2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[silveruskate]

pre-gala chat about a SBS jump:

Sasha's Lutz looks so stable in practice. Please whisper your secrets to her Nathan.

 

[LiamForeman]

Why not?

Those three will be joined by KV and aliona hell-bent on revenge next season and Maya and Dasha and evgenia and Alina! Get your popcorn ready.

Also, don't forget Ksenia Sinitsina. She trains 4toe and 3axel, plus her programs are interesting. I also saw Maiia land a Rippon 3axel somewhere on the internet, and if either gets the 3axel in the SP and LP, a lot can change.

 

[lopsilceci]

pre-gala chat about a SBS jump:

Sasha beats Nathan here with rippon + better landing
https://www.instagram.com/p/CM9VBrPIHW3/?igshid=16x9rzyqvsprm

 

[flanker]

Congrats to Anna on being WC. I’ve wanted her to win it all season long and she was finally able to clinch the title. Congrats to the Russian sweep as well, but what a disappointing event and disappointing skates from the podium.

I think I realized that I don’t enjoy this trio of Anna, Sasha, and Liza. I love the Russian ladies, but I really hope there will be a change in the Russian team next year, because I just did not get the feelings I needed from these 3. It wasn’t very exciting. That’s just a personal opinion, though, they all did their job and got their medals.

Take it the way it was currently probably one of the very few opportunities to see three russian ladies from three different teams at the top competition. I don't think there will be many similar opportunities in the near future.

 

[pete]

If I remember correctly Sasha, Aliona and Ting were seeded as well for the last Grand Prix season. So Kamila, Daria and Alysa will likely not meet as the reigning junior worlds medalists.

 

[snowflake]

Sasha
Get the girl a sports psychologist and force her to reduce her damn quads to 3 so she can skate two CLEAN programs for once, then you would have had her go home with a Gold Medal today Plushy.
In the pres conference she said at the Olympics she wants to jump 5 quads... She clearly never learns. But shouldn't her coaches or parents?.. anybody? I'll hate to see the greatest athlete female FS has ever had to go down as never having won a mayor international gold in her senior career cause of stubbornness and mismanagement..

Jump Sasha jump Success or failure, it's her career.

 

[bubblecherry]

I'm curious if your opinion is based primarily on Stockholm observations. This comp was at best poor man's Russian Nationals (which was freely available with Ted Barton's commentating as a live YouTube stream and hopefully is still available). Had you watched that ladies event, methinks your opinion would be different, especially about Anna and Sasha. Also, too bad Kamila Valieva wasn't eligible for Stockholm... Still, the quality of competition at Stockholm is understandable, considering all restrictions and the prehistory of 2021 Championship.

Of course I watched RusNats! I think that plays a role in why I was so underwhelmed by the Russian ladies here. I love Anna’s skating, I’m so happy to see her as 3x Nat Champion and World Champion. I don’t love Liza or Sasha’s skating, but I’ve enjoyed watching them all season long because they provided strong competition at events with other girls who had different strengths, too. They provided a good balance of different types of skating, and make the competitive level rise of each competition. I don’t think they provided those things to me here. At least not in the way I was expecting/hoping for.

Why not?

Those three will be joined by KV and aliona hell-bent on revenge next season and Maya and Dasha and evgenia and Alina! Get your popcorn ready.

Last thing, I think the Russian ladies are the class of the field in just about every category. So, to have Anna not in top form, as well as 2 other ladies with weaker performance and skating skills (even if it wasn’t reflected in the scores) just felt kind of “meh.” The diversity of skating in Kamila, Daria, and Aliona, even Evgenia and Alina was missed for me. I guess my point is that any combination of the Worlds team, and the skaters above could’ve swept the podium with the score range of 217-233. So, it’s just unfortunate that the Worlds team did so with pretty subpar performances.

I guess that’s what I mean by I didn’t necessarily like this “trio” or this “lineup” particularly. They all deserved their spots, and they all delivered the sweep, certainly! Just my personal opinion is that it’s not the most dynamic, entertaining, or thoughtful trio of Russian ladies which perhaps contributed to why I feel so underwhelmed. I’m sure the team next year will be different. I hope it’s dynamic and super competitive amongst themselves (I think this will happen!)

 

[chasingneverland]

I think that there is a possibility that we could have an all Russian GPF. They have insane content and enough girls that if someone falters, it can still be saved.

Content of potential Russian Team Members:

Sasha: 3+ quads in FS, plus a potential 3A in SP and FS.
Kamilla: 2-3 quads in FS, plus 3A in SP and FS
Maiia: 2 quads in FS
Anna: 2(+?) quads in FS
Aliona: potential 3A. (Also skating skills that have earned the respect of an international panel.)
Daria: ??- Not sure about quads and 3A yet, but she has looked very strong and I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets something by the fall.
Liza: 3A in SP, 2 3A’s in FS, plus a potential quad

Plus all of these ladies are doing 2-3, 3-3/3-4/3-eu-3/ combinations in their FS.

The issue is that they all can't win a GP. That and US and Japan aren't going to want Kamila, Anna, and Sasha especially at their Grand Prix's when they have Rika, Kaori, Wakaba, Rino, etc and Mariah, Bradie, Karen, Alysa, respectively to try to get to a GPF. Also because Russia has so many skaters and they have to double them up - someone has to get silver (or even bronze), which does not help them. And Young Yu might regain her form too.

Basically just like last time where Russia "sacrificed" Stanislava, Liza, Evgenia, Alina (to some extent though they paired her with Aliona who had the least of the technical content of the 3A), etc they'll do the same here but "expecting" some to get silvers/bronzes which will make it hard to qualify to the GPF. It's not that they don't have the tech content to, it's that they're going to expect them to lose to others. Like whoever they send with Kamila they're expecting her to get at best two silvers - so 26 points - and that's assuming someone else doesn't get in there.

 

[moriel]

Oh yes. I forgot about that. You can't repeat two quad jumps. So I was wrong earlier when I suggested a two 4Lz + two 4T program.

I still think she should concentrate on those two quads though. And work on the 3A. If she had that in the long, a three quad +3A would go a long way. And she could finally go clean.

A five quad program is just not realistic. Those "runthroughs" we've seen where she has landed them was not complete runthroughs. She gets to rest after each jumping pass. If you add the spins, steps and choreo into the runthrough, the stamina will quickly disappear. And that's what we see at competitions.

I´m on the same page... Rather than going for 5 quads, a 3 quads but more consistent FS would give her more points on average. Yes, it lacks the wow factor, but then she could go clean or nearly clean most of the time, and have a bit more strength to put into non jump elements (PCs and a bit of GOE here and there are good too, just saying).
Also Sasha seems to be fairly stubborn, and not likely to do what Anna did at Worlds ("ok, i fell from the quad, then not doing the other one because a mistake would be too costly).

 

[colormyworld240]

I think we will see Anna at Rostelecom next season, with Alena/Daria/Maiia. Usually the highest ranked Russian skater gets Rostelecom, with the exception of Alina last season, but apparently NHK was her choice. The pairings will be crazy competitive, but it was already last year.

Is Maiia guaranteed 2 GPs? What about Ksenia?

 

[nussnacker]

I´m on the same page... Rather than going for 5 quads, a 3 quads but more consistent FS would give her more points on average. Yes, it lacks the wow factor, but then she could go clean or nearly clean most of the time, and have a bit more strength to put into non jump elements (PCs and a bit of GOE here and there are good too, just saying).
Also Sasha seems to be fairly stubborn, and not likely to do what Anna did at Worlds ("ok, i fell from the quad, then not doing the other one because a mistake would be too costly).

Her previous team tried to make her skate 3 quad program, even go for 4 quads, persuaded her to tone it down for some competitions, but seems like for Sasha herself that decision didn’t sit well with her.
Ultimately, 3 quads can help her win IF Anna doesn’t manage to land 2-3 quads next season, if Aliona doesn’t get her 3*3A back, if Kamila doesn’t manage to land her 3A and 4S, 4T. Meaning no one knows what happens next season, it is possible, but I don’t think Sasha wants to skate hoping others don’t manage to land their jumps, that’s probably an assumption that won’t necessarily even be the reality. I think she wants to go for a layout that no one can beat at all.
Whether it is possible to land that in competition by Olympics is another question. I think she can do it physically, but if it will result in a lot inconsistencies in the Olympic season, it might hurt her reputation.

 

[Minz]

The issue is that they all can't win a GP. That and US and Japan aren't going to want Kamila, Anna, and Sasha especially at their Grand Prix's when they have Rika, Kaori, Wakaba, Rino, etc and Mariah, Bradie, Karen, Alysa, respectively to try to get to a GPF. Also because Russia has so many skaters and they have to double them up - someone has to get silver (or even bronze), which does not help them. And Young Yu might regain her form too.

Basically just like last time where Russia "sacrificed" Stanislava, Liza, Evgenia, Alina (to some extent though they paired her with Aliona who had the least of the technical content of the 3A), etc they'll do the same here but "expecting" some to get silvers/bronzes which will make it hard to qualify to the GPF. It's not that they don't have the tech content to, it's that they're going to expect them to lose to others. Like whoever they send with Kamila they're expecting her to get at best two silvers - so 26 points - and that's assuming someone else doesn't get in there.

I know - there’s too many skaters. Plus you have to take into account that Russia doesn’t get to decide the optimal layout for their skaters. The top 3 at worlds have to be separated and so do the top 4-6 at worlds. The top 3 get to pick first (in order) and then the top 4-6. Then it comes down to world rankings and host spots, etc. Nobody really knows who is where until it’s all done. Federations don’t get that much control over which international skaters come to their GP’s. So as hard as Russia tries to have the perfect GP layout, another skater could come along and mess the whole thing up. As hard as they try to mix up the fields, things could still go haywire. They have too many skaters to control a perfect plan. This year’s GP is going to be insane.

 

[Shayuki]

Take it the way it was currently probably one of the very few opportunities to see three russian ladies from three different teams at the top competition. I don't think there will be many similar opportunities in the near future.

Perhaps you're correct, but there are possibilities. Sofia Samodelkina for her age group is strong from CSKA, and Veronika Zhilina could potentially be something great from Angels. Then you add in Eteri's Sofia Akatieva and a similar situation could well be possible.

 

[starlight97]

Jump Sasha jump

Yeah that's exactly their attitude as well

 

[NAOTMAA]

Is Plushenko as “5! 5! 5!” as much as Trusova is? I know he’s of course a big supporter of the quads and insists they are a must have but does he support 5?

I know he had to practically twist her arm to water it down for nationals but I don’t know if that was a one time thing due to her injury or something that’s more ongoing

 

[Scott512]

Also, don't forget Ksenia Sinitsina. She trains 4toe and 3axel, plus her programs are interesting. I also saw Maiia land a Rippon 3axel somewhere on the internet, and if either gets the 3axel in the SP and LP, a lot can change.

I know ksenia is out there. I was just ripping off the names of EG girls. Ksenia only skated in one event this season let's see what she can do in a full season.

 

[Scott512]

I think we will see Anna at Rostelecom next season, with Alena/Daria/Maiia. Usually the highest ranked Russian skater gets Rostelecom, with the exception of Alina last season, but apparently NHK was her choice. The pairings will be crazy competitive, but it was already last year.

Is Maiia guaranteed 2 GPs? What about Ksenia?

Heck no they're not guaranteed 2.

 

[moonkat]

It took 5 quads to get back to third place. Every year it gets harder to stay on top.

 

[lariko]

I think that there is a possibility that we could have an all Russian GPF. They have insane content and enough girls that if someone falters, it can still be saved.

Content of potential Russian Team Members:

Sasha: 3+ quads in FS, plus a potential 3A in SP and FS.
Kamilla: 2-3 quads in FS, plus 3A in SP and FS
Maiia: 2 quads in FS
Anna: 2(+?) quads in FS
Aliona: potential 3A. (Also skating skills that have earned the respect of an international panel.)
Daria: ??- Not sure about quads and 3A yet, but she has looked very strong and I wouldn’t be surprised if she gets something by the fall.
Liza: 3A in SP, 2 3A’s in FS, plus a potential quad

Plus all of these ladies are doing 2-3, 3-3/3-4/3-eu-3/ combinations in their FS.

Sinitsina also has potential for 3A and a quad or both. We dunno about Frolova yet.
***
In juniors, Akatyeva and Berestovskaya will come from Tutberidze’s school with quads, and Samodelkina from CSKA... i am not sure what is the current status of Muravieva and Zhilina, they both seemed to be struggling.

 

[chasingneverland]

Sinitsina also has potential for 3A and a quad or both. We dunno about Frolova yet.
***
In juniors, Akatyeva and Berestovskaya will come from Tutberidze’s school with quads, and Samodelkina from CSKA... i am not sure what is the current status of Muravieva and Zhilina, they both seemed to be struggling.

We didn't forget about Ksenia S or Anna F, but we were talking about the Grand Prix, the Fed will make no attempt to "protect" either of them by giving them favourable assignments, if they get them at all. They WILL carefully consider the assignments of Anna, Kamila, Sasha, Liza, Aliona, Daria, and to some extent Maiia. Even if they don't get favourable assignments they'll do it to maximize the number who make it to the GPF AND to solidify their placements as the ones to beat going to the olympics.

As for the juniors, we weren't saying the mentioned girls were the only girls with ultra-c elements. But the juniors are irrelevant in terms of GP assignments.