2016-17 Splits & Partner Changes

[bramweld]

Mirzoev is the one who would have a hard time after the split. Just look at Zakroev and Miroshkin's career, even Deputat's. And Mishina has triples whereas their ex-partners didn't. M/M reminds me of young Tarasova/Morozov, except that they don't like each other.

I really liked them, but you could tell he was just going through the motions at RN. He's also not the biggest guy out there, so he may simply be interested in a smaller girl.

 

[madison]

I don't think that if someone is twenty, it must necessarily mean that he is fully mature. That's huge assumptions you are making. I would agree with 'just bear it' attitude if they were already senior world medallists, among the top skaters in their field, and had a chance to get more medals at worlds and gold at Olympics. Then it may be reason for 'enduring' it. However, no matter how promising they look, they are both at the beginning of their careers. Not many pairs survives the transfers from juniors to seniors anyway. They skate for Russia and that means that at least for the next 4-5 years they wouldn't have a chance to even get to Europeans/worlds, because there are Russian pairs who are much better than them. I can't see them catching up Stolkova/Klimov and Tarasova/Morozov any time soon. So looking at it from this perspective, we are talking about enduring for at least five years before they even get somewhere in seniors. Would you want to be enduring for such a long time? Easy for you to say what they should do, when it is not you living it day after day. Taking into consideration that they are in earlier stages of their careers, it doesn't really matter if they split up. They will have plenty of time and opportunities to find a new partner. Their partner may not be as good skater as their current partner, that's the risk they are willing to take, and it is their career. I am sure they are old enough to make that decision.

Don't get me wrong... I don't want them to stay together, I don't think they are suited and Mishina could be even better with a stronger partner. But again I cannot think to these guys, and it's not only Mirzoev, who can give up easily to their partnerships althougy very promising ones. It makes me think that they won't overcome other obstacles that any skater has in his/her career.

 

[madison]

I don't think that if someone is twenty, it must necessarily mean that he is fully mature. That's huge assumptions you are making. I would agree with 'just bear it' attitude if they were already senior world medallists, among the top skaters in their field, and had a chance to get more medals at worlds and gold at Olympics. Then it may be reason for 'enduring' it. However, no matter how promising they look, they are both at the beginning of their careers. Not many pairs survives the transfers from juniors to seniors anyway. They skate for Russia and that means that at least for the next 4-5 years they wouldn't have a chance to even get to Europeans/worlds, because there are Russian pairs who are much better than them. I can't see them catching up Stolkova/Klimov and Tarasova/Morozov any time soon. So looking at it from this perspective, we are talking about enduring for at least five years before they even get somewhere in seniors. Would you want to be enduring for such a long time? Easy for you to say what they should do, when it is not you living it day after day. Taking into consideration that they are in earlier stages of their careers, it doesn't really matter if they split up. They will have plenty of time and opportunities to find a new partner. Their partner may not be as good skater as their current partner, that's the risk they are willing to take, and it is their career. I am sure they are old enough to make that decision.

I don't agree with this. They could easily have been third Russian pair and after 2018 with S/K, you never know if they will stay longer, even the second.

 

[hanca]

Don't get me wrong... I don't want them to stay together, I don't think they are suited and Mishina could be even better with a stronger partner. But again I cannot think to these guys, and it's not only Mirzoev, who can give up easily to their partnerships althougy very promising ones. It makes me think that they won't overcome other obstacles that any skater has in his/her career.

I wouldn't put the blame completely on him or on her. The relationship is not working, it is time to move. It is different for you at work, when you can speak to a different colleague if one of your colleagues irritates you. But they can't get away from each other, so maybe split is better than suffering.

 

[hanca]

I don't agree with this. They could easily have been third Russian pair and after 2018 with S/K, you never know if they will stay longer, even the second.

Third pair in Russia? Yes, keep dreaming. You can say that they could be even first pair in Russia, if a plane carrying all the seniors pairs falls down. But hopefully that's not likely to happen, so Mishina/Mirzoev would have to stay in queue like any other Russian pair team. Look at Tarasova/Morozov, last year at the nationals they were clearly better than Kavaguti/Smirnov, yet they were placed below them. It was lucky that Stolbova/Klimov and Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the Europeans and that Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the worlds, because otherwise Tarasova/Morozov wouldn't have been sent, as a last year's pair number 4. I am not sure why you think that it would be different for Mishina and Mirzoev. Even if Kav/Smir and Volo/Trankov retire after 2018, there still will Stolbova/Klimov, Tarasova/Morozov, Astakhova/Rogonov and Zabijako/Enbert, and M/M would be made to wait until they are significantly better than either of those pairs. It wouldn't be enough to be as good as them, they would have to be much better to be sent to Europeans/Worlds. And it is not even certain that M/M would be number five pair. Boikova/Kozlovskii now managed to beat M/M at the nationals, so the chance is that they could potentially be beating them in the future too. And suddenly you have M/M as Russian pair number six...

 

[whatif]

Mirzoev is just way to short for pair skating. It will be hard for him to both get a suitable partner but also to stand out in the competitive Russian pair field. So I am not sure about the prospects there unless he has a sudden growth spurt.

 

[hanca]

Mirzoev is just way to short for pair skating. It will be hard for him to both get a suitable partner but also to stand out in the competitive Russian pair field. So I am not sure about the prospects there unless he has a sudden growth spurt.

I think it can be done, with a bit of luck, but it won't be easy. The hardest bit will be to find a suitable partner, who is small enough for him and at the same time can jump. I think ideally he should be looking among 16-17 years old ladies because they are likely to be already post puberty. Considering that every lady that competed at Russian nationals has full set of triples and even 3-3 combination, if I was him, I would look into which lady is small enough, but placed low enough that it would be clear that she is unlikely to ever get to europeans/worlds, and also be post puberty. Ideally someone placed 15-18 at the nationals. Let's say, Kolomiets ended up 18th. She is born in 2000, so she will be 17 this year. If I were him, I would probably be doing discreet enquiries into how tall she is. Or, if Kolomiets is too tall, enquire about those who just missed qualifying for the nationals, because they will definitely have also full set of triples. Someone like Guseeva, Ivankova, Evseeva, Solovieva... and then all he needs to do is to persude her to switch to pairs.

 

[cathlen]

Mirzoev is just way to short for pair skating. It will be hard for him to both get a suitable partner but also to stand out in the competitive Russian pair field. So I am not sure about the prospects there unless he has a sudden growth spurt.

Cong Han is only 171 cm tall and is two time World Silver Medalist. (ISU Bio says Mirzoev is 178 cm) It's not all about height in Pairs. Besides, Anna Duskova & Martin Bidar heights are almost identical to M/M. But if Anastasia & Vlad relationship is bad, I think it may be better to split than constantly fighting over everything. It's just weird they will compete at JWC, while having partnership practically finished. How will they find motivation to train? I really wonder.

 

[madison]

Third pair in Russia? Yes, keep dreaming. You can say that they could be even first pair in Russia, if a plane carrying all the seniors pairs falls down. But hopefully that's not likely to happen, so Mishina/Mirzoev would have to stay in queue like any other Russian pair team. Look at Tarasova/Morozov, last year at the nationals they were clearly better than Kavaguti/Smirnov, yet they were placed below them. It was lucky that Stolbova/Klimov and Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the Europeans and that Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the worlds, because otherwise Tarasova/Morozov wouldn't have been sent, as a last year's pair number 4. I am not sure why you think that it would be different for Mishina and Mirzoev. Even if Kav/Smir and Volo/Trankov retire after 2018, there still will Stolbova/Klimov, Tarasova/Morozov, Astakhova/Rogonov and Zabijako/Enbert, and M/M would be made to wait until they are significantly better than either of those pairs. It wouldn't be enough to be as good as them, they would have to be much better to be sent to Europeans/Worlds. And it is not even certain that M/M would be number five pair. Boikova/Kozlovskii now managed to beat M/M at the nationals, so the chance is that they could potentially be beating them in the future too. And suddenly you have M/M as Russian pair number six...

After 2018 I am not even sure that Stolbova Klimov will be in the field...besides Kavaguti/Smirnov and Volo/ Trankov, so it will pretty open. Zabijako/Enbert and Astakhova/Rogonov are decent teams but not extraordinary and they did not progressed at all. MM are better jumpers than both these teams.

 

[madison]

Third pair in Russia? Yes, keep dreaming. You can say that they could be even first pair in Russia, if a plane carrying all the seniors pairs falls down. But hopefully that's not likely to happen, so Mishina/Mirzoev would have to stay in queue like any other Russian pair team. Look at Tarasova/Morozov, last year at the nationals they were clearly better than Kavaguti/Smirnov, yet they were placed below them. It was lucky that Stolbova/Klimov and Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the Europeans and that Kavaguti/Smirnov withdrew from the worlds, because otherwise Tarasova/Morozov wouldn't have been sent, as a last year's pair number 4. I am not sure why you think that it would be different for Mishina and Mirzoev. Even if Kav/Smir and Volo/Trankov retire after 2018, there still will Stolbova/Klimov, Tarasova/Morozov, Astakhova/Rogonov and Zabijako/Enbert, and M/M would be made to wait until they are significantly better than either of those pairs. It wouldn't be enough to be as good as them, they would have to be much better to be sent to Europeans/Worlds. And it is not even certain that M/M would be number five pair. Boikova/Kozlovskii now managed to beat M/M at the nationals, so the chance is that they could potentially be beating them in the future too. And suddenly you have M/M as Russian pair number six...

Kavaguti/Smirnov had a very good Grand Prix season last year. They even won over Sui/Han in China and they also had the competitive advantage of their quadruples. That's why they were before Tarasova Morozov at the Russian Champ.

 

[lyndichee]

Kavaguti/Smirnov had a very good Grand Prix season last year. They even won over Sui/Han in China and they also had the competitive advantage of their quadruples. That's why they were before Tarasova Morozov at the Russian Champ.

The problem is that they shouldn't be ahead because they performed well at previous competitions. They should be ahead if they performed better at the event.

 

[Skater Boy]

I think the point was K and S had the tech skills in their performance to beat T andM and in fact did so. but we are off topic again lol.

 

[madison]

The problem is that they shouldn't be ahead because they performed well at previous competitions. They should be ahead if they performed better at the event.

I don't remember exactly how they performed at Russian Champ last year in comparison to Tarasova/Morozov. But it's well known that when it comes to Russian Nationals previous performances, e.g. Grand Prix season, are taken into consideration. And I think it is right so.

 

[Sugarpova]

I wonder how long til Yulia is mentioned as a possible partner

 

[lyndichee]

I don't remember exactly how they performed at Russian Champ last year in comparison to Tarasova/Morozov. But it's well known that when it comes to Russian Nationals previous performances, e.g. Grand Prix season, are taken into consideration. And I think it is right so.

Well I disagree on that. Scoring system should reflect what they put on ice, not their reputation. Kavaguti/Smirnov are my sentimental favourites but I'm not going to kid myself.

Kavaguti/Smirnov had a very good Grand Prix season last year. They even won over Sui/Han in China and they also had the competitive advantage of their quadruples. That's why they were before Tarasova Morozov at the Russian Champ.

If you look at the protocols, Tarasova/Morozov had higher technical scores in both SP and FS. So this competitive advantage of "quads" (Kavaguti/Smirnov only had 1) is actually lost if other technical content is not performed as well.

http://fsrussia.ru/files/docs/competitons/1516/rusnat1516_protocol.pdf

I wonder how long til Yulia is mentioned as a possible partner

I still believe in her

 

[Mango]

Marin Ono and Wesley Killing announced an end to their partnership: https://twitter.com/OnoKilling/status/821485065125396480

 

[Tastetherainbow]

Marin Ono and Wesley Killing announced an end to their partnership: https://twitter.com/OnoKilling/status/821485065125396480

Sorry, this gave me quite a chuckle. First Wesley Killing has a bio on icepartnersearch, then retracts it and posts a message on twitter addressed to Ono saying that the bio was put up by accident and not by him, and now the partnership has actually ended. I wonder what happened behind this split?

 

[vorravorra]

I wonder how long til Yulia is mentioned as a possible partner

Yulia is even taller than Nastya. And, to use more relevant examples, so are Ustimkina and Boikova. If 157 cm is too tall for him he might have some trouble finding a partner. I suppose he could go for someone who is not so much short as petite in other dimensions (i.e. light). But again he'd need a partner who is not tiny due to not having grown yet, especially considering he will soon age out of juniors.

 

[cathlen]

I feel like it was discussed somewhere before, but what about Lina Fedorova? Or she's out of question?

I feel like Pair skating in Japan is like endangered species...

 

[madison]

Well I disagree on that. Scoring system should reflect what they put on ice, not their reputation. Kavaguti/Smirnov are my sentimental favourites but I'm not going to kid myself.


It's not about reputation. I am talking in general here: One can have a stellar performance by chance, or be at the peak form at the Russian Nationals, for example and the rest of the season could be bad... or one can have a pretty good overall during the entire season. Of course that the Fed will choose to support those who proved to be more stable and constant during the season.