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2008 Russian Nationals - Figure Skating HighlightsCompulsory Dance, Ladies Short, and Men's ShortJan 4, 2008
The 2008 Russian National Figure Skating Championships, which began today in St. Petersburg, marks the end of an era for Russian figure skating with last season's retirement of Maria Petrova and Alexei Tikhonov, Elena Sokolova, Viktoria Volchkova, and Ilia Klimkin. After retiring, these athletes left Russia without any skater who contributed to the glory of the sport after the late 1990s and early 2000s when Russia routinely swept all gold medals at European Championships and challenged for gold in all four events of the World Championships. The absence is especially noticeable in the single disciplines. Of 52 participants (nine Pairs, 18 Men, 10 Dance couples and 15 Ladies) an overwhelming majority represents two capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg. The only exception to this rule is in the Pairs event in which five participants represent Perm. How long this school will continue to survive, though, is unclear as the local authorities have plans to close the outdated "Orlyonok" ice rink for renovation for an unspecified period of time. Ice Dance (Compulsory Dance)The competition began with the "Yankee Polka" Compulsory Dance (CD). In the absence of the 2007 Grand Prix Final Champions Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, who were forced to withdraw from the event as Shabalin recently underwent knee surgery, Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski easily outclassed other competitors and currently lead the field with a seven point advantage. The 2006 and 2007 Grand Prix Finalists were clearly the class of the field, delivering a strong performance which earned them 41.32 (21.30/20.02) points.
Last year's bronze medalists, Ekaterina Rubleva (22) and Ivan Shefer (24), rebounded after poor showings at the Grand Prix events (they were 8th and 7th place in USA and Russia, respectively) and finished second. The students of Alexander Svinin and Irina Zhuk demonstrated good flow and edges and earned 34.68 (18.19/16.49) points. Third place went unexpectedly to the team of Natalia Mikhailova (21) and Andrei Maximishin (23) who were awarded 32.86 (16.92/15.94) points. The dance couple, who only began training together in the second half of the last season, showed almost no tell-tale signs of a new partnership. They were smooth, expressive and had almost no unison breaks. Currently in the fourth place are the 2007 World Junior Champions, Ekaterina Bobrova (17) and Dmitri Soloviev (18). For the students of Svetlana Alexeeva, this was the third performance of this CD this season, and each dance showed a marked improvement over the previous one. It appears that they finally got enough mileage of the dance, which was smooth and enchanting, but their second set was weaker than the first one. They earned 32.76 (16.88/15.88) points. Anastasia Platonova (21) and Alexander Grachev (23) are currently fifth with 30.25 (15.72/14.53) points. The couple began training together last spring after Platonova's previous partner, Andrei Maximishin, left her for Natalia Mikhailova. However, their lack of experience was virtually invisible during their performance as they showed confidence and good expression. Ladies (Short Program)
In the Ladies Short Program, defending champion Ksenia Doronina finally overcame the difficulties which plagued her this season. Doronina was forced to withdraw from the Cup of Russia in November by the Russian Figure Skating Federation (RFSF) due to poor showings at national competitions. In St. Petersburg, Doronina landed a triple flip-double toeloop combination, a triple Lutz (Boitano style), and a double Axel. The 17-year-old also showed marked improvement in the quality of spins and spirals, but what really set her performance apart from her skating last season, were her newly developed presentation skills. While last year her performance was workman-like at best, this year she delivered her program with sparkle and fire and showed good understanding of her Spanish music. She earned 54.15 (28.74/25.41) points. Nina Petushkova has once again proven the importance of jumps for success in figure skating. While the 15-year-old has dramatically improved her presentation skills since moving to Zhanna Gromova's group during the off season, her ability to present her program to Colorful Dreams by Didjula, as well as her spirals and steps sequences, leaves much to be desired. Nonetheless she is currently in second place after having successfully completed a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple flip out of steps, a double Axel, and strong spins. Her speed across the ice has also improved compared to her Cup of Russia performance in late November, and she was awarded 54.09 (28.52/23.57) points plus a 2.00 point bonus for clean execution of both her triple flip and triple Lutz - an innovation proposed by RFSF a month ago. Currently in the third place is Oksana Gozeva who missed most of last season due to injury. The 18-year-old produced a triple Lutz (with a three turn on landing), a triple flip-double toeloop combination, and a double Axel. She also performed complicated spins and steps which were well designed to fit the musical theme. While the complexity of her choreography wasn't up to Doronina's level, Gozeva had great style and attack in her performance. The judges awarded her 53.46 (30.50/22.96 points) Olga Naidenova, who has also been struggling with injuries, is currently fourth with 49.81 (26.06/23.75) points. The 20-year-old, who showed off her trademark complex spins, landed a triple loop, a double Axel, and a triple Salchow-double toeloop combination. Yana Smekhnova is fifth with 49.34 points. She landed a triple loop and double Axel, but touched down with both hands on the landing of a triple flip-double toeloop combination. Her performance to Spanish music was highlighted by excellent spins and very appropriate sharp presentation. Katarina Gerboldt is currently sixth with 47.88 points after she stepped out of a triple loop. The student of Alexei Mishin and Tatiana Mishina gave an inspired and lyrical performance, but her non-jumping elements were noticeably weaker than those of her competitors. Alexandra Ievleva, who was considered among the favorites, crashed on her opening triple Salchow and later only completed a triple toeloop and double Axel out of a twizzle. The 20-year-old, who was awarded 44.69 points, was visibly disappointed during her performance and is currently in seventh place. Arina Martinova withdrew from the event due to injury. Men (Short Program)
Sergei Voronov currently leads in the men's field with more than a 10-point advantage after delivering a clean and inspired performance to Piano Concerto #2 by Sergei Rachmaninov. The student of Alexei Urmanov completed a clean quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, a triple Axel, and a triple loop out of steps. His injuries still prevents him from practicing the triple flip and triple Lutz, but he picked up 40.20 points for the technical elements (the highest score of the evening), 36.78 points for program components, and an additional bonus of 2.00 for landing a clean quadruple toeloop. His total score is 78.98 points. Andrei Lutai opted to skated a conservative version of his Truman Show routine, opening with an impressive triple Axel, but only following up with a triple Lutz-double toeloop combination and a triple loop out of steps. His spins were relatively slow, and he only gained 34.14 points for technical elements, but received 34.18 for the components for a final score of 68.32. Defending champion Andrei Griazev is currently third with 64.06 (29.55/34.51) points after he doubled his opening triple Lutz which he also stepped out of. The student of Elena Buyanova appeared to be somewhat lost for a while after the mistake, but pulled himself together to land a triple Axel followed by a triple flip out of footwork. The 21-year-old's routine to Space by Dider Mourani was also highlighted by expressive step sequences. Vladimir Uspenski edged out his older brother Alexander to finish fourth in the segment with 63.85 points after a clean skate to Moonlight Sonata. The 18-year-old landed a triple Axel, a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination, and a triple flip out of steps. In contrast, Alexander fell on his opening quadruple toeloop, which was intended to be a quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, but went on to land a triple Axel and triple Lutz in his Don Quixote routine to gain 63.32 (31.92/32.40) points. Konstantin Menshov is currently in sixth with 62.79 (30.36/32.43) points. He performed a quadruple toeloop-double toeloop combination, but doubled a planned triple Axel and had a tight landing on a triple flip out of steps. The event continues with the Original Dance, Pairs Short Program, and Ladies Free Skate. |
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Jana Khokhlova (22) and Sergei Novitski (26) lead after the Compulsory Dance.
Ksenia Doronina, 17, leads after the Ladies Short Program 
Sergei Voronov, 20, performs to Piano Concerto #2 by Rachmaninov.