Ladies Competition

[havefun]

As I recall, she went to nationals as a novice, sustained an injury the following spring and was not ready for regionals so went to Russian nationals that year I believe.

[Nadine]

Congrats to the lovely Adelina Sotnikova on winning her 3rd National Title, with only 3 more to go to tie Maria Butyrskaya's 6, and 4 more to go to become the greatest Russian Ladies Figure Skater in history. And my $$$ is on Adelina to attain this feat. Russian Nationals loves her in the same way that it loves Zhenya.

NOW ONTO THE YOUTH WINTER OLYMPICS!

[Mrs. P]

And the U.S. couldn't hold onto her? She would have been an asset over here.

Perhaps, but I don't think she would have fared much better in the U.S. While the U.S. Ladies are still cold at this point, I don't think Ksenia would have made it out of Nationals.

Consider her jump content at this competition, which yielded her a score of 111:
3F - fall
3T-3T
3Lo
3Lo-2T-2Lo
3S-2T
2A
2A

Nearly all the skaters who competed at U.S. Nationals last year at least attempted a triple flip and lutz. Of course jumps aren't everything and I'm sure Ksenia would have gotten solid PCS, but I still think you would see her stuck in 4-6 place.

[lavender]

Ksenia would do much better in another country not like the U.S, Japan, Russian. She's just too seriously inconsistent to me even with her content.

[chuckm]

Someone on another board who saw the protocols said that all of Ksenia's triples except one 3lo were underrotated. Maybe that's why she and her coaches were so shocked when they saw her marks and placement.

If she skated that program at US Nationals, she'd be very lucky to finish top 10.

[havefun]

I thought she looked unhappy as she got off the ice. Thought I heard her say...that was horrible. Most skaters know when they have ur a jump or not.

[lavender]

Man the audience was weirdly quiet during Ksenia's skate even when she landed her jumps or maybe the music was too loud.

She should give Ilia Averbukh call to give her a long program to go with that awesome short one.

[lavender]

I love Agafonova too, her Korobushka SP was so spunky! I'm glad she has other fans besides me, she's been pretty much forgotten in the hype about Russian "Babies." This years programs are kinda bad and it doesn't seem like she gets into them, especially the long program. And she hasn't thought quickly enough to tack on a third combo in most of her competitions this year (in one of her JGPs she only did one combo), but I guess that final 2A here was meant to be a combo probably. She's gotten much better with telegraphing her lutz, it used to be sooo bad! But now her 3Z-3T has disappeared. :( I felt so bad for her when she messed up her combo in the short program, her 3S-3T is usually so reliable. She still has the best spins in this entire field though. She actually makes the haircutter look pretty.
Wasn't she supposed to switch to pairs when she was younger until she got all her triples so quickly they decided to have her stay in singles? She could still make the switch, she's still pretty tiny and she has pretty good lines that maybe skating with a partner could help bring out that spark that seems to have dimmed a little.

I loved Agafonova when she was coming up. I still have this hope and soft spot for her but I kind of see why she's gotten lost in the shuffle after making such an impression at such a young age. She was so adorable to me but she has to work on her overall skating skills. Wow was she slow in the long program. I was surprised. She still does this little skating like she was when she was little girl.

[chuckm]

Here are Ksenia's jumps from the protocol:
3F<↓ 3.70 -2.10
3T+3T<< 5.40 -1.10
3Lo 5.10 +0.6
3Lo<+2t+2lo 6.70 -0.70
3S<+2T 4.62 -0.70

That's 3 URs and a downgrade. She landed two triples, the first 3T in the combination, and the solo 3Lo.

[chuckm]

Man the audience was weirdly quiet during Ksenia's skate even when she landed her jumps or maybe the music was too loud.

I agree. The audience gave nearly all the skaters a big cheer after they skated. They were very subdued after Ksenia's FS. I think perhaps they didn't know she was supposed to be Marilyn Monroe and didn't understand the weird, chopped-up music cuts.

[Mathman]

^^ They could have left out the MGM lion fanfare. Plus, they chopped off the last few climactic bars of that great song Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend.

Pretty good skate, though, except for the opening fall.

[yangjie]

so, who will compete in Euro, Jr.worlds and worlds ?

[sky_fly20]

^

I think there is another competition for juniors in february

Ladies Press Conference after LP, can anyone translate ?

Adelina Sotnikova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Chu9N...el_video_title

Julia Lipnitskaya

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0E7M...el_video_title

Alena Leonova

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bgKg...el_video_title

[chuckm]

Russian team for Euros:

Ladies:
Alena Leonova, Ksenia Makarova, Polina Korobeynikova
Substitutes: Sofia Biryukova, Polina Shelepen

Men:
Evgeny Plushenko, Artur Gachinski, Sergei Voronov
Substitutes: Zhan Bush, Artur Dmitriev

Note: Plushenko lost his eligibility and needs to be reinstated in order to compete at Euros.


Pairs:
Tatiana Volosozhar / Maxim Trankov, Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov, Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov
Substitutes: Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov, Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov

Dance
Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev, Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov, Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilya Tkachenko
Substitutes: Ekaterina Pushkash / Jonathan Guerreiro, Ksenia Monko / Kirill Khaliavin


Worlds: The team for Worlds may change depending on Euros results.

Jr Worlds: It seems likely that the ladies will be Sotnikova, Lipnitskaia and Tuktamysheva (Radionova is too young). Other skaters will be decided by Junior Nationals results.

[seniorita]

Russian team for Euros:

Ladies:
Alena Leonova, Ksenia Makarova, Polina Korobeynikova
Substitutes: Sofia Biryukova, Polina Shelepen

They say Korobeynikova doesnt have time to get a visa and Biryukova will go in her place. I ve never heard a similar situation so i dont know what to think of.

Men:
Evgeny Plushenko, Artur Gachinski, Sergei Voronov
Substitutes: Zhan Bush, Artur Dmitriev

Note: Plushenko lost his eligibility and needs to be reinstated in order to compete at Euros.

Note: He has been reinstated already some 7 months ago.