2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Li'Kitsu]

All this Anna T. and Anna S. business has made me realise that both Kostornaya and Kanysheva will be “Alena K”. I’m preparing for mass confusion once the season starts.

Good I'm calling the former Alena Kosto anyway, maybe I should add Kany as a new nickname then. I would definitely laugh if they'd end up at the same JGP just like the 2 Annas did. Then please give us 2 Nastyas together too. That would convince me it's active fan trolling

 

[karina17]

There will be 3 Anastasiias too

And two of them are both Anastasiia G.

Along with Tarakanova and Kostyuk...so that’s Anastasia T, Anastasia K, Anastasiia G, and another Anastasiia G. Then Alexandra T, Anna T, Anna S, Alena K, another Alena K...

I’m calling it now, the JGPF girls will not only be 6/6 Russian, but also all have names beginning with A.

 

[karina17]

Good I'm calling the former Alena Kosto anyway, maybe I should add Kany as a new nickname then. I would definitely laugh if they'd end up at the same JGP just like the 2 Annas did. Then please give us 2 Nastyas together too. That would convince me it's active fan trolling

Ideal assignments for maximum fan trolling:

- The two Annas together
- The two Alena Ks together
- The two Anastasiia Gs together
- The two Anastasias together
- One of the Alena Ks with Anastasia K
- Anna T with Alexandra T or Anastasia T
- All eleven of them in the JGPF because they all magically tied for gold at all the previous JGPs

 

[Hello from Brazil]

I missed this hype so much...

 

[[email protected]]

I remember that Tarusina impressed me big time when I watched her live at the Nationals. I looked up what I wrote then:

"Anna Tarusina - just wow. What if? What if she had not had this terrible accident a year ago? Could she be at the same level as Zagitova now? Amazing musicality, amazing quality of landings. And it's not easy for her because of the back - she cannot do a bielmann. And in general spins are more troublesome for her than jumps. Underscored vs. Radionova".

I am not attached to another Anna at this moment so that I shall root for Anna Tarusina.

 

[SkySkater]

Personally I’d be rooting for Tarusina to win out of the pair of them just because I prefer her skating style and I really respect her as a person coming back from her injury and for being strong enough to go back to skating and I do think that is possible based off how the new goe rules will work and the fact that if Scherbakova doesn’t land her quad lutz it tends to be under rotated and as a result less valuable that a solid triple lutz.

As skaters I think Tarusina would have the edge if it wasn’t for the quad lutz considering I think they are both very nice to watch though they have different styles so they should both get good PCS. Jumps wise though Tarusina is better because her jumps are higher and better (though nothing amazing like some other juniors) and undoubtedly more consistent based off of last season. But if Scherbakova is landing her quad lutz I agree in that she will be very hard to beat and that will put her above Tarusina probably.

This doesn’t mean I want either of them to mess up though because I always want all skaters to skate their best and skate cleanly even if I don’t care overly about them. My only thing is I would be very surprised if this is the final line up as I would expect either Trusova or Kostornaia there as they like to use the first event as a headliner of sorts so let’s wait with this until we find out which two girls actually end up going.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Or they think Shcherbakova is the headliner, considering her popularity and quad lutz

 

[alvina9894]

My only thing is I would be very surprised if this is the final line up as I would expect either Trusova or Kostornaia there as they like to use the first event as a headliner of sorts so let’s wait with this until we find out which two girls actually end up going.

Same here. I expected the line-up for the first JGP to be someone who actually earned it. Someone who proved themselves last season.

 

[Fluture]

Or they think Shcherbakova is the headliner, considering her popularity and quad lutz

Trusova is popular as Her history making freeskate at JWC was all over the news which is quite unusual for a junior skater. She’s handled as the new prodigy everywhere. But I agree, Shcherbakova seems to be pretty popular as well, judging from that show, especially the Japanese audience loves her. And she can challenge and even beat Trusova, if she‘s on. She‘s got the quad and she‘s more artistic and mature. I also like her spins more. (Even though Kostornaya has - in my eyes at least - definitely the best spins out of the three of them)

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Poor Guliakova. I am not feeling optimistic about her chances to break through. Not at all. But I really really want her to! She can prove that a skater doesn’t have to be super tiny.

 

[Fluture]

Poor Guliakova. I am not feeling optimistic about her chances to break through. Not at all. But I really really want her to! She can prove that a skater doesn’t have to be super tiny.

Wasn‘t she supposed to jump 3A maybe one or two years ago? I believe I remember reading that she was planning to add it in competition but I guess she never did then? I‘m sorry, I just don‘t follow that many junior skaters.

 

[Shayuki]

Personally I’d be rooting for Tarusina to win out of the pair of them just because I prefer her skating style and I really respect her as a person coming back from her injury and for being strong enough to go back to skating and I do think that is possible based off how the new goe rules will work and the fact that if Scherbakova doesn’t land her quad lutz it tends to be under rotated and as a result less valuable that a solid triple lutz.

As skaters I think Tarusina would have the edge if it wasn’t for the quad lutz considering I think they are both very nice to watch though they have different styles so they should both get good PCS. Jumps wise though Tarusina is better because her jumps are higher and better (though nothing amazing like some other juniors) and undoubtedly more consistent based off of last season. But if Scherbakova is landing her quad lutz I agree in that she will be very hard to beat and that will put her above Tarusina probably.

This doesn’t mean I want either of them to mess up though because I always want all skaters to skate their best and skate cleanly even if I don’t care overly about them. My only thing is I would be very surprised if this is the final line up as I would expect either Trusova or Kostornaia there as they like to use the first event as a headliner of sorts so let’s wait with this until we find out which two girls actually end up going.

First of all, I'll start with the fact that while Shcherbakova indeed has very small jumps, Tarusina has at least as small jumps herself, if not smaller. Therefore, I really don't know about a potential GOE advantage. Although, she does tend to have neater landings on Salchow.

This second point is also important - Even more important, I would say. A 4Lutz does not replace a 3Lutz. In fact, Shcherbakova does 2 3Lutz in addition to it, while Tarusina performs only one. If we compare their potential layouts using what Tarusina had last season(ignoring backloading because I don't know how Tarusina would backload, though I doubt it'd be more than Shcherbakova):

Shcherbakova:
4Lz
3F-3T
3S
2A
3Lz-3Lo
3F-2T-2Lo
3Lz


Tarusina:
2A
3Lz-1Lo-3F
3Lo-3T
3F-2T
3Lo
3S
2A

Shcherbakova BV assuming UR 4Lutz that she falls on:
3.32 + 9.5 + 4.3 + 3.3 + 10.8 + 8.3 + 5.9
Total: 45.42

Tarusina BV:
3.3 + 11.7 + 9.1 + 6.6 + 4.9 + 4.3 + 3.3
Total: 43.2

So even if Shcherbakova falls on an underrotated 4Lutz, she'd still be pretty well off. Although Tarusina could of course make up for the 2.22 points in GOE. Well, actually she couldn't. 2A only gets a max of +1.65 GOE. So she'd still have a disadvantage there. And note, this is assuming a fallen, underrotated 4Lutz.

 

[russianfan]

Personally I’d be rooting for Tarusina to win out of the pair of them just because I prefer her skating style and I really respect her as a person coming back from her injury and for being strong enough to go back to skating and I do think that is possible based off how the new goe rules will work and the fact that if Scherbakova doesn’t land her quad lutz it tends to be under rotated and as a result less valuable that a solid triple lutz.

Scherbakova is also coming back from injury

 

[Hello from Brazil]

First of all, I'll start with the fact that while Shcherbakova indeed has very small jumps, Tarusina has at least as small jumps herself, if not smaller. Therefore, I really don't know about a potential GOE advantage. Although, she does tend to have neater landings on Salchow.

This second point is also important - Even more important, I would say. A 4Lutz does not replace a 3Lutz. In fact, Shcherbakova does 2 3Lutz in addition to it, while Tarusina performs only one. If we compare their potential layouts using what Tarusina had last season(ignoring backloading because I don't know how Tarusina would backload, though I doubt it'd be more than Shcherbakova):

Shcherbakova:
4Lz
3F-3T
3S
2A
3Lz-3Lo
3F-2T-2Lo
3Lz


Tarusina:
2A
3Lz-1Lo-3F
3Lo-3T
3F-2T
3Lo
3S
2A

Shcherbakova BV assuming UR 4Lutz that she falls on:
3.32 + 9.5 + 4.3 + 3.3 + 10.8 + 8.3 + 5.9
Total: 45.42

Tarusina BV:
3.3 + 11.7 + 9.1 + 6.6 + 4.9 + 4.3 + 3.3
Total: 43.2

So even if Shcherbakova falls on an underrotated 4Lutz, she'd still be pretty well off. Although Tarusina could of course make up for the 2.22 points in GOE.

I am afraid that if Shcherbakova falls on her quad Lutz she might get lost and start doing mistakes, which totally undermines her program.

However if she gets it right only Trusova has a chance against her

 

[Shayuki]

Scherbakova is also coming back from injury

Actually, Tarusina somehow returned from her injury quite a bit faster than Shcherbakova did. :think:

Speaking of which, Tarusina really had a weak end to her season after returning from injury, but the next season she was incredibly good and consistent. All the more reason to not judge a skater on her performance immediately after returning from injury.

I am afraid that if Shcherbakova falls on her quad Lutz she might get lost and start doing mistakes, which totally undermines her program.

However if she gets it right only Trusova has a chance against her

Well, the good thing is that she really got used to falling and making mistakes at the start of her free program last season. Hopefully it'll come in handy for her.

 

[karina17]

Same here. I expected the line-up for the first JGP to be someone who actually earned it. Someone who proved themselves last season.

I’d say Tarusina earned it and proved herself last season. She was very consistent all season, not to mention she won Nationals Elder Age.

Regarding Shcherbakova, she obviously had a very rough season in 17-18 (not even 17, actually, I think she started competing again in 2018). But given that she was recovering from a broken leg for the first half of the season, and that she earned a 210 at Cup of Russia Final, and that she landed a quad lutz combo over the off-season, I can see why the fed is willing to give her a chance with Bratislava.

I hope they both get to do their best at JGP, regardless of who comes out on top! They both deserve it.

 

[serephy]

Wasn‘t she supposed to jump 3A maybe one or two years ago? I believe I remember reading that she was planning to add it in competition but I guess she never did then? I‘m sorry, I just don‘t follow that many junior skaters.

If I remember correctly Gulyakova was training a 3A last off-season but she had a growth spurt during the summer and was focused more on keeping consistent and holding onto her other jumps. Still she’s with Mishin now so maybe that 3A will make an appearance after all!

 

[Fluture]

Scherbakova is also coming back from injury

That‘s true BUT anyone who can jump 4Lz in combo is pretty likely to have recovered just fine.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Same here. I expected the line-up for the first JGP to be someone who actually earned it. Someone who proved themselves last season.

Why have they not earned it? Tarusina won Elder Age Nationals and Shcherbakova won the Cup Final (over Trusova!)

 

[Fluture]

Same here. I expected the line-up for the first JGP to be someone who actually earned it. Someone who proved themselves last season.

Shcherbakova was injured last season. Still managed to beat Trusova. Go figure. She‘s also the only one who was invited to a show abroad. Still think she‘s not earned it? She didn‘t have a good season, yes, but she was injured and if she‘s on, she‘s showing artistic and mature skating beyond her years. Not to mention that quad lutz. So, even though I thought Kostornaya or Trusova would get the first JGP, Shcherbakova has definitely earned it. And changes are still made all the time, it‘s not like these assignments are 100% sure. Not at all.