2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Lana05]

Ah, Juniors are more interesting this year than seniors

 

[atsumiri]

Evgenia’s body has changed much more significantly than Lilibet’s has. Plus, Eteri is great at packaging junior ladies to seem mature without being out of their range - that is not to say that Lilibet is a junior, but she has been tricky to package because she has been senior for a few years but still has the appearance of a junior / has experienced very little body change.

Evgenia hasn't change since Olympic at all.
so these comments like a broken record...

 

[alvina9894]

We also need to consider that Zhenya's been injured and Lil Bet hasn't been

Don't be ridiculous. Lil Bet injured her hip last season which took away her 3Lz+3T, Biellmann and consistency. She probably lost her 4S and 3A due to this injury too.
I'd say her injury was much more severe than that of Medvedeva's.

Other note, Lil Bet is petite in form but that does not mean she doesn't grow. In fact it was very obvious that in the past year she has filled out quite significantly. If you checked her records, she is still gaining height despite being already 18 years old.

 

[Fluture]

So, I haven‘t seen it yet but apparently Zhenya is second to Bradie in her first CS after months of injury, combined with a life change that will likely still take her time to adjust to. How dare she not win everything! Well, this is the last straw. After losing this very, very important competition of her career that no other skater that made it to a second Olympics ever lost....

Yeah. People are funny. Especially if they compare her situation to Tursynbaeva‘s. Like... what? I have all respect for Lil‘Bet and she had a wonderful SP but... seriously? That‘s not even comparable. Are people really expecting perfection after all she went through? Cause if that‘s the case, that‘s truly mindblowing. Evgenia was a consistency machine for what... four years? That’s an achievement itself no other current Russian ladies skater can match. But guess what: With Eteri she would not have continued to be like this. She‘s facing injury and with Eteri‘s training method (that agreeably worked for her very well in the past years) she would have likely worsened the matter instead of improving. You can‘t just “train away“ an injury. So, yes, let‘s face it, she‘d have had a difficult season with or without Eteri. Now she‘s at least in a healthy place without all this rivalries (which also worked for her in the past years but she‘s a woman now and on top of health problems this constant competition can really wreck ones nerves...) and where she‘s one of the top priorities. Zhenya likely knew what was going to happen and she made a decision soon enough. And we should see how it works out. (And no, we can‘t decide that after ONE competition)

 

[lavoix]

So far, Evgenia's both programs look very generic, and actually terrible in Evgenia's standard. There is not much choreography going on to start with, and her "interpretation" does not look good, especially in the LP. The sp has a more distinct theme, but her movement could be much sharper, if I compare her sp with Mariah Bell's Chicago. I never thought the latter's program was that superb, but at least the movements were more jazzy. I really wish Evgenia worked with Shae-Lynn Bourne, who did wonders for Wakaba and Young You.

Agreed, I'm not feeling Evgenia's programs at all this season. She needs more sass or pzaz. I don't think David Wilson suits her, perhaps someone like Lori Nichol or Shae-Lynn would work better.

 

[sk8r4ever]

Silver once again

 

[BlueZephyr]

Why did Evgenia get a level 1 on her spin? Repeat spin?

 

[tinybluemoon]

Why did Evgenia get a level 1 on her spin? Repeat spin?

She traveled. A lot. Like 4 feet from where she started the spin.

Whatever. It was a bad competition. That doesn't make for a bad career.

 

[Lunalovesskating]

Why did Evgenia get a level 1 on her spin? Repeat spin?

She did not do enough revolutions on one position at that spin that is why it was downgraded (like Yuzuru today haha) otherwise she would have won. What a bummer

 

[Lester]

I didn't expect that so many people would be upset about Evgenia and deem her to be degrading or something.

I mean the programs look quite heavy right now, and especially the FS looks really off, but I can see that change is happening. It's new stuff, it's interesting. She was really doing her own thing in the SP and even though it's not all polished yet, I think it would look much better with time. Have you all forgotten her horrible miming? This stuff is much better. It looks evolved even if a little winded so far. I have great hopes after seeing this competition and I am sure she is not discouraged either.

 

[tinybluemoon]

She looked healthy and happy. She got a silver medal and it was very close. It is seriously not the end of the entire world. She did exactly what she had to do and yes, the performance and execution can (and will) improve but she's had a big life change in the last 10 weeks. It feels longer because we've known about it for a long time but the actual move to Orsar is still very fresh. He can't just snap his fingers and all of a sudden all her faults are gone and fixed. I think she has done as good as she humanly could do with the time that she's had.

I also think it's good for her to keep her lutz in there, it will encourage her to keep actively working on it, and force her to improve and not be lazy. And if there was ever a year to focus on improvement this is the year. Though we go on about it a lot the senior competition at national level isn't actually that strong at the moment and the international competition isn't much better. All that will change next year with the new influx of juniors. Both in Russia and elsewhere. It looks like it is going to be a quiet season for senior women this year so yes, please take the time to focus on growth. That goes for everybody, not just Evgenia, because we don't know when the next quiet season will be as the next three lots of junior Russian, Japanese and Korean graduates are looking very strong atm.

 

[lavenderblossom]

She looked healthy and happy. She got a silver medal and it was very close. It is seriously not the end of the entire world. She did exactly what she had to do and yes, the performance and execution can (and will) improve but she's had a big life change in the last 10 weeks. It feels longer because we've known about it for a long time but the actual move to Orsar is still very fresh. He can't just snap his fingers and all of a sudden all her faults are gone and fixed. I think she has done as good as she humanly could do with the time that she's had.

I also think it's good for her to keep her lutz in there, it will encourage her to keep actively working on it, and force her to improve and not be lazy. And if there was ever a year to focus on improvement this is the year. Though we go on about it a lot the senior competition at national level isn't actually that strong at the moment and the international competition isn't much better. All that will change next year with the new influx of juniors. Both in Russia and elsewhere. It looks like it is going to be a quiet season for senior women this year so yes, please take the time to focus on growth. That goes for everybody, not just Evgenia, because we don't know when the next quiet season will be as the next three lots of junior Russian, Japanese and Korean graduates are looking very strong atm.

:thumbsup: Right now, the strongest senior lady looks like Tuktuk. Tsurskaya, Gubanova and Sotskova are all struggling with URs, Radionova and Nugumanova are in even more trouble. Leonova and Sakhanovich are too far back. Konstantinova and Panenkova look good, but they haven't proven themselves as seniors yet. Alina hasn't competed yet so her condition is unknown, but she wasn't in top form at test skates. It's possible the juniors will podium or win or even sweep senior nationals, but as they're not age eligible, they still won't affect the Euros/Worlds team.

 

[lavoix]

I sort of wish Tursynbaeva and Medvedeva swapped short program musics.

 

[dante]

Obviously, it's too early to judge Zhenya's technical development - changes in the training process (more so with relocation to another country) always cause a decline, usually temporary. The difference of 33 points from Pyeongchang is huge, but with the new judging system it's more understandable.

But what disappoints me now is her programs. Don't get me wrong, those are cute jazz and tango programs, but they are of the Challenger tier, not something a two-time grand slammer really deserves.

Eteri school has always been leaning towards ingenue characters, be it by selection or cultivation. Such characters became an integral part of Zhenya's image, made her unique even among her team members, and eventually led her to the most important victories in her career. But now after adopting two femme fatale characters, Zhenya became ordinary, and now it may take years to master this type to such a level that she would stand out of the line-ups again. If this is really the first time Zhenya has full control over her programs, then I'm all for Eteri's more pragmatic methods.

 

[typeyournamehere]

also, this is the first time ever Medvedeva has lost to a non-russian skater...

 

[madison]

Evgenia is enjoying the journey, and is growing both as a person and as a skater. And more important, she's completely honest on her way. She doesn't try to hide the lutz, but to work on her flaws. i'm convinced that this work will pay back in the future.
And she has something that makes you trust totally in her.

 

[yoloaxel]

Evgenia is enjoying the journey, and is growing both as a person and as a skater. And more important, she's completely honest on her way. She doesn't try to hide the lutz, but to work on her flaws. i'm convinced that this work will pay back in the future.
And she has something that makes you trust totally in her.

Amen to this!

Meagan Duhamel said Zhenya had trouble doing anything more than stroking back in June when they were doing shows in Japan! Let's give her some time

 

[[email protected]]

Maybe this season there won't be a clear leading lady. So far both Evgenia and Alina showed their vulnerability.

Not having proper papers is a different sort of vulnerability than subpar perormance at the competition. And injury argument is weak: she was much closer to the injury in Korea and still scored 237

 

[Fluture]

Obviously, it's too early to judge Zhenya's technical development - changes in the training process (more so with relocation to another country) always cause a decline, usually temporary. The difference of 33 points from Pyeongchang is huge, but with the new judging system it's more understandable.

But what disappoints me now is her programs. Don't get me wrong, these are cute jazz and tango programs, but they are of the Challenger tier, not something a two-time grand slammer really deserves.

Eteri school has always been leaning towards ingenue characters, be it by selection or cultivation. Such characters became an integral part of Zhenya's image, made her unique even among her team members, and eventually led her to the most important victories in her career. But now after adopting two femme fatale characters, Zhenya became ordinary, and now it may take years to master this type to such a level that she will stand out of the line-ups again. If this is really the first time Zhenya has full control over her programs, then I'm all for Eteri's more pragmatic methods.

I’m actually inclined to agree with you here. From a sole pragmatic view, Eteri‘s programs are better. More transitions, more things for the judges to like. And not only that, so far I enjoyed “old“ Zhenya more. I always liked her unique style with the miming so many people used to make fun of. So, yes, I do understand if someone isn‘t happy with her programs yet. But we have to understand the difference here: With Eteri Zhenya‘s programs always were ready for test skates. Even January Stars even though that‘s kind of an example of choreo that wasn‘t finished either. Zhenya‘s situation right now is really unique, though, she never had to change country, language and deal with injuries before. And that‘s why I‘m trusting Brian and Zhenya because what they have done in just two months is really admirable. I like her SP so far but agree that she needs a lot more confidence and jazzy vibes to pull it off. But it definitely has potential. I‘m not so sure about the FS yet but I understand that they need time. This is an experiment, this whole season. The most important thing right now is that she‘s ready for Russian Nationals and next season. So, yes, while I‘m still a bit sceptical about her programs, I feel like they can be a great vehicle for her if she grows into them and we give her and her team a bit more time.

 

[Deripashka]

madison: Maybe she growing as a person, but as a skater, so far I didnt see grow, "just" attempt to fix some issues, but overall I think her skating missing technical discipline of Dudakov and some lyricism of Eteri. Lets hope she will do better in time.