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The late 2004, early 2005 age group? I almost want to say... no one. When Chistyakova is in the top 3 of an age group, you know it's not a great one... Outside of her, there's Sinitsyna and Kanysheva. Who are... okay, I guess. The real horror starts outside of the top 3 when we have to go to someone like Moroz who skates like she's stuck in mud. Well, things can always change and perhaps these girls manage to surprise me positively but at this point, I'm almost dreading the juniors when the 2003-2004 age group is promoted to seniors.Who do you think are the new juniors to watch?
(So, the year right after the super 'many names starting with A' team?)
The late 2004, early 2005 age group? I almost want to say... no one. When Chistyakova is in the top 3 of an age group, you know it's not a great one... Outside of her, there's Sinitsyna and Kanysheva. Who are... okay, I guess. The real horror starts outside of the top 3 when we have to go to someone like Moroz who skates like she's stuck in mud. Well, things can always change and perhaps these girls manage to surprise me positively but at this point, I'm almost dreading the juniors when the 2003-2004 age group is promoted to seniors.
Well, let's try to be positive. For this age group, I'd say that the best one is probably Sinitsyna. Kanysheva gets scored the highest domestically but I just don't see it. Sinitsyna has stronger performing abilities, much better spins and more clean jumps. Kanysheva's skating skills are slightly better but not a whole lot. The gap is massive from these two to Chistyakova and even more massive from Chistyakova to Moroz and co. but both Kanysheva and Sinitsyna are a good step or two down from even Tarakanova.
If we can include skaters who are in early 2004 there's Kostyuk but I'm just not sure about her status. I prefer her over both Sinitsyna and Kanysheva but she doesn't seem to be in very good standing. It's possible she'll make her JGP debut a year from now, at the age of 15.
Selfishly, I hope it’s the Nino Rota version even though it’s a bit overused because it’s beautiful![]()
You're welcome! But keep in mind, my opinions aren't the truth and hence I'd suggest watching a couple of their performances and making your own judgements.Wow, you're so knowledgeable! Thank you.

The late 2004, early 2005 age group? I almost want to say... no one. When Chistyakova is in the top 3 of an age group, you know it's not a great one... Outside of her, there's Sinitsyna and Kanysheva. Who are... okay, I guess. The real horror starts outside of the top 3 when we have to go to someone like Moroz who skates like she's stuck in mud. Well, things can always change and perhaps these girls manage to surprise me positively but at this point, I'm almost dreading the juniors when the 2003-2004 age group is promoted to seniors.
Well, let's try to be positive. For this age group, I'd say that the best one is probably Sinitsyna. Kanysheva gets scored the highest domestically but I just don't see it. Sinitsyna has stronger performing abilities, much better spins and more clean jumps. Kanysheva's skating skills are slightly better but not a whole lot. The gap is massive from these two to Chistyakova and even more massive from Chistyakova to Moroz and co. but both Kanysheva and Sinitsyna are a good step or two down from even Tarakanova.
If we can include skaters who are in early 2004 there's Kostyuk but I'm just not sure about her status. I prefer her over both Sinitsyna and Kanysheva but she doesn't seem to be in very good standing. It's possible she'll make her JGP debut a year from now, at the age of 15.

So the late 2004/ early 2005 group isn't exciting yet, but what about the year after them? Are they better or also not that great do you think? Because they'll be coming into juniors once this great group leaves. Eteri has some girls in that group like Maya Khromykh, Kamila Valieva and Daria Usacheva (?) I believe.
In MY opinion, they’re not currently anywhere near as good as the 2003-2004 age group but I expect them to progress significantly under Eteri before they make their JGP debut
They're better than 2004-2005 but not as talented as 2003-2004. Khromykh I can't say much about, I'm not a fan at this point in time and Usacheva is okay but nothing that makes me really look forward to her junior debut with anticipation. It's possible that they both improve substantially under Eteri but that's the status at this point in time, I believe. Kamila Valieva should be the top talent and her flexibility and especially spins are very exciting as that's an aspect that's a bit lacking with the Russian top ladies since Lipnitskaya. Even so, while I have Valieva as by far the most talented of the age group, I still don't quite have her all the way up there. As always, things can change, but after the 2003-2004 age group gets promoted, it's looking like a quiet couple of years for Russia for juniors. Well, I say "quiet" but chances are, they'll still compete internationally.So the late 2004/ early 2005 group isn't exciting yet, but what about the year after them? Are they better or also not that great do you think? Because they'll be coming into juniors once this great group leaves. Eteri has some girls in that group like Maya Khromykh, Kamila Valieva and Daria Usacheva (?) I believe.
I really doubt there'll be someone "we haven't heard of", there only is so much to work with in the 2005-2006 age group and remember that when a skater comes around "who we haven't heard of", they tend to be under Eteri, and we'll automatically hear about them when they move to train with Eteri. For instance, what you can say about Alina is "She was a student of Eteri's", which indeed is the entire reason I checked her out before the 16-17 season(Though I wasn't impressed by her very much at the time).Well, I can only point at Alina again. She was ninth at junior nationals one year before her breakthrough season. Two years before she won OGM she was NINTH. Three or four years ago she didn‘t even have her triples. So I‘d say as this example shows, it‘s really too early to wonder about this. Now everything‘s about Sasha, Anna and Alena and rightfully so. But just think that in 2022 they will be more like Zhenya than Alina agewise. For all we know there might be another 15 year old prodigy in Beijing we haven‘t even heard of yet because she hasn‘t shown any outstanding talents to take the Gold.
I really doubt there'll be someone "we haven't heard of", there only is so much to work with in the 2005-2006 age group and remember that when a skater comes around "who we haven't heard of", they tend to be under Eteri, and we'll automatically hear about them when they move to train with Eteri. For instance, what you can say about Alina is "She was a student of Eteri's", which indeed is the entire reason I checked her out before the 16-17 season(Though I wasn't impressed by her very much at the time).
The simple reality is that you no longer are able to dominate simply by being able to consistently jump triples, you need something else as well and usually skaters don't just get that "something else" out of nowhere.
I realize you'll use Zagitova as an example, but the reality still is that skaters like Tuktamysheva, Sotnikova, Radionova, Medvedeva, Lipnitskaya etc. all were top talents at an early age and you also have to keep in mind that the overall talent level of the ladies has increased substantially over the years. At this point, I'd be much more confident with calling Zagitova's case an exception that's quite unlikely to occur again, even moreso because she indeed isn't jumping 3As or quads even now and I'd also point out the Eteri factor.
For someone like Chapligina(an okay skater but nowhere near a top talent) from Angels of Plushenko to actually become the top skater for 2022 Olympics, I'd be shocked. But she still is someone we do know and have heard about.
Alena is the Angel in the short program.
Music by Max Richter - 1 part Departure ( lullaby ) from the Leftovers, 2 part November.

same program / music that medvedeva skate last year in test skates? very orijinal![]()
Yes, and I don't think they used November in Evgenia's program.Well but Medvedeva‘s program wasn‘t really used so it‘s not that bad that they reuse some of the music for Alena. And it‘s only the first part, I think. Evgenia also had Divenire and January Stars in the same program, so there won‘t be too many similarities.
Would be nice to check before you write something...same program / music that medvedeva skate last year in test skates? very orijinal![]()

Would be nice to check before you write something...
Evgenia's FS had more than 4 different music parts.
January Stars - by George Winston
Divenire - by Ludovico Einaudi
The Departure (Lullaby) - by Max Richter
Dona Nobis Pacem 2 - by Max Richter