2017 Russian Nationals Ladies FS

[Rissa]

Yeah, Alina cannot, too young but while we will see Anna in Helsinki, it's going to be a far bigger problem next season, with the Olympics. Now that genuinely worries me. True, Anna was hurt here and knock on wood, she does well enough again so building a consistent reputation might help her leap over Sotskova. It's going to be so :hopelessness:

My hope is that next season Anna remains healthy and due to having gone through and dealt with all the puberty pains, she'll have advantage over younger girls who might struggle with their bodies.

How about Radio, though? It's barely her 3rd senior year and yet she seems such a staple at Euros/Worlds that it's hard to imagine her not making the team.

 

[whatif]

I don't get the outcry again. Pogo was not even sure if she is going to skate. A last minute decision, as they could not afford to withdraw. Given that, a very good result. The free skate was not clean and she left a lot of points. Of course, having Vodoresova helps, but Pogo is not known for her consistency and I understand RusFed hesitation. Great programmes this year but you just never know which Pogo is going to show up. Let's hope she delivers in both Euros and Worlds.

Now if anyone wonders why they are pushing Medvedeva, one just needs to watch today's skate. If I were the sport bureaucrat, that would be the athlete I would bet my money on. She will be on that Olympic podium for sure.

It was very suspicious TAT, for the second day, hyping Alina's Olympic prospects. They are betting now on her. I am not surprised, she has the best jumps and most likely to survive puberty.
I suspect that the Olympic team next year will be Medvedeva, Zagitova, and Sotskova.

 

[Yatagarasu]

Well next season even CSKA bonus might not do Sotskova any favor if Polina T comes back with health and consistency. I am just glad Anna has a chance this season. Next season though...:sad21:

Next season equals Hunger Games :hopelessness: I don't know but I'm cautious about Polina T. It's true if she comes back that way then we're really going to be in for it. I'm still hoping that Anna can hang on, if she displays consistency and manages to podium in Helsinki (talk about pressure because she probably knows). A silver there would go a long way because I think Alina though eligible is not going to be able to even remotely match the PCS in international competitions. Masha is getting URs. I guess a lot will depend on politics and how not willing the Russians are to shoot themselves in the foot. A steady Anna with good rep may be better in the end.

Also we need to see how Zhenya is next season. It might end up she is just one of those girls who doesn't change much and she's definitely working on her jumps, the lutz has improved from how it used to be. I wouldn't mind a Zhenya, Polina and Anna trio in PC.

My hope is that next season Anna remains healthy and due to having gone through and dealt with all the puberty pains, she'll have advantage over younger girls who might struggle with their bodies.
How about Radio, though? It's barely her 3rd senior year and yet she seems such a staple at Euros/Worlds that it's hard to imagine her not making the team.

That's my hope too for Anna but she needs a good season till the end now. Fingers crossed the knee is not a big deal and she rests now and heals nicely. She fought like a true champ today, her mental strength is growing.

Honestly ... with all these kids coming up, Radio is going to have an even worse time than Anna.

 

[Bangladesh]

Evgenia:

SC 220.65 +12,92
TdF 221.54 +12,03
GPF 227.66 +5,91

RN 233.57

Maria:

TdF 200.35 +19,55
NHK 195.88 +24,02
GPF 198.79 +21,11

RN 219.90

Alina:

JGP1 194.37 +27,84
JGP2 177.38 +43,83
JGPF 207.43 +13,78

RN 221.21


Elena:

CoR 195.60 +13,64
CoC 205.90 +3,34
GPF 188.81 +20,43

RN 209.24


And Anna:

CoR 215.21 +0,41
NHK 210.86 +4,76
GPF 216.47 -0,85(!)

RN 215.62

It's amazing. No falls this season, all results 210+ this season, no home cookies as always.

 

[Silvia451]

I don't watch junior competitions so today was the first time I saw the lovely red ballerina and I totally fell in love

 

[Osmond4gold]

But a clean Elena could compete with clean Osmond and Carolina and even beat them
A clean Maria would not.

Did you watch the Grand Prix or the Russian nationals? Elena seriously needs to clean up her jumping technique in order to compete with the Top 6.

 

[whatif]

With what I have seen so far, I doubt Carolina is going to beat the Russian trio at Euros. But happy to be proven wrong.
At the Worlds, except for Gold, all other placements are totally up for grabs.

 

[madison]

Did you watch the Grand Prix or the Russian nationals? Elena seriously needs to clean up her jumping technique in order to compete with the Top 6.

Yes, I watched. And actually Elena already beat Osmond in China ... so
And I said that clean Elena could compete on equal terms with Carolina and Osmond. Maria, at this moment, I don't think so

 

[[email protected]]

I don't get the outcry again.

Me neither. In general it was a well judged event with one exception: too high score for Maria Sotskova. But Anna has nothing to do with it and the outcry "wuzzrobbed" is plain ridiculous. She still received 215 for a very inferior to CoR skate. There are no risks with her team spot - she would get one anyway both for Europe and the worlds.

Sotskova's score had 2 meanings. The first one to single her out in the choice she vs. Radionova. I think if Elena were perfect she would have won it. But she was not - the same stuff she has been struggling with recently. And both last WC and GPF showed that the judges won't appreciate her skating anymore. On the other hand, she still has a brand and Sotskova does not - she even could not win the junior WC with 2 leading Russians injured. Maria's only advantage has been so far just a relatively higher place at GPF. So she had to win with a hefty margin over Radionova with her usual score around 210. It meant that being clean she had to skate around 220.

The second meaning was to send a signal internationally: "hey, it's a 220 girl, her pcs should go up and her URs should not be treated the way they were treated at GPF. She got a carrot cake there while Satoko had a leeway". So, her score meant: "Maria Sotskova is not Anastasia Galustyan, have some respect, people!" So the Fed means that she is not 195-200 but rather at least 205-210 skater when clean. That's not enough for the world podium but may be enough for the final group.

These 2 meanings have nothing to do with Anna. If she skated the way she did in Moscow and Marselle her score would be at least 220. But she was not at her best - I assure you.

 

[Alexz]

Alina's dress makes her look like something you'd find floating in somebody's drink at some country club:shocked:

 

[madison]

Me neither. In general it was a well judged event with one exception: too high score for Maria Sotskova. But Anna has nothing to do with it and the outcry "wuzzrobbed" is plain ridiculous. She still received 215 for a very inferior to CoR skate. There are no risks with her team spot - she would get one anyway both for Europe and the worlds.

Sotskova's score had 2 meanings. The first one to single her out in the choice she vs. Radionova. I think if Elena were perfect she would have won it. But she was not - the same stuff she has been struggling with recently. And both last WC and GPF showed that the judges won't appreciate her skating anymore. On the other hand, she still has a brand and Sotskova does not - she even could not win the junior WC with 2 leading Russians injured. Maria's only advantage has been so far just a relatively higher place at GPF. So she had to win with a hefty margin over Radionova with her usual score around 210. It meant that being clean she had to skate around 220.

The second meaning was to send a signal internationally: "hey, it's a 220 girl, her pcs should go up and her URs should not be treated the way they were treated at GPF. She got a carrot cake there while Satoko had a leeway". So, her score meant: "Maria Sotskova is not Anastasia Galustyan, have some respect, people!" So the Fed means that she is not 195-200 but rather at least 205-210 skater when clean. That's not enough for the world podium but may be enough for the final group.

These 2 meanings have nothing to do with Anna. If she skated the way she did in Moscow and Marselle her score would be at least 220. But she was not at her best - I assure you.

But with these scoring and standings, on the other hand, the Russian Fed affects Anna and her international reputation: they just say look, Maria is better than Anna give her higher scores, and that's unfair.
I do think that placing Maria before Anna is a mistake both strategical and based on what happened on the ice.

 

[[email protected]]

I would not make fun of Alina's dress. A new dress costs about a 1000 dollars - big money in Russia now and I think her dad is just a coach in a small hockey team. So she uses an old Medvedeva's dress - for me it is very appropriate for the music Alina skates.

 

[atsumiri]

I would not make fun of Alina's dress. A new dress costs about a 1000 dollars - big money in Russia now and I think her dad is just a coach in a small hockey team. So she uses an old Medvedeva's dress - for me it is very appropriate for the music Alina skates.

yes. and it's not a first time when Juniors do it.

 

[Yatagarasu]

The second meaning was to send a signal internationally: "hey, it's a 220 girl, her pcs should go up and her URs should not be treated the way they were treated at GPF. She got a carrot cake there while Satoko had a leeway".

She deserved that carrot cake though. Their thinking should be to get her to fix her jumps, not to fudge more. Satoko is working on hers, even if yes, she should have had hers called and they were not.

And Anna had 1 PCS over her. I'm sorry but that's a joke. All this is going to do is raise eyebrows internationally about the fudging, that's all.

 

[[email protected]]

But with these scoring and standings, on the other hand, the Russian Fed affects Anna and her international reputation: they just say look, Maria is better than Anna give her higher scores, and that's unfair.
I do think that placing Maria before Anna is a mistake both strategical and based on what happened on the ice.

I disagree. Signals do matter but they are not taken 100% directly. Anna has an international brand. She has 4 scores over 215. She has been in the worlds team since 2014. If she skates like she skated recently she has a minimum base of 215 - she won't lose it. Sotskova, on the other hand, was plain lowballed at GPF. Not only I - many people here and even more at Russian boards thought that some of UR calls were unfair just to keep her as far from the podium as possible. If something happens to Med or Anna - she won't automatically get their place for the lack of reputation. Hence, it was to have a 100% push to it may be at the expense of 5% loss of reputation of Anna. But once again Anna was worse than her previous performances and still got 215 - I see no material risks here.

 

[sabinfire]

I watched this event offline and just now catching up with the thread. Glad I missed the discussion in real-time, sooo much whining here. Great quality competition just as expected! Very few "bad" performances from the entire lot.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I would not make fun of Alina's dress. A new dress costs about a 1000 dollars - big money in Russia now and I think her dad is just a coach in a small hockey team. So she uses an old Medvedeva's dress - for me it is very appropriate for the music Alina skates.

Oh it's nothing personal. Keep in mind I said it during warm ups too. I actually like it and I'm sure it's well made but during warmups with the panned out view and chaos of Russian ladies shooshing about at high speeds she stood out and the first image I conjured was a cocktail umbrella being swished around some country club drink. My family ran an upscale restaurant and as a child I spent lots of afternoons there....maybe it warped my mind or something.

 

[madison]

I disagree. Signals do matter but they are not taken 100% directly. Anna has an international brand. She has 4 scores over 215. She has been in the worlds team since 2014. If she skates like she skated recently she has a minimum base of 215 - she won't lose it. Sotskova, on the other hand, was plain lowballed at GPF. Not only I - many people here and even more at Russian boards thought that some of UR calls were unfair just to keep her as far from the podium as possible. If something happens to Med or Anna - she won't automatically get their place for the lack of reputation. Hence, it was to have a 100% push to it may be at the expense of 5% loss of reputation of Anna. But once again Anna was worse than her previous performances and still got 215 - I see no material risks here.

I don't agree with this.. i think it will affect both Anna and Maria on international arena... the judges wouldn't know who the clear Russian no 2 is so they will mistreat both of them and will give the opportunity to promote a Japanese or a North American, as they would want a balance in the distribution of medals.

This happened in ice dance as well in recent time: there wasn't a clear leader and all got wrong.

 

[Icey]

I would not make fun of Alina's dress. A new dress costs about a 1000 dollars - big money in Russia now and I think her dad is just a coach in a small hockey team. So she uses an old Medvedeva's dress - for me it is very appropriate for the music Alina skates.

I liked the style of the dress very much, but would probably prefer it in a softer color.

 

[Icey]

With the fast advances in technical, the age requirement for Worlds and the Oly's should be dropped imo.