2015 Russian Nationals Mens FS

[adelia]

I don't think Plushy will be back for 2018 (and I do like him). Once all the dust settles, I think he will realize (if he hasn't already) that it's just not worth putting his body through such torment again when so many other wonderful things lie ahead for him in life and career.

 

[Rissa]

Pray tell me the last time Kovtun had 2 consecutive clean skates?

Lets's not cast stones here; two consecutive clean skates are rarer than a bloody steak.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

If his health holds up for 2018 (which I doubt) and he still feels competite then sure let him compete.

However I would hope that if he makes the Russian team it won't be because of overscoring like last year. I get he's a legend or whatever but it would be terrible if a redux of Sochi happened where he pulled out when another Russian who hasn't been to the Olympics could have had the opportunity to compete. It would be awful if Plushenko went to Pyongyang if Kovtun/Voronov/Pitkeev/etc. outskated him at Nationals and some bs closed door skate that the public doesn't get to see knocked one of them off the team (as it did with Kovtun/Voronov in Sochi). He's lucky that the Russian men were so meh in 2014 that he could reputation his way onto the Olympic team but I think Kovtun/Voronov have gotten too good and Adian is on his way, so Plushenko will actually have to earn it through a solid SP/FS at Nationals.

 

[Meoima]

I don't think Plushy will be back for 2018 (and I do like him). Once all the dust settles, I think he will realize (if he hasn't already) that it's just not worth putting his body through such torment again when so many other wonderful things lie ahead for him in life and career.

I think so, too. Plushy is an unbelievable man but he is not unreasonable. He knows how much his body can take.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Lets's not cast stones here; two consecutive clean skates are rarer than a bloody steak.

Yeah... And consecutive clean skates with 4/5 quads + 3 triple axels... Good luck.

Even Hanyu and Fernandez haven't ever had a clean competition.

 

[Jaana]

Pray tell me the last time Kovtun had 2 consecutive clean skates?

Can you tell which of Russia´s current senior skaters had 2 consecutive clean skates recently?

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Can you tell which of Russia´s current senior skaters had 2 consecutive clean skates recently?

The only 2 clean competitions (SP+LP) from any male skater in the past quadrennial (IIRC) are from Chan at TEB and Machida at Worlds last year.

 

[Jaana]

The only 2 clean competitions (SP+LP) from any male skater in the past quadrennial (IIRC) are from Chan at TEB and Machida at Worlds last year.

Thank you! So, compared to other skaters Kovtun has not done that poorly, LOL....

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Thank you! So, compared to other skaters Kovtun has not done that poorly, LOL....

Three clean quads in every competition this year is certainly not too shabby.

 

[Sandpiper]

The only 2 clean competitions (SP+LP) from any male skater in the past quadrennial (IIRC) are from Chan at TEB and Machida at Worlds last year.

Plushenko 2012 Europeans.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Plushenko 2012 Europeans.

Ah, right right! That was his best well-rounded competition of his career IMO. His FS was by far his most intricate in terms of choreography. I wish he had done more programs like that, since he's clearly capable of them.

Small detail though: Plu's EC SP had no quad and his FS only had one. Chan/Machida had a quad in their SP and two in their LP. In terms of the difficulty that's currently the standard, you won't see many clean competitions.

 

[AprilS]

The only 2 clean competitions (SP+LP) from any male skater in the past quadrennial (IIRC) are from Chan at TEB and Machida at Worlds last year.

:think: I would say Machida was close to clean but not completely clean- he had a turn out on his loop. If you're including turn outs as part of clean, I think you'll have to include step outs and two foots too. Are you sure lower ranked skaters haven't also had clean skates, or do you mean only guys with quads? I can think of Chafik Besseghier at 2014 worlds, or Daisuke Murakami just a few weeks ago just off the top of my head, so I'm sure there must have been others.

 

[karne]

Ah, right right! That was his best well-rounded competition of his career IMO. His FS was by far his most intricate in terms of choreography. I wish he had done more programs like that, since he's clearly capable of them.

Small detail though: Plu's EC SP had no quad and his FS only had one. Chan/Machida had a quad in their SP and two in their LP. In terms of the difficulty that's currently the standard, you won't see many clean competitions.

As much as I love Plushy, though, I still do not think he should have won that EC.

 

[Duality]

http://fsrussia.ru/files/docs/competitons/1415/rusnat1415_protocol.pdf

Protocols

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

As much as I love Plushy, though, I still do not think he should have won that EC.

I thought that was pretty fair scoring. Gachinski outjumped him thus a deserved SP lead, but in the FS even with the extra quad Artur wasn't as good as Plu's program. Now if it had been Plu's LP from 2006 that he performed at Euros 2012, then Artur would've deserved the win. But Plu's 2012 skate was his most COP friendly and most well rounded, choreo graphically speaking (although Nijinsky/Carmen was probably his best artistically).

Although I suppose if it were any other skater in place of Artur (other than maybe a European equivalent of Josh Farris) you would say Plu totally deserved the win.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

:think: I would say Machida was close to clean but not completely clean- he had a turn out on his loop. If you're including turn outs as part of clean, I think you'll have to include step outs and two foots too. Are you sure lower ranked skaters haven't also had clean skates, or do you mean only guys with quads? I can think of Chafik Besseghier at 2014 worlds, or Daisuke Murakami just a few weeks ago just off the top of my head, so I'm sure there must have been others.

Ah fair enough... And thank you for pointing out others like Besseghier and Murakami. I'd forgotten to add Ge (even with no quad) and Nguyen (even with no SP quad) to that too! Just goes to show second-tier skaters should be made more prolific for their clean skates!

 

[Sandpiper]

Ah, right right! That was his best well-rounded competition of his career IMO. His FS was by far his most intricate in terms of choreography. I wish he had done more programs like that, since he's clearly capable of them.

Small detail though: Plu's EC SP had no quad and his FS only had one. Chan/Machida had a quad in their SP and two in their LP. In terms of the difficulty that's currently the standard, you won't see many clean competitions.

Heh, half these days I don't know if I even like that LP, for the exact reasons that you like it. I'm still annoyed he never skated his 2013 LP to its potential, because that one was similarly COP-friendly but much better in terms of music and mood.

It was a little quad-deficient, true, but the original poster asked for "two clean skates from a current Russian skater in the past quadrennial (not counting this season, I assumed)," and that's the best I've got. Misses out of the "current" part, but hey...

:think: I would say Machida was close to clean but not completely clean- he had a turn out on his loop. If you're including turn outs as part of clean, I think you'll have to include step outs and two foots too. Are you sure lower ranked skaters haven't also had clean skates, or do you mean only guys with quads? I can think of Chafik Besseghier at 2014 worlds, or Daisuke Murakami just a few weeks ago just off the top of my head, so I'm sure there must have been others.

I would say turn-outs could still be counted as clean, because the skater landed the jump on one foot and didn't put the second foot/a hand down. Kinda like how Kurt Browning's quad with a turn-out was counted, but two-footed quads from people before him weren't (e.g. Fadeev), and quads with step-outs would definitely not count.