As we get closer to Worlds, I think I'll revisit those power rankings I did for the top Russian ladies last fall. (Tuk, Sot, Lip, Med, Rad, Pog) Instead of rating each category for each person, I'll just compare them by category. Feel free to leave your comments, whether you agree or disagree.
Jump quality: Medvedeva > Pogorilaya > Radionova > Tuktamysheva > Sotnikova > Lipnitskaya.
Medvedeva is getting rewarded for her difficult Tanos, and her jumps are the most assured and confident out of all Russians. When she's on, Pogorilaya's jumps are also excellent- high and fast. Elena's jumps are still not spectacular, but she sells the landings. Liza was first at the beginning of the year for me but her jumps have been nowhere near as solid this season- she's lost the height and the exit speed. Adelina has good height but her air position can get sloppy, and I'm not sure if I've seen her do any nice jumps this season that are not triple toes. Yulia has always had subpar jump quality and continues to struggle in this regard.
Spin quality: Lipnitskaya > Sotnikova > Medvedeva > Radionova > Pogorilaya > Tuktamysheva.
Yulia's spins are as lovely as ever, and I am still a big fan of Adelina's positions. Evgeniya for me has the slight edge over Elena here, and even though Elena's spins are widely loved (especially her layback), I do not like a few of her positions. Her use of her very very thin arms during the sit spin is not appealing to me at all and reminds me even more of how bony she is. Liza, well, her sit spin is probably the worst spin among the Russians, and her layback is not visually appealing either.
Skating Skills: Sotnikova > Lipnitskaya > Medvedeva > Pogorilaya > Radionova > Tuktamysheva.
These next two categories are very subjective and thus, you could easily rank them completely differently than I do. Personally I believe Adelina has developed solid edges- maybe the dancing practice has helped with her lines and such. Yulia is still so lovely to watch (when she's not jumping). The next three are really similar I think, but I'll give the edge to Evgeniya because I believe she has better flow on ice than Anna and Elena flails her arms a lot- there's often too much going on in her skating that is unnecessary. Liza, well, keep working on it.
Programs/Choreo/Interpretation: Sotnikova > Medvedeva > Pogorilaya > Radionova > Lipnitskaya > Tuktamysheva.
Adelina has two fun programs this year- I like her exciting sexy free and her Lara Fabian long program, which is much better to watch, in my opinion, than Elena's other Fabian program. She also performs the heck out of them. I am not a huge fan of Evgeniya's music, since neither captivate me, but she does interpret them nicely. Anna's Scheherazade program fits her very well, but when she is not on her game and falls on her jumps, there is absolutely zero performance and you can see the detachment on her face. Elena's programs are so cheesy and corny, but if anyone could pull those off, it's her. Her interpretation makes the programs somewhat tolerable. Yulia has a bizarre short program that she rarely actually gets into, and a long program that is beautiful but is devoid of any emotional connection- especially when her jumps are not working. I would not like to comment on Liza's rather horrific free program.
Consistency/Competitiveness: Medvedeva > Radionova > Pogorilaya > Tuktamysheva > Lipnitskaya > Sotnikova.
This is perhaps the most important category, and Evgeniya and Elena are ahead by a country mile. There is a real grittiness to both Evgeniya and Elena, and they are capable of really fighting through programs. They rarely fall and will consistently deliver clean or nearly clean programs. A distant third is Anna, who has shown flashes of brilliance coupled with nightmarish programs. She throws herself into jumps and sometimes falls spectacularly. She needs to find more consistency to compete on a higher level. Liza, Yulia, and Snot are all essentially tied for last. These three have been all over the place this season, and it's no wonder none of them are going to worlds.
It just so happens that my overall rankings are EXACTLY THE SAME as my rankings for consistency, which just shows you how important that category is. What are your thoughts?
Didn't agree with that but it's her decision. She says she will be working on her jumps for next season so I expect no more competitions for her.
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