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- Aug 4, 2020
Is ladies SP today too? and FS tomorrow??
2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating
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- May 28, 2019
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- Jan 12, 2014
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- Feb 27, 2014
Except Anna does not think she is the underdog.
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- Nov 2, 2013
We're just assuming that Valieva can consistently skate her program layouts under pressure? I think she needs to prove that first. Even today her 3Lutz was not exactly stable.
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- Dec 31, 2019
She never does!!Except Anna does not think she is the underdog.
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2019
That applies for everyone though...
All of Kamila, Anna, Sasha, Aliona, and Liza have faltered under pressure..
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- Nov 2, 2013
Anna's at least proven she can skate her layout cleanly in multiple competitions, my point is that Valieva for now has only done one exhibition.
Of course, tomorrow can change that.
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- Dec 31, 2019
Actually Anna has only skated her top layout cleanly once. I love love love Anna but she's only skated her 4Lz-3T, 4F, 4Lz cleanly once - RusNats last year. And she still hasn't brought that layout back this season yet - although she does have all her jumps back. But she's only landed her 4F a couple times.
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- Nov 2, 2013
True, if we're talking about that layout. Same with Trusova as well, she's not really landed her top layout very many times. Or at all?
The 3A, 4T+2T, 4T layout for Valieva I would have compared to Shcherbakova's 4Lz 4F layout(with no combos on either) since the BV's similar, though I think Shcherbakova should still have a slight BV advantage there.
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- Dec 31, 2019
Even that layout she's only landed cleanly once - at RusNats this year. At the beginning of the season she was only doing one quad - 4Lz. And she only upgraded to 2 quads (4Lz and 4F) for RusNats. At Channel 1 cup she had a hand down on the 4F and popped her 3Lo later on. (And last year she did two Lz's before upgrading which I think she only landed cleanly once or twice.)
And no - overall Kamila should have a BV advantage.
(Sasha has landed her four quad program program cleanly once. She's attempted five but never been clean.)
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- Nov 11, 2019
The ladies acquitted themselves pretty well in the SP at the Russian Cup Final. Kamila was marvellous, if a little rushed in her movements and not quite on the music. She has grown as a skater and a competitor, and she captivates with her confidence and assurance. Her save on the combo was crazy - I honestly thought she was going to fall, but somehow she managed to grit out that 3T.
Daria remains a model of consistency, and I hope she can get a 3A for next season. I love how bold she is with her make-up; her eyeshadow is a statement in and of itself. I have just one small whine about her SP, and that is that I am starting to understand why people get tired of warhorses, and frankly, this isn't Roxanne, but I wouldn't mind if the Moulin Rouge soundtrack were just banned for several years. I love Daria's skating, but I ... don't love the music. Please, please, please, let her have something really different next season - I want to see her develop as a performer, because I feel she could be really good and really versatile.
Liza does an excellent job with her new SP - it suits her, she knows how to sell it. Very happy she landed the 3A, even with the turnout on landing, and the 3Lz-3T! She is serious about wanting to go to Worlds - she is really laying down her technical arsenal here. Plus, she's getting her spin levels, so there is more attention to detail, I think, than before. She knows that if she wants an Olympic spot, she is going to have to get every single point she can, and she is really making an argument for herself.
Maiia did very well, despite the freak step out on the 2A at the start. She's come so far from the first time I saw her, at the JGP, where she was inconsolable after a good, but imperfect skate: now she can put a mistake at the start of the programme behind her and go on to perform the rest of it impeccably. She's so young, but she has the polish and the composure of a much older skater, and with her height, it makes it so easy to forget she is only fourteen.
Ksenia Tsibinova and Anna Frolova both put down competent skates, I think. They were clean, they were expressive (Anna really impressed me with how she was using her whole body, no longer the formal, reserved little skater she was on the JGP circuit last season), possibly underappreciated, but honestly, both of them are really lovely. I am very fond of Anna in particular; she has grown on me.
Sofia's skate was good, but alas for the underrotated 3T. She does get dinged on her jumps, sadly, though her spins were all level 4s and her StSq was pretty good too. She really didn't look happy before her SP, nor during it, but she finally seemed able to smile at her score. Elizaveta Nugumanova wasn't quite as thrilled, and I guess her Worlds dreams kind of died today, unless she can manage to get all her jumps around in the FS. Nonetheless, she is so delightful, and looks like another of those musical skaters, who always accents the right notes at the right time; it helps as well that she clearly enjoys skating and has a real flair for performance!
Maria Talalaikina's SP sadly does nothing for me, but I am looking forward to her Maleficent free skate tomorrow - that is so much fun and she clearly loves it. Props to her for recovering from her awkward first jump (was it the first? I'd have to rewatch) and getting the rest of the programme done. Kamila Sultanmagomedova (I did not check, I may have misspelled her surname, please tell me if I have) had a rough skate, and looked a little tentative throughout; falling on the combination was really unfortunate. But tomorrow is another day, and hopefully she will have a free skate that she is proud of.
And now, my favourite, Aliona. It was so sad to see her crying, but she is so hard on herself, and is expecting so much from herself, despite having been ill, and had so many setbacks this season. But, despite a warm-up that may have sapped some of her confidence, she delivered all of her jumps in the SP, got them around, got them landed. Her 2A remains lovely, her 3F is enormous, and that proved her undoing. With more time to recover, to regain her strength and stamina, she will be able to skate Winter as beautifully as any of her former programmes, and hit her levels for her spins and StSq. I do miss her Billie Eilish SP, she really enjoyed it, and sold it so well; perhaps it might have given her the energy to carry her through to the end of the skate. But this one could be a lovely one, given time.
Honestly, we are so lucky to see so many talented young women and girls on the ice. I hope that they all skate every bit as well tomorrow, and even better, and that they come away happy and knowing that they have shown what they can, right now.
Daria remains a model of consistency, and I hope she can get a 3A for next season. I love how bold she is with her make-up; her eyeshadow is a statement in and of itself. I have just one small whine about her SP, and that is that I am starting to understand why people get tired of warhorses, and frankly, this isn't Roxanne, but I wouldn't mind if the Moulin Rouge soundtrack were just banned for several years. I love Daria's skating, but I ... don't love the music. Please, please, please, let her have something really different next season - I want to see her develop as a performer, because I feel she could be really good and really versatile.
Liza does an excellent job with her new SP - it suits her, she knows how to sell it. Very happy she landed the 3A, even with the turnout on landing, and the 3Lz-3T! She is serious about wanting to go to Worlds - she is really laying down her technical arsenal here. Plus, she's getting her spin levels, so there is more attention to detail, I think, than before. She knows that if she wants an Olympic spot, she is going to have to get every single point she can, and she is really making an argument for herself.
Maiia did very well, despite the freak step out on the 2A at the start. She's come so far from the first time I saw her, at the JGP, where she was inconsolable after a good, but imperfect skate: now she can put a mistake at the start of the programme behind her and go on to perform the rest of it impeccably. She's so young, but she has the polish and the composure of a much older skater, and with her height, it makes it so easy to forget she is only fourteen.
Ksenia Tsibinova and Anna Frolova both put down competent skates, I think. They were clean, they were expressive (Anna really impressed me with how she was using her whole body, no longer the formal, reserved little skater she was on the JGP circuit last season), possibly underappreciated, but honestly, both of them are really lovely. I am very fond of Anna in particular; she has grown on me.
Sofia's skate was good, but alas for the underrotated 3T. She does get dinged on her jumps, sadly, though her spins were all level 4s and her StSq was pretty good too. She really didn't look happy before her SP, nor during it, but she finally seemed able to smile at her score. Elizaveta Nugumanova wasn't quite as thrilled, and I guess her Worlds dreams kind of died today, unless she can manage to get all her jumps around in the FS. Nonetheless, she is so delightful, and looks like another of those musical skaters, who always accents the right notes at the right time; it helps as well that she clearly enjoys skating and has a real flair for performance!
Maria Talalaikina's SP sadly does nothing for me, but I am looking forward to her Maleficent free skate tomorrow - that is so much fun and she clearly loves it. Props to her for recovering from her awkward first jump (was it the first? I'd have to rewatch) and getting the rest of the programme done. Kamila Sultanmagomedova (I did not check, I may have misspelled her surname, please tell me if I have) had a rough skate, and looked a little tentative throughout; falling on the combination was really unfortunate. But tomorrow is another day, and hopefully she will have a free skate that she is proud of.
And now, my favourite, Aliona. It was so sad to see her crying, but she is so hard on herself, and is expecting so much from herself, despite having been ill, and had so many setbacks this season. But, despite a warm-up that may have sapped some of her confidence, she delivered all of her jumps in the SP, got them around, got them landed. Her 2A remains lovely, her 3F is enormous, and that proved her undoing. With more time to recover, to regain her strength and stamina, she will be able to skate Winter as beautifully as any of her former programmes, and hit her levels for her spins and StSq. I do miss her Billie Eilish SP, she really enjoyed it, and sold it so well; perhaps it might have given her the energy to carry her through to the end of the skate. But this one could be a lovely one, given time.
Honestly, we are so lucky to see so many talented young women and girls on the ice. I hope that they all skate every bit as well tomorrow, and even better, and that they come away happy and knowing that they have shown what they can, right now.
Please make your analyze after each cup!!!
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
Thank you Vv for such amazingly detailed analysis of many skaters.
It's better reading your comments and Analysis than that of sports.ru.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
Well, congratulations to Liza on her Worlds ticket!
I‘m devastated for Aliona but she tried. The spins, lutz and 2A all didn‘t look bad, I think the bad fall in the warm up just rattled her.
The program‘s nice in theory but still quite empty. If she does it with her normal skills restored, it could be incredible. But now? She just doesn‘t have the stamina yet to pull off the step sequence to the fast music, even without taking the combo mistake into consideration.
Debuting this here was a huge mistake, imo. Too much at stake, too much pressure. These are the programs she should have gotten at the beginning of the season.
Also, I‘m sorry but her training situation concerns me. Plushenko looks like he doesn‘t care at all about her (or like he has zero plan) and Rozanov‘s just inexperienced. Obviously she was unhappy at Eteri‘s, so she had to leave. The thing is, though, that there is a stunning lack of other high level coaches available for a country so totally dominating the sport. CSKA seem to have dropped entirely (with the exception of Davydov, I guess, but he already has a dozen other skaters), so who else is there really in Moscow? At least at Plushenko‘s she gets all the technical stuff she needs, such as ice time, costumes etc. But I don‘t have a lot of confidence in those two guys seeing how things progressed this season. I was willing to give the Angel’s Academy the benefit of the doubt and with Sasha it seems to have paid off. She has improved heaps and bounds. Aliona, however? Well, let’s just say I don‘t get their strategy at all. And to make it clear, I am NOT talking about her getting COVID, injured and struggling now. That was out of their control. But you don‘t give a struggling skater two new programs when she‘s already fighting to land her jumps. You just don‘t.
As for the rest... Well, I‘m frankly too sad to write much lol. Valieva was Valieva, if she skates like this she‘ll win the OGM. If not, it‘s Shcherbakova‘s. Usacheva - good, solid, beautiful. Says she‘s working on 4S and it‘s going better than the 3A. Good for her but as a devastated Aliona fan it‘s not making me happy at all. Tuktamysheva has really turned it around this season. Let’s hope she holds it together at Worlds. Not a fan of her skating but she deserves to go. I guess it‘s karma - after Medvedeva beat her in the Cup Final for the last Worlds spot, it couldn‘t happen a second time for another of my favorites.
I‘m devastated for Aliona but she tried. The spins, lutz and 2A all didn‘t look bad, I think the bad fall in the warm up just rattled her.
The program‘s nice in theory but still quite empty. If she does it with her normal skills restored, it could be incredible. But now? She just doesn‘t have the stamina yet to pull off the step sequence to the fast music, even without taking the combo mistake into consideration.
Debuting this here was a huge mistake, imo. Too much at stake, too much pressure. These are the programs she should have gotten at the beginning of the season.
Also, I‘m sorry but her training situation concerns me. Plushenko looks like he doesn‘t care at all about her (or like he has zero plan) and Rozanov‘s just inexperienced. Obviously she was unhappy at Eteri‘s, so she had to leave. The thing is, though, that there is a stunning lack of other high level coaches available for a country so totally dominating the sport. CSKA seem to have dropped entirely (with the exception of Davydov, I guess, but he already has a dozen other skaters), so who else is there really in Moscow? At least at Plushenko‘s she gets all the technical stuff she needs, such as ice time, costumes etc. But I don‘t have a lot of confidence in those two guys seeing how things progressed this season. I was willing to give the Angel’s Academy the benefit of the doubt and with Sasha it seems to have paid off. She has improved heaps and bounds. Aliona, however? Well, let’s just say I don‘t get their strategy at all. And to make it clear, I am NOT talking about her getting COVID, injured and struggling now. That was out of their control. But you don‘t give a struggling skater two new programs when she‘s already fighting to land her jumps. You just don‘t.
As for the rest... Well, I‘m frankly too sad to write much lol. Valieva was Valieva, if she skates like this she‘ll win the OGM. If not, it‘s Shcherbakova‘s. Usacheva - good, solid, beautiful. Says she‘s working on 4S and it‘s going better than the 3A. Good for her but as a devastated Aliona fan it‘s not making me happy at all. Tuktamysheva has really turned it around this season. Let’s hope she holds it together at Worlds. Not a fan of her skating but she deserves to go. I guess it‘s karma - after Medvedeva beat her in the Cup Final for the last Worlds spot, it couldn‘t happen a second time for another of my favorites.
And in competition Shcherbakova hasn't needed more than what she has done to win; internationally she's never lost a FS either so even though she's not done her most difficult layout cleanly internationally she's still been able to win the FS. Valieva needs 2 quads and that triple axel to be comparable to Shcherbakova's 2 quad programs because Valieva only does the toe right now which is a low valued quad vs. Shcherbakova who does the 2 highest valued quads and competitively she has shown to do 1 of them in combination. Valieva's domestically scored quads (which we all know domestically there's generally an over-scoring issue) don't score competitively against Shcherbakova's internationally judged quads.
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2019
That's why I said overall. Because that doesn't take into account Kamila's SP BV lead.
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- Dec 31, 2019
Eh, she did need to be clean to beat Aliona with 3 3A's even with a 3 quad program - which she doesn't have right now. (Even when neither were clean Aliona did win overall.) She's won the FS yes, but she's hasn't managed to win overall yet, internationally. (I'm hopeful that all changes at World's this year though!) Because Kamila does have a 3A in the SP as well - that 3A in the SP advantage is super hard to make up, especially as all of Aliona, Anna, Kamila, Sasha, (and Daria) will have similar PCS with only a slight edge to Aliona and Anna.
As for domestically vs internationally both of Anna and Kamila will score v well there so that's a wash.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
But Valieva‘s quads are much better than Shcherbakova‘s, now that she seems to have more or less fixed the axis. Better height, speed and rotation. And of course the rippon. So, I think it will make no difference, they‘ll both get slightly lower scores internationally but Valieva‘s GOE should be way higher. Unless they give Shcherbakova the reputation bonus but I don‘t think they will - not with the way Valieva‘s being pushed by RusFed.
And they’re right in doing so, I guess. 3A, quads, insane spins, great lines and passable skating skills. Who cares that her 3-3 are bad and she doesn’t emote all that much during her skates if you have everything else? Imo, if OG were held tomorrow, Shcherbakova‘s only chance at a win were if Valieva fell. But considering that Shcherbakova’s the much more solid competitor, her chances aren’t all bad. Certainly better than anybody else‘s, including Trusova, who probably needs a 5 quads FS or 4 + 3A to win Gold.
- Joined
- Dec 31, 2019
Anna will get some reputation bonus. She's a 3 time RusNats champion and already her PCS were behind really only Aliona and Rika and essentially almost tied there anyway. And that was before she became a RusNats champion for the 3rd time and she might be the reigning World's champion.
And no, if the OG were held tomorrow it's probably Anna's - depending on what Sasha and Rika do. As Kamila is too young to an Olympics to be tomorrow.
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