2021-22 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[Dawn825]

I really liked Muravieva when I first saw her at the end of last season, and again here. While Ne me quitte pas as a music choice is uch a cringe, she is a very natural mover/dancer and was lovely to watch.
Petrosian is a delight, her smiles aren't plastered on or done on command. She seems to genuinely love performing, which makes me love watching her perform.
I'm torn on Zhilina, she is obviously not naturally an emotional or beautiful skater. But there were some moments in the program where I was surprised by her commitment to the choreography, so I think overall she's improved.
Zhakharova, I'm sorry to say, was unwatchable to me - I literally clicked off after a minute. She looked like she didn't want to be there, which made me not want to be there either. That she was only two PCS points behind Muravieva who is so elegant, and one point behind Petrosian who is so charismatic, is a failure in scoring in my opinion.

 

[Dawn825]

I think Ted said Nika will be attempting four quads.

Why??? I hope this isn't true, there isn't anything remotely resembling a need here. While there's a small chance she's about to blow us all away, a meltdown could land her off the podium and further reinforce her Trusova-esque narrative of a prodigal jumper who can never be relied on to skate a clean long.

 

[icybear]

Have to say the Eteri girl was the weakest of the top 3 today. Sofia was a delight to watch with her interpretation and elegance. Veronika doesnt look like she has warmed up to the program but still an interesting program to watch. Gotta to say Adeliia was dull to watch. It just doesnt do anything for me.

 

[Amei]

Why??? I hope this isn't true, there isn't anything remotely resembling a need here. While there's a small chance she's about to blow us all away, a meltdown could land her off the podium and further reinforce her Trusova-esque narrative of a prodigal jumper who can never be relied on to skate a clean long.

Unfortunately I think they are doing a Trusova mindset with her that if she has all these quads she can afford to make mistakes; with Trusova it worked fine if she's not going up against anyone else with quads/triple axels. But I feel like it made her (Trusova) too 'comfortable' or accepting that errors happen and its become a snowball effect, once there's 1 error then there's another.

 

[spicymacaron]

Unfortunately I think they are doing a Trusova mindset with her that if she has all these quads she can afford to make mistakes; with Trusova it worked fine if she's not going up against anyone else with quads/triple axels. But I feel like it made her (Trusova) too 'comfortable' or accepting that errors happen and its become a snowball effect, once there's 1 error then there's another.

Sasha's stuck between a rock and a hard place now, if Anna or Kamila skate clean then she needs at least 4/5 clean quads to beat them.

 

[Azikin]

Adelia, my favorite Russian junior last year, has had a rough start to the season (the atrocious new FP doesn’t help, I‘m still desperately hoping she goes back to the old one tomorrow). Test skates was far below her abilities and Ted said she had a terrible practice here, too. So, I was pretty relieved when she managed to land all the jumps confidently today. The spins and step sequence levels suffered a bit as a result, however, and that‘s why she‘s only third. I do feel like her PCS should have been higher than Zhilina‘s, though. With a clean FS, she can move up but I‘m not too worried since she already has two JGPs scheduled and she‘s an Eteri skater as well. I doubt they‘ll take it away from her, unless she severely bombs the FS.

I agree on the FP, the previous one was so wonderful. And I agree on Zhilina, too, especially when she performs Harley Quinn program with the same doll like style as everything else..

 

[Greengemmonster]

Why did Veronika only get a L3 on her step sequence? I've watched her SP three times now and can't work out what they dinged her on. It was very fast, smooth and extremely well performed!

 

[Baron Vladimir]

Why did Veronika only get a L3 on her step sequence? I've watched her SP three times now and can't work out what they dinged her on. It was very fast, smooth and extremely well performed!

In most cases skaters don't get Level 4 because 3 difficult turns on both feet are not executed properly, with continuous flow. I think twizzle on the left foot prevent her to hit level 4.

 

[katymay]

Why??? I hope this isn't true, there isn't anything remotely resembling a need here. While there's a small chance she's about to blow us all away, a meltdown could land her off the podium and further reinforce her Trusova-esque narrative of a prodigal jumper who can never be relied on to skate a clean long.

But I think she wishes to do everything Trusova did, before Trusova did it. I've always gotten the impression that she is chasing Trusova, or in this case, her records. In this day and age of 'quads', I'm not sure 'clean longs' will be a regular occurrence for anyone. Anyway, while she was skating, -I think at the end of her program, Ted mentioned that she would be doing four quads. Or I misheard. The truth is though, I love to watch her jump.

 

[spicymacaron]

But I think she wishes to do everything Trusova did, before Trusova did it. I've always gotten the impression that she is chasing Trusova, or in this case, her records. In this day and age of 'quads', I'm not sure 'clean longs' will be a regular occurrence for anyone. Anyway, while she was skating, -I think at the end of her program, Ted mentioned that she would be doing four quads. Or I misheard. The truth is though, I love to watch her jump.

I think he said that she did 4 quads in practice and will be doing them in competition. I'm assuming that he means that she'll just be doing quads in her lp rather than specifying any quantity.

 

[wakuwaku]

I think he said that she did 4 quads in practice and will be doing them in competition. I'm assuming that he means that she'll just be doing quads in her lp rather than specifying any quantity.

Maybe so. Or maybe he meant her FP run-through with 4 quads. Anything is possible Hmm.. for 4 quads she needs to jump at least 3 different types though. Did she learn 4Lz, I wonder?

 

[spicymacaron]

Maybe so. Or maybe he meant her FP run-through with 4 quads. Anything is possible Hmm.. for 4 quads she needs to jump at least 3 different types though. Did she learn 4Lz, I wonder?

She's had a 4Lz for almost a year now, I don't think she's ever put it into a competition tho

 

[silveruskate]

Muravieva performed the hell out of the song and it was fantastic. I didn't think Adelia was at her best today but I would shift Zhilina's PCS to equal Adelia's.

 

[Tolstoj]

I thought all 4 were absolutely on fire in the short. The gold i think will be decided by Zhilina's quads in the free: if she lands them, the technical advantage might be too big, but if Muravyova skates clean in the free too with the quad then maybe they could still give it to her.

Sofia was clearly above the rest of the field at least artistically, to be honest i've been convinced of that since maybe Junior Nationals last season. She's basically the new Kostornaya.

More flow than the others, more depth on her edges, actual performance, the jumps are big, very difficult transitions just like the others, she skates like a senior,

Zhilina has big elements: big jumps, really fast spins with difficult positions, difficult transitions. Performance was an area where she was always lacking last year, and it is still not at the level of Sofia, but i felt this short suits her style more, cheeky and fun, i like the irony when at the beginning the song goes

"you don't own me, i'm not just one of your many toys".

The inside joke with how she left Sambo70 is definitely intentional and it works.

Adelia looked better here than at the test skates, the jumps definitely improved (still not quite as good as the others though), while she lost a level on one spin, and lost speed and flow in the final biellmann. With her i've always thought, while she's very good, she's not the best so when the others are also on, you can see there are russians with bigger jumps, with better skating skills, and at international events scores will reflect that.

Maria Zakharova also was very nice, nice jumps, very fast and aggressive like the others, she could still get on that podium with a clean free, the only area where she is lagging behind compared to the others are the transitions.

 

[macy]

"you don't own me, i'm not just one of your many toys".

The inside joke with how she left Sambo70 is definitely intentional and it works.

why do people have to create an ulterior motive/message/joke with music choices for literal children? Zhilina is 13 years old. the song is from the Suicide Squad movie, starring HQ. can we please stop with this nonsense?

 

[Tolstoj]

why do people have to create an ulterior motive/message/joke with music choices for literal children? Zhilina is 13 years old. the song is from the Suicide Squad movie, starring HQ. can we please stop with this nonsense?

For the records i don't think it came from her, but rather Plushenko. Could be a funny coincidence of course (like with Chandelier and the lyrics talking about living like tomorrow doesn't exist) but i don't think it is.

Anyway as previously stated, i think the theme works for her, better than Sweet Dreams last year which was perhaps too much.

 

[Shayuki]

Have to say the Eteri girl was the weakest of the top 3 today. Sofia was a delight to watch with her interpretation and elegance. Veronika doesnt look like she has warmed up to the program but still an interesting program to watch. Gotta to say Adeliia was dull to watch. It just doesnt do anything for me.

Agreed. Petrosyan just was a chore to watch, downright boring. I think she's been trending down lately.

Zhilina's performing was better than it's ever been, clearly she's trying far more than she has been before. She's of course not exactly natural but it's a lot better than it could have been.

The only issue with Sofia is this music choice, I absolutely hate it. Well, and her posture could still use some work.

Anna Tsareva must not have enough political pull as a coach, or her student, who was brilliant today, would've scored higher. Poor girl just didn't understand why her score wasn't in the 70s, based on her reaction.

Yeah, hard disagree on this. Zakharova was exceedingly dry to me. Absolutely nothing remarkable in her skating to me, and of course her making all these seductive poses at the age of 13 is something not everyone might be fond of. I honestly think that she would not stand out a whole lot in a random Moscow local. She just was completely outclassed by all three, even Petrosyan who I thought was rather weak.

If I was watching a random Moscow local I'd watch her for some 10 seconds and then do stuff on the other screen while waiting for the next skater to come. As Ted said: "well trained, automatic pilot", couldn't have put it better myself.

 

[kmw227]

Sofia was definitely my favorite as well. Normally I'm not a fan of repeating programs for more than one season, but in this situation I don't mind at all. I absolutely love her short program, it's perfect for her! She did a beautiful job yesterday.

I have to say, I'm warming up to Veronika's program as well (love the Seven Nation Army section!) and I'm glad it's helping her perform more. I'm also really glad she didn't go for the 3A-3T this time. We all know how inconsistent she can be and she really needs a good outing here to prove that she's deserving of a second assignment. I really really like her though, she's a phenomenal talent.

I wouldn't necessarily say that Adelia was boring, but she was my least favorite of the top three. If she needed to keep one of her programs, I wish she'd kept her free skate. It was a much better program for her in my opinion. I thought she still did a nice job though.

 

[renebaebae]

Zhilina supremacy incoming!! Her performance was so good and exciting! Now she has the facial expressions and emotions, I'm hoping her consistency is real and she lands her quads in the free. If so, her only rival this season is Akatieva. I'm so pumped for tomorrow. Really hope she only goes for 3 and not 4 quads in the free. (crazy how I can even put only for three quads)

Muravieva has also been a fave of mine since last season and she was spectacular here. Very emotive skating and secure jumps.

Adelia wasn't bad also. Her step sequence really needs work. Even I could tell it wasn't great.

Zhakarova is an interesting case to me. I can tell that she's really good and confident but it seems like she's not actually performing the program. Like the program is happening and she's just along for the ride, it's weird. After the program when Ted said autopilot, that was a perfect summary. Maybe that's just because she's so good already so she doesn't have to think too much about the program.

My dream podium
1. Zhilina
2. Muravieva
Anyone else.

 

[esteticlove]

I haven't followed Petrosyan very closely, so correct me if I am wrong but compared to JRussNats, she seems to have upped her technical components by switching her 3F-3T to a 3Lz-3T, even though her Lz was at times quite wonky and troublesome. Moreover, I find her speed and skating quality very high for her age and also in comparison to the other athletes from her group. I definitely think that in PCS she is far better than Zhilina, the latter has though amazing jumps.

Muravieva is somewhere inbetween, based on her clean SP she deserved to get on the top so far. I noticed her talent last year but still have the same problem with her programs - it's probably the choreography, but I hate it when the skaters do 100 quick moves and stuff, while the music is slow and with no accents. It really makes her look not that musical, even though she is actually artistic and mature for her age.