2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Edwin]

Yes, I saw that fire too. She was really on fire today! I hope she is not too disapppointed that the music change didn't help the score. This time she got down on TES and I hope she realize that and keep going for that choreo that is wonderful imo. I still feel she is skating with a Dry Martini in her hand though, but that's a good thing.:luv17:

LOL, Tuktik certainly isn't a child anymore, but a woman of the world! I never understand judges objectifying one image over the other, since this is most subjective. But judges are humans too, and they can be influenced subconsciously pressing their 1-2-3-4-5 buttons of course by liking or disliking what they've just seen.

So skaters should not overdo their acting. Although I think us television viewers tend to over emphasises 'stage play' performed by the skaters, since judges should be concentrating on other things like footwork and not on facial expressions.

 

[nussnacker]

Well yeah. Very happy for our angel Alyona, but the scores for Elizaveta are beyond disappointing. Sure the lip and all, but imo they went hardcore with Liza‘s scores.
Also, the GOEs for Liza were quite low, now that I think about it. The Lz and 3A deserved +3 in my opinion.
And she improved a lot, she looked faster, her performance was so good here. there were some messy spins here and there, but the tech panel went too harsh on her.
I hope she’ll return stronger in the free.

 

[thatbeatingheart]

Well yeah. Very happy for our angel Alyona, but the scores for Elizaveta are beyond disappointing. Sure the lip and all, but imo they went hardcore with Liza‘s scores.
Also, the GOEs for Liza were quite low, now that I think about it. The Lz and 3A deserved +3 in my opinion.
And she improved a lot, she looked faster, her performance was so good here. there were some messy spins here and there, but the tech panel went too harsh on her.
I hope she’ll return stronger in the free.

Exactly my thoughts.

 

[skatenewbie]

i wonder why suddenly Liza lip? Is it because the entry? or because they put it in a combo? Maybe her team can think to change entry or put 3F as solo jump, lets see her flip edge in the FS. While Lip are rarer than flutz but its not that rare to be called, some lip-ers who tend to get 3F!/e is Joseph phan, tomoe kawabata, karen chen, gracie gold, anna pogorilaya... quite a few others as well.

 

[nussnacker]

i wonder why suddenly Liza lip? Is it because the entry? or because they put it in a combo? Maybe her team can think to change entry or put 3F as solo jump, lets see her flip edge in the FS. While Lip are rarer than flutz but its not that rare to be called, some lip-ers who tend to get 3F!/e is Joseph phan, tomoe kawabata, karen chen, gracie gold, anna pogorilaya... quite a few others as well.

I think it’s because it’s in the combo. She always had a good solo flip with a proper inside edge. It’s a lutz-toe now essentially, Mishin needs to change it to solo flip asap.

 

[Jontor]

As far as I know there is nothing in the rules regarding how such a situation is to be handled. Someone obviously decidded to cut Tarusina and Gubanova from the senior GP (For Tarusina the plan was clearly JGP but still) exatly who or whom that was is anyones guess but as RusFed is one of the more powerful federations I cant imagine they not having a say in who to not give a spot of the lower ranked "Guaranteed" ones. One can argue as to what decision would have been the smartest in who to cut and while I personaly would have picked Gubanova over Sotskova (Like Jontor said earlier) I dont think there ever was a good solution to this that would have made everyone happy.

As for Sotskovas skate today she looks far from her best competetive form 2 seasons ago and doesnt look happy to skate and score as she does (Understandably so when her total score is about what the to gets in FS only). She has obviously had a turbulent year and it cannot be fun knowing you are not skating to the level she is used to and probably wants to skate at. And considering this Im not sure going to a GP this season is going to help her or do her any good so for that reason it might be a good idea to give it to someone else. Also if she where to resign her spot this year im fairly sure she could use the "returning skater" rule in a couple of years if she where to regain her previous form which she cant do if she skates this year and scores verry low I think.

That is a lovely thought Vilord. The "comeback-rule". I don't think Sotskova is qualified for that one though. You had to be top 6 at the Worlds for that(?). But Radionova and Pogorilaya can use it!. What a nightmare for RusFed if they decide to get back in the mix. They already have potenitally 14 skaters fighting for 9x2 GP spots next year. Clearly, ISU needs to address this as well as other "Guaranteed spots" and how to prioritize in the rules.

 

[Jontor]

i wonder why suddenly Liza lip? Is it because the entry? or because they put it in a combo? Maybe her team can think to change entry or put 3F as solo jump, lets see her flip edge in the FS. While Lip are rarer than flutz but its not that rare to be called, some lip-ers who tend to get 3F!/e is Joseph phan, tomoe kawabata, karen chen, gracie gold, anna pogorilaya... quite a few others as well.

That makes me think I've been living under a rock. I've never noticed Lips in those skaters.

 

[Georgya]

If I understood correctly Alena started to practice 3A again after the test skate. It's impressive she managed to do so well this difficult jump in such short time!

https://sport24.ru/news/other/2019-...-ne-vosprinimayu-yeye-kak-vzroslogo-cheloveka

 

[starla16]

That makes me think I've been living under a rock. I've never noticed Lips in those skaters.

Gracie was a notorious Lipper, she got so many of them during her competitive seasons costing her wins or medals

 

[Artemisa]

She scored higher at Lombardia with the music not matching what little choreography she has, performance wise this was much better. The program made more sense with the original music it was designed for and I think she performed it pretty well. So the fact she scored less in PCS is a bit puzzling, it was much better than Lombardia.

No it's not because in Lombardia she got carrots of PCs

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

The Lz and 3A deserved +3 in my opinion.

I agree about the 3A. It's was great.

The 3Lz was clean but definitely hesitant on the landing. I would still give it good GOE but I think the 3A was better executed.

 

[skatergurl7]

Just watched Liza, thought she was way underscored. Her jumps are textbook she should be getting +5 for that lutz. But there’s no denying that seeing her after Alena can affect judging, Alena (so refined!) looks like she’s been skating in the senior ranks for much longer whereas Liza after almost 8ish senior seasons still hasn’t made many improvements to the programs or skating skills.

 

[Artemisa]

What is senseless is suggesting Maria give up her right to compete at a GP just because she's struggling.
What is senseless is whining and saying horrible things about a young woman who just wants to skate for her love of it, calling her a "disgrace" and saying she had no decency if she doesn't withdraw.
What is senseless is accusing her of not having any decency yet suggesting she fake an injury to give up her GP spot.

This has to stop, there is now pages and pages of this drivel, endlessly bashing the poor girl.

I agree... Gabriel Daleman wasn't great today .. and if you go to the post of canadian figure skating no one is asking for her head or telling to stay at home... with maria she have the score to GP, she isn't in the best shape and lost some jumps ( I don't know why) but at same time she can recovery who know's ...

 

[nussnacker]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3YLdkVpYb4/
Is it just me, or does Sasha appear to be taller than Rika already?

 

[Artemisa]

Just watched Liza, thought she was way underscored. Her jumps are textbook she should be getting +5 for that lutz. But there’s no denying that seeing her after Alena can affect judging, Alena (so refined!) looks like she’s been skating in the senior ranks for much longer whereas Liza after almost 8ish senior seasons still hasn’t made many improvements to the programs or skating skills.

That's the problem with Liza ... and after 8 years her team should have correct that aspect of her skating ... I like Liza and her energy in the programs ( and i haven't a problem with the tangos) but her programs look not finnish ... not like eteri's team that try to correct every aspect even the PCS of sasha

 

[skatergurl7]

I agree... Gabriel Daleman wasn't great today .. and if you go to the post of canadian figure skating no one is asking for her head or telling to stay at home... with maria she have the score to GP, she isn't in the best shape and lost some jumps ( I don't know why) but at same time she can recovery who know's ...

I think it’s because gabby is the best Canada has at the moment whereas if Maria is not in form, there are many capable skaters in Russia that would hop on the chance to compete internationally.

 

[Mawwerg]

Gabby didn't look hopeless while Maria...

 

[skatergurl7]

Gabby didn't look hopeless while Maria...

To be honest I didn’t even watch Maria today. Saw the score... had Alena done her 3A her SP could have beaten Maria’s free *

 

[SkateSkates]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3YLdkVpYb4/
Is it just me, or does Sasha appear to be taller than Rika already?

According to their ISU bios, both Anna and Sasha are taller than Rika. Only Aliona is shorter

 

[Sugar Coated]

This was the best I've seen Liza skate in my opinion. My initial thought when watching it was, "Oh, Liza is not giving up. She just threw down." So I was also surprised by the score. And I say this as someone who wants Alena to win everything this year. Honestly, I don't think its any "conspiracy" but rather that she is actually a victim of the same situation Anna experienced in Lombardia. The judging was impacted by their start orders. The item-order effect is a principle you see in psychology that means that when judging a group of things, the ordering unconsciously impacts ones judgment, and I think this definitely comes into play in challengers when skaters are assigned to random flights and start orders.

In Lombardia, I think Anna's score was suppressed because she was third and the judges had just awarded 2 relatively high scores after a surprisingly strong skate from Starr Andrews. After starting out giving a 73 and 66 they probably unconsciously judged the third skate more harshly as a way to "correct" to a more middle range score as there were several skaters to come and that's an unusually high average for the first three. In that case, Liza benefited from being the first to skate. But this time I think Alena's score benefited from starting first and Liza had harsher calls due to skating at the end, especially in a cluster of mid-level skaters. Basically, at the beginning there is much more variance in scoring as its still fresh with nothing else for comparison. This starts to correct over time but the judges also take into account recent scores when scoring and use recent skaters as a reference. This should even out during the FS as the best are in the last flight and can more easily be judged relative to one another.