2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Nord Stream 2]

When I watched off ice dance practices of 3A dancing together, Anna looks as the best dancer though to me personally, at least on the floor.
Alyona is very graceful, it's very natural, but when they did that techno Ed Sheeran dance, I felt like Anna could move sharper and more precise, but also had more fluidity in her arms.
I think what makes her different is that she can dance any genre well, and has a special quality to feel music and the accents.

Let's be honest - only Anna and Alina can dance beautifully on the floor. The rest is much worse. Maybe with age the situation will change, but most likely that it is forever.

 

[flanker]

Let's be honest - only Anna and Alina can dance beautifully on the floor. The rest is much worse. Maybe with age the situation will change, but most likely that it is forever.

And Kamila. That doesn't mean the rest is bad, but those three are the best off-ice dancers

 

[Thrashergurl]

You should know that you're not helping Aliona by enduring and pointless bashing Anna (and Sasha too). It's unfortunately a trend now that part of the fans are blatantly speaking nonsense about Anna, some also about Sasha and others. "Superstar" is no quality evaluated by the rules, it's just subjective title having no importance for talking about qualities. This is not hollywood where the title superstar has maybe some validity, this is sport and from the angle of sport qualities there is nothing that would force Anna to bow to the queen of your heart. To be clear, the movement range is the biggest with Anna from all 3A and her performing and interpretation qualities don't lag behind. She rotates fast, she stabilized her quads amazingly (I don't know why she shouldn't "hit it" more than Aliona would hit trixels). In comparison with other top skaters there is no reason why keeping her artificially on low PCS. Of course she is not absolutely perfect in her only 15, but she is as perfect as she can be.

You are falsely accusing me of bashing Anna. Nothing I posted is close to a bash. You’re just upset that not everyone shares your opinion. If she misses her quad she’s in trouble. If she doesn’t then she’s fine. Her team is well aware of this.

 

[flanker]

You are falsely accusing me of bashing Anna. Nothing I posted is close to a bash. You’re just upset that not everyone shares your opinion. If she misses her quad she’s in trouble. If she doesn’t then she’s fine. Her team is well aware of this.

I'm just reading what you are writing about Anna day by day. Your enduring negativity about Anna goes far beyond "just an opinion". Anna the weakest, Anna juniorish, Anna missing quads, Anna's costume change is an attempt to deflect from her weaknesses. All this is what you have written exclusively about Anna just within the last week. Once it is an opinion, but repeatedly and permanently it is more about personal troubles with a skater than just an opinion. About missing quads - anybody would have a problem from missing a jump, not only quad, Aliona would have also problems if missing trixels. If you think that such problems are related only to Anna, than it's just unwise.

 

[Jontor]

I'm sure there is going to be a prediction game about RusNats later on, but I just can't hold myself.

This is my prediction for Russian Nationals (for now)

1. Anna Shcherbakova (!)
2. Alena Kostornaia
3. Alexandra Trusova
4. Alina Zagitova
5. Ksenia Sinitsyna
6. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
7. Evgenia Medvedeva
8. Ksenia Tsibinova
9. Viktoria Vasilieva
10. Anastasia Gubanova
11. Sofia Samodurova
12. Elizaveta Nugumanova
13. Anastasia Tarakanova
14. Serafima Sakhanovich
15. Valeria Shulskaya
16. Anna Frolova
17. Stanislava Konstantinova
18. Maria Sotskova

I have mixed logic with wishful thinking, which is probably not the best thing to do...

All this talk about Anna makes me want to repost my RusNats predictions.
I don't know what people are missing in her skating, but for me, the highlight of the season so far has been Anna's both programs.

 

[colormyworld240]

When I watched off ice dance practices of 3A dancing together, Anna looks as the best dancer though to me personally, at least on the floor.
Alyona is very graceful, it's very natural, but when they did that techno Ed Sheeran dance, I felt like Anna could move sharper and more precise, but also had more fluidity in her arms.
I think what makes her different is that she can dance any genre well, and has a special quality to feel music and the accents.

It's this video, one of my favourites:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLtErS4hMPQ

You can just see how Anna is SO musical and stands out, not just from Sasha and Alena, but even from the teacher/choreographer. It's not just the fluidity and sharpness of her movement - though she stands out in that department as well - but this style shows off her musicality as it requires them to hit every beat of the music for full effect. And she does just that; she is by the far most musical. Anna doesn't just perform the choreography well, she just has that extra something and I see that in her skating as well. I think her team does too, which is why is given classical music that is very accented and nuanced. You can dislike the choreography but there is no doubt she never misses the music.

 

[Thrashergurl]

I would love for Anna to be the ultimate spoiler and win it all. Anyone who thinks I’m bashing or have a personal dislike of her is incorrect and reaching. She’ll have to work hard, but Eteri knows what to work on. Let’s see what happens

 

[flanker]

I would love for Anna to be the ultimate spoiler and win it all. Anyone who thinks I’m bashing or have a personal dislike of her is incorrect and reaching. She’ll have to work hard, but Eteri knows what to work on. Let’s see what happens

Then maybe try to formulate your thoughts better way. I'm definitely not the only one who reads your numerous posts about Anna exactly this way.

 

[icybear]

Grand Prix Series PCS total

I calculated the total pcs of the top 10 ladies from the grand prix series this season.

Alina 219.42
Evgenia 218.58
Rika 214.85
Alena 212.65
Satoko 212.50
Bradie 206.99
Mariah 204.92
Alexandra 201.70
Anna 200.90
Elizaveta 193.52

I was surprised to see Anna ranked so low. I thought she was underscored but I didnt expect her pcs to be less than Alexandra.

 

[Alex65]

Grand Prix Series PCS total

I calculated the total pcs of the top 10 ladies from the grand prix series this season.

Alina 219.42
Evgenia 218.58
Rika 214.85
Alena 212.65
Satoko 212.50
Bradie 206.99
Mariah 204.92
Alexandra 201.70
Anna 200.90
Elizaveta 193.52

I was surprised to see Anna ranked so low. I thought she was underscored but I didnt expect her pcs to be less than Alexandra.

The PCS score is now not only a candy, but also a cudgel. ( Elizaveta 193.52 )

 

[katymay]

And Kamila. That doesn't mean the rest is bad, but those three are the best off-ice dancers

Every time I watch Kamila I think she should have been a dancer-I think she would have been one of the greats.

 

[Scott512]

I would love for Anna to be the ultimate spoiler and win it all. Anyone who thinks I’m bashing or have a personal dislike of her is incorrect and reaching. She’ll have to work hard, but Eteri knows what to work on. Let’s see what happens

I am glad you appreciate the ballerina girl But Anna a spoiler? Nyet to that. She is right behind Sasha and maybe a tad ahead of Alyiona. But its so close between all 3 of them. I think we can agree on that.

 

[SnowWhite]

I am glad you appreciate the ballerina girl But Anna a spoiler? Nyet to that. She is right behind Sasha and maybe a tad ahead of Alyiona. But its so close between all 3 of them. I think we can agree on that.

I really like Anna, and do think people are being overly negative about her chances, but I disagree that she's ahead of Alena right now. The scores this season do not support that.

 

[SkateSkates]

I think any of the 3 can win - it all depends on landing their difficult elements as well as the quality of ALL the elements executed. Not just the 3As/quads but triple triples, spins, steps etc. We haven’t seen them up against each other in international competition in a year so we don’t know how they will be scored when directly compared.

What an exciting time for ladies competition to have 3 extremely strong and incredibly different young ladies who could take it all on any given day!

 

[Elucidus]

I think any of the 3 can win - it all depends on landing their difficult elements as well as the quality of ALL the elements executed. Not just the 3As/quads but triple triples, spins, steps etc. We haven’t seen them up against each other in international competition in a year so we don’t know how they will be scored when directly compared.

What an exciting time for ladies competition to have 3 extremely strong and incredibly different young ladies who could take it all on any given day!

No, it all depends on what policy Technical Panel would choose to follow considering edges and URs - first and foremost (quality of Anna's elements before was excellent IMO - which didn't help her at all). For example, whether they will check only first moment of picking to consider edge incline on a lutz (like they were doing all this time until this season and until only two particular Russian ladies performances on only two particular competitions) - like this:
https://ibb.co/QDZHS8B
and thus counting it still outside
or
they will decide to continue their new standart of determining edges for those two skaters only, wait until they change the incline of edge during prerotation phase like this
https://ibb.co/gvWqSKs
and consider this moment to determine edge incline - thus counting it as flat.

Depending on the above policy (which was already applied before for Anna's and Alina's skate) she can easily get or lose 10-15 points in TES only with absolutely visibly clean performance. Because clean 4Lz would let her to have very substantial GOE bonus - and that bonus can be deciding factor in podium placements.
Therefore, we can have two possible scenarios if all skaters will be more or less clean:
1) with TP with selective approach to edges similar to like it was in France/China - Trusova and Kihira will be the most probable candidates for 1-2 places since both of them have very deep edges until lift off phase of a jump
2) with TP similar to like it was in Japan - Scherbakova and even Zagitova can easily spoil podium placements as their scoring potential is very high

Will ISU want to have unpredictable final and give everyone equal chances - or will they decide to distribute placements long before the competition will start? It's a pity that main intrigue of such major competition lies in hands of judges rather than abilities of skaters - but what one can do? It's a sad reality we live in

 

[Jontor]

Will ISU want to have unpredictable final and give everyone equal chances - or will they decide to distribute placements long before the competition will start? It's a pity that main intrigue of such major competition lies in hands of judges rather than abilities of skaters - but what one can do? It's a sad reality we live in

The system is at fault. I've been trying to explain to my non-FS friends that they can follow the tech points live as you can see the points add up. I have difficulty though in explaining why that tech point is suddenly shaved off 10 points or something just because of the tech panel. It makes no sense.

If the ISU wants the sport to get to a wider audience, they need to make it more understandable. Making points disappear doesn't help at all.

So I guess I'm saying that the tech panel should have a more forgiving attitude and not make calls that you can't see in real time.

 

[Scott512]

I really like Anna, and do think people are being overly negative about her chances, but I disagree that she's ahead of Alena right now. The scores this season do not support that.

They are on the same level and Anna is the defending rusnats champ. Anna has been judged hardest of all by some accounts.

 

[Elucidus]

She is judged fairly for what she puts on the ice, she is not judged fairly, however, compared to other top skaters who receive an increase in scores when they transition to seniors.

"Fair judging" is artificial term that can't exists without to be relative to others scores. What is fair and what is unfair if you are assessing only one skater? "She is judged fairly for what she puts on the ice" is just nonsensical notion which can't exist in principle. All scores are and can be only relatival.
Therefore if she is showing certain level of performance and quality of elements - and getting certain level of PCS/GOEs - while other skaters in the same competition who are showing worse level of performance and worse level of elements quaiity - getting the same or better PCS/GOEs - meaning only one thing. And it's not that all others are assessed unfairly. It's other way around

 

[sc8]

I’ll be interested to see what happens to PCS at GPF - especially for the Russian ladies. I think Kostornaia will get a boost - potentially a big boost when judges compare her to the other top ladies in one competition. She has beautiful edges, deep knee bends, and speed to rival the others, transitions, maturity, etc. so she could really see a good boost - maybe even come close or beat Zagitova at GPF on components. The other boost should come for Shcherbakova. I think her PCs are better than Trusova (don’t get angry, they are both amazing skaters, but I think Anna’s programs have more potential to increase PCs — and we are likely to see increases at GPF and worlds (assuming).

Alas...this is when I would like to see worlds qualifying change. If Russia has five/six of the worlds top 10 skaters, they should be at worlds. Perhaps in addition to the criteria used now, “wildcards” could be granted to any top 10 seasonal ranked skater not qualified through their nationals. For example, say Trusova, Kostornaia, and Shcherbakova make Russian team as the “three” qualifiers. Zagitova and Medvedeva, Tukt could get wildcards if all in top 10.
When it comes to placements and qualification for next worlds, only the top three scoring would count. Purely hypothetical:

1. Russia
2. Russia
3. Japan
4. Russia
Russia (no placement)
5. Japan
6. USA
7. USA
Russia (no placement)
8. South Korea
9. Finland
10. Japan

In this example, Russian skaters finish 1, 2, 4, 5, 9. Their placements are 1, 2, and 4 and would retain three, Japan would retain three, and US would qualify three for next worlds based on placements of 6 and 7 (despite finishes of 7th and 8th), but the top skaters in the world would be competing instead of watching.

There were times when US had four of the top 10 skaters, maybe same for Japan, so I’d like to see the best in the world at the world championships.

 

[jenm]

The system is at fault. I've been trying to explain to my non-FS friends that they can follow the tech points live as you can see the points add up. I have difficulty though in explaining why that tech point is suddenly shaved off 10 points or something just because of the tech panel. It makes no sense.

If the ISU wants the sport to get to a wider audience, they need to make it more understandable. Making points disappear doesn't help at all.

So I guess I'm saying that the tech panel should have a more forgiving attitude and not make calls that you can't see in real time.

Generous to the audience and not at all to skaters with correct technique. I would strongly disagree about this. Simply letting faults slide is not the solution. This is a sport. Correct technique SHOULD matter.
making the reason for deduction more understandable is a more viable solution. This can be achieved by technology and design.

IMO, if you're a casual viewer like I was many years ago, you get wowed by the performance (hence giving correct PCS is important), and then when you get hooked, you try to learn about the elements on your own time.