I would be more careful, watching Medvedeva hosting TV shows, Pogorilaya with broken backbone, Radionova completely out of shape jumping doubles in shows, Tuktamysheva withdrawing from free programs in local competitions, Tsurskaya in unknown state with knee disease, potential newcomers Panenkova and Gubanova battling with puberty and adjusting to new coaches, etc., while Japanese team of established, well-prepared and hungry fighters: Miyahara, Sakamoto, Higuchi, Mihara, jumping phenom Kihira and magical Honda has occupied 2/3 of Worlds' podium.
Japanese girls seem to deal pretty well with puberty, they're super talented both technically (Kihira) and artistically (Honda) and since last season they've got much tougher and used to great internal competition for only 2 spots - even more than Russian ladies, who had to seek replacement for third.
If I had to put money on overall medal number in 2018/19 ladies season, I'd certainly bet on Japanese girls. :thumbsup:
On a more positive note, 2019/20 is the season where Russian seniors will certainly catch up with potentially very strong upcoming juniors. :yes: