What I don't get is how the hell people can call those girls the same or having similar styles? Are you blind or what? Seriously, i just can't handle it.
We have Trusova who is just a firecracker and a real TES monster, while having a very, very good presentation.
We have Tarakanova who has not so good technique, but on the other hand has some really appealing wild and recklessness in her style.
We also have Scherbakova who is a complete package in terms of anything - technique, artistry, feeling of the music - you name it. Only the injury prevents her now from showing who is the real owner of junior skating world.
We have Panenkova who, as i feel, hasn't found her style yet, and also somehow got probably the worst programs among top junior ladies, at the same time having the best rippons in the world(yes i mean it). She also managed to not only save her jumps during puberty, but even improve them.
Not to mention a two-times-winner-of-everything, who can really mesmerize with her performances, and Zagitova, who actually able to portray a ballerina, like no one i've seen in a while.
And now we're getting yet another star - elegant, graceful and gorgeous queen Kostornaya, who posts ridiculous 69 right from the start, and has nothing in common with other skaters from the group.
The only things in common they have - amazing technical skills and the fact that they are rarely finishing lower than 1st place.
Aah. Good post. This crop of Russian juniors seems really deep. And to me, Trusova, Tarakanova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya certainly have their own styles - Especially Shcherbakova and Trusova as well are very recognizable.
What I find interesting is that right now, Trusova seems to be the overwhelming favorite of the youtubers and the people in general with people calling her a prodigy, a future olympic champion and all that. And certainly, it's justified with the current JGP participants, but to me... I just think that she really doesn't even hold a candle in comparison to Shcherbakova in just about anything. That's pretty incredible in itself.
To me, Anna Shcherbakova is a very, very special skater in every regard. Her presence is absolutely magical, I have never seen anything like it by anyone even close to her age. In fact, I don't think that there even is a single ladies' senior skater right now who has the same command(Not even Medvedeva). To me, the last one was Kim Yuna(though everyone has their own experiences). But even Yuna didn't manage to accomplish this until after she was way older. For Men, Hanyu does the same thing for me at times. And what do I mean by presence? It's really difficult to explain, but seeing her do motions with the music that in itself aren't really anything notable, but that make you go "Wow, that was incredible" and makes you want to watch again. A very good sense of timing and feel for the music? To me, it's just unbelievable that she has this at such a young age, to such an extent. In my opinion, it's completely unprecedented at least in moderately recent history. I just can't imagine how she's going to be able to evolve even further in this regard on her road to seniors. Many other skaters who have aspects in their skating I really enjoy tend to always have some "but...", but for her there really is nothing. She even has the looks.
And while her presence and command of music of course are by far her biggest strength in my eyes, what's even crazier is that she's a fantastic jumper with gorgeous technique on every single jump, good height, beautiful delayed rotation, difficult combos, relatively complex entries, good transitions, a clean 4-3 combination... And her spins are gorgeous as well. Just everything. I really hope she gets some healthy practice sessions under her belt soon and will be able to attend some competitions - The Russian jr. nationals in the best case scenario.
But something this whole injury thing with zero jr. grand prix and hence public exposure could accomplish, in the best case scenario, would be that she enters jr. worlds as a complete unknown to the general public with several others as their perceived favorites and completely blows everyone away. I really hope she has a wonderful end to her season after this setback.
when watching Tsurskaya jumps i have a feeling that she is like "i will land only when I want, not when gravity will make me"
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