Anna Pogorilaya - Her future prospects?

[Karpenko]

I think voidy would hurt Anna, she's not ready for it. She needs a season of generic programs, I'm telling you with her it would pay dividends and make people notice her. And then people would get sick of it, but it would work for her more than any other lady for a season (right now). Simple and elegant is all she needs.

Voidy would highlight her lack of musical understanding, at least when doing a competitive program with all of the elements to focus on IMO. Give her a Rach, Otonal, or Carmen program and she'll start turning heads artistically because of her line and classic look.

 

[alchemy void]

^^ I can definitely see her rocking Otonal! She already channels Butyrskaya as is with the stiff knees, icy beauty, and pained facial expressions.

 

[shady82]

I wonder how much Anna's relative consistency the past two seasons is indicative of positive future trends (she had no major downward slump like Lip or Tuk), as she is post-puberty. Her delivery has been pretty steady. If she wants to stay in the running for a World's spot, she has to continue improving steadily, plain and simple. This will keep her in contention with Medvedeva, Sakhanovich, and possibly resurgent Lip and Sot (and very likely others). She has already made noticeable (though not dramatic) improvements from last year. And ideally, she can't have slipups like when she lost to Hongo on the GP series, as this makes her appear more vulnerable to the Federation.

Does anyone else think Adios Nonino might be a good selection for her? Or The Mission?

 

[BmcC102]

Imo, in terms of packaging, she needs to ditch the tights over the boots, get rid of the gloves, and find a much better choreographer.

In terms of skating, she needs much more polish. None of her positions are all that great. She needs more security (that beillmann spiral is ) in her edging. Her jumps are pretty consistent, other than the double axel.

 

[Marco]

Speed, big 3/3s, sloppiness, gangliness due to long limbs, poor choreography, no finesse, lack of extension - these are all features of Kostner before she went to Lori Nichol. Just a thought. And having style will make her stand out so much from the crop of young girls. I mean, let's face it, none of them have real choreography beyond the arms.

She seems to have decent technique and looks to be post growth-spurt, so there is a good chance her jumps would stay. But she has next to no wow factor and despite being quite gorgeous, her skating is not pleasant to watch. If she doesn't improve, she will be buried by the next wave.

 

[BmcC102]

Marco is RIGHT! I especially agree that none of the young girls have real choreography beyond the arms.

 

[Vash01]

Everyone seems to forget how young Anna is. She 16 years old. She will develop her artistry, personality and polish with time. She already has the jumps. She can work on better consistency, to be competitive with the up and comers, and when she has the maturity, she could have the upper hand over the younger skaters.

 

[kwanoverrated]

She is in a difficult predicament. She is capable of top 5 at the world level, yet with such depth in Russia she could have a hard time making future worlds. I am glad she gets to (probably) go to 2nd worlds this year. Next year will be a whole lot harder with not only the 2 women above her this year- Elizaveta and Elena, but Julia hopefully getting herself back together, Sotnikova maybe returning (doubt it, but you never know), and the new juniors becoming age eligible.

As for maturing, sure she could, but so can these eithers who are either 1 or 2 years older, 1 or 2 years younger, same age. The question is how she can improve more than them, which she clearly has to as all in top form and healthy, she would only be about the 5th or 6th best Russian today. Despite an excellent season with most of her best possible skating, she is still only going to worlds due to Julia's huge slump, Adelina's missed year with injury/possible retirement, and a skater who beat her at Nationals being age ineligible for Europeans/worlds but who along with others will be age eligible next year.

 

[Vash01]

Resurrecting this thread after watching Anna at the Russian nationals recently. I was happy that she skated so well. She had a difficult GP series. Good luck at the Europeans, Anna!

 

[Ka3sha]

I think that we need a collection of Anna's EX here
Phoenix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSAn1zXK70
Tango in a madhouse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLKuWv72oEM
Last year from RN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0qdqjU97o
Cats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSLMn5z0Iqw

 

[Hanna]

Last year from RN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0qdqjU97o

Oh my god, I had not seen that before.

Her gala numbers are so far and above everyone else.

 

[all_empty]

I agree that if Anna wants to separate herself from the pack, consistency and presentation are the way to go.

She is gorgeous, better proportioned than some of her countrywomen, and I would love her to undergo a Carolina-esque transformation.

I actually don't mind her music selection and tights; it's the sloppiness that hurts both marks. Maybe reining in the speed a little, not rushing the jump entrances, and moving the 3F up (she misses it so often) will help too.

 

[Vash01]

I agree that if Anna wants to separate herself from the pack, consistency and presentation are the way to go.

She is gorgeous, better proportioned than some of her countrywomen, and I would love her to undergo a Carolina-esque transformation.

I actually don't mind her music selection and tights; it's the sloppiness that hurts both marks. Maybe reining in the speed a little, not rushing the jump entrances, and moving the 3F up (she misses it so often) will help too.

I attribute it to her being young. She will mature.

 

[Sylvia]

Tango in a madhouse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLKuWv72oEM

Photos of her new Alfred Schnittke exhibition number at Russian Nationals: https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/mihsersh/album/503792/

 

[kwanoverrated]

Resurrecting this thread after watching Anna at the Russian nationals recently. I was happy that she skated so well. She had a difficult GP series. Good luck at the Europeans, Anna!

Did they officialy name the Europeans team yet? Some were speculating they might send Adelina instead.

 

[Ka3sha]

Did they officialy name the Europeans team yet? Some were speculating they might send Adelina instead.

Team for Euros is Evgenia, Elena and Anna, it was announced on the 27th of December

 

[papa_pl]

I don't think (like many) that Anna is likely to bomb at Euros (you go girl!).

But I'm pretty sure that, if she does, there will be fan wars for that last Worlds place between Adelina's, Julia's and Liza's supporters.
I know for sure I would picket Russian consulate myself, if 8th Liza got chosen over 7th Julia.

edit: except, if it would have been decided in that Russian Cup Final in Saransk!

 

[kwanoverrated]

I think as long as Anna does the expected and medals she will be an automatic for worlds. Even with a not so great competition (although I hope she has a great competition, who knows maybe even does better than bronze). It is not like Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Lipnitskaia have done a single truly good competition all year. She would also have to bomb absolutely huge to not medal at Europeans.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

I strongly believe medalling is not enough, she will need to go clean or near clean to avoid test skate.

 

[pinky166]

I think that we need a collection of Anna's EX here
Phoenix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSAn1zXK70
Tango in a madhouse - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLKuWv72oEM
Last year from RN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV0qdqjU97o
Cats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSLMn5z0Iqw

Additionally,

Tango De Roxanne (2013 JW) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMfdtzp7jmo
Skyfall (2013 RN) - http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDk0NjYzOTk2.html?from=s1.8-1-1.2
Adagio (Summer 2014) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNOfJ8OVbHg

 

[pinky166]

I strongly believe medalling is not enough, she will need to go clean or near clean to avoid test skate.

You are probably right, but I remember last season a lot of people were expecting her to bomb at Europeans and then she actually wound up skating quite well, with her best SP of the season (clean) and quite a strong FS (no falls, both 3-3s landed well, 7 triples landed/rotated in total, and 2 step outs on jumps as her only real mistakes). She was way behind Elena and Liza score wise (some of that was likely due to skate order in both SP and FS though), but she was also way, way ahead of Joshi in 4th place, so I tend to think if she can perform at Euros like she did last season then she should be fine.

I think if Anna has 2 solid skates and wins bronze convincingly, she should be fine and get the nod for Worlds (though please have monitoring prior if she gets injured again), but if she were to get bronze by the skin of her teeth over someone like Joshi or Nicole due to PCS after not skating that well, then yeah, I think they may have a test skate. Realistically, though, I think Anna and Liza are the only 2 who should really be considered for Worlds. Yes, they may bomb, but from a technical standpoint, we know they can do the hard tricks and have a chance to do well at Worlds if they deliver. Julia and Adelina don't seem ready technically for the Worlds stage yet, maybe they could get it together in time for Worlds, but I tend to think they will need until next season to really get back in the form they'd need to challenge for a medal.

If Anna replicated the skates she had at Nationals at Worlds, I tend to think she'd have a good shot at medaling, even with the event being in Boston. Ashley and Gracie would probably get PCS a little higher, but the margin would likely only be a few points meaning they would have to skate pretty darn well in both programs to come out ahead. I also wonder if a different judging panel would have scored Anna higher than Elena in the FS, I personally would have had Anna slightly ahead in the FS. Tuk with her reputation could also have a good chance at medaling in Boston. So I think realistically, the last spot is between these two, though I feel Anna should be given the nod if she can deliver at Euros.

Ironically, Anna probably should have been replaced for Worlds last season due to her injury, but she was given a pass I guess after doing well at Europeans (though she had also made GPF that season and beaten Julia there, and Alena was the alternate so realistically she may not have done much better at Worlds than an injured Anna, as the point spread was less than 5 points between Zijun in 9th and Anna in 13th, but Polina in 8th was over 12 points ahead of Zijun in 9th. Both last year and this year, the 3rd Russian lady's placement won't matter much as the top 2 should have no issue keeping 3 spots. But I'm sure Russia is hoping for a podium sweep and with that in mind I think Anna and Liza are the only 2 logical choices for the 3rd spot. If Sotskova had competed on the senior GP this season I would also consider her, but with no reputation she doesn't have much chance to medal at Worlds.

 

[papa_pl]

Realistically, though, I think Anna and Liza are the only 2 who should really be considered for Worlds. Yes, they may bomb, but from a technical standpoint, we know they can do the hard tricks and have a chance to do well at Worlds if they deliver. Julia and Adelina don't seem ready technically for the Worlds stage yet, maybe they could get it together in time for Worlds, but I tend to think they will need until next season to really get back in the form they'd need to challenge for a medal.

Maybe, but Nationals are officially declared by RusFed as qualification tournament for national team spots.
Three eligible skaters: Maria, Adelina and Julia placed higher than Liza -> she can't take their place. It would be outrageously unfair.

 

[Seerek]

Maybe, but Nationals are officially declared by RusFed as qualification tournament for national team spots.
Three eligible skaters: Maria, Adelina and Julia placed higher than Liza -> she can't take their place. It would be outrageously unfair.

This does bring up a rule the ISU had until 1989-1990 called the "named skater" rule where a prior year's medalist at Worlds automatically earned a berth for themselves at the following year's Worlds.

 

[poths]

This does bring up a rule the ISU had until 1989-1990 called the "named skater" rule where a prior year's medalist at Worlds automatically earned a berth for themselves at the following year's Worlds.

They have that in athletics still, it's a wild card and essentially means the reigning world champ gets an automatic berth. Thus, a country can send the max competitors (3) and their reigning world champion. If I remember correctly, the USA utilised this rule to achieve a 1,2,3,4 result in the men's 200m in Helsinki 2005 (All four were later proven to be drugs cheats however ).

I'd love this to become a thing in Figure skating!

 

[Vash01]

What frustrates me about Anna is that she does a brilliant jump combination, then falls (more often) on a solo jump or pops it (rare, but it's happened). It is like a quarterback (in football) completing some brilliant passes, then throwing an interception that negates it. However, the QB has more chances to redeem himself in a 60 minute game. A skater has only 4 minutes, and once a mistake is made, it cannot be undone. It's a much tougher situation. FS can be a cruel game.

She is a gorgeous skater with long limbs, power to her skating compared to some of the smaller girls, and very good costuming. She needs to achieve consistency so that her fed won't feel nervous about sending her to worlds.

 

[Vash01]

They have that in athletics still, it's a wild card and essentially means the reigning world champ gets an automatic berth. Thus, a country can send the max competitors (3) and their reigning world champion. If I remember correctly, the USA utilised this rule to achieve a 1,2,3,4 result in the men's 200m in Helsinki 2005 (All four were later proven to be drugs cheats however ).

I'd love this to become a thing in Figure skating!

I really wish the ISU would consider this, so that more skaters get the opportunity to compete.

 

[Seerek]

With Lipnitskaya placing 2nd at Russia Cup Final, does that mean Anna is going to Worlds (for certain)?

 

[Vash01]

With Lipnitskaya placing 2nd at Russia Cup Final, does that mean Anna is going to Worlds (for certain)?

In Russia it's always going to be a dog fight for those 3 spots. Every year.

However, it is hard to make any predictions, even now. I will be surprised if Anna gets bumped off the world team, but you never know what feds have in their minds.

 

[kwanoverrated]

With Lipnitskaya placing 2nd at Russia Cup Final, does that mean Anna is going to Worlds (for certain)?

IMO there was never a chance Anna was going to be bumped (especialy for Julia) after following up her 3rd place at Nationals by completing the sweep at Europeans, even if with a less than great performance. The silly talk was just FSU being bored. Now what was already obvious is just all the more obvious IMO.

 

[kwanoverrated]

She needs to achieve consistency so that her fed won't feel nervous about sending her to worlds.

I agree with your post, but on this point she is the 3rd Russian skater. It is not like she is being counted on for a medal as the 3rd Russian, when a podium sweep only happened in ladies once in history. They sure as heck arent worried about 3 spots either. She is a relatively inconsistent skater who can play spoiler and win a worlds medal if she is "on" that day. That is good enough for your #3 entrant.