Many figure skating fans across Asia woke up Tuesday morning to the news that Japanese icon Mao Asada is retiring from competition, with media in South Korea and China hailing her achievements while also lamenting the star skater's exit.

In South Korea, where Asada is well known given her long rivalry with the country's Olympic champion Kim Yu Na, the state-run KBS TV network said in its online edition that Asada could have stayed in the world's top place had she not been in the limelight in the same period as Kim.

"When Asada got the silver medal after failing to beat Kim Yu Na at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the entire Japanese archipelago was thrown into a great disappointment," it said.

The Sports Chosun daily described the 26-year-old, three-time world champion as a "genius" in figure skating, adding her career has "come to an end in tears" as she could not beat Kim at the Olympics.

"Born in Nagoya, the native town of Midori Ito, Asada has kept driving on without pause in figure skating," it said. Ito was the 1992 Albertville Games silver medalist.

In its article on Asada's retirement, the JoongAng Ilbo said, "Kim Yu Na's strongest rival has announced her retirement," adding Asada is likely to work as a broadcaster.

Asada was also remembered by journalists for her presence outside the ice rink, with one editor at a South Korean television channel saying many reporters were impressed by her politeness and good manners when being interviewed.

In China, an online report by The Beijing News headlined "Goodbye, our beloved MAO!" described Asada's retirement from the sport as "marking the end of an era."

"Even though she never won a Winter Olympics gold medal during her career, there is no doubt Mao Asada is still one of the more outstanding female figure skaters in the past decade," the article said.

While Chinese speakers usually read Japanese names according to the Chinese pronunciation of the characters, instead of transliterating them according to the Japanese pronunciation, Asada is known affectionately among Chinese fans by her Japanese name, Mao, it pointed out.