Who can beat Zagitova at worlds 2019?

Who can beat Zagitova at worlds 2019?

  • Kihira

    Votes: 148 71.2%
  • Medvedeva

    Votes: 24 11.5%
  • Miyahara

    Votes: 10 4.8%
  • Tuktamysheva

    Votes: 10 4.8%
  • Samodurova

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Konstantinova

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Sakamoto

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • Tennell

    Votes: 2 1.0%
  • A Canadian lady

    Votes: 3 1.4%
  • Nobody. Zagitova is the only one who can beat her.

    Votes: 9 4.3%

  • Total voters
    208
  • Poll closed .

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
Messages
55,385
Zagitova looks pretty strong. Not flawless but enough to earn the judges' respect. If she skates clean, she seems unbeatable.

Is there a lady who can beat her at worlds this season?
 

VGThuy

Well-Known Member
Messages
41,020
I think the only skater who would be allowed to would be Rika Kihira and only because the TES would be undeniable and out of the judges' hands to manipulate (too much) though her TES would probably be more undeniable under last season's rules (but then Zagitova would have been able to backload and Tano/Rippon more). But Kihira has to be absolutely clean.
 

StasiyaGalustyanLove

Banned Member
Messages
423
I voted for a Canadian lady, the one whom skates to Cabaret, what a show! I spent a week in Germany back in my Navy days and was hoping to find a "night club" like the one in the show, we wound up at a place "Woof Berlin" boy was that a wild night. I was soar for day's after ward.

I like that this poll doesn’t close until April 17, 2019. Worlds is in March. I plan to just wait until Worlds is over and then vote and then I know I will pick right!
Wait now I want to go back and get rid of my vote so I can do this. I do not want to be wrong in a thread after I took a stab with the pole here. I will try to figure this out, though now I am also looking for the Liza's Greatest "Hits" tape to put it on while I clean my rifle.
 

umronnie

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,591
Well, Kihira is obvious on TES, but I would submit that Miyahara, with two carrots and lower PCS (which is ridiculous in itself) scored higher on the LP at NHK last week (143.39 to 142.17) and even higher at SKam (145.85). If the judges mark PCS correctly, or even similarly, rather than giving Zags this unwarranted cushion, there's no reason Satoko couldn't take her down, herself.
As a matter of fact, a world podium identical to NHK is my dream (I will be generous - in any order).
 

chantilly

Well-Known Member
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2,014
Do people here on this thread feel Zagitova deserves to get higher PCS then Kihira?

I don’t have a strong opinion either way yet, having only seen Kihira once ever and have only seen Zagitova once this season, but my initial gut reaction is that Kihira is underscored on GOE’s and PCS.
Whereas, Zagitova is overscored on PCS.

At this early point for my viewing this early in the season, I’d equal them in PCS, and Kihira should get very high GOE’s on all her jump elements when clean.
 

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
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55,385
Do people here on this thread feel Zagitova deserves to get higher PCS then Kihira?

I don’t have a strong opinion either way yet, having only seen Kihira once ever and have only seen Zagitova once this season, but my initial gut reaction is that Kihira is underscored on GOE’s and PCS.
Whereas, Zagitova is overscored on PCS.

At this early point for my viewing this early in the season, I’d equal them in PCS, and Kihira should get very high GOE’s on all her jump elements when clean.

Zagitova has excellent jumps, and she lands them right on the music. I don't know that much about Kihira, except that she Landed two 3As and had one great competition. About the Pcs I cannot compare the two, for lack of information on one of them. In this competition I felt that Zag has improved her interpretation considerably, when compared with last year. She has been around and has accomplished a lot, so the judges do give her high pcs. I dont always agree with them, but this time I felt that her pcs for the LP were justifiable (again, without comparing with Kihira).
 
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briancoogaert

Well-Known Member
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13,720
Considering the too high PCS Zagitova receives from the judges, the only skaters who can beat her are skaters with very high PCS. The japanese are the only one with better basic skills than Zagitova. But Miyahara has too small jumps, Sakamoto is not yet a complete package, Higuchi has troubles this season and Kihira is probably too new to the scene. ;)
 

barbarafan

Well-Known Member
Messages
5,303
Zagitova's sloppiness and lack of polish is startling, really. Don Quixote masked these qualities much better. Her Carmen is a big old mess and her PCS should be at least a point lower on each one than what she is actually scoring.
As well some of her landings are crashy so I am wondering if GOE's are too high.Samodurova's smooth glide out of the jumps as well as Polina's is far superior. IMO
 

kwanatic

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,759
Do people here on this thread feel Zagitova deserves to get higher PCS then Kihira?

Zagitova is often highly overscored in PCS. The only area she deserves to soundly outscore everyone else is in transitions. In all honesty she has too many cluttered and unfinished transitions, but you can't deny that her transitions are difficult and deserving of a high mark. Everywhere else she really should be dropped down by anywhere from half a point to a full point. She is better than a number of skaters in PCS but the gap the judges give her makes no conceivable sense.

I'm crossing my fingers for Kihira to beat Alina...hell, it could happen as early as the Final. I'm hoping Kihira has a good competition next week and can medal, then we'll get to see the two of them go head-to-head twice this season (assuming both make it to worlds). Kihira will be at a disadvantage in PCS but her TES is so strong she can make up that gap and then some.

We'll have to see how the second half of the season play out but, in this field, I think Kihira is the only skater who could beat Alina even if she were to skate cleanly.
 

Foolhardy Ham Lint

Well-Known Member
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6,277
So far on the Grand Prix circuit, both Zagitova and potentially her biggest rival, Kihira, have shown moments of greatness and vulnerability.

Alina will likely need to go lights out in the short program, and score as well as she did at the Rostelecom Cup to create a solid enough gap between herself and Rika.

Hopefully next week in France Kihira can skate a clean short. By including the triple axel, my guess is she would earn 76+ points.
 
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Spun Silver

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12,130
I guess the other possibility is that Med's work with Orser could suddenly gel and she could come roaring back at Worlds. He has discouraged people from expecting that so soon, but Med is a two-time World champion with something to prove. I wouldn't put it past her to dig really, really deep to beat Alina.
 

Vash01

Fan of Yuzuru, T&M, P&C
Messages
55,385
I guess the other possibility is that Med's work with Orser could suddenly gel and she could come roaring back at Worlds. He has discouraged people from expecting that so soon, but Med is a two-time World champion with something to prove. I wouldn't put it past her to dig really, really deep to beat Alina.

As much as I would love to see this happen, I don't think Zhenya has the technical content to beat Alina this season. The judges give high pcs to whoever has high tes, and so far Zhenya has struggled technically.
 
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haribobo

Why is summer so hot omg
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9,011
Honestly with how may jumps are under (half in her FS), most of these should have a shot. I'm still seeing rampant overscoring on both jumps and PCS though.

IMO all of Kihira, Satoko, and Kaori with clean programs should be higher. Also Tuktamysheva with her 3ax is better. Not so sure about the other Russians yet. Hoping the GPF judging is better than what we've seen thus far in terms of Alina...
 

muffinplus

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4,321
As much as I would love to see this happen, I don't think Zhenya has the technical content to beat Alina this season. The judges give high pcs to whoever has high tes, and so far Zhenya has struggled technically.


The difference in base value of their programs is too high (I think) to be made up elsewhere if both skate cleanly. Zagitova is doing a 3 lutz - 3 loop and 3 lutz - 3 toe... vs 3 salchow- 3 toe, 3 flip - 3 toe, which makes a big difference
 

DimaToe

Retired by Frank Carroll
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5,535
As has been pointed out, she was 5th at worlds last year and last season she looked “unbeatable” when now it seems that she is mostly being carried by her past accomplishments, she’s still among the best in the world but she doesn’t seem as
unreachable as she did at this point last season. I could see any of Kihira, Tuktamysheva, Miyahara being ahead of her at worlds.
 

Wyliefan

Ubering juniors against my will
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As has been pointed out, she was 5th at worlds last year and last season she looked “unbeatable” when now it seems that she is mostly being carried by her past accomplishments, she’s still among the best in the world but she doesn’t seem as
unreachable as she did at this point last season. I could see any of Kihira, Tuktamysheva, Miyahara being ahead of her at worlds.

Rika and Satoko, perhaps. Liza I'm not sure about. I don't think she has quite enough content, even with the 3a.
 

Simone411

To Boldly Explore Figure Skating Around The World
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19,218
I like Alina. I also like Evgenia. I believe that Evgenia may come close, and she'll have lots of practice under her belt by the time Worlds gets here. I think Sakamoto has a good chance of coming really close, too. I believe these three may be on the podium. I'm not sure which order, though, because even Alina made mistakes last season.

Que Sera Sera. Whatever will be will be. 👍🎆🎇✨
 

muffinplus

Well-Known Member
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4,321
I think there is a 4 point difference in base value between Zagitova and Mevdeva's program content now...and about the same between Zagitova's and Kihira's. The thing is, could Kihira do a 3-3 instead of the 3-2 she is currrently doing (or has she maxed out) the jumping passes?)? If so, she can pull away even further, but of course, that's if she hits EVERYTHING. If she isn't clean, she could be buried by judges, since she is still new on the scene.
 

alchemy void

Post-its for the win.
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27,291
Unlike most, I don't think Zagitova is untouchable, particularly if she continues with the jump issues. After the Helsinki debacle, I think her jumps will be more scrutinized by technical panels going forward. I think her 3F2T2Lo getting called under yesterday may be a preview of things to come.

And if the jump issues continue, combined with the choppy posture issues, we're seeing, I can see the PCS coming down a little bit. I'm probably being naive here to a certain extent, but if Kihira/Tuktamysheva keep consistently throwing down amazing jump content, and Zag continues to struggle a bit, I think it *will* effect her PCS enough to make Worlds very competitive. And yes, I realize how backwards that logic is.

So overall I really think Kihira, Miyahara, Medvedeva, and even Tuktamysheva have a shot of beating her at Worlds.

Obviously Kihira has already scored better this season, and if she skates lights out in France again, could be the favorite for GPF and Worlds. She's in the best position. The rest all have something to work on: Miyahara's jumps are better this season, but she needs to continue to improve and not get tight with the lutz. Medvedeva needs to gain consistency back and not make mistakes. The PCS will come with better jumping and just a little more personality in the LP. The basics are already better. Tuktamysheva is the longest shot: she needs to add another 3axel (she's planning one for the second half of the season), and get the speed back up to 2014-2015 level (ie average).

I really think Worlds has the potential to be an epic showdown between these 5. Hopefully we get a sneak peak at the GPF!
 
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rfisher

Let the skating begin
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73,822
Kihira was really inconsistent last season and couldn't deliver when it really counted. I wouldn't anoint her just yet. Nor, would I count Zagitova out. She's a fierce competitor and she has a strong motivation to win worlds. That can mean a lot. Liza has said she's unsure about adding a second 3A to her free skate. She'll see at maybe Europeans. So, I think on any given day, any of the top 5 skaters at the GPF could win worlds. If Sofia makes it to the GPF, she'd be my pick as a top 5 skater, but not to win. Not yet.
 

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