The other side of the great partner swap Stanislava Vislobokova/Dmitri Ialin made their competitive debut today. I found it funny that they were skating to Kalinka in seniors a day after Davydov said that 12 year old Berestovskaia "outgrew" the song. But I liked it, more mature.
Frankly, I don't see the chemistry. They seem like a very new team that was thrown together because there were no other options and they were getting frustrated. The video that someone found didn't have good quality and lagged on the lift and the throw, so we don't know how that went but I would assume it went fine. Just fine. They also did 2A as the side by side in the sp of a senior event, so I wonder how her triples look at this point. We will see soon.
At first I thought, wow, Stanislava has grown so much taller! Then I realized how short Ialin is for a pairs skater - they seem ok for now but if she grows any more, then it's done. She's only 16, so fingers crossed.
There is promise for this team. Considering they have been together for less than 2 months and were quite decent with their previous partners, I think they can overcome their height deficiencies and possibly make a voice for themselves. They won't qualify to nationals this year, maybe some smaller events or St. Petersburg competitions. Despite the promise and short partnership, I frankly don't see either Vislobokova or Ialin reaching the levels that they did with their previous partners, nor do I expect them to ever reach the heights of Kostiukovich/Briukhanov, who I consider to be a future world champion quality team (might they win junior worlds this year?) I wish them success and they both have individually lovely qualities. Dima is incredibly stable in the lifts - with Polina's fluctuating weight and changing body, and now with Vislobokova's height. Stanislava has good moments too.
Among the other teams that competed or were supposed to, all eyes on Vasilieva/Volodin and Akhanteva/Kolesov but it seems they have withdrawn.
Hope they both stay safe....
