Mao Asada who finally sees light 
Source -
Sportiva – Feb 22
“I missed the 3A in the SP because I was too eager to nail it clean. But I was able to control my mind today. Though I haven’t watched it carefully yet, I think it was the best 3A that I jumped after coming to Taiwan. I think it will provide a good basis for the Worlds. I would give the full marks to the 3A today.”
After the ladies’ FS of the 4CC held in Taipei on Feb 20, Mao Asada looked back her performance with a smile.
She was 2nd after the SP and skated last in the FS. After cleanly nailing the 3A in the beginning of the free skating, she went on skating great. Although she made revisions of the program in February, her smooth, flowing skating lasted till the end which we hadn’t seen for a while.
“We focused on 3A and 3Lz in this competition and decided not to try 3+3. I think we cleared the first challenge,” said Kumiko Sato (Nobuo’s wife and Mao’s coach).
Although she got an edge error demerit on her 3Lz, it looked like a trivial problem. “We repeatedly practiced 3Lz after the Japan Nationals and the result is showing gradually,” comments Nobuo Sato. Like he said, it’s not as awkward as before.
“We reviewed the jump from double rotation again after the Japan Nationals. I did it over and over again until it became automatic, so I want to keep the feeling when I jump 3Lz. I nailed 3A in the FS of this competition, which makes me come in to the Worlds in a good mood. But I found some other elements to improve which I need to address by then.”
As Asada said, she got under rotation remarks in two combination jumps in the latter half of the program. It affected her total score and stopped her turning the game around to beat Miki Ando coming from behind.
However, she succeeded in including 2A-3T that she didn’t jump in the Japan Nationals. Also, she nailed 3F-3Lo cleanly in the 6 minute group practice just before the performance.
“I was pretty confident in 2A-3T in my practice and tried it in the competition. I think it will be more reliable if I keep trying. I also think that it’s important to keep trying 3-3, and I hope to include it in the competition if it becomes better.”
Nobuo Sato is more careful. “I would like to let her keep trying 3-3 and decide whether to include it right before the competition.” He also comments that Asada needs even more power and momentum to her performance. However, it is true that her clean 3A in the 4CC indicates the sign of her remarkable recovery towards the World Championships.
Subject: Mao Asada who finally sees light 
