We're talking about a
clean Evgenia Medvedeva who, with that same little 3S-3T combo,
has scored (on a low average) 220+ total points for 3 seasons in a row prior to last fall. I'm wondering where y'all have been for the past couple of years...
No, Evgenia hasn't been skating nearly as well this season but if she were to have resurgent performances at worlds after having struggled this season, the judges would most definitely score her the way she used to be scored or at least very close to it which would likely eclipse everyone but Rika.
Liza T on the other hand has scored over 220 once in her career...at the Cup event she just completed
in Russia. If you take her two highest scores from the season (76.17 - NHK, 144.67 - GPF) you get a total of 220.84. Maybe give her a point or two for being clean puts her around a max score of 223+ which Evgenia has surpassed at least a dozen times (I'm not exaggerating, look it up). Liza's jumps are amazing but her spins, steps and PCS are not in the same league as other top competitors and never have been. Plus Evgenia has a zillion more reputation points than Liza has and, as unfair as that is, it really does make a difference in this sport which relies so heavily on reputation scoring.
Do I think it's likely Evgenia will deliver two clean performances like she used to at worlds this year? No. Do I think Liza was the safer choice this year? Yes. Only time will tell if the RusFed made the right choice or not...