2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[ancientpeas]

I think comments on pro-CSKA judging and influence are kinda fun. We can go way back to 2014 and who do you think was the Darling of the Rus Fed, no other than Lipnitskaya. She was supposed to win the whole thing. They even pushed Adelina out of the team event. Tell me about oh so powerful CSKA
Tutberidze girls for years get enormous scores and somehow i should believe that they are at the back of the bus

Maybe this is a "hot take" but I felt Yulia was a much better and more engaging skater than Adelina. I still think if she had won instead of Adelina then there would have been less controversy. I miss Yulia a lot. She was a delightful skater. I also miss Anna P. a lot. She was one of my post 2014 favourites and I was really hopeful she would come back to win a medal at the 2018 games. I even have the posts from 2017 to prove it. I picked her as my dark horse for a medal along with Satoko. I didn't really see Alina coming to be honest. I thought Evgenia would win baring disaster.

 

[flanker]

Give the empress what belongs to the empress

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8R_9jLp9o5/

 

[lpt]

I think comments on pro-CSKA judging and influence are kinda fun.

I guess you don't follow local Moscow competitions much.

 

[Orlov]

I think comments on pro-CSKA judging and influence are kinda fun

No one said that this championship will be with pro-CSKA judging. We are talking about local Moscow competitions, especially for noviss. A couple of months ago, there was some competition (it seems the Volkov memorial), where the pro-CSKA judges blatantly, unprincipled, outrageous underestimated Akatieva and pulled Samodelkina to the first place, without calling UR on both her trixels (URs were just obvious). It was incredibly outrageous.

 

[brakes]

Maybe there is something good in that. There will be still Kamila, Daria, Maiia and probably also Adeliya in juniors next season, with them possibly Kseniia and other stong skaters (Elizaveta?).

While the season after she can be easily No. 1.

It's very interesting how coaches manage skater like Sofia. She's already better than most of her friends from the group participating in international skating, getting prizes, medals, attention and have 2022 Olympics in front of them. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to watch all of this, touring all those half-empty regional rinks in local novice competitions for another year and half.
They probably put some individual technical/artistic tasks before her to motivate her. If she has patience and puberty is gentle to her, we'll get a super highly skilled skater in 2021/22 JGP season.

 

[flanker]

It's very interesting how coaches manage skater like Sofia. She's already better than most of her friends from the group participating in international skating, getting prizes, medals, attention and have 2022 Olympics in front of them. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to watch all of this, touring all those half-empty regional rinks in local novice competitions for another year and half.
They probably put some individual technical/artistic tasks before her to motivate her. If she has patience and puberty is gentle to her, we'll get a super highly skilled skater in 2021/22 JGP season.

And then she will be touring even more than half-empty JGP rinks...

 

[Giltedge]

Probably, but we'll have to wait for the official FFKKR announcement.

Sinitsyna perhaps suffers from lack of specific weight at her rink? Both at Khrustalniy and at CSKA there are now full teams working, plural, meaning several teams separated by age and level, challenging each other. I doubt Snow Leopards has the numbers and resources, and with Tarakanova completely unknown at the moment, who has Sinitsyna to train and spar with? They have managed to stage her some excellent and distinguishing programs, but Kseniya somehow always has errors of late. Something isn't clicking and I cannot get my finger behind it.

The thing is last season Kseniia was immersed in a busy, collegiate atmosphere at Snow Leopards, with near-coevals Anastasiya K, Anna F, Kseniya Ts, Anna K, Anastasiya Sh and Alёna K.
Of those six classmates, all but Nastya K have flown and Nastya (K) has been scarce this season (still competing?).
The others have scarpered to Davydov, Davydov, France, Belarus and retired, respectively.
It could be she is simply feeling lonely and missing some rivalry and banter.

 

[lpt]

Probably, but we'll have to wait for the official FFKKR announcement.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8R1h_vpJyb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[brakes]

And then she will be touring even more than half-empty JGP rinks...

Lol, you're right!
Still, 2k$ makes it more enjoyable I guess.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

My thoughts on Junior RusNats:

I agree with Ted, the overall level of these girls is insane! In the SP I particularly liked Gorbacheva and how much attention she payed to the musical accents, Muravyeva (who is my favorite of the upcoming juniors) who did a wonderful step sequence, shame that the 3Lz+3T wasn't exactly on the music like planned, Petrosyan, who's energy and speed is quite amazing, Valieva (need. say more?) and Usacheva's innate ability to express emotions. I personally like Usacheva and Sinitsyna more than Valieva, I don't know why, but I just do. I think Usacheva's movements carry more passion and Sinitsyna's skating is more refined. Again, despite the fall in the SP, Sinitsyna showed us all that she is a skater with artistry and maturity equal to even the best seniors. I felt like Khromykh was a little overscored in the SP (3Lz+2T but still in sixth? she also wasn't super invested in her step sequence, less so than her previous performances) and Akatieva was overscored too (great jumper, a little weaker in PCS).

In the FS, I loved Berestovskaya so much! Ted's completely right about how she needs more speed, but her personality! Her charisma! Her stage presence! My god! Watching her just makes me smile! Sinitsyna pulled a wonderful redemption, albeit a little hesitant. Despite being a little tentative though, Sinitsyna still showed exemplary maturity, artistry and attention to detail, her step sequence was a little slower than usual, but those arm movements! She has so much poise and talent! Samodelkina is, in my opinion, the best of the upcoming juniors. Her 3As weren't in the best shape today, but she landed them. Her other jumps on the other hand were very nice. I like her FS so much more than the odd SP that doesn't bring out enough of her skills. Samodelkina has very good artistry and maturity, and her skating flows extremely well, not to mention that she has very difficult transitions in and out of every element, performed with ease and quality. Usacheva was clean!! I really hope she can carry this momentum to Junior Worlds because boy is she talented. I feel like she's the most artistic out of Kamila/Maya/Daria, but Valieva is the nicest to watch. Muravyeva once again, loved her, I hope she fixes that crunch in her legs since now that I see it, it kind of bothers me.

 

[Elucidus]

What a competition.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

Also, I think Kseniia should be sent to Junior Worlds, but from past seasons, I know that's wishful thinking, since apparently RusFed only takes Jr RusNats into account while choosing athletes for Junior Worlds. I disagree that Maya deserves it more than Kseniia though. Kseniia has proven throughout the season that she's mature, artistic and capable of beating Alysa. Maya has not. Kseniia has shown throughout the season that she has the technical content, consistency, and program components to even challenge the top seniors. Maya has not. Kseniia has never fallen below 190 in an international competition, Maya has. I do think Maya deserves a chance, but not more than Kseniia. And it doesn't matter that Kseniia got YOG, JGPF and Junior Worlds last season, she deserved them then more than anyone else as well. Besides, Kseniia is a rising senior now, and a good showing at Junior Worlds would solidify at least one GP spot for her (crossing my fingers she gets two).

 

[BabySloth]

I also think Kseniia deserves the JWorlds spot...This is where body of work should come into play, imo. And it's not like there was a huge difference between Maiia and her, only 4 points...

Both of them are inconsistent, but Kseniia's first half of the season was so much better. And she was 5th at Senior Nats! Maiia is improving, but she has one more year in juniors. While Kseniia needs the exposure at JWorlds for a good transition to seniors.

 

[Giltedge]

What a wonderful treat this entire Junior Nationals has been. For a change I found I could relax and enjoy it live without feeling sick with worry, perhaps because so many of my favourites were present. Super results! Dariia still medalled in spite of being usurped from silver. Maiia returned to her old form from the end of last season and positioned herself wonderfully for a strong claim to a WJ place. Sofiya A put in one of her best FS performances. Adeliya makes one smile broadly at every outing and did better than ever. Kseniia may be a bit disappointed but has lost a bit of her edge as the season has progressed, so she is probably pleased to have secured a high placing. Anna looked pleased to have skated clean and well. Another resounding victory for Team Tutberidze! And for Russian skating in the eyes of the world.

 

[Giltedge]

And Kamila was in superb form. What an astounding tournament for her.



This was Ted Barton, at the end of Kamila's Short Programme:

"That is chilling. There was not a note left unattended.
Incredible! Incredible, full-body involvement in the choreography.
Brilliant concept! Brilliant choreography! Brilliant delivery!


This was the very best junior performance I have ever seen.

Maybe there're skaters who have more difficult jumps
but for overall performance and detail to music,
nothing has beaten that in my six years of watching juniors. Extraordinary!"

 

[flanker]

Also, I think Kseniia should be sent to Junior Worlds, but from past seasons, I know that's wishful thinking, since apparently RusFed only takes Jr RusNats into account while choosing athletes for Junior Worlds. I disagree that Maya deserves it more than Kseniia though. Kseniia has proven throughout the season that she's mature, artistic and capable of beating Alysa. Maya has not. Kseniia has shown throughout the season that she has the technical content, consistency, and program components to even challenge the top seniors. Maya has not. Kseniia has never fallen below 190 in an international competition, Maya has. I do think Maya deserves a chance, but not more than Kseniia. And it doesn't matter that Kseniia got YOG, JGPF and Junior Worlds last season, she deserved them then more than anyone else as well. Besides, Kseniia is a rising senior now, and a good showing at Junior Worlds would solidify at least one GP spot for her (crossing my fingers she gets two).

So, why even bother with competing at national championships, just send particular skaters anyway

Kseniia didn't beat Alysa, when she had a chance. She didn't beat Young You, when she had a chance. Kseniia didn't show consistency, just the opposite (unless we call consistency that she consistently throws her chances away at every competition we've mentioned). Yes, she is capable of redemption skate, but that's not enough to beat strong competitors. Just like I've said, she had her chances and wasted every single one of them. If there is someone of those two at this moment who has higher chance to compete against clean Alysa, it is Maiia with clean 4T, if that's what should be decisive here. And BTW it is not true Ksenia has never fallen below 190. At Volvo Cup she had 176, less than what Maiia had at Courchevel.

This all can be different next season, but not this season.

 

[Fluture]

So, why even bother with competing at national championships, just send particular skaters anyway

Kseniia didn't beat Alysa, when she had a chance. She didn't beat Young You, when she had a chance. Kseniia didn't show consistency, just the opposite (unless we call consistency that she consistently throws her chances away at every competition we've mentioned). Yes, she is capable of redemption skate, but that's not enough to beat strong competitors. Just like I've said, she had her chances and wasted every single one of them. If there is someone of those two at this moment who has higher chance to compete against clean Alysa, it is Maiia with clean 4T, if that's what should be decisive here. And BTW it is not true Ksenia has never fallen below 190. At Volvo Cup she had 176, less than what Maiia had at Courchevel.

This all can be different next season, but not this season.

Er but Maiia wasn‘t exactly a shining example of consistency either? In fact, she pretty much “wasted“ her chance on the JGP to even make the final. She won Bronze and got a 4th place. Her highest score is 190. Kseniia, on the other hand, got a Gold and a Silver and ended up fourth in the final. Of course Maiia has a chance at Junior Worlds with improved consistency + 4S. But I find it a tall order to talk about Kseniia‘s inconsistency when Maiia herself was even less stable all season long.

It’s a tough decision to make. I expect Rusfed to go with Nationals and in a way I understand the argument. - Kseniia seems to be on a downward trend while Maiia has improved a lot. But it‘s not as clear as you make it sound and honestly, there are some pretty convincing arguments to send Kseniia as well, better results internationally just being one of them.

 

[Happy Skates]

Well, this was such a great competition.
Kamila was spectacular, and she is so close to getting that clean double quad program. Her free program this year was never my favorite, but I have to say her performance of it today was the best its been, and I really liked it a lot more. I liked the changed transition before the final lutz too, she held it and it was really nice with the music. I'm so happy her quad toes came back as they're some of the best out there. Super High and clean with great flow. Crazy save on the first one too - I didn't think she'd land it when she was in the air on that crazy axis.

And what an amazing day for Akatieva too! Second in her first junior nationals, when she's not even eligible to compete junior internationally until the season after next (her birthday really is a shame). I have to say, when I first saw Akatieva (before she was even on ice-age kids), I thought she was just a jumper, but over the past couple of seasons I've realized how good her skating skills are, and her interpretation and even performance has grown. She seems like a shy girl and doesn't have that huge projection/performance that some others have, but thats not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that the softer pieces fit her more than the showy ones. She has such good carriage of the arms too, she reminds me of Kostornaya in that way. Overall huge potential for her, and today's program was no short of spectacular and beautiful. Even the step sequence was better than I've ever seen it - so much musicality and performance and it even looked faster. Good for her to come back from a "rough" outing just last week and beat the girls that beat her then at the biggest competition of the year for her.

I always love go see Daria, and good for her for getting a clean performance under her belt. Please hit at junior worlds now . She's just a lovely skater and I love her programs and musicality and extension. Her jumps are light and airy and huge as usual. That double axel with transitions is just .

Adelya is also just a ray of sunshine with incredible speed and a huge smile, and I can't wait to see her on the JGP next year, along with Samodelkina who is amazing in her own right. 4th at JNats at 12 isn't half bad for Sofia, and I'm sure she'll do great on the JGP next year.

And finally, as happy as I am for Maia getting the opportunity to go to JWC with that beautiful quad sal (lets hope she lands it next time), I'm gutted for Sinitsyna. It wasn't even a horrible outing, just a medium sized error in the sp left her seventh overall... I personally think she should've been higher, even over Maia imo. No offense to Maia of course, but I just think Sinitsyna was overall better and deserves that trip to junior worlds. It baffles me how she finished lower at JNats than at regular Nats with identical free program performances and a worse sp error at Senior Nats. But at least Sinitsyna will probably be going senior next year. I just wish she got another JWorlds opportunity.

 

[flanker]

Er but Maiia wasn‘t exactly a shining example of consistency either? In fact, she pretty much “wasted“ her chance on the JGP to even make the final. She won Bronze and got a 4th place. Her highest score is 190. Kseniia, on the other hand, got a Gold and a Silver and ended up fourth in the final. Of course Maiia has a chance at Junior Worlds with improved consistency + 4S. But I find it a tall order to talk about Kseniia‘s inconsistency when Maiia herself was even less stable all season long.

It’s a tough decision to make. I expect Rusfed to go with Nationals and in a way I understand the argument. - Kseniia seems to be on a downward trend while Maiia has improved a lot. But it‘s not as clear as you make it sound and honestly, there are some pretty convincing arguments to send Kseniia as well, better results internationally just being one of them.

I've never shielded Maiia's claim for the WJC spot with the consistency in her previous competitions. On the other hand, such argument was used in support of Kseniia and that argument is not correct. It also has no point to reproach me arguments I didn't use. Simple.

 

[Jontor]

I'm thinking of GP assignments for next year

In the SB24 list we have:
Kostornaia, Trusova, Shcherbakova, Medvedeva, Tuktamysheva, Zagitova, Sinitsyna, Vasilieva and Tarakanova.
Tarakanova is at the moment at #21 but I think she will be safe within the top 24

In the WS24 we also have:
Samodurova and Konstantinova.
Samodurova is safe and Konstantinova I think will also be safe within top 24.

That is a total of 11 skaters which is too much, cuts needs to be made.

There is 18 spots available in total.
I think Kostornaia, Trusova, Shcherbakova, Medvedeva, Tuktamysheva, Zagitova, Sinitsyna and Samodurova will get 2 spots. That's 16.
And then I think Vasilieva and Konstantinova will get 1 spot each which makes it 18.

I'm afraid Tarakanova will be Gubanovad and snubbed.

There's still a lot of things that can happen though. What if Alina decides not to compete in the GP?
Then maybe Vasilieva will get an extra spot and Tarakanova one spot?