Off Season Chit-Chat: The Russian Wonderbabies

[cx3]

I thought I might provide a (superior) thread for my (our?) favorite darlings from Mother Russia. If the US Ladies thread is so popular, this should really be on fire


Ahem

Anyone else thing Shelepen will really come into her own next season? I find it unbelievable that she kept all of her jumps with that kind of growth spurt (even 3lz-3T!).

[skfan]

i like polina korobeynikova (sp?), although she didn't really fare well against the SUPER wonderbabies. can people in the know tell me more about her prospects? is she done growing? will she ever make it out of russian nationals with alena and ksenia going strong and liza and adelina and polina s and polina a and all the other budding stars?

there was a rosa... was it sheleva (sorry!) who i liked also.

adelina sotnikova can instantly leap-frog all the U.S. ladies except gao and nagasu (and wagner, she who has the only layback spin i really adore among the current ladies) on my favorites list if she would just quit hiding her beautiful hands inside those gloves. please, someone tell her that the black swan doesn't wear gloves because it's easier when you can use your hands and fingernails as weapons

[Vash01]

I have seen very few of these 'babies' and will need to look up their names again. However, I am very happy that there is such a wealth of talent in Russia now. Hopefully we will see them in Sochi, but before that I hope to see them at the next 2 worlds.

[Sylvia]

Here's a post about the JGP age-eligible "Russian Wonderbabies" (personally I'm not fond of this term) in the 2011-12 Junior Grand Prix thread in GSD: http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/show...41&postcount=5

[Autumn_girl]

i like polina korobeynikova (sp?), although she didn't really fare well against the SUPER wonderbabies. can people in the know tell me more about her prospects? is she done growing? will she ever make it out of russian nationals with alena and ksenia going strong and liza and adelina and polina s and polina a and all the other budding stars?

The problem with Polina, as Volchkova, her coach, said, is the fact that it takes time for her to get jumps back after vacations and at the beginning of the season she usually out of shape. She started to land 3F and 3Lz at the end of last season, but so far only put 3F on her programs (and next season she will need 3Lz if she wants to go to the JGP). If she will not do well at test skates in summer it can also affect her chances for JGP spot. But she is a beautiful skater, improves every year (Russians sometimes call her "our Russian Alissa") and has 2A-3T, also attempted 3T-3T, I think everything is still ahead for her

[a56]

I loves the WonderBabies from our Mother Russia as well. I'd love to see Elizaveta Tuktamisheva win the World Junior title in Belarus next March. I love Adelina too, but she already is World Junior champion.

[oleada]

adelina sotnikova can instantly leap-frog all the U.S. ladies except gao and nagasu

I'm not sure why'd you'd say that Adelina can't beat Gao since they went head to head three times last year (JGP Austria, JGPF and Junior Worlds) and Adelina beat Christina every time - she won each event and Christina didn't even medal in two of those.

Anyway, I love Adelina's skating, but I hope she can add more complex choreography next year as well as improve her performance quality.

As far as the other ladies go....with 3 Euros/Worlds spots, it'll be interesting to see who comes out ahead. Personally, I hope it's Sheveleva. If she can be more consistent, I think she could really rock internationally. Shelepen isn't my style but she seems so sweet....I hope she can polish her skating a bit more.

I don't know what the future holds for Agafonova.

I love Korobeinikova's skating and I hope she add a 3Lz. She really does remind me of Czisny. Speaking of Volchkova's students, Anna Shershak is a really long shot for a JGP spot, but she's eligible and I like her style:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USLmlWaWENs

[Domshabfan]

I'm not sure why'd you'd say that Adelina can't beat Gao since they went head to head three times last year (JGP Austria, JGPF and Junior Worlds) and Adelina beat Christina every time - she won each event and Christina didn't even medal in two of those.

Oleada, Skfan said in her/his favorite list and not in competition. Look at the quote again.

adelina sotnikova can instantly leap-frog all the U.S. ladies except gao and nagasu (and wagner, she who has the only layback spin i really adore among the current ladies) on my favorites list if she would just quit hiding her beautiful hands inside those gloves. please, someone tell her that the black swan doesn't wear gloves because it's easier when you can use your hands and fingernails as weapons

As far as the other ladies go....with 3 Euros/Worlds spots, it'll be interesting to see who comes out ahead. Personally, I hope it's Sheveleva. If she can be more consistent, I think she could really rock internationally. Shelepen isn't my style but she seems so sweet....I hope she can polish her skating a bit more.

I think it is going to be Shelepen, since i think she is slightly more consistent than Shevleva. I actually prefer Shevleva over Shelepen on her style, but i do think consistency does matter, on top of that shelepen has improved a lot in her style but her posture still bothers me, hopefully she will continue to improve in her presentation. It is interesting her coach is primarily a ice dancer.

I don't know what the future holds for Agafonova.

If she does not have a break out year next year and does not make the European and world team, I think she will take gerboldt route and join Tamara Moskvina group.

[Autumn_girl]

Interesting thing about Agafonova is that Igor Moskvin helped her a lot with her jumps and the intention was to teach her 2A and maybe some triple and then take her in Moskvina's group and find a partner. But Polina started to do all triples at the same time and then landed 3-3, so they changed their mind. As for me, I would love to see her in singles because of her wonderful spins (especially layback) and other lovely qualities, but it's gonna be really hard to make the team with Adelina, Liza and other girls around.

As for next year's 3rd spot, I think it's gonna be Sheveleva. The second half of the season was really great for her. Too bad Biryukova is so inconsistent, I think she could make the difference too. Shelepen needs to improve, otherwise her issues will hurt her even more in seniors

[Ladida]

Any news about Anna Ovcharova? She is my very favorite wonderbaby

[hanca]

Interesting thing about Agafonova is that Igor Moskvin helped her a lot with her jumps and the intention was to teach her 2A and maybe some triple and then take her in Moskvina's group and find a partner. But Polina started to do all triples at the same time and then landed 3-3, so they changed their mind. As for me, I would love to see her in singles because of her wonderful spins (especially layback) and other lovely qualities, but it's gonna be really hard to make the team with Adelina, Liza and other girls around.

Saying that, it would be as difficult for her to make the team in pairs as it will be to do so in ladies. Russians are now very strong in pairs too. There is about 6 very good pairs for three spots.

[Eris]

Any news about Anna Ovcharova? She is my very favorite wonderbaby

She's training and her coaches say she is Ok. They hope to get JGP next season.

[Autumn_girl]

Saying that, it would be as difficult for her to make the team in pairs as it will be to do so in ladies. Russians are now very strong in pairs too. There is about 6 very good pairs for three spots.

You are right, but she has plenty of time. Polina is only 15, I think she can try to make it in singles the next few years and switch to pairs if it won't work like Gerboldt, who is 21 y.o., did (who knows, maybe Polina's time will come in 2022 in pairs when most if not all of current 6 Russian pairs will retire). But Gerboldt was a mediocre single skater (IMO, she was born to be a pair skater and it's good she finally realized that), as for Agafonova, she is an outstanding single skater, unfortunately for her she is not the only talented young lady in Russia right now

[hanca]

You are right, but she has plenty of time. Polina is only 15, I think she can try to make it in singles the next few years and switch to pairs if it won't work like Gerboldt, who is 21 y.o., did (who knows, maybe Polina's time will come in 2022 in pairs when most if not all of current 6 Russian pairs will retire). But Gerboldt was a mediocre single skater (IMO, she was born to be a pair skater and it's good she finally realized that), as for Agafonova, she is an outstanding single skater, unfortunately for her she is not the only talented young lady in Russia right now

She could always switch the country. She would be very welcome here.

[oleada]

Oleada, Skfan said in her/his favorite list and not in competition. Look at the quote again.

Sorry, it was early, not enough caffeine

[pinky166]

Anyone else thing Shelepen will really come into her own next season? I find it unbelievable that she kept all of her jumps with that kind of growth spurt (even 3lz-3T!).

I hope you're right. It is impressive regarding her jumps, considering she grew about 10 cm in a year. She seemed much improved in the SP at JW, and then just seemed to have an off-night during the FS. I hope she can get 2 GP assignments for next season, I'm curious to see how she will fair on the senior ranks. She has a very beautiful physique to be sure, and some nice jumps too.

I am also curious about Anna and hopes she comes back strong next season. I always thought she could be a good pairs skater though, she has a very striking presence on the ice. I don't know if she has grown a lot since she last competed, but I don't think she is all that tall so I'm sure she could find a suitable partner should singles not pan out as well as she hoped.

I am also a big fan of Rosa, my only concern is that she will most likely compete on the JGP again next season, and I'm wondering if that would affect her PCS at Russian nationals, like perhaps skaters like Shelepen or Birukova who will have competed as seniors internationally, would be given higher PCS and awarded with a spot on the world team over Rosa so long as they skate well (even if Roza skates better). I don't know though, if Rosa can get a 3-3, I think she could be a force to be reckoned with even this coming season, and considering the size of her 3lz, I would guess she is capable of 3lz-3t.

[skfan]

thanks everybody for the insights. if it's just a matter of the russian alissa not being in shape early enough...

oleada, thank you for the link--anna shershak sure is an intriguing talent. i hope her jumps won't hold back her placement and people world-wide will get to see more of her very soon.

[Ladida]

Some cute pictures of Liza http://blog.naver.com/PostList.nhn?b...&currentPage=1
Her sister reminds me of Pippi Longstocking

[pinky166]

Some cute pictures of Liza http://blog.naver.com/PostList.nhn?b...&currentPage=1
Her sister reminds me of Pippi Longstocking

Wow she's so beautiful! She kind of looks like Miley Cyrus but Russian and prettier!

[olympic]

..adelina sotnikova can instantly leap-frog all the U.S. ladies except gao and nagasu (and wagner, she who has the only layback spin i really adore among the current ladies) on my favorites list if she would just quit hiding her beautiful hands inside those gloves. please, someone tell her that the black swan doesn't wear gloves because it's easier when you can use your hands and fingernails as weapons

bold mine

I think we should all take a breath and actually see how these wonder-babies perform on the Senior circuit once they are eligible, before we anoint any one of them as capable of 'instantly' leap frogging current seniors, and also consider things like what talent emerges/will emerge from the US and Japan, how long Kim and Asada stay in the mix, etc. The road to the top spot on the podium is paved with the wreckage of many promising juniors

I will say that I'm impressed with the no's of promising talent coming out of Russia. It could be Russia and the US pass Japan as the hot spot for ladies in the coming years. Nothing stays static.