about PCS with not clean program I agree. but don't forget Pogo was clean, she just doubled her jump and lose 6+ points. I bet she might have 69-70 points for her SP. but sh... happens
and too often with her
Popping a required element doesn't equal clean to me. I mean, there are 7 required elements and she only did 6 of them. I agree that the mistake she made in the SP probably did not affect her PCS as much as a disruptive fall would have, but chances are her PCS would have been a point or so higher had she completed the 3lo.
And stuff seems to happen too often for all of Anna, Julia, and Alena to be honest. Alena had a typical competition for her at NHK and she BARELY beat Anna there despite Anna's horrific SP and just okay FS (where she had to skate first) there. Julia's clean SP at TEB scored a 65 with PCS of 30, so of the 3 girls, I think Anna has the highest scoring potential.
Russian Fed can rely on Medvedeva and Radionova to secure the 3 spots, so the last spot truly doesn't matter much. The chances that the Russian girls sweep the podium is very slim, especially with Tuk out of the equation. Between Pogo, Lip, and Leonova, the chances of bombing are pretty even (fairly high) for all 3. If they skate well though, Anna has the best chance to score and place the highest due to her 3lz-3t in the SP and FS and her 3lo-1lo-3s in the FS. Julia's PCS are no longer like what they were during the Olympic season, the international PCS of the 3 girls would be pretty comparable, so given this and Anna's advantage in TES, she's the logical pick IMO.
Anna also has at least some momentum going for her after winning gold at the senior B with a huge score and then winning bronze at both Nationals and Europeans. Julia and Alena don't really have much momentum going for them at all.
In any event, I'm not too worried about Anna at this point, because the SP is usually the strength for both Julia and Alena, and neither were clean. I just think that to deserve the Worlds spot over Anna one of them would have to skate clean in both programs here. That won't happen now but I just don't think it's fair to name one of them to the team if they are just okay in both programs here but get a slightly higher score than Anna at Euros because everyone knows the scores at these Russian Cup events tend to be inflated. And for what it's worth, in my mind, Anna delivered 2 okay programs at Euros, at least from a content and score standpoint. I don't think Alena or Julia would score in the mid 120s for a 2 fall FS internationally simply because their jump layouts won't allow for it whereas Anna's does. Idk. We'll see how the FS goes, but I still think Anna earned her Worlds spot. Tuk was really the only other one who should have been considered IMO.
Great job by Sima too!