GPF 2015: Celebrating 10 yrs of Mao's skating career in GP

Mao has arrived at Barcelona!

http://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2015/12/09/kiji/K20151209011658210.html
http://www.sanspo.com/sports/photos/20151209/fgr15120919290004-p1.html
Mao says her condition is 'so-so'. She also says she'll do her best with whatever she can.

Mao in 2005-06 GP season...I think that's also when I started to pay attention to Mao and her skating. And it's such a pleasure to follow her throughout these years

Thanx for the links, COHK.
I hope her so-so condition means it's just typical perfectionist Mao, and that in reality she's great. Though she did have very little time to get healthy again.
I hope she will have two amazing skates and will kick everyone's butt.
Go Mao!
And I can't believe it's been 10 years since she turned senior. How the time flies...

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanx for the links, COHK.
I hope her so-so condition means it's just typical perfectionist Mao, and that in reality she's great. Though she did have very little time to get healthy again.
I hope she will have two amazing skates and will kick everyone's butt.
Go Mao!
And I can't believe it's been 10 years since she turned senior.  How the time flies...

year but she only turned senior to the GPF 2005 it was in 2007 she turned senior for Worlds

ballerinamao wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanx for the links, COHK.
I hope her so-so condition means it's just typical perfectionist Mao, and that in reality she's great. Though she did have very little time to get healthy again.
I hope she will have two amazing skates and will kick everyone's butt.
Go Mao!
And I can't believe it's been 10 years since she turned senior.  How the time flies...

year but she only turned senior to the GPF 2005 it was in 2007 she turned senior for Worlds

Yes, I know. I remember the controversy about possibly bending the rules and sending Mao to Torino, which IMO, she would've won. She was a semi senior in 2005/06, but for me, it still counts as the year she turned senior. Even if only for GP's.

zarinaballerina wrote:

ballerinamao wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanx for the links, COHK.
I hope her so-so condition means it's just typical perfectionist Mao, and that in reality she's great. Though she did have very little time to get healthy again.
I hope she will have two amazing skates and will kick everyone's butt.
Go Mao!
And I can't believe it's been 10 years since she turned senior.  How the time flies...

year but she only turned senior to the GPF 2005 it was in 2007 she turned senior for Worlds

Yes, I know. I remember the controversy about possibly bending the rules and sending Mao to Torino, which IMO, she would've won. She was a semi senior in 2005/06, but for me, it still counts as the year she turned senior. Even if only for GP's.

I can't wait to see Mao again, I already miss her, I hope she had time to regain her health and condition, eventhrough two weeks is a very short time

https://www.instagram.com/p/_FROeSj-et/

https://twitter.com/marikoby26/status/674637297975844864/video/1

Thanks, michlmint and marippe!

There has been a lot of repo re. 1st practice from twitter/GS forum...etc. I don't really have time to gather everything and put every detail of updates here. So I'll simply include this post-practice interview from her and provide a simple summary:

http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20151210/fgr15121008320004-n1.html

Q: After practice -
M: The practice was 'not bad' (this is reported elsewhere). The feeling for the ice is better than I thought.

Q: About the practice after NHK -
M: (in general she says) trying to increase amount of practices for jumps and numbers of runthroughs, but didn't prolong the duration of practices.

Q: About changes in the state of mind -
M: For previous competitions, Mao says there were times when she could not concentrate in competitions. It's not only particularly about the technique side, but more about trying to challenge herself. (It sounds like) she wants to try again with her original thought of returning to the competition. Mao says she does not feel particularly fatigue nor is there any impact.

I hope the translation makes sense. Good luck to the GPF competition, Mao!

Adding: here's a more precise translation from FSU: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/index.php?threads/the-mao-cheer-thread-2-her-beauty-is-her-biggest-weapon.95911/page-17 see post #509

I hope the final numbers gives us these expression for Mao, Yuzuru, and the rest of team Japan:

practice video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAntzL-a5is
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hy6nPDbO5g



I hope Mao will take it easy, stay calm and confident.

Thanx for the videos, linglang. And to COHK for translating!
Her axel looks good, but I do worry for her lutz. Since it's only practice, it's ok to make mistakes and get them out of her system. When she's had great run throughs she almost always made miatakes in actual competition, so I'll take having "problems" as a good sign.  I just worry that the stupid edge on her lutz won't play mind games with her head, resulting in a pop.  I really don't want to see a NHK repeat.
So Mao, just go for it. Who cares what the tech specialists think! Just do it!  The one thing I hope she'll repeat from NHK is her 3-3 . That was a monster!

Well, Hanyu just broke his own SP record, for some non-Mao news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI1aHPQ2r-g

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanx for the videos, linglang. And to COHK for translating!
Her axel looks good, but I do worry for her lutz. Since it's only practice, it's ok to make mistakes and get them out of her system. When she's had great run throughs she almost always made miatakes in actual competition, so I'll take having "problems" as a good sign.  I just worry that the stupid edge on her lutz won't play mind games with her head, resulting in a pop.  I really don't want to see a NHK repeat.
So Mao, just go for it. Who cares what the tech specialists think! Just do it!  The one thing I hope she'll repeat from NHK is her 3-3 . That was a monster!

No problem! Sorry I didn't do a good job with the translation.
Yes, I also think now mostly it's about the working on the edge of Lz. According to the practice report for 10th, Mao did a run-through of SP, with 3A, 3F2L and 1Lz. She did hit a huge, very nicely controlled 3A at the beginning of the program run-through!
Re. the correction of Lz edge, I guess we have to remember from Coach Sato that the correction is only 'halfway through.' I also read from another recent interview in a sports magazine that Coach Sato is quite demanding on Mao's working on the Lz edge, which may turn out to be the most difficult part of her training. So I guess we have to be patient with that and hopefully she'll just get better and better gradually with the edge issue.

Part of SP run through.

https://twitter.com/figureskate5ch/status/675148081713709056

COHK wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

Thanx for the videos, linglang. And to COHK for translating!
Her axel looks good, but I do worry for her lutz. Since it's only practice, it's ok to make mistakes and get them out of her system. When she's had great run throughs she almost always made miatakes in actual competition, so I'll take having "problems" as a good sign.  I just worry that the stupid edge on her lutz won't play mind games with her head, resulting in a pop.  I really don't want to see a NHK repeat.
So Mao, just go for it. Who cares what the tech specialists think! Just do it!  The one thing I hope she'll repeat from NHK is her 3-3 . That was a monster!

No problem! Sorry I didn't do a good job with the translation.
Yes, I also think now mostly it's about the working on the edge of Lz. According to the practice report for 10th, Mao did a run-through of SP, with 3A, 3F2L and 1Lz. She did hit a huge, very nicely controlled 3A at the beginning of the program run-through!
Re. the correction of Lz edge, I guess we have to remember from Coach Sato that the correction is only 'halfway through.' I also read from another recent interview in a sports magazine that Coach Sato is quite demanding on Mao's working on the Lz edge, which may turn out to be the most difficult part of her training. So I guess we have to be patient with that and hopefully she'll just get better and better gradually with the edge issue.

What are you talking about, it was a good job.  Every translation and summary is greatly appreciated, since many here do not understand japanese and would need to suffer through (really bad) google translations if it weren't for you and others, who so generously take time to post translations and various links. So again, thanks to all of you, guys!

I absolutely agree, it will take a long time until she'll be able to consistently do a clean lutz in competition. If ever. I'm not saying this to put her down. She's one of the hardest workers out there, but correcting the lutz edge is so difficult, rarely anyone manages to achieve this. I don't mind waiting, I just worry that in the process of trying to correct the edge, she'll be popping the jump left and right, because she will concentrate on her take off, messing the timing in the process. This is why I would prefer if she left the lutz for LP and change it to something else for SP.
IMO, for her to kind of receive the scores she deserves, consistency is the key. If she keeps messing her programs, the judges will grab the opportunity to mark her down even more.  As eurosport guys said yesterday; "you can't win the competition with SP, but you can lose it." So if she refuses to drop the lutz from SP, I hope she'll just go for it, without over thinking.

I-spiralmao wrote:

Well, Hanyu just broke his own SP record, for some non-Mao news.

He was absolutely amazing.  And he broke the record with a level 3 step sequence, so he can still score higher.      I don't now what happened to him, but boy, he looks out of this world fantastic. I just hope he's not peaking here. He needs to repeat this, and the amazing LP from two weeks ago, at worlds in March.  
I felt so bad for Javi though. Going on the ice after that kind of performance...he never stood a chance.
Yuzu, give some of your mojo to Mao. Maybe she'll get inspired by his out of this world amazing SP, and will produce one of her own.   Go Mao and team Japan!

20 min until the ladies start. I'm so nervous.
Hoping for a great skate from Mao.

It started...Ashley's on.

How did Mao do? I missed her...

Okay, live calling. Satton sounded good and I keep thinking Zhenia's overscored. Sorry.

Ok, first some good news: her 3A was a beauty. They better not UR it! I was planning on saying that it's great news the judges finally gave her PCS over 35, but then Zhenya came and they gave her 34.38 I mean, seriously?!  Look I like Zhenya, but in what world is her skating only 0.74 of a point less good than Mao's? Their SS can't compare. What the heck?  This is becoming ridiculous.
The bad news; she UR'ed both her 3F and 3Lo.  And she popped her lutz again. I honestly think she has a mental problem with Lutz. She's concentrating on getting the right edge so much, that she completely misses timing on the take off. She was also very tentative going into lutz.

Here's the protocol:
http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpf1516/gpf1516_Ladies_SP_Scores.pdf

They gave +1.71 goe on axel!

I think zhenya has won this. She has a 5 point lead over Lena and Mao, so unless she messes up and others skate clean, she has it in the bag. I do hope Mao will pull her JO skate. If she is almost clean she'll make it very hard for Lena and will also put pressure on Zhenya.
Come on Mao!

Mao skated with more finesse and fire than I have seen since the Cup of China SP Her skating skills, steps, triple axel and triple flip and loop were tremendous and so gorgeous.  I thought the double ur call on the 3F / 3L was too harsh, especially given some of the urs that were not called on others in the the SP. What's new! I respect Mao's goals but I really wish she wouldn't include the triple lutz. She could easily do a 3 Salchow to replace it. She can't do everything and it is costing her dearly. I love her skating the most without it anyway. Please, please don't do  the triple lutz again in the SP and I wish she would replace the triple lutz with the double axel in the LP too. I know I am changing my mind, but beyond the mistakes she has made with it, it seems to distract from the speed and flow of her performance and I really feel that she will get an e on it anyway outside of Japan even if it shouldn't get one.

WowMao wrote:

I thought the double ur call on the 3F / 3L was too harsh, especially given some of the urs that were not called on others in the the SP. What's new!

Tired of this double-standard. The eurosport guys praised her combo.
She lost so many points from that, had it been judged fairly like everyone else, she would be in the lead even with the lutz mistake.

BelieveInMaoself wrote:

WowMao wrote:

I thought the double ur call on the 3F / 3L was too harsh, especially given some of the urs that were not called on others in the the SP. What's new!

Tired of this double-standard. The eurosport guys praised her combo.
She lost so many points from that, had it been judged fairly like everyone else, she would be in the lead even with the lutz mistake.

I've watched the russian stream and Tarasova imediately called the loop ur'ed, and in the replay the male commentator also called the flip ur'ed.  I'm not saying you're in the wrong, but it is interesting to hear how differently commentators saw it. I must admit I couldn't catch an ur in the replay. The camera was weird.
And I'm also so sick of seeing her getting picked upon by the tech specialists, while others are being judged very generously.
@WowMao, I absolutely agree about the lutz. Mao please, for the love of everything holy, loose the lutz in the SP. It's costing her so much and she's unlikely to fix the edge under such pressure. It will only lead to more pops. She should keep it in the LP and work on correcting the edge. There she has plenty of cushion to make up for a possible pop. And it's also less pressure.
I'm hoping for a fabulous LP tomorrow.

If we get out the protractor, maybe it's a few degrees short of the quarter turn.
But it cannot possibly be worse than everyone else.
It was not worse than Miyahara who got no downgrades. I don't think Evgenia's combo was much cleaner either. Regardless, the point value should not be 50% less or whatever. The jump is in the air a minimum of 810 degrees, and a few degrees short of that does not automatically make an otherwise visually impressive jump nearly worthless.

Today is a very very special day for me. After more than 10 years of following Mao on TV, I've finally got to see her live in my city. Not only that but I walked about a minute or so next to her in her way to the hotel. She is gorgeously beautiful in person and radiates joy with her smile.

As for her skating, she is light as a feather and moves effortlessly across the ice. She floats calmly and with ease, without hurrying.

I feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now because I've witnessed one of Mao's best 3 axels. No kidding, that has to be one of the best of her entire career in terms of rotation! I've rewatched it in my computer amd god that was gorgeous!

I'll be there tomorrow again!! Hoping for a great Butterfly!

I haven't watched the SP yet...but am glad that the fighting Mao has come back!

Here's a post competition interview with PJ Kwong:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHF6_Cxaw04&feature=youtu.be

I think Mao made it quite clear...she's not thinking about another title at all. So if the goal is to win, she could have gone with an easier layout. But she's also aware that the levels of younger skaters are pretty high, and she can only face it with upgrading her layout.

So, keep on trying, Mao! Believe in yourself and you'll nail it eventually.

On some side notes, just providing some non-competition/jumps/layout related anecdotal news (so as to ease everyone's tension before the finish of the competition):

- from twitter: Mai reportedly says (probably in some interview or show) that, after NHK free program, Mao came to Mai's room to chat and eat together. The sisters spent their times at their ease until 4am the next day
- from my weibo: it is reported that Mao was witnessed wondering around the main street of Barcelona on the day before SP (probably finishing the official practice).