Russian Junior Nationals, 4-7 Feb 2015, Joshkar-Ola

[silverlake22]

She is probably guarding against mistakes after her SP got her behind. She definitely started the season off much better than she is ending it :hopelessness:

I think Sima is just dealing with some growing pains right now. I bet she will sort herself out soon. Her jumps are so powerful that maybe she is struggling with control? She has gained considerable muscle and power to her skating this season, I think long-term this is a good thing, but for now she is maybe in an adjustment period. Zhenia is likely to win JW this time around, but I still think the Russian ladies could sweep! Really happy to see Sotskova skating well again after the injury and growthspurt sidelined her over the summer. She is so elegant on the ice.

 

[silverlake22]

I don't think Masha is that much better. Throughout the season their marks were pretty comparable.

To me Masha is elegant and ethereal. She does need more speed and power, especially now that she's getting quite tall, but I think that can be learned. Tsurkaya just seems gawky and unpolished to me, which I guess is to be expected when comparing her to a skater 2 years older. Idk. Tsurkaya has potential and is quite striking on the ice, not soup yet, but it will be interesting to see how she develops. Sotskova is similar to Korobeynikova a few years back, but I'm hoping her future turns out better!

 

[iskate]

In the protocols I noticed that they have new abbreviations with spins and steps. Eg. LSp4+:CL+:UL+:8+:UB rather than just LSp4. I'm assuming these are the features they got called to get the level (8+ = more than 8 revolutions, unsure of exactly what the others mean...).

Is this just a thing they have randomly added in or will this be standard for IJS now? Has ISU made changes that I've missed? I somehow doubt it as the protocols for Euros were just the same as usual...It would be great if they did this for every competition (and if I could figure out what the abbreviations all mean). It would somewhat get rid of the "how the hell did they only get level 2 for that?!" problem.

 

[parsifal]

I'm so impressed by the level! Gubanova presented at the beginning two gorgeous combos: 3lz+3lo (like Sotnikova and Slutskaya) and than 3lz+3t+2t! Tsurskaya 3lz+3t+2t in the second half! Nugumanova 3lo+3lo (recently as only her training partner Ogoreltseva). The new wave is raising the bar!

 

[MalAssada]

In the protocols I noticed that they have new abbreviations with spins and steps. Eg. LSp4+:CL+:UL+:8+:UB rather than just LSp4. I'm assuming these are the features they got called to get the level (8+ = more than 8 revolutions, unsure of exactly what the others mean...).

Is this just a thing they have randomly added in or will this be standard for IJS now? Has ISU made changes that I've missed? I somehow doubt it as the protocols for Euros were just the same as usual...It would be great if they did this for every competition (and if I could figure out what the abbreviations all mean). It would somewhat get rid of the "how the hell did they only get level 2 for that?!" problem.

Maybe they are the positions? Only a guess, though. I can see the C being camel, but I have no idea about the other ones. What were the positions in this particular spin?

_

Any videos of Gubanova?

 

[sunnystars]

I guess I forgot to add the sarcasm icon....

To me Masha is elegant and ethereal. She does need more speed and power, especially now that she's getting quite tall, but I think that can be learned. Tsurkaya just seems gawky and unpolished to me, which I guess is to be expected when comparing her to a skater 2 years older. Idk. Tsurkaya has potential and is quite striking on the ice, not soup yet, but it will be interesting to see how she develops. Sotskova is similar to Korobeynikova a few years back, but I'm hoping her future turns out better!

I agree with your thoughts about both Masha and Polina.
I'm just really surprised why they scored both PCS so close. I hope it didn't come through reputation scoring though.....

 

[Sandpiper]

Does anyone feel that Sima might need a style/packaging/program revamp? The music, the choreography, even her expressions... it's like her team is trying to turn her into Yulia. But I don't think that's her. She's more extroverted, more of a powerhouse skater--even her jumps display this (big, but often out of control).

She really comes alive in the second half of her FS, when the upbeat music kicks in. Unfortunately, the second half is so stuffed with jumps that she's running around trying to get those done, missing out a good opportunity to connect with the music. Just my opinion, of course.

 

[silverlake22]

Agreed. Sima is an energetic, athletic, powerful type of skater. I think her packaging choices are poor in the way Gracie Gold's are poor - they just don't really show off all she has to offer in the best light. In some ways, Serafima is similar to Irina Slutskaya, and I honestly think she'd do better with Irina type of programs.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Re: Sima's programs

I think sometimes the way some people find themselves is by first discovering who they are not. I'm a big Sima fan and I actually really enjoyed her programs this year except she may have looked a bit forced or unnatural at times. She is only 14 after all (for most of the season)and from what I understand wrote the storyline behind her FS and Eteri Choreographed her SP. Was it perhaps Eteri's first time doing Choreo?

 

[Meoima]

I think her team should help her fix her landing posture before the package. Whenever she lands the jumps she looks very cautious and there is almost no flow out of it. It's like up and down jump.

 

[Totentanz]

I'm so impressed by the level! Gubanova presented at the beginning two gorgeous combos: 3lz+3lo (like Sotnikova and Slutskaya) and than 3lz+3t+2t! Tsurskaya 3lz+3t+2t in the second half! Nugumanova 3lo+3lo (recently as only her training partner Ogoreltseva). The new wave is raising the bar!

Hope they keep landing those jumps as they grow up!

 

[FSGMT]

As always, the girls were not disappointing! I'm so happy for Evgenia, especially because I've been a huge fan of this program from the first time I saw it in the JGP, and seeing her skate it so well at every competition is just
I really enjoyed Sotskova's skating and (even if I still think that her choreography is probably the best among these Junior girls in terms of transitions, intricacy and originality) she doesn't show the same spark and determination on the ice that she used to have last season (so I agree with her PCS being below 60)... Maybe it's becauseof the injury that she suffered at the beginning of the season
The only one I'm a bit concerned about is Sakhanovich: she changed her layout in the SP putting the 3-3 right at the beginning and still missed it, then in the FS she didn't have that level of determination and confidence which we saw during the JGP :think: She skated decently overall and we all know that she's capable of doing well, but still I miss the Sima we saw in Lubljana...

 

[3T3T]

The Pairs competition was not as great as I was hoping. While I do enjoy V/Z and F/M, with their lack of triple jumps their future seems bleak. I don't think I have ever seen V/Z attempt a triple and while I do commend F/M for attempting a 3T, it wasn't even close. They have many great qualities to their skating and while it makes them very competitive at junior level it won't cut it at Senior level in Russia.

I did expect more from B/B and G/A as both hade made the JGPF and have two sets of triple jumps but they were not on form here. They have only been skating together less than 12 months so maybe they need to work on their consistency. G/S performed well for third and to earn their ticket to junior worlds, again no triples. I was impressed with S/K who came 4th, two triples but a little slow across the ice, I never heard of them before.

I wonder would some of the Russian ladies consider switching to Pairs? A lot of ladies will never see an international assignment as a singles skater but with solid jumps (only need two triples) there could be possibilities in Pairs.

 

[Sweet Dream]

I wonder would some of the Russian ladies consider switching to Pairs? A lot of ladies will never see an international assignment as a singles skater but with solid jumps (only need two triples) there could be possibilities in Pairs.

Indeed, I don't see many of the girls above can survive their puberty development, but I hope that Nugumanova and Gubanova can do in the years ahead, because they are just so special and beautiful in different ways.

 

[hanca]

I wonder would some of the Russian ladies consider switching to Pairs? A lot of ladies will never see an international assignment as a singles skater but with solid jumps (only need two triples) there could be possibilities in Pairs.

There is a tiny problem. The Russian senior pairs discipline is as full as the ladies. It doesn't really matter if each lady will compete for international assignments with perhaps ten others, or if the lady will switch to pairs and then compete with other ten pairs. The least full are currently men and dance, but if they wanted to switch to dance, it would have to be ASAP because otherwise they would be very disadvantage with those who started with dance from young age.

 

[AlexRus]

Does anyone know where Victoria Bezrukova and Polina Drynkina are? They are eligible the next season and not competing here?

I assume Kolomiets is still injured? I wonder what's wrong with her that she lost the whole season.

Bezrukova recovers from injury. She was 4th at 5th Event of Russian Cup (Junior) and it was her only competition of season.

Drynkina and Kolomiets - puberty issues. They became much bigger and jumps became much worse.
Kolomiets did not compete this season, she also had backbone problems.
Drynkina was at 1st Event of Russian Cup, Junior. 20th place, score 110.81 (many popped jumps).

 

[AlexRus]

Who is eligible for jgp next season that was not this year?

Of 17 girls at JrNats-2015:
4 will be eligible for JGP-2015 - Tsurskaya, Fedichkina, Mikhailova, Mitrofanova.
5 will be eligible to JGP-2016 - Nugumanova, Gubanova, Tarusina, Mukhortova, Samodurova.

Others were eligible for JGP-2014.

 

[Sophie-Anna]

Any idea when will be announced junior or senior Worlds Russian team?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

AlexRus: Your information all season has been greatly appreciated. Having such a knowledgeable poster to keep us up to date has been very helpful. Thank you very much

 

[hanca]

Bezrukova recovers from injury. She was 4th at 5th Event of Russian Cup (Junior) and it was her only competition of season.

Drynkina and Kolomiets - puberty issues. They became much bigger and jumps became much worse.
Kolomiets did not compete this season, she also had backbone problems.
Drynkina was at 1st Event of Russian Cup, Junior. 20th place, score 110.81 (many popped jumps).

That's sad. A bit like Ogoreltseva. At same stage Ogoreltseva was just a tiny bit worse than Sakhanovich, Medvedeva and Sotskova. Now she is more like Kayumova! :disapp: