Seventh title for Bobrova and Soloviev

[gsk8]

2018 Russian Nationals Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev scored 193.08 points at the 2018 Russian National Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg to achieve their seventh victory at the national level. Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin earned their first silver medal with 188.28 points, while Tiffany Zahorski and Jonathan Guerreiro captured the bronze (175.78).

“When I came here, I immediately recalled the last Russian National Championships in St. Petersburg, seven years ago on the eve of the Vancouver Olympics,” said Soloviev after the short dance. “I recalled in all minute details how nervous I was and how frightened Katya looked. Nowadays, it doesn’t happen anymore. We have learned to support each other, to ground each other simply by holding hands.”

“I think we delivered one hundred percent in the short dance,” said Stepanova. “We were so happy about it, but I made a mistake in the free. I think it is a good experience for us. We need to learn how many points we lost because of the mistake, but I think it should be easy to fix, and everything will be OK.”

“Unfortunately, the free dance was not quite as good as we wanted it to be,” said Zahorski afterwards. “There were some rough spots. Today, we’re under additional pressure because we knew that we could have a chance to win a medal.”

More...

What are your thoughts on the ice dance competition?

 

[bramweld]

2018 Russian Nationals Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev scored 193.08 points at the 2018 Russian National Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg to achieve their seventh victory at the national level. Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin earned their first silver medal with 188.28 points, while Tiffany Zahorski and Jonathan Guerreiro captured the bronze (175.78).




More...

What are your thoughts on the ice dance competition?

This is S/B's second silver medal. They also scored silver last season.

 

[Sugarpova]

the moment of the whole nationals!!!
The whole croud was in tears! Ill remember it forever!

 

[coldblueeyes]

the moment of the whole nationals!!!
The whole croud was in tears! Ill remember it forever!

Even on TV it looked like a very special moment - and I don't know why this dance that has been so heavily criticized this year, at some points more than last years' FD became such a hit right now. For me it's a good program for an Olympic moment.

 

[LadyB]

To me Dima & Katia had a very special performance indeed. I wish I’d been there and I can’t wait for Europeans. Bless Zhulin, bearing in mind all the criticism he had to endure.
The overall result might be a little distorted due to SinKats wd. I felt that since their GP outings they had got their act together nicely. Z/G made the most of it and fair play to them. I used to look for L/D for the future, but this time I liked P/M more.

 

[bramweld]

To me Dima & Katia had a very special performance indeed. I wish I’d been there and I can’t wait for Europeans. Bless Zhulin, bearing in mind all the criticism he had to endure.
The overall result might be a little distorted due to SinKats wd. I felt that since their GP outings they had got their act together nicely. Z/G made the most of it and fair play to them. I used to look for L/D for the future, but this time I liked P/M more.

Congratulations to the guys, but I am still concerned. As good as they were there, that SD really is forgettable. Luckily for them though C/L are really underwhelmng this season. Russia has a chance to have two ID teams on the podium this season.

 

[LadyB]

Congratulations to the guys, but I am still concerned. As good as they were there, that SD really is forgettable. Luckily for them though C/L are really underwhelmng this season. Russia has a chance to have two ID teams on the podium this season.

Yeah that’s right, C/L weren’t that convincing so far. Silver lining?

 

[Anyasnake]

Congratulations to the guys, but I am still concerned. As good as they were there, that SD really is forgettable. Luckily for them though C/L are really underwhelmng this season. Russia has a chance to have two ID teams on the podium this season.

I don't know if C/L are underwhelming this season (I like their FD), but for me even though they didn't make the GPF, B/S beat C/L if both skates lights out (call me nuts but I don't do reputation judging : I think Guignard/Fabbri are skating so well this year that they should have a shot to be above C/L if clean - but that is never going to happen).
I thought B/S should have been second at Euros last year (and a clear second), that the judging was a bit pro-Italian.

I thought B/S was so much better than Chock/Bates at Cup of China, and that cost them the GPF spot. And I don't think B/S SD is that bad (I like the last part) but it needs more polishing.
I hope they skate really well at Euros to get that silver. And seeing how Step/Bukin are skating these days, they could snatch that bronze.

 

[icedance]

Europeans...in Moscow. It’s chrystal clear that B/S will beat C/L...unfortunately.

 

[bramweld]

Europeans...in Moscow. It’s chrystal clear that B/S will beat C/L...unfortunately.

Not unfortunate at all, but just about right. I do believe C/L have the better SD in terms of choreography, but Anna tries so hard she comes across as stiff, both above and below the knees. Whichever ones get the levels it's okay with me. As for FDs neither of them do it for me. I find B/S more than a bit bland and quite sloppy in places and C/L too OTT and overly sweet. It's like they've forgotten what they're skating to. C/L are going for too much in four short minutes so I'm not taken it by it. As for B/S they have no believable chemistry so that dance does absolutely nothing for me. When I watch it I think what a complete waste of Oblivion and then I go, what gives with the second music choice. How can this be an Olympic program? So in my mind, on the day it will come down to who can control the nerves more, make less mistakes and get the levels. But because it's in Moscow, and C/L has peaked IMHO, silver will most likely go to B/S.

 

[Anyasnake]

Europeans...in Moscow. It’s chrystal clear that B/S will beat C/L...unfortunately.

That won't be the only reason if it's the case. Both programs, skated clean and full potential, B/S have the edge in terms of technique and Skating Skills. If they manage to recreate what they did at nationals (AND being cleaner) they'll have a justified silver.
C/L have some great elements (their twizzles are awesome) but are a bit more shallow in edges than B/S (the latter giving so much sometimes it can come across as a bit sloppy).
Both teams needs to skate clean anyway. I find C/L to have an awesome performance quality (they could get 8s in PCS, and a 10 in performance only, it'll be almost understandable tbh) but B/S are more polished in technique than them this year (for now of course, we'll see at Euros). And having the homecrowd supporting you will add to the performance for sure.

OTOH, if there is a push for B/S that is more than a "normal" silver for Euros, I won't be surprised either - by that I mean getting high scores 3 weeks before the Olympics. Giving the 3 US teams not skating their best (at all) at GPF, C/L being caught by others, WeaPo not making the GPF and not scoring well... there is a "Bronze-medal" window.

But I'm being optimistic and I hope everyone wil be scored fairly - at the end of the day, placement are what matters, not the scores.

 

[coldblueeyes]

I think we will see high scores from both S/B and B/S at Euros, but I don't see them placing over P/C. Now, I could see an upset regarding C/L, with them ending up in fourth place. But that would take some gambling, because S/B haven't scored high enough to beat them yet.

Hopefully Katia and Dima can have a clean SD, and perform the FD at least close to what they did in Spb.

 

[icedance]

I think we will see high scores from both S/B and B/S at Euros, but I don't see them placing over P/C. Now, I could see an upset regarding C/L, with them ending up in fourth place. But that would take some gambling, because S/B haven't scored high enough to beat them yet.

Hopefully Katia and Dima can have a clean SD, and perform the FD at least close to what they did in Spb.

I don’t think C/L will end off the podium. I’m curious for the technical panel. I hope it’s going to be a good new year(also probably the last) for them. Their FD is something special and I love it so much!