2022-23 Russian Men's Figure Skating

[CrazyKittenLady]

Some news from the (soon to be?) Russian ex-pats:

Egor Murashov will not be allowed to represent Switzerland in ISU competitions this season. Honestly, I've been wondering how he would handle it, because regulations state that in order to represent a "new" country you either have to have citizenship (like Moris K. in Georgia) or live there for at least a year (like Samoilov did in Poland before he moved to Italy for training). And Murashov seems to spend most of his time in Russia going by stuff on social media.
- ISU forbids Murashov to skate for the Swiss national team in international competitions
- Murashov about the ban to skate for Switzerland: "They referred to problems with documents. But there were no specifics and no official information yet".

In potentially more positive news, Roman Savosin considers switching to Kazakhstan. I hope we'll get to see him in competition again soon, be it at the CoRGP or in ISU events skating for Kazakhstan. He was once a JWC medallist and imo a very beautiful PCS skater. If only the quads were more stable.
On the other hand, some strong male singles skaters are coming up in Kazakhstan so the internal competition will be strong. There are also some shenanigans with the fed, so not sure if it is the best country for a switch.
- Roman Savosin plans to move to the Kazakhstan national team
- Savosin's coach on the possible transition of the skater to Kazakhstan: "It is too early to talk about it."
- Gorshkov of course doesn't know about anything.

Oh yeah, and someone tried to set Khrustalny rink on fire.... The Russian figure skating drama.

 

[lariko]

I mean, Have you told Gorshkov? with like a background of the world exploding gotta be a meme. I will be super-glad if Savosin moves to Kazakhstan and Danielian to Armenia.

Lol, in terms of Crystal fire, I half-expect official conclusion to be ‘it was Tutberidze, Gleighausen and Duduakov themselves who set it on fire’

In other notes, Aliev skating to Bodyguard yesterday is the kind of healing content I needed.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

I will be super-glad if Savosin moves to Kazakhstan

Seems to be fake news. Roman on his insta stories:
"After much deliberation, consultations with the coaching staff, family and friends, I made a difficult decision that in the new season I plan to compete not in the Cup of Russia, but in the Grand Prix of Russia. I hope for understanding and support."

Lol I'm not mad, tbh, I look forward to seeing all the Russian guys competing together at the RGP stages. Who knows if Roman would have gotten any assignments in Kazakhstan, better to see him skate in domestic comps than not seeing him skate at all. And as long as he is in Moscow there is always the chance for more content on the Skating Skills youtube channel.

 

[lariko]

Seems to be fake news. Roman on his insta stories:
"After much deliberation, consultations with the coaching staff, family and friends, I made a difficult decision that in the new season I plan to compete not in the Cup of Russia, but in the Grand Prix of Russia. I hope for understanding and support."

Lol I'm not mad, tbh, I look forward to seeing all the Russian guys competing together at the RGP stages. Who knows if Roman would have gotten any assignments in Kazakhstan, better to see him skate in domestic comps than not seeing him skate at all. And as long as he is in Moscow there is always the chance for more content on the Skating Skills youtube channel.

Yes, though Shaidorov could use a partner…

 

[AlexBreeze]

Sasha Golubev?

He won silver at JNats 2021 and then suffered an injury that affected his results last season. I wonder how he ended up at Mishin's training camp. A new transfer?

According to Gumennik's interview, Alexander Golubev switched to Veronika Daineko.

 

[AlexBreeze]

Backstage of men's photo shoot for Channel One.

 

[lariko]

I couldn’t say what I was happier about, Ignatov’s managing his energy better, Kovalev’s costume, Mozalev’s starting to open up artistically, Semeneko being okay after his injuries, Kolyada’s imaginative free or seeing Aliev in a better frame of mind.

 

[Amei]

I couldn’t say what I was happier about, Ignatov’s managing his energy better, Kovalev’s costume, Mozalev’s starting to open up artistically, Semeneko being okay after his injuries, Kolyada’s imaginative free or seeing Aliev in a better frame of mind.

Both Aliev and Kolyada were good today, love both their FS's, they were the real highlight to me, which is surprising because so often its the ladies outshining the men

 

[lariko]

Both Aliev and Kolyada were good today, love both their FS's, they were the real highlight to me, which is surprising because so often its the ladies outshining the men

In these test skates, honestly, it was that last group of men who delivered. Interesting music choices, strong personality, different vibes… good stuff.

 

[YuBluByMe]

In these test skates, honestly, it was that last group of men who delivered. Interesting music choices, strong personality, different vibes… good stuff.

Agreed. Danielian’s program was the first one I liked and the programs following his were great as well. Overall though, I do think they outshined the ladies and it’s not the first time. The men were better than the ladies at the Channel One competition at the end of last season too. They have more interesting programs and I think they just perform better in low-pressure environments. At Nationals, though, I’m expecting the men to be overly polite with the Championship title.

“No, no. I don’t want it. You can have it.”
“No, please. I insist. You can have it.”
“No, you. .

And so it goes.

Additionally, for years I would have said that Kolyada is definitively the top man in Russia, but I didn’t get this impression at test skates. Nationals would be interesting as I don’t think there’s a solid favorite as of right now.

 

[lariko]

Agreed. Danielian’s program was the first one I liked and the programs following his were great as well. Overall though, I do think they outshined the ladies and it’s not the first time. The men were better than the ladies at the Channel One competition at the end of last season too. They have more interesting programs and I think they just perform better in low-pressure environments. At Nationals, though, I’m expecting the men to be overly polite with the Championship title.

“No, no. I don’t want it. You can have it.”
“No, please. I insist. You can have it.”
“No, you. .

And so it goes.

Additionally, for years I would have said that Kolyada is definitively the top man in Russia, but I didn’t get this impression at test skates. Nationals would be interesting as I don’t think there’s a solid favorite as of right now.

I think without the usual RusFed pressure tactics to squeeze them through the funnel to get the 1, 2 or 3 for Eu or Worlds, they will be more likely to perform well, plus we’re going to see all of them plus in all the invented second half of the season competitions. Obviously, if the planned competitions proceed.

Overall, tbh, I will just be happy to find out what happened to Smirnova’s group, and see a clean performance of both programs, not necessarily in the same competition, by Popov, Yablokov, Danielian, Aliev and, like, Mozalev obv.

 

[AlexBreeze]

Kondratiuk is changing his FS. The new one will be choreographed by Averbukh.

 

[lariko]

Kondratiuk is changing his FS. The new one will be choreographed by Averbukh.

Is there anyone whose program wasn’t choreographed by Averbukh this season?

 

[AlexBreeze]

Is there anyone whose program wasn’t choreographed by Averbukh this season?

This Mark's FS will be only 5th Averbukh's program. Nikita Mikhailov did more.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

The guys behind the scenes at test skates 2022:

 

[RoundedBackCamel]

Oh, how I miss the Russian men. I have been a giant Kolyada fan and now know I’ll never see him skate. I’m also a big Shoma fan, so that is satisfying after rooting for him for so long. But I’m looking at the Grand Prix and dreaming about going to Skate America or Skate Canada (w/ Shoma) and I realize I’ll never see some of my faves together on the world stage.

Also, I gotta admit, I also kinda like splat fests, and Russian men always provided that in spades. But there was always HOPE that someone was going to finally put it together. I see Kolyada still not putting together two clean programs, but he’s got the drop-and-roll down so well as to minimize the interruption.

I didn’t get the bug to see figure skating live until I was 59 and Nationals came to my town, so I’ve seen Ilia, Jason, Nathan, Vincent, and Camden (a nice surprise), along with Mariah and Gracie. Now I’m dreaming of seeing Worlds in Japan, which is completely unrealistic both schedule- and money-wise. Maybe one of these days!

I totally understand the horrible circumstances around Russia in general but it can’t stop me from missing the men on the world stage.

 

[RoundedBackCamel]

Oh, how I miss the Russian men. I have been a giant Kolyada fan and now know I’ll never see him skate. I’m also a big Shoma fan, so that is satisfying after rooting for him for so long. But I’m looking at the Grand Prix and dreaming about going to Skate America or Skate Canada (w/ Shoma) and I realize I’ll never see some of my faves together on the world stage.

Also, I gotta admit, I also kinda like splat fests, and Russian men always provided that in spades. But there was always HOPE that someone was going to finally put it together. I see Kolyada still not putting together two clean programs, but he’s got the drop-and-roll down so well as to minimize the interruption.

I didn’t get the bug to see figure skating live until I was 59 and Nationals came to my town, so I’ve seen Ilia, Jason, Nathan, Vincent, and Camden (a nice surprise), along with Mariah and Gracie. Now I’m dreaming of seeing Worlds in Japan, which is completely unrealistic both schedule- and money-wise. Maybe one of these days!

I totally understand the horrible circumstances around Russia in general but it can’t stop me from missing the men.

 

[Mariott]

Oh, how I miss the Russian men. I have been a giant Kolyada fan and now know I’ll never see him skate. I’m also a big Shoma fan, so that is satisfying after rooting for him for so long. But I’m looking at the Grand Prix and dreaming about going to Skate America or Skate Canada (w/ Shoma) and I realize I’ll never see some of my faves together on the world stage.

Also, I gotta admit, I also kinda like splat fests, and Russian men always provided that in spades. But there was always HOPE that someone was going to finally put it together. I see Kolyada still not putting together two clean programs, but he’s got the drop-and-roll down so well as to minimize the interruption.

I didn’t get the bug to see figure skating live until I was 59 and Nationals came to my town, so I’ve seen Ilia, Jason, Nathan, Vincent, and Camden (a nice surprise), along with Mariah and Gracie. Now I’m dreaming of seeing Worlds in Japan, which is completely unrealistic both schedule- and money-wise. Maybe one of these days!

I totally understand the horrible circumstances around Russia in general but it can’t stop me from missing the men.

Don't be sad, if we don't get to see Kolyada perform, we have Andrei Mozalev growing up, who could skate at the same level in the future, or maybe even better. His career path so far has been rather winding and difficult, but he's 19 years old and he's aiming for a long game, probably until 2030. We also have a lot of great young guys who deserve attention. Maybe they'll last and in a few years you can see them in international competition (I always try to be optimistic).

 

[Mariott]

Is there anyone whose program wasn’t choreographed by Averbukh this season?

Hmm, I think this should rather be in the topic of junior skating in Russia, but since we're talking about Averbukh... My favorite of his programs this season is not Mozalev's free skating program, which is like pure art, nor Semenenko's rousing program. I liked most of all the short program of Dmitry Shelkovnikov to the Gershwin music - beautiful, aesthetic, purist, with impeccable artistic sense, suitable for a teenage figure skater, taking into account his strengths and weaknesses. I think the task he was doing was more difficult than when he was working with the top skaters.

In general, I like Averbuch's new programs.

 

[lariko]

Oh, how I miss the Russian men. I have been a giant Kolyada fan and now know I’ll never see him skate. I’m also a big Shoma fan, so that is satisfying after rooting for him for so long. But I’m looking at the Grand Prix and dreaming about going to Skate America or Skate Canada (w/ Shoma) and I realize I’ll never see some of my faves together on the world stage.

Also, I gotta admit, I also kinda like splat fests, and Russian men always provided that in spades. But there was always HOPE that someone was going to finally put it together. I see Kolyada still not putting together two clean programs, but he’s got the drop-and-roll down so well as to minimize the interruption.

I didn’t get the bug to see figure skating live until I was 59 and Nationals came to my town, so I’ve seen Ilia, Jason, Nathan, Vincent, and Camden (a nice surprise), along with Mariah and Gracie. Now I’m dreaming of seeing Worlds in Japan, which is completely unrealistic both schedule- and money-wise. Maybe one of these days!

I totally understand the horrible circumstances around Russia in general but it can’t stop me from missing the men.

Junior Worlds this year are in Calgary and they will be super-affordable. It would even have a few Russian men, God willing, skating for Georgia, Hungary, Israel and it will (hopefully) have another talented Kazakh skater, Rakhat Bralin, who trains with FSA in Moscow.

I missed junior Russian men tremendously on the JGP circuit, particularly because without them there were barely any quads and even 3As got rare.