Russian Junior Test Skates 2022

[CrazyKittenLady]

Late to the party, but I finally watched all the performances of the boys' SP. And for me they were really hit or miss - hardly anything in between. No need to talk about the misses, since much of it comes down to personal preference anyway, but I'll briefly go into my top three hits.

The SP "winner" for me was Ugozhaev. He has matured so nicely, and skates like he's feeling the music. I liked how he performed the program with attention to detail. My only issue are the flesh-coloured gloves. They make the hands look so sluggish and sloppy and his lines are otherwise quite nice. Just use black gloves if you really can't do without them, but better yet, get rid of the gloves completely.

Second and third place go to Zonov and Anisimov ex aequo. Zonov's skating is overall more polished. How cleanly he moves across the ice with his impeccable posture! The spirals and spins are all chef's kiss.
Anisimov has the upper hand when it comes to the jumps, and the program suits him so well. He is rocking (or balleting) this kind of music, just sometimes he was a bit in front or behind the accents. But it's just the beginning of the season and this will be fixed with more practise.

Honorary mention to Dikidzhi, whose SP was great last season and is still great this season.

To conclude, an overall observation: the new rules make some of the spins look quite awkward. Especially the jump transitions from one leg to the other look forced sometimes. Let's see how that develops throughout the Cup series.

 

[katymay]

Wow! I haven’t watched the test skates. Will try to watch later on this weekend to see who I enjoyed.
If someone were to score these test skates, where do you think these juniors rank? I can’t wait to watch my fave Yametova’s programs. She is my favourite and hopefully she finished in the top half.

Yametova's short is one of the best programs I've ever seen. Choreographer is Anastasia Shevchenko, and perhaps Plushy might impress upon her to put together programs for Sofia and Nika. Also read that not only were there injuries, but Yametova had no ice until 3 weeks ago.

 

[katymay]

Some comments from the coaches after the juniors' test skates.

Best part of this is a discussion about all the different music-thank you for the link!

 

[lariko]

Finished watching junior women, and I am glad I left it for the morning. I seriously think that Yametova for me is an absolute winner of the whole test skate. I absolutely loved her. That group was very strong, and Dvoeglazova on her own was impressive. I can see how much Titova grew in height, so I hope she finds her new balance in the next 2 months.

I am really looking to the RusGP and pairs, omg, test skate for pairs! Can’t wait!

 

[lariko]

The SP "winner" for me was Ugozhaev. He has matured so nicely, and skates like he's feeling the music. I liked how he performed the program with attention to detail.

His FS is a treat as well!

 

[lariko]

Some comments from the coaches after the juniors' test skates.

Thank you for sharing! Can’t believe Yametova skated after a serious injury in May.

Also, I am hoping Yablokov recovers well, Butzaeva mentions his injury

 

[Mariiiiskate]

Also, I am hoping Yablokov recovers well, Butzaeva mentions his injury

its the same injury that Anna has, I wonder if either will compete this season.

 

[lariko]

its the same injury that Anna has, I wonder if either will compete this season.

This season being this season, they have a luxury of healing completely. So I hope they take all the time they need.

 

[Jeanie19]

Veronika Yametova

2A
3Lo
3Lz+combo

Who is Veronika's coach? She is really good.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

Finished the boys' FS and my absolute favourite (besides Andrei and his vampire musical) was Misha Polyanskiy. Especially with the boys you can sometimes catch the moment when they stop "just" being athletes and dare to try themselves as artists. And, imo, that's exactly what happened with Misha. He didn't just do the choreography, he really felt the performance. It was a powerful skate.

I said I didn't want to talk about the misses but after seeing no improvement in the free I really have to complain about the programs they gave to Grigory Fedorov. He was wonderful last season as d'Artagnan, he has the performance quality and the jumps. I was looking forward to seeing him this season. But both his new programs are just hot messes. In the short he gave everything to make it work but in the free he looked resigned to the bad music cuts and sloppy staging. I demand better programs for Grigory!

To end on a positive note, I was sceptical at first but now I really like that they changed the StSeq to a choreo sequence for the juniors in the FS. Instead of hasty steps with no connection to the music we got to see some beautiful spirals. Loved it!

 

[lariko]

Who is Veronika's coach? She is really good.

Gnilozubov from Ekaterinburg. Iirc Grishin said he was the first coach for Lipnitskaya as well

 

[Mauvedreamer]

Finished watching junior women, and I am glad I left it for the morning. I seriously think that Yametova for me is an absolute winner of the whole test skate. I absolutely loved her. That group was very strong, and Dvoeglazova on her own was impressive. I can see how much Titova grew in height, so I hope she finds her new balance in the next 2 months.

I am really looking to the RusGP and pairs, omg, test skate for pairs! Can’t wait!

Excited for pairs too! I agree Yametova was awesome. So fast and powerful with great music choices for her. Very explosive skater.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

its the same injury that Anna has, I wonder if either will compete this season.

I think it depends on the severity of the tear: https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/en/diseases--conditions/meniscus-tears/
Meniscus repair takes 3-6 months to return to sports but cartilage trimming is 3-6 weeks, so maybe Ilya and Anna will be lucky Fingers crossed!

 

[lariko]

Excited for pairs too! I agree Yametova was awesome. So fast and powerful with great music choices for her. Very explosive skater.

Yup, I just chatted with mom, and all we did was raved about Yametova. I really hope to see her on the podiums this year again!

Also, Russian pairs Tests will fill the gap in JGP that doesn’t have pairs nicely!

 

[RatedPG]

I just finished watching the girls SP and my fave Yametova blew me away. Her program is even better than last year and her skating skills had me shook. She is the one I watched again and again. I just worry that her TES isn’t high enough to be competitive. The world is going to miss out from watching this masterpiece. Veronika Yametova is locked down as my favourite Russian girl Junior once again. I love her so much

 

[lariko]

I just finished watching the girls SP and my fave Yametova blew me away. Her program is even better than last year and her skating skills had me shook. She is the one I watched again and again. I just worry that her TES isn’t high enough to be competitive. The world is going to miss out from watching this masterpiece. Veronika Yametova is locked down as my favourite Russian girl Junior once again. I love her so much

She is absolutely in this season! Honestly, with Akatyeva moved to seniors, I can totally see Yametova and Gorbacheva being the stars of the season. I wouldn’t really pay much attention to scoring RusGP. We all know it’s going to be screwy.

 

[Caliban]

Junior Pairs SP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQY3tapPvfE
Junior Pairs FP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXbSuMdUenQ

 

[Caliban]

It seems like RusFed not really like what they see at test skates so far:

— It wasn't known about another test skates of the national team before, was it? They are not in the calendar.
— Yes, they announced to us a few days ago that the guys were preparing for another skates. Due to the fact that the season starts much later than usual. I think this is the right decision on the part of the federation. For the guys, a good incentive not to relax and another test start before the start of the main season.
— Does this mean that the federation is not very happy with what it has seen?
— You know, of course, they is unhappy, and the management and coaching staff are unhappy with what they saw. In particular, I am dissatisfied, speaking about my athletes. But everyone understands perfectly well that the start of the season is only on October 20, and it would be wrong to bring the guys to one hundred percent readiness now. Because it is very difficult to keep in shape from mid-August until the end of the Russian Cup stages, three months. Here you can reason in different ways. On the other hand, everyone showed in training that they know quad jumps, that short programs have already been rolled up for everyone. And as for the free ones, just one and a half months before the start of the Cup stages should be enough to roll in the program

at the end of September, we will have another junior team skates in Novogorsk, where everyone should be fully prepared. They will take place about three weeks before the first stage of the Russian Cup

from interview with Victoria Butsaeva

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

Honestly, what did the Fed expect? There is no JGP for the Russian juniors and the RGP will start at the end of October. Of course they are not in peak form in mid-August.

But whatever, test skates part two, bring it on. There can never be too many opportunities to see the guys!

Here's the link to the full interview, if anyone is interested: https://www.sport-express.ru/figure...ndree-anisimove-i-maksime-belyavskom-1965015/

 

[Mariiiiskate]

I thought everyone did decently well I mean it wasn't a disaster by any means. I guess the free skates weren't as good as the as they could have been but with so many ultra c jumps it was bound to be a little bit of a fall fest at least this early in the season. I mean the 1st Russian cup stage for junior was over 2 months away so not everyone was going to be in their best form

Also i fail to see what another test skates will exactly do, like isn't the whole point of test skate for the skaters and coaches to get feedback and improve the programs and elements? Its not like they are choosing who gets a JGP either like other years where you can justify holding another one.

Never mind that moscow championships are soon, where all the moscow skaters and few non moscow skaters that took part in the original test skates will be there. SPB test skates are coming up as well and while I'm not sure if juniors are allowed but if they aren't just make everyone take part in moscow championships and see how they do in an actual competitive setting instead.