Russian Junior Test Skates 2022 | Page 26 | Golden Skate

Russian Junior Test Skates 2022

Just before FS here my fav SP impressions:
Cheremnikh/Butenko:
despite La Strada 🙄 great programme. I enjoyed their feel for the music and each other.
Petushkova/Malikov:
loved their costumes! Were they wearing this before? Always reminds me of Della Monica/Guarise. Programme needs a bit of tweaking, but not bad.
Chernyshova/Antonyshev:
An Irish performance is always a winner for me! Can’t wait to see the costumes 💚 Just wish Vlad would do something else with his hair.
Dybkova/Khvalko, my personal lovelies:
Haven’t change their programme, but that’s okay 👍. I love to see how the former Elena Klimova student enjoys skating with Alexey.
Chikmareva/Yanchenkov:
Again very promising, very much looking forward to their season. Great programme.

All in all, I was happy with the event. Sliusarenko and Velikov have strong teams again. 👌
 
The pairs were lovely. 🥰

Note to myself: Stop worrying and complaining about the fed and appreciate the skating instead. After all, they are really doing an incredible job of making it accessible all around the world.
They are trying, so you are right, props for that. The pairs are lovely!
 
Couldn’t resist watching the free, and dammit Chikmareva/Yanchenkov are top of the class even with her height. Also, from pairs I haven’t seen from before I really like Romanova/Nazarov. The rest was nice too. Except the pair who Lunin sent skating to recycled soundtrack from Mozalev’s last year free. That’s just not nice.
 
Perm pairs really rocked it!
Chikmareva/Yanchenkov have great presence, in that respect they kinda remind me of Mukhortova/Evgeniev except lankier. I really hope they survive puberty🤞Artemeva/Briukhanov are looking good too, only thing that's missing is a bit more facial expression from Briukhanov, but I think he's already a bit better than when he was with Polina. And kudos to Romanova/Nazarov for nice non-warhorsey tango music (I love a good tango and am really looking forward to junior ice dance this season...) They look a bit fresh with less connection than the other two pairs in Sliusarenko's team, but nice carriage and posture.
I usually don't like Carmen but Cheremnykh/Butenko had quite an enjoyable one. Chernyshova/Antonyshev's SP yesterday was great, but Harry Styles makes me sleepy... Dybkova/Khvalko gave a nice performance to round out the day's skating.
Also Petushkova seems to have grown a lot, she is already above Malikov's shoulder height :o I'm not surprised they are struggling a bit!
 
Perm pairs really rocked it!
Chikmareva/Yanchenkov have great presence, in that respect they kinda remind me of Mukhortova/Evgeniev except lankier. I really hope they survive puberty🤞Artemeva/Briukhanov are looking good too, only thing that's missing is a bit more facial expression from Briukhanov, but I think he's already a bit better than when he was with Polina. And kudos to Romanova/Nazarov for nice non-warhorsey tango music (I love a good tango and am really looking forward to junior ice dance this season...) They look a bit fresh with less connection than the other two pairs in Sliusarenko's team, but nice carriage and posture.
I usually don't like Carmen but Cheremnykh/Butenko had quite an enjoyable one. Chernyshova/Antonyshev's SP yesterday was great, but Harry Styles makes me sleepy... Dybkova/Khvalko gave a nice performance to round out the day's skating.
Also Petushkova seems to have grown a lot, she is already above Malikov's shoulder height :eek: I'm not surprised they are struggling a bit!
I was thinking that Barquero/Zandron managed with being lanky in pairs, so really hoping Chikmareva/Yanchenkov could do too!
 
Also, after watching JGP SP for junior men, RusFed has no call, no call at all whatsoever to admonish the junior division.
Could be an ego thing - maybe because they are left out of international competition, they feel pressure to demonstrate absolute dominance had they participated/show that the 'real' competition is in Russia (so it's not enough to just show that they are strong contenders)?
 
Some weird music choices in the pairs' FS.

The programs I enjoyed the most were Chernyshova/Antonyshev actually in both segments. I liked his powerful skating (much more than I ever liked him in the programs he had with Osokina) and I liked her delicate skating - I just did not like them skating together, if that makes any sense. He skates like a man and she skates like a child (which isn't meant as criticism, she literally is a child).
What is the perspective for this pair anyway? Either they plan on not skating internationally for a very long time - and even now that's not a good plan in a competitive sport - or they are just placeholders for their respective new partners. Which might be a good learning opportunity for Chernyshova, but Antonyshev should probably be looking for something long-term at this stage in his career.

I missed Ilya Mironov and his Russian split. :( I know he isn't junior eligible anymore, but still.
 
Could be an ego thing - maybe because they are left out of international competition, they feel pressure to demonstrate absolute dominance had they participated/show that the 'real' competition is in Russia (so it's not enough to just show that they are strong contenders)?
I think they might have come very close to it if you count out really junior guys. Obviously, there is more pressure in France and higher altitude than Novogorsk, but even with what I am seeing of the women’s SP atm...
 
Some weird music choices in the pairs' FS.

The programs I enjoyed the most were Chernyshova/Antonyshev actually in both segments. I liked his powerful skating (much more than I ever liked him in the programs he had with Osokina) and I liked her delicate skating - I just did not like them skating together, if that makes any sense. He skates like a man and she skates like a child (which isn't meant as criticism, she literally is a child).
What is the perspective for this pair anyway? Either they plan on not skating internationally for a very long time - and even now that's not a good plan in a competitive sport - or they are just placeholders for their respective new partners. Which might be a good learning opportunity for Chernyshova, but Antonyshev should probably be looking for something long-term at this stage in his career.

I missed Ilya Mironov and his Russian split. :( I know he isn't junior eligible anymore, but still.
I am not sure, but that was the first time I liked Antonyshev. Maybe he benefits from a more experienced partner than Osokina who seemed very tentative?
 
I liked Antonyshev too, although I agree with what others are saying about the age difference. Antonyshev is born 2001 and Chernyshova 2009. They won’t be able to compete internationally for a few years (even when the ban on Russian skaters is lifted), so that’s not very helpful. Saying that, Dybkova/Khvalko also have a significant age difference. Dybkova is born 2008 and Khvalko 2001.

I am curious whether Chikmarieva will fill out when she is going through puberty and start struggling like Petushkova, or if she will keep her jumps like Khabibulina. From all the pair female partners, getting too tall usually means disappearing from competitive skating. Poluyanova, Kuzmina, Storublievtseva….after seeing Petushkova at this test skates, she will probably be the next. And yet Khabibulina seemed to manage. Will Chikmarieva manage too?
 
Post-skate article for the pairs

A couple of interesting tidbits (new to me, anyway):
-Anastasia Chernyshova is the sister of Maria Chernyshova who teamed up with Harley Windsor! The Riverdance SP was originally done by Tiffany Zagorski for Antonyshev's old partnership but the step sequence got redone by Dmitri Mikhailov to fit this season's requirements
-Artemeva/Briukhanov and Chikmareva/Yanchenkov's programmes were all done by Sergei Plishkin, Ekaterina Rubleva's husband (BTW I have a soft spot for Rubleva's ice dance teams' programmes, and yep it seems like he works with them too).
-Velikovs got a ballroom dancer onboard to help with choreo

Seems like this season the pairs SP step sequence has very dancey requirements and the teams invested a fair bit of work into prepping for this...
 
Despite enjoying the Pairs FS in real time, I only now have time to share my impressions.
Chikmareva/Yanchenkov:
great programme again! Their musical interpretation is very enjoyable and they have a great spin with her legs around his legs. 👌

Dybkova/Khvalko:
They kept both programmes and that’s fine by me. I really like them - great lifts! 👏

Chernyshova/Antonyshev:
Again, very fitting music choice. I’m sure I’ll enjoy them this season.

Artemieva/Briukhanov:
Music was great, I can see the audience getting into it throughout the season.

Bring it on, I’m sooo ready for these Juniors 😉
 
I am almost done with watching JGP, and I have to say that from everyone, I missed Russian junior men the most. They devil-may-care attitude when throwing themselves into quads… damn, but I miss it!
 
I am almost done with watching JGP, and I have to say that from everyone, I missed Russian junior men the most. They devil-may-care attitude when throwing themselves into quads… damn, but I miss it!
I am missing most Russian junior pairs and ladies. When I know that ladies with scores as low as 185 and 188 get a medal at JGP, and I know that there is quite a few of junior ladies in Russia that would score much higher, I really struggle to be excited about those achievements. And pairs, well, without Russians the JGP pairs will be a joke. And this does not mean that I support the war, but I can’t get excited about such average results when I know that there are quite a few skaters (singles and pairs) who are much better, but were prevented to compete for something that is out of their control…
 
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I am missing most Russian junior pairs and ladies. When I know that ladies with scores as low as 185 and 188 get a medal at JGP, and I know that there is quite a few of junior ladies in Russia that would score much higher, I really struggle to be excited about those achievements. And pairs, well, without Russians the JGP pairs will be a joke. And this does not mean that I support the war, but I can’t get excited about such average results when I know that there are quite a few skaters (singles and pairs) who are much better, but were prevented to compete for something that is out of their control…
I don’t disagree, but I wasn’t planning to watch even senior pairs internationally tbh with any kind of seriousness. There were some lovely ladies in JGP in France I really liked. The top 10 were very watchable. And Gurgenidze also made it. The man’s field so far didn’t have such highlights for me.

Anyway, I am catching up on ID. Be back in a bit with my esteemed opinion!
 
I am missing most Russian junior pairs and ladies. When I know that ladies with scores as low as 185 and 188 get a medal at JGP, and I know that there is quite a few of junior ladies in Russia that would score much higher, I really struggle to be excited about those achievements. And pairs, well, without Russians the JGP pairs will be a joke. And this does not mean that I support the war, but I can’t get excited about such average results when I know that there are quite a few skaters (singles and pairs) who are much better, but were prevented to compete for something that is out of their control…
Pairs is going to be pathetic. That is all. LOL. Other countries just don't invest in pair skating, and it shows-the gulf is wide-maybe three pairs teams left (from other countries) that are even worth watching.
 
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