2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Shayuki]

https://streamable.com/xsdj6r

Alena Krivonosova(10yo) SP from this past week.

Now, these are good facial expressions.

 

[Novalis]

https://streamable.com/xsdj6r

Alena Krivonosova(10yo) SP from this past week.

Now, these are good facial expressions.

She really is quite something! Eteri bound?

 

[colormyworld240]

I think there were rumours that 4S is next for Kamila, but don't know where these rumours came from.

If she includes 2x4T, 4S and 2x3A (maybe even three of them) next season, it will be extremely hard for anyone to stop her at Olympics.

I think two 4T and 3A are more than enough. With the 3A in the SP, no one can match her technically. Adding another quad seems like it'll take away from consistency and presentation. I do feel bad for Anna who is now technically behind. But Kamila relatively clean will be near impossible to beat, she doesn't just have the quads, but also spins and PCS. The spins are where she can really make a difference if it is close, the GOE difference on 6 spins is quite significant. Anna really needs a 3A, I wonder if she can do it.

 

[Paulipau]

I saw Kamila on insta, landing a 4S.

 

[Amei]

Of course they improve upon it all the time but if Tarakanova's not managed to do so in a meaningful way in 3 years, I don't think the odds are very high.

From what I've seen, you tend to be able to see it pretty early, for example Trusova's rotation speed was quite slow in the earlier videos of hers that I've seen and it still is somewhat slow. On the other hand Akatieva even when she was like 7 or something and was just jumping doubles had visibly very fast rotation speed, and she rotates really quickly. Veronika Zhilina had pretty slow rotation speed and her rotation speed still is rather slow(She compensates with absolutely ridiculous elevation). And so on.

Tarakanova's problem is that she's a coach hopper, she's on her 4th coach in the last 4 years; its got to be incredibly hard to make meaningful improvements when you are changing coaches so often. Its sad because in the pre-junior categories of Russian competition she was beating Trusova and Shcherbakova, and those 2 are front-runners for the Olympic team and it really looks like she's going to struggle to ever get a senior GP assignment.

Coaching changes:
Prior to the 2017-2018 season: Panova (Wikipedia lists that her family moved to Moscow in 2011 and she started with Irina Klimova, then Butraskaya then she moved to Snow Leopards to Panova no specific start date for her first time working with Panova).
2017-2018: Eteri. After this season from what's been said she was going to leave the sport and came back
2018-2019: Plushenko
2019-2020: Panova
2020-2021: Ivanova

 

[Giltedge]

Little Tat.

It's her birthday today.

 

[Amei]

The Dariya being referred to in the discussion is the Mari El, one, Sadkova, not the one you're (I think) referring to. Somewhere along the way the Dariya wires got crossed

This is why I generally reference skaters by their last names

i wonder why Averbukh doesn’t choreograph for more Russian ladies. His choreo is really pretty good. The Ice Age Kids programs for Zhilina and Kulikova were great, his FS for Misha is breathtaking and his previous works with Zhenya and Yulia were good as well. His EX for Alina was also pretty good (could do without the arms though).

I wonder if his price is too high, he got quite famous after choreographing for Lipnitskaya, plus he does a lot of choreographing for shows so how much time does he have.

 

[sclloyd]

Hmm. I think she needs someone else besides either of those two. I can't tell for sure from all the pictures but she looks quite tall and she's only 14. Both Tutberidze and Plushenko specialize in tiny girls. Maiia needs someone who could teach her better technique that will last if she continues to grow. I think any other camp would let her use a choreographer suited to her strengths, Idk if anyone besides Tutberidze forces all their students to use the same one.

Yes, doesn’t have to be plush, he’s just the second name I think of when it comes to Russian ladies coaches. There’s also Mishin but I don’t think he’d suit Maiia either. But Liza does have good jumping technique that has carried her through a long career so maybe? Regardless of who though, I really think that Maiia’s talents aren’t being capitalized with TT the way they could be in other camps where skating styles and skaters themselves are a little more diverse in image and body type.

 

[renebaebae]

Skating skills can honestly be subjective in places but it is a fact that Daria's SS are better than Zhilina's. Now I think Nika has the potential to become a good artist, she has good speed across the ice after all, but her edges are shallow, and her skating lacks refinement. When I see her doing steps it's not smooth but rather very rough. Zhilina's jumps are better in terms of technique but her landings are very rough and she's inconsistent.

And out of the Russian ladies, Daria's musicality is second to only Anna's (and hers is better than Anna's if Anna isn't having the best day). For example, take her SP at the Channel One Trophy. She waits to do the Ina Bauer on the music, she waits to do the leap on the music, her arms get softer as the music gets softer. Then the free skate - she waits in position for music changes. She is elegant and graceful in the middle section while being dramatic and powerful in the first and third sections.

Kami has gotten much better in facial expression. Again, I don't really care about facial expressions in a program if the skater's movements express everything nonetheless. She has been showing clear improvement (especially in the FS oddly). Strictly speaking about facial expressions, there is something to be desired in Kami's skating but her movements express that well enough.

It has already been pointed out that it was Sadkova not Usacheva haha.

I also agree with you that Kami's facial expressions have improved this season.

 

[Giltedge]

Here's the Mari El Dariya, Sadkova, celebrating her victory in this week's Inter-Regional Competition, Volga Federal District.

 

[Scott512]

I’m sure Anna would prefer to call herself world champion or Olympic champion to 3x national champion.
Alina/ Adelina are always referred to as Olympic champion.
Evgenia/Liza always as world champion.
Their Russian titles are literally only mentioned after their international ones.
I get you Anna stans want to make her achievements more special, but maybe just wait until she achieves something internationally.
And sure all her skates on the national scene are good, but that’s because they don’t have the same pressure as international. She first needs to perform her best at those events.
To date, she has competed in 3 major international competitions, and has come second each time. Meaning someone else always did it better...

Can't win a World's if there isn't a worlds. and the competition in recent years at ladies Russian Nationals is unprecedented. So keep talking about Liza's World title. and don't bring up Europeans that's a less than mediocre field other than the Russian ladies.

Alionas European title isn't even worth one of Anna's three Russian national titles!

Let's see Anya has beaten Sasha aliona evgenia Alina Elizavita the latter three former world champions and all In the same event rusnats yet we hear is Anya has not won an International Event. Lol. Other than the two grand prix events she skated in and of course won easily.

Yeah Anna one second place at gpf and one second place at European she's such a disappointment.

world's is a major International competition. Europeans is not nor is 4 CC. I know some people are going to melt down with my writing that. Lol.

Anna for whatever it means would have been the clear for Europeans this year and will be the favorite for worlds if it takes place. It's just the way it is.

No question the time for Anna to strike at Worlds is this year because the missile is coming next season and we all know who the missile is. 'Milla The Missile!

And if aliona gets her 3A back watch out. It will be crazy with the top four Russian girls and Rika and YY. I say Bring It On. So does Anna so does TT.

 

[Dawn825]

Safety stuff aside, I hope we have Worlds just for the ladies field. I don't rlly wanna see P/C or S/H lose their titles, but I think the moral of this debate is that it's well past time for a new ladies world podium.

 

[chasingneverland]

I think two 4T and 3A are more than enough. With the 3A in the SP, no one can match her technically. Adding another quad seems like it'll take away from consistency and presentation. I do feel bad for Anna who is now technically behind. But Kamila relatively clean will be near impossible to beat, she doesn't just have the quads, but also spins and PCS. The spins are where she can really make a difference if it is close, the GOE difference on 6 spins is quite significant. Anna really needs a 3A, I wonder if she can do it.

Yeah, I think right now it's more than enough. But it depends what Anna, Sasha, Aliona, and Rika can add and get consistent. Sasha already has the technical prowess to match and even beat that - it's just a matter of getting it consistent.

 

[DougDorsey]

Alionas European title isn't even worth one of Anna's three Russian national titles!

Let's see Anya has beaten Sasha aliona evgenia Alina Elizavita the latter three former world champions and all In the same event rusnats yet we hear is Anya has not won an International Event. Lol. Other than the two grand prix events she skated in and of course won easily.

THIS! I've made the same point before. In fact, I've taken it a step further: I believe Anya's three consecutive RusNats titles are the single most impressive accomplishment in modern ladies skating...perhaps even modern skating across all disciplines.

At the end of the day, a victory is only as impressive as the competition you had to triumph over. By this measure, any single one of Anya's RusNats titles is arguably more impressive than Alina's Olympic victory, Zhenya's Worlds titles, Aliona's GPF/Euros, etc.. (Before you disagree, take a second to think through whether the competition at these events was at nearly the same level as RusNats.)

Just think about some of the names Anya had to beat to win her RusNats titles: Trusova, Kostornaia, Valieva, Zagitova, Medvedeva, Tsurskaya, Tuktamysheva, Samodurova, Usacheva...and on it goes. I can't think of any international competition in recent years that was tougher to win than RusNats has been the past three years. And Anya came out on top not only once, but ALL THREE TIMES. It still blows my mind.

So, yeah, I find it tough to take seriously anyone who would question Anya's bona fides. They're clearly not knowledgeable enough about skating to understand that Russian domestic events have surpassed international events. I mean, yeah, winning an event like the Olympics is cool from a "historical significance" and PR standpoint, but go back and look at the competitors from Pyeongchang and ask yourself if it was really that impressive compared to what Anya has accomplished with RusNats.

 

[Azikin]

Tarakanova's problem is that she's a coach hopper, she's on her 4th coach in the last 4 years; its got to be incredibly hard to make meaningful improvements when you are changing coaches so often. Its sad because in the pre-junior categories of Russian competition she was beating Trusova and Shcherbakova, and those 2 are front-runners for the Olympic team and it really looks like she's going to struggle to ever get a senior GP assignment.

It's all in the head, unfortunately. I love her but deciding to quit skating for several months and leaving Eteri is not exactly the road to success in such a crazily competitive environment..

 

[LiamForeman]

It's all in the head, unfortunately. I love her but deciding to quit skating for several months and leaving Eteri is not exactly the road to success in such a crazily competitive environment..

It's a shame she's stuck in Russia, because she's long past her sport in Russia. She is done there. Finito. If she really wants to compete, her only option is to switch to another country. Otherwise, why continue to skate? I mean, it's exercise and she hopefully likes doing it, but it's still an expensive hobby and it sounds like her parents don't have much money. If I were her parent, I'd be strongly encouraging her to retire. She achieved a lot and she's still young to find another avenue to succeed in.

 

[LiamForeman]

Yeah, I think right now it's more than enough. But it depends what Anna, Sasha, Aliona, and Rika can add and get consistent. Sasha already has the technical prowess to match and even beat that - it's just a matter of getting it consistent.

Therein lies the dilemma. She's really the one who can ultimately take the gold from Kamila if both skate clean. Sarah Hughes only landed two 3/3's ONCE in her career and it was at the Olympics. Who's to say Sasha won't by miracle of miracles have the competition of her life with 5 quads and 2 3axels? It's improbable, but all it takes is hitting it when it counts. So Kamila is in a tough spot, should she continue learning new quads and risk injury or just focus on what she has now? I think Kamila should rather work on perfecting a --3loop combo because that's a lot more points than a --2toe and won't require a crash helmet to perfect it.

 

[halulupu]

THIS! I've made the same point before. In fact, I've taken it a step further: I believe Anya's three consecutive RusNats titles are the single most impressive accomplishment in modern ladies skating...perhaps even modern skating across all disciplines.

At the end of the day, a victory is only as impressive as the competition you had to triumph over. By this measure, any single one of Anya's RusNats titles is arguably more impressive than Alina's Olympic victory, Zhenya's Worlds titles, Aliona's GPF/Euros, etc.. (Before you disagree, take a second to think through whether the competition at these events was at nearly the same level as RusNats.)

Just think about some of the names Anya had to beat to win her RusNats titles: Trusova, Kostornaia, Valieva, Zagitova, Medvedeva, Tsurskaya, Tuktamysheva, Samodurova, Usacheva...and on it goes. I can't think of any international competition in recent years that was tougher to win than RusNats has been the past three years. And Anya came out on top not only once, but ALL THREE TIMES. It still blows my mind.

So, yeah, I find it tough to take seriously anyone who would question Anya's bona fides. They're clearly not knowledgeable enough about skating to understand that Russian domestic events have surpassed international events. I mean, yeah, winning an event like the Olympics is cool from a "historical significance" and PR standpoint, but go back and look at the competitors from Pyeongchang and ask yourself if it was really that impressive compared to what Anya has accomplished with RusNats.

I disagree. Its a incredible huge accomplishment to win 3 nationals under the current competition. Still its only a qualification tournament after all

 

[brakes]

https://streamable.com/xsdj6r

Alena Krivonosova(10yo) SP from this past week.

Now, these are good facial expressions.

Yes, she is very good performer.
After winning Moscow's Younger Novices, she already managed to win two another competitions, in the last one she beat younger Zhilina, by the way - do I correctly hear Grishin commentating?

 

[flanker]

Nasta Tarakanova doing 4T in a harness:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLRLdsHIOtM/