Its a pity that Dai got injured a few years ago and missed out the whole season.
He could do quads consistently before that and now he can't.


I'm really looking forward to worlds this year because both Mao and Dai are defending champions! Hope they'll do well.

I think worlds will be a really close competition...I think Miki will be very strong and assuming she goes for the 3-3 she will be very hard to beat however, she hardly ever atttempts the 3-3 any more so who knows.....i think a clean miki will bring in about 135-137 pts in the LP.....Mao is the underdog in this competition but she can win....if she hits the 3A in the SP then she will be in good form going into the free...the sp is gonna be the determining factor here....Her LP is gorgeous and she can easily overtake miki in that regard....remember at 4CC a mao with mistakes was only 2pts behind a perfect miki in the long...if she skaes cleans in the free with a 3-3 and a clean 2A-3T and 3S then she will probably break the 140 mark....Yuna is the question mark for me....but remember at worlds she is never 100% perfect ..i think she may lead after the short but it will not be by much....but the long will probably be anybody's game and in the long i think Miki and Mao have a slight edge...considering miki has skated her long clean every time this season and Mao has been skating hers very well at the past few competitions ...i think her lack of competition this season may hurt her at worlds

KariDebate wrote:

I think worlds will be a really close competition...I think Miki will be very strong and assuming she goes for the 3-3 she will be very hard to beat however, she hardly ever atttempts the 3-3 any more so who knows.....i think a clean miki will bring in about 135-137 pts in the LP.....Mao is the underdog in this competition but she can win....if she hits the 3A in the SP then she will be in good form going into the free...the sp is gonna be the determining factor here....Her LP is gorgeous and she can easily overtake miki in that regard....remember at 4CC a mao with mistakes was only 2pts behind a perfect miki in the long...if she skaes cleans in the free with a 3-3 and a clean 2A-3T and 3S then she will probably break the 140 mark....Yuna is the question mark for me....but remember at worlds she is never 100% perfect ..i think she may lead after the short but it will not be by much....but the long will probably be anybody's game and in the long i think Miki and Mao have a slight edge...considering miki has skated her long clean every time this season and Mao has been skating hers very well at the past few competitions ...i think her lack of competition this season may hurt her at worlds

I like your evaluation KariDebate! timdanlo, you're scaring me! Lol! If Mao can do the jumps cleanly, she will be difficult to beat and instead become a contender. However, the big question is jumping cleanly because of her new techniques, so I guess she'll surprise us either way. That's what I love about Mao! So talented, yet unpredictable! Hahaha!

With Kim...... oh I don't know. It's been one year, so we never know what she'll give us. Plus, THE JUDGES. We have no idea what type of points they'll be giving to the skaters. (sigh)

With Miki, it depends on how everyone else will do. I've noticed that if everyone else does not do as well, then she can easily win. However, when everyone is on their point, I agree that it will be a close competition. SO close that it'll probably be the "talk of the year" type of event.

Oh yeah, maybe Daisuke will be a world class choreagrapher in his future! The next Mr. Sato maybe

And how old is Miki in 2014?
I dont think she will be good, going to Sochi, but who knows~~