How can Russia move ahead in Sr. Ice Dance
- Thread starter tvuckic16
- Start date
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2010
Push S/B and make sure Junior teams stick together so they have a strong team for 2022
Obviously, but imho that's a mistake... SB are just not up to the task. And the juniors, who knows... anything can happen there and they have a lot of work to do ...the juniors are hardly dominating the field in juniors
But I guess that's what they are going with... what a disaster
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2010
Hmm, the juniors are hardly dominating the field in juniors?
Junior Ice Dance - Grand prix final - 4 out of 6 teams were Russian!
PL Name Nation SD FD Points
1 Anastasia SKOPTCOVA Kirill ALESHIN RUS 1 1 153.61
2 Christina CARREIRA Anthony PONOMARENKO USA 2 2 151.76
3 Sofia POLISHCHUK Alexander VAKHNOV RUS 3 3 149.04
4 Sofia SHEVCHENKO Igor EREMENKO RUS 5 4 144.38
5 Arina USHAKOVA Maxim NEKRASOV RUS 6 5 141.88
6 Marjorie LAJOIEZachary LAGHA CAN 4 6 141.28
World Championships Junior Ice Dance 3 out of top 5 were Russian
Result
FPl. Name Nation Points SD FD
1 Anastasia SKOPTCOVA / Kirill ALESHIN RUS 155.15 1 1
2 Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO USA 147.68 6 2
3 Arina USHAKOVA / Maxim NEKRASOV RUS 146.88 3 3
4 Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA CAN 146.22 2 5
5 Sofia SHEVCHENKO / Igor EREMENKO RUS 145.85 4 4
Going by the Junior major championship results, I'd say Russia is totally dominating the field in Juniors!
But I'm curious, tvuckic16, who do you think is dominating the field in juniors if it is not the Russians?
I guess what I really meant to say is that none of them stood out to me... sorry but they don't. It's not like they are blowing the competition out of the water...
I mean Yanovskaya Mozgov were blowing the competition out of the water except for Hawayek/Baker of the USA and look how that turned out, Y/M broke up and HB didn't make it to the Olympics. I don't think you can say much about the juniors just yet... and to me, none of the pairs are exceptional...
SB were Junior Champions ffs, and they are awful
The fact is all Russian junior transfers to senior since I/k transferred in 2010 have been awful horrible disasters and that includes s/b. Awful horrible disaster with no gp wins or or anything! Almost 10 years now of no successful transition from any team from juniors to seniors.
I do remember a huge list of like 500 being submitted but having no idea who was on the list! I don’t remember it ever being mentioned once Sinitsina or katsalapov Or both were banned. It didn’t matter but surely would’ve been bigger news!
Why in a sport of people like margaglio and lobacheva it’s very clear how people can succeed with no skating skill! You can say well that was 6.0 but you must factor Russia is still in 6.0 only one needs talent mindset and their technical panels are so lenient all s/b elements are almost always level 4 including step sequences!
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2010
Russian skaters on the original 500 odd list submitted in June 2017 were the national team at the time, B/S, S/B, S/K, Z/G, L/D
Then the final list submitted in late 2017 was just the first 4 without L/D
It has only come out recently the news that Nikita didn't get invited, it was in several Russian press releases.
It’s just when I was reading the zhulin interviews on his desire for s/k to go to worlds no one mentioned s/k being banned from the Olympics. I wish there was more info on The katsalapov olympic ban.
Stepanova is a weak skater. I suppose they can achieve being among the first 5 couples in World if they are consistent over the years, but not like they can compete with the couples which are really talented and have something special.
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2010
Stepanova has improved, and is not such a weak skater nowadays.
Just watch recent programs against those of 2 years ago and compare her edges.
She has long legs, so bending enough will always be difficult for her mechanically, but otherwise her skating is not that bad now, stronger than Anna Cappelini for sure.
(Yet Anna, who has never really mastered edges has a Worlds medal!)
Bukin also has improved and is IMO one of the top men, a talented, charismatic skater, as are Baker and Katasalapov.
But whilst all 3 have star quality, they all fall short of the exceptional skating skills and natural talent of Cizeron.
Gabi doesn't have the skating skills of Cizeron, but she makes up for that in bringing the character that Cizeron lacks.
Stepanova doesn't have the skating skills of Bukin, but she too has a lot of character on the ice.
If they could get some acting coaching as P/C have done, they could really make it to the top.
One thing though that the coaches might not like is their similarity in size.
For me their proportions were better when Stepanova was underweight
Now she has filled out to having an enviably perfect body, I feel the judges might think she is a little too big for him.
I love to watch them both, they are always so fresh and easy on the eye.
She is just stunning, and he is a real dancer, and also a fine looking man.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them finish in the top 5 in Worlds next week
Shame Z/G aren't capable of a top 8 finish as a 5+8 would give the 13 points to win back 3 spots for Russia
She didn't improve much. She's still painful to watch especially during steps. And she looks bigger than him: the knees aren't well matched.
I agree that they have a sort of a romantic chemistry - something similar to an easy comedy - you enjoy it, it was fun, but it doesn't impact you in anyway. For example, they don't have that spicy, turbulent vibe that I/K had, nor the ethereal, the feel that there is a complete union between them and with the music as P/C.
I agree that they have a sort of a romantic chemistry - something similar to an easy comedy - you enjoy it, it was fun, but it doesn't impact you in anyway. For example, they don't have that spicy, turbulent vibe that I/K had, nor the ethereal, the feel that there is a complete union between them and with the music as P/C.
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2010
But that is exactly why I like to watch them, it is young, fresh, fun and enjoyable!
It is a big departure from the old dramatic Russian style, so I see them as trend setters.
It does impact me, as for me, they are a high light of every competition, they are a team I always want to watch.
They make me smile and enjoy skating.
There is room for more than one style in skating, I/K, P/C and S/B are all totally different, but still make an impact.
For me they are memorable, and stand out even if they are not as strong as I/K or P/C.
Also, the judges are more likely to be generous when they have enjoyed a program.
You can’t just have minor improvement in ice dance!! Once judges on technical panel discover Stepanova has no edge expertise you have why they are 9/11/10 at worlds! You need to show enormous gargantuan improvement so technical callers can watch Stepanova and give s/b level 4 in step sequences and judges can give Stepanova +3 goe!!
Everybody needs massive improvement for a level 4, it is that hard. I think only 2 teams (maybe 3) going into worlds managed to get at least one level 4 this season.
S/B main "issue" is those step sequences in the FD. The edges are actually much better than before without a doubt but it lacks a lot of seamlessness and they look a bit laboured (and sometimes unclear, that can lead to level 2s).
But have you notices their PCS at Euros ? 36+ and 55+ ? That's close to H/D and C/L (very close), I wouldn't be surprised to see them on the podium (or 4th) in Milano.
The judges at worlds always bring them back to earth, but in their defence the other players who should have been beating them handily this season have not been bringing it all season. The judges are tired of Anna and her totally juniorish skating skills. C/B and W/P can't seem to twizzle to save their lives and the judges seem to be not digging G/Ps SD, but their FD was really good in Pyeongchang. So with all the stronger teams out of play they may have a decent shot at bronze. I think P/C and H/D already have a lock on Gold and Silver. Just sayin....but if they are not at their best or tight in any way I don't see them being much higher than 5th or 6th.
Everybody may need improvement to do level 4 but the point is no one needs to go further than Stepanova. Worlds is always s/b’s worst competition of the season and there is a reason for that! She’s exposed. She’s not against bobrova and capellini anymore. She’s up against papadakis! She’s up against hubbell , she’s up against great talents of the world.
But if you're comparing her to Gabriella or Maddison that's normal if you are not happy, these 2 are the strongest out there because they have the basics to go with.
Worlds is not their "worst" per say, last year they received massive scores compared to their previous competition (Europeans 2017), it's just that there are many more competitors. I think they have competition against Chock/Bates and even Weaver/Poje - The latter have a nice skating but it's unpolished and thus it doesn't get every GOE it could get. And compared to Maddie Chock, she has a lot of power (also, Maddie was injured this season, and they haven't been performing as well as they could).
And then you have to see Stepanova as "Stepanova/Bukin", there are 2 people in a team and you may be not convinced with her, but as a team I'd say they are definitely doing the job.
It’s IJS! You can’t have a Stepanova anymore no matter how good Bukin is. Averbukh could have lobacheva and Fusar poli could have margaglio as a partner but in IJs where both skaters are put under extreme extreme microscopes (or close-ups) There can’t be any success like a world Olympic or gpf title with Stepanova. That’s the only purpose of a major Russian team. To win worlds and Olympics. That’s it! They are not doing the job. Their results are super awful and atrocious at worlds they have been to.
