Meh, my feeling on this is just add them to the pile
There are a lot of very good teams right now- in another thread someone was commenting that even being in the top 10 in the world right now is going to be a huge accomplishment with how good many of the teams are or are becoming. At the end of the day I/Z mostly just have to focus on themselves- I actually think strategy around other teams is often counter productive- better to strategize around your own strengths and things you love and base your goals off the best you can do, and not worry too much about other teams in my opinion. Honestly, I always thought the people who were willing to totally write S/K off last year were foolish- most ice dance teams don't gel as quickly as Ruslena. But I don't think it matters much because my focus is just on Ruslena and their doing the best they can do.
Of course, they
mostly have to focus on themselves and their strengths, but not even an unconstested leader can afford to ignore what the other top teams are doing entirely, and I was merely wondering if SK would come to be among the teams IZ would have to keep in mind to a certain degree. Being in the top 10 in the world would sure be a huge accomplishment, but I don't think IZ need to concern themselves with no. 10 team in the world. There are a lot of very good teams right now, but not a lot of teams have the potential to medal at worlds. I don't think SK will be in that category this year, but whether they will be next year or not will probably become clearer later this season.
The scores were very generous at SA they always are. S/K have been preparing from January. Yes Nikita has had his struggles with his foot but they have pressed through it. This was also their make or break season so they had to come good. All the other teams will have to absorb that. And for some reason C/B have been struggling with their choreo this season
Who knows maybe illness or injury was also an issue.
The scores at SA weren't generous to GP, YM and IMO HB. I can understand why they were generous to CB, but not SK. I'm also not sure if CB's performance affected SK's scores. If CB had performed better they would have received higher scores, which would have led to a bigger difference with SK, but SK may well still have received the same 50/51 scores, which are top team scores for FD at a GP event. I wholly agree with you about the reasons behind their improvement, but I don't think it matters to the other teams why SK have improved, only by how much and how they'll be scored now at major competitions.
I have found myself rewatching their FD from Saransk and I must say, they have the best FD of the season. Every movement is another highlight. The diagonal step sequence especially is just too good. I hope they are working hard. Everything is in their hands. They have gold medal worthy dances. All will depend on their performances
:dance:
Personally, I think that both their programs are the best of the season from what I've seen (although where technique is concerned I can appreciate only the overall impression - how fast, seamless, complicated and interesting it
looks). I'd very much like to believe that everything depends on their performances. I mean I believe they'll break through anyway, but obviously the sooner the better. It would be great to see the best performances rewarded, as opposed to the most impressive resumes or the most influential backers. We've seen it last year with CL at Euros at the SD, but Chinquanta's influence is fading, while the French Fed's president's is ascending, and American and Canadian Feds were always very strong by themselves, esp. US. Still, luckily for them IZ don't skate for Latvia and the actual skating does have to matter too; so I'm hopeful. But I still will have to remind myself that it's just a matter of time to be able to sleep during COC.
S/B just got 71 for their SD in the Russian Cup, PCS all in the 9s, I'll leave it up to you all to decide whether you think it's a score they will be repeating internationally this year...
Well, there's a difference between a Russian Cup and a GP event.
The level was okay, I think. I watched their programs only once. The GoE's were lol but so were CB GoE's for twizzles also.
Thanks! So the levels were real, while GOEs weren't. The only thing is I understand why CB got lol GOEs, but not about SK. They are not vice-WC and GPF finalists nor the host country's no. 1 team. And the other ID teams at SA didn't get overscored, as far as I can see.
IMO, the strategies of S/K and I/Z are very different this season. TBH, S/K`s first season was PR- and result-wise a disaster. Zueva talked about them as they were the next big thing, but what people got to see was a mediocre team, at best. This summer we didn`t get any reports from Canton, no PR, no shows. Zueva gave them two very open programs to show the speed they have, which is actually similar to the strategy that was behind Appassionata. Their coach knew that S/K had to show a much better performance than last year to be again a factor for the Russian Euro`s and World`s team, which they are now after SA.
I/Z already used that kind of strategy last year and it was very successful for them. They established themselves as Russia`s #1 and are now focussing on building an own style. They have much more complex choreography and lifts, who IMO are more creative than S/K`s. This also means that they are maybe sacrificing early successes for medals at Euro`s and World`s. I/Z didn`t get programs so they can reach top 10 at Worlds, they got programs that are worthy of a World Champion.
I agree, except that IZ also had Carmen last season, while all SK’s programs this season are like Appassionata, and, in fact, IZ’s Appassionata looked more interesting and versatile than SK’s programs this year, and IZ looked
way more genuine in Appassionata than SK in any of their programs.
