2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[serephy]

Gubanova/Gulyakova/Sotskova have skated their SP at Golden Spin.

Protocols are here by the way: http://puls-hosting.com/cs2018/html/LADIES_SP_Scores.pdf

 

[Seruleane]

This thread is so toxic. Rika put down a clean 3A, clean (and great) combo & solo jump, great spins, adequate skating skills, etc. Of course someone with those qualities scores well. There's no shame in Alina being second to her and there's no reason to degrade her or her performance.

People in this very thread (rightfully) complain about how Alina was unfairly treated by fans (and media) last year because she came onto seniors with great technical skills and good performances therefore her scores rose and she got hate for it- yet you're doing the same thing to another skater in the exact same situation. Don't be a part of the problem.

Anyway, Alina did great and still got a great score (only herself and Rika have scored higher this season) and she seems to be in good condition so anything could happen in the FS.

I totally get this, and agree with this sentiment. But I think many Alina fans are upset because it feels like last season, many posters (maybe especially Zhenya fans but I don't know) were constantly casting shade on her victories because of her fast PCS rise, how dare she catch up with Zhenya, must be Russian Fed politicking since Zhenya is injured, etc. I mean, it was to the point where Alina doesn't even think she deserved Olympic Gold, that it was an accident and she was not treated as the Olympic Champion in the country. Even to this day, there are big name Russian figure skating commentators who talk about how there should have been two gold medals (which is a nice sentiment to the silver medalist but extremely insulting to the gold medalist, IMO) or how Evgenia was let down by her coaching team. I think how both Alina and Evgenia have been treated by the Russian media has been disgusting. So, I think it is understandable for Alina fans such as myself to have a bit of a chip on our shoulders when people are already (prematurely IMO) celebrating Rika's rise and defeat of Alina. But Rika DID skate very well, her best SP of the season, and I would love to see a Rika-Alina rivalry last a long time.

 

[Danny T]

Happy for Gubanova! I'm really no fan of CSKA work with her at all meh, but great for her to be happy

 

[esteticlove]

The situatuon isn't really the same. Take your time and compare Alina's pre-Euros competitions from the last season with Rika's from this season. What I see is a great difference in their skating skills in favour of Kihira. Still, Alina got the big componens last year although her ss was in need of improvement. That's what most people's problem was.

I don't get why you are upset about Rika's PCs' it's not as if she's just a jumping machine. She has very good presentation qualities and this no wonder because she trains under Hamada.

And now take a look at Alina's comp last year and today. Yeah, her skating skills got so much better, she shows tremendous improvement. But she almost got the max of PC last year and now that she's actually skating to match those scores they appear low for the quality she delivers.

Edit: but about what you said in terms of Russian media going after their girls and the comments from the *big figures* in Russian fig skating - I'm with you. They are just looking for drama in expence to Alina. Not fair at all!!

 

[flanker]

But they always did that, even when she was winning everything. (And I’ll say it again: Alina still has a great chance to get the gold here. She is only a few points behind) That‘s not what I meant. I meant that now screams start that Alina is underscored and Rika overscored even though Alina still got the highest PCS of the day. I mean, I love Alina but this score was fair. And I doubt she‘s particularly upset about losing to Rika in the SP or thinks her score is too low. I bet she‘s more motivated than ever to show her best in the FS now. I‘m personally looking forward to it. Both girls have great chances. And I like them both which is probably also an advantage.

In thursday (!) I've read comments "Alina does not deserve to win here", "finally she won't be overscored here, because in Canada they always score fair" and all this garbage more than a day before the competition even begun. So maybe the screams started in that moment. Yes, that's a part of the environment but it is definitely as if it was one-way scream.

I'm little tired with the history of the "opinion on Alina":

1st phase - finally we have somebody who can defeat "flutzing Zhenya" who is overscored in pcs, cinderella preaviled fair and square despite evil Eteri doing everything for her beloved Zhenya to win
2nd phase - evil Eteri managed to spoil Zhenya's chance to win and practically forced her to leave due to her focus on her beloved Alina
3rd phase - pcs overscored evil Alina will finally face the consequences in the form of our miraculous Rika.

So I'm really not curious on the whimpering that there are some individuals who speak against Rika's score. I repeat, I'm tired, I went through this during just several months, I never believed that people can change the opinion like nothing even several times during such a short period. If it weren't for this, maybe I would try to be more sympathetic to those who stand for Rika, and if I would not see so much turncoats among them.

 

[vitamintea]

I am not that shocked by the almost casual relationship between PCS and high scoring technical programs delivered cleanly, but I do think this system will give way soon if (and note I do say if because who knows what will happen in a year or two) the 3A burst onto the senior scene with greater tech content and artistry even half as good as Alena was in her short. The system will probably show its fractures there because I could see Rika getting 35-37s on PCS if the 3A is landed consistently, but then Trusova would also have to be in that range and Alena would needs to be even higher and then what do we do if we have more prodigies and shining stars? I don't watch the domestic Russian competitions but I've seen names being thrown around and the girl who performed at the Rostelecom gala was really special too. So while I am a bigger fan of the Russian ladies and especially of Alina, I have no problem in agreeing Rika won the short with a deserving skate. It's just—where is there to go next?

 

[Seruleane]

The situatuon isn't really the same. Take your time and compare Alina's pre-Euros competitions from the last season with Rika's from this season. What I see is a great difference in their skating skills in favour of Kihira. Still, Alina got the big componens last year although her ss was in need of improvement. That's what most people's problem was.

I don't get why you are upset about Rika's PCs' it's not as if she's just a jumping machine. She has very good presentation qualities and this no wonder because she trains under Hamada.

And now take a look at Alina's comp last year and today. Yeah, her skating skills got so much better, she shows tremendous improvement. But she almost got the max of PC last year and now that she's actually skating to match those scores they appear low for the quality she delivers.

Edit: but about what you said in terms of Russian media going after their girls and the comments from the *big figures* in Russian fig skating - I'm with you. They are just looking for drama in expence to Alina. Not fair at all!!

I'm not sure if you're replying to me or other posters, but I don't disagree with Rika's high PCS or placement. She has lovely skating skills, a triple axel, and it was the best performance of her SP this year. I'm just explaining why some Alina fans might be disgruntled with all the comments that have been made. See flanker's comment below yours. Some fans have literally been cackling with glee that someone might finally dethrone Alina. We are like, what throne are you talking about? The throne she was denied after she won OGM because everyone was busy feeling sorry for Evgenia?

 

[katymay]

From this photo, their height difference is not as much as I expected. Isn't Alyona supposed to be much shorter?

I think they have both experienced growth spurts. (Sasha and Alyona). From my unqualified observation, Alyona is almost post puberty, and Sasha is smack dab in the middle of puberty. (It was written that she has outgrown costumes and skates -it happens). I am not crazy about her new SP dress, it is too mature looking for a 14 year old.

 

[moriel]

I am personally upset with Russian media, and TAT and Co.
It is repulsive how, whenever Zhenya bombed this season, they said "oh she improved so much, this is just one competition". Whenever Alina skated, they were all "Alina's jumps are gone, Alina is done, Kihira will win everything".

 

[chopinskate]

1st phase - finally we have somebody who can defeat "flutzing Zhenya" who is overscored in pcs, cinderella preaviled fair and square despite evil Eteri doing everything for her beloved Zhenya to win
2nd phase - evil Eteri managed to spoil Zhenya's chance to win and practically forced her to leave due to her focus on her beloved Alina
3rd phase - pcs overscored evil Alina will finally face the consequences in the form of our miraculous Rika.

I do wonder what happened... The fandom wasn't this horrible a couple quads back.

 

[Sugar Coated]

I actually think this may be a good thing for Alina. I mean there is still the free skate, so it’s not like she has even lost yet. But I think this wake up call may force the coaching team to consider training the more difficult jumps for Worlds and if not then, for next season. Which she would likely need to remain competitive with the younger Eteri girls moving to seniors. I doubt they would consider risking upping her TES if she was still winning everything as is.

 

[Sugar Coated]

I think they have both experienced growth spurts. (Sasha and Alyona). From my unqualified observation, Alyona is almost post puberty, and Sasha is smack dab in the middle of puberty. (It was written that she has outgrown costumes and skates -it happens). I am not crazy about her new SP dress, it is too mature looking for a 14 year old.

I wondered this too since I thought she was the shortest of the 3a? But in the pic it looks like she is still in costume while the other girls may have changed after their programs since she was last to skate. Is it possible that she has her skates on while the others don’t?

 

[EdRoz]

I'm glad that I don't speak English very well to fully understand what is happening in this thread . :disagree:

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I do wonder what happened... The fandom wasn't this horrible a couple quads back.

Twitter and YouTube have evolved and the YouTube comment section has flooded its banks and people are fleeing. People spend far too much time retweeting their own thoughts or others who echo them. Online platforms have really taken off!!

Honestly I just think people give their opinions too much weight these days and spend way too much time telling others what the scores “should” be. Can’t we just tune in and watch some skating and support the personalities behind the sport. Does there really always have to be such outrage and overhyping of every moment and detail? I’m afraid to answer that

As someone who’s been familiar with the sport since early 2000 I’d say the judging is better today than it ever has so I don’t think it’s the judging :agree:

 

[skatenewbie]

i wonder what happened now that Sotskova PCS is super low... last season she had 33-34 ish in SP and 68 in FS, but now she drop to 30/31, even 29 in Golden Spin where she landed a clean 3-3. I'd expect it to decrease but more on 32s... i think she did deserve more than 29 though i hope she had great FS along with Gubanova and Guliakova!

 

[chopinskate]

Twitter and YouTube have evolved and the YouTube comment section has flooded its banks and people are fleeing. People spend far too much time retweeting their own thoughts or others who echo them. Online platforms have really taken off!!

Honestly I just think people give their opinions too much weight these days and spend way too much time telling others what the scores “should” be. Can’t we just tune in and watch some skating and support the personalities behind the sport. Does there really always have to be such outrage and overhyping of every moment and detail? I’m afraid to answer that

As someone who’s been familiar with the sport since early 2000 I’d say the judging is better today than it ever has so I don’t think it’s the judging :agree:

I disagree on the judging, and I do like actual thoughtful analysis of skating (instead of "my favourite is head and shoulders above this skater I don't like"), but yeah, the Twitter echo chambers are the absolute worst. People also just lose their temper whenever someone has a differing opinion, or post disgustingly snide remarks that fuel the fire.

 

[anna gabriela]

I wondered this too since I thought she was the shortest of the 3a? But in the pic it looks like she is still in costume while the other girls may have changed after their programs since she was last to skate. Is it possible that she has her skates on while the others don’t?

She must have her skates on, Alena is definitely still shorter than Sasha and Anna

 

[madison]

Well, while I completely agree that Kihira was grossly overscored for her simple and rather juniorish skating in PCS which eclipsed even "PCS Queen" Satoko (!) - they overlooked Alina's 3Lz-3Lo UR by new rules. So in the end difference between their scores would be mostly the same if they were judged fairly.

The tech specialist is Russian
The judges from Russia and Georgia placed Rika on 5th place based on PCS...
I just hope for fair judging in the free

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

The tech specialist is Russian
The judges from Russia and Georgia placed Rika on 5th place based on PCS...
I just hope for fair judging in the free

That sounds worse than what it really is though...both judges were only about 0.50 points off on each component from the panel.

J3 though scored Liza and Rika basically the same on PCS I didn’t see any major red flags with any of the judging though. The performances themselves are a for more compelling discussion IMO.

 

[Canadianskatingfan]

I can't believe how quickly the judges dumped Alina. Unbelievable. Not that I agree with her getting extremely high PCS, but I just didn't think she would lose her 4 point/8 point PCS buffer over Rika just like that.

They did not “dump her”. Rika skated much better last night, Alina was shaky and did not have her best performance. Also did a 3Lz3Lo< that didn’t get called. They actually held her up in my opinion. Far from dumped. 35.83 pcs for a performance like that is not dumped.