2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Vandevska]

Why must Evgenia / her fans be always brought into conversation even when she's not competing??

 

[Vandevska]

That sounds worse than what it really is though...both judges were only about 0.50 points off on each component from the panel.

J3 though scored Liza and Rika basically the same on PCS [emoji317] I didn’t see any major red flags with any of the judging though. The performances themselves are a for more compelling discussion IMO.

I agree

 

[flanker]

I actually think this may be a good thing for Alina. I mean there is still the free skate, so it’s not like she has even lost yet. But I think this wake up call may force the coaching team to consider training the more difficult jumps for Worlds and if not then, for next season. Which she would likely need to remain competitive with the younger Eteri girls moving to seniors. I doubt they would consider risking upping her TES if she was still winning everything as is.

Alina is training at least 3A already, as we've seen her jumping it on the floor. And Daniil mentioned training of even 4S and 4T (probably in the near future). So it's not that they would be ignorant to the fact that that Alina would probably need those elements soon, but this can't be rushed. rememember, we know Alina as a queen, yet just three years ago she had only one triple (or two?). So in fact she had to catch up. And she was growing too. So this season is more about stability than putting new elements.

 

[Ziotic]

the only good part about this competition it means canada will not hold major for at least 5 to 6 years :hap93:
pls eteri never accept grand prix invitation from there

They have worlds in 2020...

 

[flanker]

The tech specialist is Russian
The judges from Russia and Georgia placed Rika on 5th place based on PCS...
I just hope for fair judging in the free

I'm probably mistaken. I thought I'm on GS but it turned out I'm on youtube...

 

[halulupu]

I am personally upset with Russian media, and TAT and Co.
It is repulsive how, whenever Zhenya bombed this season, they said "oh she improved so much, this is just one competition". Whenever Alina skated, they were all "Alina's jumps are gone, Alina is done, Kihira will win everything".

What did TAT say?

 

[Vlad Karigov]

Alina being second after SP is definitely not the end of the world. It's just that some people behave as if it would be the end of Alina

Of course, it is not the end of the world, as it does not beat someone who makes 3A, it will beat those who do quads...

 

[andromache]

i wonder what happened now that Sotskova PCS is super low... last season she had 33-34 ish in SP and 68 in FS, but now she drop to 30/31, even 29 in Golden Spin where she landed a clean 3-3. I'd expect it to decrease but more on 32s... i think she did deserve more than 29 though i hope she had great FS along with Gubanova and Guliakova!

It's kind of a bummer, because I think her programs this year, along with her skating skills and overall performance, have really improved since last year.

I'm assuming she's being dumped since she's no longer in the Russian top 3 or 4 since Liza and Sofia have really risen this season.

 

[Sugar Coated]

Alina is training at least 3A already, as we've seen her jumping it on the floor. And Daniil mentioned training of even 4S and 4T (probably in the near future). So it's not that they would be ignorant to the fact that that Alina would probably need those elements soon, but this can't be rushed. rememember, we know Alina as a queen, yet just three years ago she had only one triple (or two?). So in fact she had to catch up. And she was growing too. So this season is more about stability than putting new elements.

I know she’s been attempting. But it’s different to train with the plan to have one actually in the program. And I’m not sure if they would want to risk that if she was winning everything as is. Don’t fix what ain’t broke.

 

[GoodMorningGrapeseed]

Not familiar with technique here, but if Liza went into the 3A with more speed, could she improve her success rate of landing it? On camera, it always looks like her speed decreases and she jumps from a standstill.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Not familiar with technique here, but if Liza went into the 3A with more speed, could she improve her success rate of landing it? On camera, it always looks like her speed decreases and she jumps from a standstill.

Liza's success rate for the 3A is actually pretty high. Last night was the first time I'd seen her underrotate it. Usually if she makes a mistake she fully rotates and falls. Rika obviously approaches the jump with more speed than Liza does, but I don't think speed necessarily makes for a greater likelihood of success. Liza already has trouble controlling the power of the jump sometimes when she lands, so I think if she were to approach it any faster, she probably would fall.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Liza's SP score ceiling is actually much higher than I thought it was. A 3A more like Rika's (which Liza is capable of) would add 6 points to her SP score. If she did a harder combination and got maybe an extra point in PCS for going clean, she'd be awfully close to 80 points.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

They did not “dump her”. Rika skated much better last night, Alina was shaky and did not have her best performance. Also did a 3Lz3Lo< that didn’t get called. They actually held her up in my opinion. Far from dumped. 35.83 pcs for a performance like that is not dumped.

If Bradie did that same combination at IdF, it would have been called 3Lz< 3Lo<. Some skaters are still getting away with the 1/4+ short on landing while others aren't. Maybe the judges and tech panels feel that the stars of the sport are above getting nitpick-y calls.

 

[Wheelz]

Alina is training at least 3A already, as we've seen her jumping it on the floor. And Daniil mentioned training of even 4S and 4T (probably in the near future). So it's not that they would be ignorant to the fact that that Alina would probably need those elements soon, but this can't be rushed. rememember, we know Alina as a queen, yet just three years ago she had only one triple (or two?). So in fact she had to catch up. And she was growing too. So this season is more about stability than putting new elements.

I think Daniil likes media attention a little too much.

 

[Alexz]

I can only say one thing about this whole discussion:

Rika deserved her PCS. Every single point of it.

Agreed. I remember a lot of people here were complaining about high PCS of Alina in her first senior year.

What I like about Rika is that she has personality. Although we have not seen her much in interviews and tv fluff pieces or some backstages of her daliy life/blogs/instagrams, so we can't really judge on her character, but her figure skating definitely has personality and charisma. In a way she is a very Japanese skater, but at the same time she is not your typical Japanese girl who is skating to yet another Japanese Disney-princess-like style with yet another classical music (or similar) and stereotypical balletic moves. I like Rika because she is different.

I hope she will continue to develop her own style to move away from the image of cliche Japanese female skater. I like her and I would like her even more if she will become more self-generated and will form her own identity. The reason I like Russian fs girls is simply because they are all different funny personages and has their own charisma (like a character in the theatrical play or soap-opera/sitcom) on an off the ice. I swear it's like watching a sitcom sometimes. While North Americans mostly skate and present generally something very outdated and choreographically simplistic, Japanese girls are mostly trying to imitate Yuna or Asada, but that just looks a bit boring and recycled for the most part. Those young Russians are mostly hilarious and wildly interesting bunch with all their mischievousness and imperfections. But the thing is we usually don't really know much about Japanese girls other than formal interviews and polished to perfection and boredom tv fluffs. While Russians (and Europeans in general) and North Americans are very animated and open, they often give very frank interviews and even invite tv crews to the their homes and ice rinks to show their daily life and some backstage of all their casual hard work and routine intense training. Unlike Japanese girls they are not afraid to show their imperfect side and how hard it is to train, especially when coaches intentionally applying psychological pressure.

(BTW, offtop. Coaches should and have to apply some pressure time to time (including a psychological pressure) on their athletes for their strategical training purposes to see how a skater will react to this pressure and to get her/him prepared for this, because big competition is always stress. If you don't train on a home ice sometime with a bit of intentionally applied (but controlled) pressure you are doing it wrong. So it's better if a coach will give a young skater a bit of a hard time at training on home ice and gradually train a skater how to perform under pressure and get your mind game going strong. So you will be better prepared for high-stress environment like big competitions. Or madness and cruelty of real life? Btw, so those who think Eteri is evil or smth, frankly, you have no idea what it is to be an elite coach and a professional athlete. Because, certainly, dealing with a pressure is a mental pain sometimes, but this skill also can be trained and taught (if done right). Eteri seems to know this game of mind tricks. She knows how to apply a slight intentionally targeted pressure at the right time at her coaching. Basically, rule of thumb is if you want to train your psyche and consistency you have to be tough on yourself and ask your coach to give you a hard time sometimes. That's a professional sport, not everyone is up for this. It is a cruel world there, but it is doable. Proved by many Olympic champions for the last century. )

And now we have Rika. Despite she is known for inconsistency sometimes she is definitely THE force to watch in future. :thumbsup:. She used to land 5 out of 10 of her 3A in the past. I wish her confidence and to keep on her new found consistency. I like her a lot! I'm excited to have a new fresh face from Japan with her own originality. I hope she keeps making us happy with her original and interesting choreography. It's been too long since the last time we have seen something innovative from Japanese ladies. Rika gives me life. :agree:

 

[DougDorsey]

Three thoughts from Vancouver...

1) My favorite moment yesterday? Sasha cracking up at herself after being a few steps off at the end of her program. I just love this girl. You see Alena and Anna (and many other skaters!) after they make mistakes, and they look devastated. Sasha, meanwhile, bashfully glances back at her corner and laughs. And she's as fiercely competitive as they come; she simply doesn't put the pressures of the sport above her enjoyment of it, and that's something that's going to serve her well over the long run. She and Kaori Sakamoto remind me a lot of each other in this respect. Also, Sasha's new dress is lovely, but I also miss our bumble bee!

2) Anna is one of the only skaters who can flub multiple jumps and still be a delight to watch. Her skating is so delicate, graceful. I wish for her greater consistency, but I also hope she knows how special her performances are, perfect or not.

3) Alena's emotiveness is something to behold in person. It's so authentic, so un-performed. She and Sasha are so different in style; I think one of the incredible things about Eteri, Sergei, and Daniil that isn't brought up enough is not only how they train so many amazing skaters, but how they enable each of them to capitalize on their unique strengths. Not too many coaches can juggle that.

 

[Alexz]

I think Daniil likes media attention a little too much.

He is a friendly face of the operation. Eteri is an icy business woman. Bad cop - good cop kinda situation.

 

[Max Millennial]

Have watched protocols again, oh my. I was curious what entries and exits there should be to earn +4 +5 on jumps with new system and here is the answer, nothin at all lol ��
Great job, isu... Rusfed should abandon this circus and take away all their athletes now. Let them "compete" themselves, I will be glad to see these lost frees. There always was very "strange" judging in Canada, now we see it's clearly impossible to host any event there. Without Russian athletes gpf will be considered as failed one, and this is a logical outcome of this mess

 

[Fluture]

Have watched protocols again, oh my. I was curious what entries and exits there should be to earn +4 +5 on jumps with new system and here is the answer, nothin at all lol ��
Great job, isu... Rusfed should abandon this circus and take away all their athletes now. Let them "compete" themselves, I will be glad to see these lost frees. There always was very "strange" judging in Canada, now we see it's clearly impossible to host any event there. Without Russian athletes gpf will be considered as failed one, and this is a logical outcome of this mess

Could you explain what you mean in that post because I frankly don‘t understand it?

Alena, Sasha and little Alena got great GOE in juniors, for the first two it was usually more than one point added they got in GOE. Alina in seniors has the most difficult entries and exists but her jump quality wasn‘t at her best today which is also reflected in GOE. Mishin Camp is known for not having many transitions or special entries into jumps throughout a program so I don‘t know where the + GOE for that one should come from. Liza got many 3s and 4s for her jumps and I don’t know how she could get any more, since she doesn’t fulfill the bullet point for creative entry or exit. 3A deservingly got negative GOE. Sofia just doesn‘t jump that high, even though she usually gets all the way around.

So, overall, I found the judging pretty fair and accurate. One of the fairest of the season. Where was the “Canadian strange judging“ here? Could you point out any athlete you felt was under/overscored and explain your reasons? That would maybe help making your point clear a bit more than just shouting: “Unfair judging!“ “Canadians can‘t judge!“ and co.

 

[Max Millennial]

Could you explain what you mean in that post because I frankly don‘t understand it?

Alena, Sasha and little Alena got great GOE in juniors, for the first two it was usually more than one point added they got in GOE. Alina in seniors has the most difficult entries and exists but her jump quality wasn‘t at her best today which is also reflected in GOE. Mishin Camp is known for not having many transitions or special entries into jumps throughout a program so I don‘t know where the + GOE for that one should come from. Liza got many 3s and 4s for her jumps and I don’t know how she could get any more, since she doesn’t fulfill the bullet point for creative entry or exit. 3A deservingly got negative GOE. Sofia just doesn‘t jump that high, even though she usually gets all the way around.

So, overall, I found the judging pretty fair and accurate. One of the fairest of the season. Where was the “Canadian strange judging“ here? Could you point out any athlete you felt was under/overscored and explain your reasons? That would maybe help making your point clear a bit more than just shouting: “Unfair judging!“ “Canadians can‘t judge!“ and co.

I'm talking about Kihira's goe. It was a universe away from any kind of fairness lol. Only blatant jalosie