I‘m so excited about RusNats!
I think Alina and Liza are a lock for the Worlds team and Euros. The other spot could go to Sofia or maybe Evgenia. At this point I feel like it will be Sofia, though. She is just so consistent and while she doesn‘t get the highest scores, she never makes mistakes. Evgenia has the greater scoring potential if clean but will we see her clean? I love her and she‘ll always be my favorite skater but looking at it realistically, this isn‘t her season. She needs time because reworking technique isn‘t easy and she‘s had problems with consistency due to this. Also she needs to find her mental strength again. That‘s why I think the European/World Team will be:
Alina, Liza and Sofia with Evgenia being the wildcard that will be put on the team as long as she performs decently. There‘s also Stasya Konstantinova and we all know how much the fed loves her. But if Zhenya bombs and Sofia and Stasya skate clean, it would be crazy not to send Sofia. I really like Stasya but with her, you can never be sure, what you‘ll get. With Sofia, you can. She is simply solid and can and should be trusted after everything she‘s done so far this season.
Masha and Polina unfortunately won‘t have much of a chance. They are both getting hammered with URs this season.
That‘s for the team chances. There‘s also the fact that all the members of 3A are allowed skate in seniors this season. Sasha will be more determined than ever for Nats now that she‘s only got silver at the JGPF. Quads can‘t really be predicted but I‘m sure we‘ll see Sasha fight with everything she‘s got and even more to land them. I have a feeling she‘ll get them, if only out of sheer willpower.
Anna is a wildcard as well. It will depend on what she shows. If she skates like she did at that one domestic competitions... well, watch out. I‘m happy Alena got the chance to be at senior Nats last year and get a medal there as this year it will be more difficult. We‘ve seen from JGPF that we should never count her out, though.
So, I think Alina will be on the top of the podium unless Sasha lands all her quads. Liza has a great chance as well for a medal. Anna too, if she doesn‘t bomb the SP. Alena needs solid outings and maybe mistakes from the others but it isn‘t absolutely impossible. She also should get high PCS now that she‘s competing in seniors. Sofia and Evgenia are others to watch out for but not sure how their chances are next to Alina, Liza, Sasha, Anna and Alena.
Juniors:
Well... Sasha will be hungry to defend her title. This will be a very interesting competition because it will determine who goes to Junior Worlds. I think Sasha is a lock, no matter what happens. She is their quad star after all and has that reputation. Alena won the gold at the JGPF, I think she deserves a spot as well but of course she should still have good skates. The last spot, I think, will go to Anna. I mean, yes, she bombed JGPF but that‘s one competition and we’ve seen how much she can score when she’s on. She really needs to skate cleanish in the FS, though and can‘t bomb the SP, though. Alena Kanysheva and Anastasia Tarakanova also have chances for the Worlds team if one of the 3A fails or Rusfed decides they don‘t want three Eteri girls. Alena is also JGPF bronze medalist which definitely helps. But still... if Anna doesn‘t bomb the SP and lands most of her jumps in the FS, she‘ll go. They can‘t leave her at home, given her scoring potential which is simply huge.
