Strength over adversity, Asada reclaims Japanese title

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http://www.examiner.com/figure-skating-in-national/strength-over-adversity-asada-reclaims-japanese-title

Jackie Wong , Figure Skating Examiner
December 25, 2011

Merely a few weeks removed from her mother’s death, two-time World champion Mao Asada made the decision to compete at the Japan Figure Skating Championships and found a way to prevail, winning her fifth career national title after finishing with the silver last year. The ladies’ free skatewas full of movement, with none of the top skaters able to deliver a clean performance.

Second coming into the free skate, Asada opted to take out her trademark triple axel once again in favor of a double axel and a more technically conservative approach. She hit three clean triples but doubled her two final triple jumps. The second half of her double axel-triple toe combination was called underrotated, further costing her base value points. She finished second in the free skate but still won the competition with a final score of 184.07.