From Russia With Love [#37]: Summer 2020

[aka_gerbil]

As of now, either you skate at 2 cup events or can kiss Nationals goodbye.

We will see if they change their stance later on.

I’m betting they will if S/K and/or S/B aren’t ready for their cup events but are recovered in time for nationals. If Euros and/or especially worlds are a go, it would be epically stupid to leave those teams home in the pre-Olympic year.

 

[hanca]

I guess, Medvedeva can hope that the others may not be ready either. After all, as a member of the national team, she was able to return to the ice much earlier than people who are not on national team (e.g. Nugumanova, Sakhanovich, Konstantinova etc. Those skaters were not able to attend the skate camp initially.

 

[DobrinFan]

I’m betting they will if S/K and/or S/B aren’t ready for their cup events but are recovered in time for nationals. If Euros and/or especially worlds are a go, it would be epically stupid to leave those teams home in the pre-Olympic year.

I'm betting too but you just can't make an exception for the dancers, they are not the only ones injured on the main team, otherwise it looks ugly

 

[aka_gerbil]

I'm betting too but you just can't make an exception for the dancers, they are not the only ones injured on the main team, otherwise it looks ugly

True.

It’s too bad they didn’t take a page out of USFS’s or SC’s book and bye through their top 5 teams or skaters from last year—skaters who would have normally been on the GP.

Where did Med even finish last year at nationals?

 

[Wyliefan]

She withdrew with boot problems.

 

[aka_gerbil]

She withdrew with boot problems.

Thanks. I’d completely forgotten about that. So, even if they’d given byes to their top 5 from each discipline, that wouldn’t have helped her.

 

[muffinplus]

Kolyada wasn’t bad, but the true star is Khubardieva. I really enjoyed Khubardieva/Bazin

I think they have strong potential...but please please get ride of the pained face pantomine in the free dance

I also enjoyed Shevchenko/Eremenko who continue to do quirky stuff

 

[Wyliefan]

P/K really stood out for me. It was delightful to see them try a fun short program and just throw themselves into it. And they just looked stronger in general.

 

[Polaris]

What was Kolyada's reputation as a skater before? I always perceived him as a giant headcase and never paid much attention to him, but his new LP is a revelation. He has the best posture of the current men and his glide across ice is incredible - reminds me of Patrick Chan.

 

[Marco]

What was Kolyada's reputation as a skater before? I always perceived him as a giant headcase and never paid much attention to him, but his new LP is a revelation. He has the best posture of the current men and his glide across ice is incredible - reminds me of Patrick Chan.

For me, he has it all but suffers from nerves / inconsistencies and sinusitis. When he hits, it is spectacular.

I thought the short was good, but this free is insane. I miss seeing a Russian man with this kind of pure skating quality and ethereal style.

 

[elenok]

The list of applicants from Perm for the 1st Stage has been published on the Perm Federation website.

The Perm Territory will be represented by:

1. Morozov/Bagin (in Senior Ice Dance)

2. Artemyeva/Nazarychev (in Senior Pairs)

3. Raskovalova/Butaev (in Junior Pairs)

4. Safina/Bakhmat (in Junior Pairs)

5. Viktoria Fedyanina (in Junior Ladies)

6. Ekaterina Skulkina (in Junior Ladies)

This list would seem to confirm that Panfilova/Rylov will not be at Stage 1

Source :https://xn----ttbaaqaie5ba.xn--p1ai/news/26/

 

[Ka3sha]

IFS Magazine’s article about the test skates with some quotes and background info

 

[mjb52]

ha I love that quote about Samarin's short, fighting words for @Jeschke lol

 

[Marco]

Sasha: Rushing into the big tricks - I wish she would set the mood for the program first. There was a fan spiral into a back spiral move after the 4lutz fall that I think could be effective if she would hold either position for a bit longer. I like the coach cam and would love to see it in international comps too. Not holding the besti squad. Nor the spiral. Nor the other one. Some hints of taking her time to feel the music but falls right back where she used to be with the field moves - too much time setting things up but too little time doing them. Cantilever into 3lutz3loop wonderful but again the cantilever could be held longer. Not a fan of those transitions out of the 2 3lutz combos - difficult but pointless. Nice 1 foot entry into 3flip. Art of War section fits her well - if it were up to me I would have this session / mood longer and the slow section shorter. Needs to sell this final section a LOT more. I am not sure if the improvements are enough for her to catch up to the top 2.

Kamila: Bolero unfortunately highlighted just how unmusical she really was. She had no groove or rhythm. I would enjoy the opening posing session if there was more bodily involvement and not just arms. Great job hitting the 2nd 4toe when the 1st was such a big miss. WAY too much arm choreography and not enough bodily or edge moves. She did the 2axel into flying spin sequence better than Sasha. Big fan of the solo 3lutz. That was wonderful. She almost seemed too shy for this music. So beautiful to watch but what a miss of a program this was.

Elizaveta: She was trying to sell the program but she really didn't quite listen to the music at all. Big clean jumps are better than small jumps with crazy exit transitions for me. Evidently not the same level or quality of skater as Kamila. A more effective ChSq than Kamila despite lacking stretch. Regaining the Biellmann seemed like such a waste of time when she could have worked on other more important qualities such as speed and transitions.

Anna: Loved the opening. And the 2axels. And the spirals. Everything looked mature, polished and pleasant, but this program could use some ups and downs. I hope they had consciously taken out those transition exits and not just that she skipped them due to shakier landings. Forgettable program but improved presentation.

Evgenia: By far the only skater listening to and skating to the music. Wowza on the axel. New angles and movements for her. Best skid spiral of the night. Is a cartwheel even allowed? Like this program for her, but she needs to really sell it and let her personality shine through to bring the house down.

 

[Darkverse]

Kolyada’s Nureyev outfit was exactly as I had visualized...exactly as in the “White Crow” movie posters/promo spots.

Re Trusova - The play is Romeo & Juliet. There are many characters in the play beside Juliet. Trusova’s musical choices and power suggest someone else.

Plushenko has said a couple of times Trusova is not depicting Juliet the character but the story of Romeo and Juliet. I hope her costume maker is aware and won't give her a standard Juliet costume.

 

[mjb52]

Just watched a few of the free programs last night, thought Trusova looked great! I think it's important to remember these are just the test skates - they don't need to be perfect now and probably shouldn't be - they are supposed to be peaking for Worlds (hopefully) in the spring. Thought Valieva and Shcherbakova looked promising, with some work left to do. Didn't watch Medvedeva yet, I'll wait for a better outing for her.

I was thinking about Plushchenko/Yagudin and had sort of a radical (and probably terrible) idea - what about Tarasova for Kostornaya? Is she sort of out of the game now other than helping out with Medvedeva? She has issues but she is a loving person I think and what she did with Yagudin and G/P was pretty good. I just don't see Plushchenko as a good fit for Kostornaya in the long term (well, she would know better than I would though!).

 

[DobrinFan]

I was thinking about Plushchenko/Yagudin and had sort of a radical (and probably terrible) idea - what about Tarasova for Kostornaya? Is she sort of out of the game now other than helping out with Medvedeva? She has issues but she is a loving person I think and what she did with Yagudin and G/P was pretty good. I just don't see Plushchenko as a good fit for Kostornaya in the long term (well, she would know better than I would though!).

TAT only consults now. She's not an option for Kosto.

 

[rfisher]

I suspect Kostornaia is going to have issues with any coach until she sorts out her skating goals.

 

[Ananas Astra]

I was thinking about Plushchenko/Yagudin and had sort of a radical (and probably terrible) idea - what about Tarasova for Kostornaya? Is she sort of out of the game now other than helping out with Medvedeva? She has issues but she is a loving person I think and what she did with Yagudin and G/P was pretty good. I just don't see Plushchenko as a good fit for Kostornaya in the long term (well, she would know better than I would though!).

Yeah, because Tarasova has been sooooo successful in her last coaching adventures. Apart from some success from Kovtun who, as her pet, was almost always overmarked, she hasn't produced any kind of quality for almost a decade.
Don't get me wrong, I respect TAT as a coach and expert, but her glorious days are long gone. Now I enjoy her rants and emotional outbursts as a commentator from time to time and she should just stay where she is, or do you want to see Kostornaya in a lion costume skating to "The Nutcracker"? Most certainly not.

 

[Bigbird]

Yeah, because Tarasova has been sooooo successful in her last coaching adventures. Apart from some success from Kovtun who, as her pet, was almost always overmarked, she hasn't produced any kind of quality for almost a decade.
Don't get me wrong, I respect TAT as a coach and expert, but her glorious days are long gone. Now I enjoy her rants and emotional outbursts as a commentator from time to time and she should just stay where she is, or do you want to see Kostornaya in a lion costume skating to "The Nutcracker"? Most certainly not.

Haha.

 

[Bigbird]

The pickle for Aliona is that she has movie star skating skills but she prefers character pieces and Russia is all about convention. So if you have a Valieva all bets were immediately going to be placed on her. Sasha spotted that early and was out of there. Kostornaia was slow to get out of the blocks. So you have what you have. Sasha wants to win the whole thing. Kostornaia is more resigned to that never happening and really her goal is to make the team. Hence all of this is quite interesting. In much the same way Zhulin practically revealed that before Medvedeva even skated in PC, they all knew that if both skated clean the gold was going to Zagitova for a myriad of reasons. This is Russian figure skating for you. Can be rather demotivating for some.

 

[Polaris]

I don't get all this doom and gloom over Kostornaia.

 

[mjb52]

She just seems un-anchored somehow and I don't like Plushchenko as a coach for her. He seems like a really good fit for Trusova but not for her. But of course there's a lot of time to turn things around. I guess Trusova's decision seemed well-considered and like something she planned and executed deliberately. Kostornaya's seems to have been more impulsive and so that makes it feel more dubious in a way - not in terms of splitting from Eteri but in terms of the bigger picture of how she will be proceeding now. And now the test skates have been rough too. So it's natural to be nervous, but it doesn't mean she can't succeed of course! I'm sure we can all come up with examples of skaters who have struggled and ultimately excelled. It's only been a month or two and she's a great skater.

 

[thvu]

I didn’t see anything worrying about Kostornaia’s skating other than a not so great SP that needs a new ending. Scherbakova, on the other hand, is clearly regressing in terms of skating skills and jump tech. I’m surprised more aren’t being as critical toward her.

 

[mjb52]

probably a slight bias toward paying more attention to the skaters (Trusova and Kostornaya) who have made such a dramatic change to see how it's affected them. I do have some minor qualms about Shcherbakova but she's flying under the radar by comparison at the moment.

 

[Bigbird]

I didn’t see anything worrying about Kostornaia’s skating other than a not so great SP that needs a new ending. Scherbakova, on the other hand, is clearly regressing in terms of skating skills and jump tech. I’m surprised more aren’t being as critical toward her.

Everybody is trying to coddle Eteri. Rozanov was a loss. A real loss.

 

[karmena]

The pickle for Aliona is that she has movie star skating skills but she prefers character pieces and Russia is all about convention. So if you have a Valieva all bets were immediately going to be placed on her. Sasha spotted that early and was out of there. Kostornaia was slow to get out of the blocks. So you have what you have. Sasha wants to win the whole thing. Kostornaia is more resigned to that never happening and really her goal is to make the team. Hence all of this is quite interesting. In much the same way Zhulin practically revealed that before Medvedeva even skated in PC, they all knew that if both skated clean the gold was going to Zagitova for a myriad of reasons. This is Russian figure skating for you. Can be rather demotivating for some.

It could not be said better!

 

[Tinami Amori]

Konstantinova will skate in the 2nd Cup of Russia.

Константинова выступит на втором этапе КР по фигурному катанию в Москве

Бронзовый призер Универсиады 2019 года Станислава Константинова примет участие во втором этапе Кубка России в Москве, сообщил РИА Новости тренер фигуристки... РИА Новости Спорт, 15.09.2020

rsport.ria.ru

Stepanova is back from Germany, and back on ice (resumed practices, with Bukin).

https://www.instagram.com/p/CFHeNRapGya/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[NAOTMAA]

P/K really stood out for me. It was delightful to see them try a fun short program and just throw themselves into it. And they just looked stronger in general.

I have mixed feelings about P/K's SP. On one hand I love the whole Mickey and Judy "let's put on a show" MGM musical vibe they had going on because it is very entertaining and they looked like they were having fun doing it too. However at the same time I thought it made them look a little too juvenile when compared directly with B/K and M/G. I know they can't help looking so young and I guess anything with energy will just look cute and perky on them but I'm not sure this SP will help them if everyone skates clean even if it is different and stands out.



on the separate topic of Shcherbakova supposedly regressing. For someone who is clearly growing and missed training time she did just fine for a first performance of the season. No she wasn't as sharp and yes she looked rusty and not as effortless but she didn't look like she was on the verge of falling apart at any point during the program. Outside of the first jump where she fell none of the other jumps looked grossly under and the landings while not always perfect were still on the clean side. She held it all together and looked in control and that's the best one can hope for in that situation. It still remains to be seen if she will collapse Julia style (a lot of people for some reason seem very eager that she does) or she can make it though but right now she's putting up a good fight.

 

[Marco]

Scherbakova, on the other hand, is clearly regressing in terms of skating skills and jump tech. I’m surprised more aren’t being as critical toward her.

Well it's early in the season and their training must have been affected by the pandemic. I am not too worried / can't worry too much about her jumps for now.

Again - if the jumps are indeed regressing and it forced her to focus more on clean landings than annoying transitions out, I am OK with that.