Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

[Marta25]

US Nationals are at the end of January, Russian Nationals are at the end of December. That schedule isn't so bad if ruslena don't make GPF, but I'm sure that's one of their goals, and that's a really rough schedule. I don't know that they need ranking points that badly. They skated 4th in the SD at worlds and still made the final FD group. It's annoying that they're still skating fairly early, but next season they should have enough points to make the final group for the SD at worlds, if this season goes reasonably well. ANyhow, while competition experience is good, if their programs are that complicated they might want time to drill before CoC.

I love that so much thought and care went into their FD, I'm very excited! I can't wait to see it in a couple weeks.

In the last Kustarova interview, that was posted, it sounds like they specifically brought people in this summer to work on their physical condition. I guess, they did that to improve their stamina, but also to maybe show more complicated lifts. Although last season was very tiring for them, I think ultimately, they could gain a lot of experience together. They had their ups and downs and they learnt how to deal with these situations as a team. We just have to wait and see, what their plans are concerning the Senior Bs. Even if they only do the ONT, I think it`s good that the lineup is pretty strong with 4 couples that were in the Top 10 at last year`s Worlds. So, I/Z will find out pretty soon how their programs stack up against other top couples.

 

[LisaM]

Last year they also needed more time to gel as a team - now those basics are taken care of, there is hopefully not as much time needed adjusting the choreography etc, there is more time to work on more difficult stuff such as lifts... I think if they had the same schedule this year as they did last year, it will make them less tired this time around. So I don't think another senior B will be too much.

 

[MK's Winter]

Last year they also needed more time to gel as a team - now those basics are taken care of, there is hopefully not as much time needed adjusting the choreography etc, there is more time to work on more difficult stuff such as lifts... I think if they had the same schedule this year as they did last year, it will make them less tired this time around. So I don't think another senior B will be too much.

I agree. I think scheduling sucks all around. Some countries have Nationals right after the GPF, while other Nations have their Nationals and 4CC a week/week and a half later.....

 

[Spiral]

Well, they have to if the story is about Diego and Frida. It's a bit different if you choose the music just because you like it and you don't necessarily want to tell the story of that movie.

I think that even when skaters tell the story from the movie, most just watch the movie. I think that reading bios when they're portraying real-life people is quite exceptional. So I'm very impressed with IZ's dedication to their work - on all fronts.

 

[alithia]

http://www.isuresults.com/events/cat00028389.htm

I/Z are not in Nepela list anymore. It was a bit odd since Saransk is very close to Bratislava and it's their priority from early one, so maybe they were just in the preliminary list for Nepela just in case.

 

[paravolar]

I think I remember seeing in the original list another couple from Kustarova's group, the one from Latvia. They are gone too.

 

[alithia]

I think I remember seeing in the original list another couple from Kustarova's group, the one from Latvia. They are gone too.

Yes it was probably a preliminary list. What I knew was that the main focus is Saransk. It's the first time a Challenger is hosted in Russia and of course the champions want to be there.

 

[paravolar]

Well, as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait.

 

[bramweld]

I'm glad that was cleared up. Kustarova said they would be doing Saransk and not ON.

 

[Marta25]

Good, now I don`t have to worry if I/Z will be lowballed against S/S and G/P

Anyway, 12 days until test skates

 

[bramweld]

Good, now I don`t have to worry if I/Z will be lowballed against S/S and G/P

Anyway, 12 days until test skates

I think they arrive in Sochi next Monday. So news will be out soon. Then they have their test skates on the 12th and 13th.

 

[LisaM]

I was a little bit worried that it meant they weren't finished with their programs on time, but after reading your comments it's all good

 

[Alba]

I was a little bit worried that it meant they weren't finished with their programs on time, but after reading your comments it's all good

Yulia is not going either and her programs are all set a long time ago. Actually when Nepala list came out some people were surprised to see their names on the list because they knew Saransk was for sure but not Nepala.
If anything, I would think they are quite sure about the programs.

 

[chameleon]

They've been planning for Saransk since May. It's possible that they've been toying with the idea of going to Nepela, but decided against it so they wouldn't be competing quite so much. Or maybe since non-Russian teams are less likely to choose Saransk, they wanted an easy win to start off their season. There are all sorts of reasons to choose. Even if they did want a bit more time for their programs, two weeks isn't huge, and they're still doing the open test skates, so I wouldn't worry about them.

 

[Marta25]

From Kustarova`s and Ruslan`s interviews, it sounded like the programs are set. I mean they already knew around January that they wanted to do Frida and already had the music cut to send to Najarro.

Although, I´m excited about Frida, I`m even more curious about their SD, since we don`t have as much info about it.

 

[alithia]

Teams who are going to the test skates have their programs ready, I think this is what the russian fed said earlier. Full runthroughs for everybody and not programs with stops.

 

[Spiral]

TBH I'm a bit disappointed that they aren't going to Nepela as well. I still think it would have been a perfect competition for them, and it seems to me to be sufficiently removed from both the test skates and the Mordovian Ornament. During GP skaters sometimes have events within a week of each other, on different continents; so this would have been quite a good competition schedule.

I wish Yulia had gone to Nepela as well - it looked like a good competition for her too.

 

[Snow63]

I had a dream last night about I/Z. There was some competition and they skated their new SD, it was so cool, looked very intricate. There was a movement with every bit of the music. They scored 63.38 for it, and were first by far, since no one scored higher than 60. And they skated in their Carmen SD outfit

 

[bramweld]

I had a dream last night about I/Z. There was some competition and they skated their new SD, it was so cool, looked very intricate. There was a movement with every bit of the music. They scored 63.38 for it, and were first by far, since no one scored higher than 60. And they skated in their Carmen SD outfit

LOL. But when is Najarro scheduled to come back in September? Will it be before they go to Sochi or after they return from control rentals? Hmm...

 

[Spiral]

I had a dream last night about I/Z. There was some competition and they skated their new SD, it was so cool, looked very intricate. There was a movement with every bit of the music. They scored 63.38 for it, and were first by far, since no one scored higher than 60. And they skated in their Carmen SD outfit

Wow! That's a great dream! I envy you.