2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[kmw227]

Now that the seniors are done, I'm very excited to see Berestovskaya and Muravyeva tomorrow. Hoping for strong skates from both of them!

Also, congrats to Anna F for qualifying to nationals!

 

[BabySloth]

Even though I feel bad for Kamila I think it doesn't hurt to lose sometimes, if that makes sense. She won every every single competition she entered last year and keeping up a winning streak like that can get extremely stressful. It's better to have a messy skate at a Cup event than at Nationals.

On the other hand I'm very happy for Sasha because those 3rd place finishes in a row last season must have really hurt her confidence.

Daria was just lovely and I'm so happy she was clean. I think she should have gotten the highest PCS of the night though.

Frolova, Stasya, and Shulskaya were also much better than I expected. The level is insane in Russia.

 

[Skatesocs]

I'm curious what the arguments for invalidating Valieva's combos are?

1. For the +Toeloops she usually does a clear edge change into the jump. Though I'll say I don't remember if this is a TP rule to *invalidate* it or not, but it needs a severe deduction. It's actually quite harmful to the ankles.

2. For the +3S she usually distributes too much of her weight onto the right foot. This is a judgment call the TP needs to make, but this was quite bad here.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

At least Sasha gets the 4Lz rotation with just a step-out/hand down rather than pop/splat. Like the 3A that means she's very close to landing it clean in comps (and as we've seen, does it in warmup). BTW the 4T-3T impressed me most of all, here and in test skates. Its really improved a lot and looks like a very comfortable element for her (weirdly, better than the solo 4T).

Agree a 3A or quad would really put Daria into top contention. I think her 2A has potential for a triple, it's bigger than Kamila's.

 

[silveruskate]

At least Sasha gets the 4Lz rotation with just a step-out/hand down rather than pop/splat. Like the 3A that means she's very close to landing it clean in comps (and as we've seen, does it in warmup). BTW the 4T-3T impressed me most of all, here and in test skates. Its really improved a lot and looks like a very comfortable element for her (weirdly, better than the solo 4T).

Agree a 3A or quad would really put Daria into top contention. I think her 2A has potential for a triple, it's bigger than Kamila's.

They called it a step-out but that landing looked really messy and was a fall. It makes it worse that she is doing it perfectly multiple times in warm-ups and practice. I was worried the same thing was happening with the 3A, but that attempt in the SP wasn't so bad.

I hope Sasha gains confidence from this result and it helps her. She's such a confidence skater in my opinion.

 

[Imagine]

I thought they accidentally played the wrong music for the broadcast when Usacheva was skating.

 

[flanker]

Congrats to Sasha, it was a well deserved win.
When she lands the quads it's just impossible not to go "Wow!", esp. the combo. Today's skate was still rough around the edges. Work needs to be done in step sequence (I liked it, the hip shimmy was cute) and spins to make sure she gets the level 4s, she could improve the emoting and performing to the music but I guess if she goes clean with the technical stuff it won't matter too much if she doesn't. Skating clean should be the priority. It doesn't look like her consistency with landing the quads has improved from last season, but we'll see.
If she skates these programs clean with the 3 quads and 3A, it will be amazing.

It was sad to see Kamila so disappointed. There were many mistakes but I actually liked her Bolero more here than at test skates. I don't like Bolero as music and particularly not as skating music but I could watch Kamila skate to anything and she can make me enjoy it. As with Sasha, once she skates this program clean I'm sure it will be awesome. I still think it has the potential to become her Olympic FS.
I don't like her costumes this season, though I hope they will change them a bit.

Daria was very good. I hope she can add a 3A soon so that she isn't held back by her tech compared to the ultra-c skaters. Performance-wise she was definitely the best here.

It was good to see Stasya without a single fall in both programs. I don't think I had ever seen her in a competition before where she didn't fall. There were a few pops but that's still better than the falls.

ETA: Anna Frolova also keeps improving. If she keeps it, she could have a Ksenia Sinitsyna last season kind of breakthough. Too bad that it's happening when there are no international competitions.

It's interesting to see many people disliking Bolero as a music. As for me, when I was a boy, that was one of my first favoured classical pieces that I liked and that opened the classical music to me.

BTW, I'm sorry if I've posted it here already, but I truly like this Bolero ballet choreography:

 

[Skatesocs]

BTW, I'm sorry if I've posted it here already, but I truly like this Bolero ballet choreography:

Post that as many times as you like.

 

[Jontor]

At least Sasha gets the 4Lz rotation with just a step-out/hand down rather than pop/splat. Like the 3A that means she's very close to landing it clean in comps (and as we've seen, does it in warmup). BTW the 4T-3T impressed me most of all, here and in test skates. Its really improved a lot and looks like a very comfortable element for her (weirdly, better than the solo 4T).

Agree a 3A or quad would really put Daria into top contention. I think her 2A has potential for a triple, it's bigger than Kamila's.

I think the solo 4T is proof of that Sasha is pretty exhausted at that point. We saw that last year too. It is her third quad, and not many men can do three quads without getting totally exhausted. This means I think she should stick to this 3 quad program and combine it with a 3A in the short. That will get her very far if she can skate clean. My estimation is that she lost about 18-20 points on the 3A, 4Lz and 3L-fall in this competition. With 20 more points her score would be huge.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

It's interesting to see many people disliking Bolero as a music. As for me, when I was a boy, that was one of my first favoured classical pieces that I liked and that opened the classical music to me.

BTW, I'm sorry if I've posted it here already, but I truly like this Bolero ballet choreography:

Yes, give me that or the Bronislava Nijinska reconstruction over Bejart any day! The Spanish flamenco inflection would also suit Kamila well.

 

[Jontor]

It's interesting to see many people disliking Bolero as a music. As for me, when I was a boy, that was one of my first favoured classical pieces that I liked and that opened the classical music to me.

BTW, I'm sorry if I've posted it here already, but I truly like this Bolero ballet choreography:

I'm sorry, I am one of those people who can't stand Bolero. I am sooo tired of it! It's like listening to YMCA by Village People. The horror!

 

[eterialskating]

I think we need to get an automatic PCS deduction for falls, turnouts, losing levels in spins and step sequences. That should make Sasha put more effort in her other elements. It's ridiculous how losing levels is not punish more. That should have ended the debate in that Olympics where silver medalist thought she should have won botching levels on her laybacks and step sequences.

 

[Idiote]

Thank you flanker, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one to like Bolero as a music ! The repetitiveness doesn't bother me as the melody is beautiful, and each repetition comes with a new instrument, new flourishes that makes this piece great if you actually listen to it closely

I also really like it for figure skating, it's difficult to build the program the same way the music builds, but when done great it can be really impactful and modern. These past years I don't think it has been used that much too (though my mom tells me a lot of skaters used it back in the 70-80s), so it sounds fresh and new. I think it can suit Kamila well, maybe she's a bit young for this music now but it can help improve her artistry immensely.

But if she was to ditch this program, I wish she would stick with Maurice Ravel and skate to his other marvelous but lesser known works, like Pavane pour une Infante Défunte or Trio en la mineur

 

[Amei]

While I agree that it’s impossible to please people, especially on the internet, there’s almost a unanimously bad impression of Kamila’s Bolero. Even the judges went from giving her some 10s in the SP to giving her some 8s in the FS. I think it’s okay to swing and miss with a program, but it’s SUCH a misfit for her, to the point where most people aren’t just going to overlook it.

My impression of Valieva's and Usacheva's FS programs were that they were setup to be programs for them to grow into and use for 2 seasons. My issue with Valieva is that her face does not change during the program, it's like they give her a shot of botox before she goes on ice.

 

[flanker]

BTW junior ladies tomorrow will be without much drama (no TT nor PA skaters), which is pretty unusual during the last events. I'm sad we won't see Adeliya, though

I will probably root for Berestovskaya and Zakharova.

 

[lesnar001]

I'm sorry, I am one of those people who can't stand Bolero. I am sooo tired of it! It's like listening to YMCA by Village People. The horror!

Bolero: I know it for 2 reasons. Torvil & Dean in 1984. Bo Derek in the movie "10" from 1979.
Anyone else need not apply.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

I reckon they could do with sacrificing a few transitions in Valieva's programme to help stabilise the jumps. Her two lutzes both had the same problem (rushed takeoff, broke at the waist). The first 4T also looked kind of rushed. She has loads of other stuff going on in the programme, they can afford to slow down/simplify the jump entries just a bit to calm her nerves.

 

[Idiote]

And she is SO animated and engaging off the ice.

I wish they could give her a program with more fun and fire. She is good with lyrical music yes, but look at Maiia K's new SP. She messed up a bit at RC stage 1 but this blues program made her one of the highlights of junior test skates, she's so relaxed and having so much fun with it. If only Kamila could skate to a lighter piece of music, her sweet personality would shine through

 

[Amei]

She fell once actually. Her score is comparable to what she got internationally last season, with more quads last season yes but also with more mistakes often.

3 quads are 3 quads, you can make up points however you like, but the bv on her programs is way way higher the rest.

Yes technically only 1 "fall"; in my opinion Trusova's quad lutz landing and Valieva's 3Lz+REP landing should qualify as a fall as they both are very disruptive to the programs much more than just a simple step-out.

 

[kmw227]

BTW junior ladies tomorrow will be without much drama (no TT nor PA skaters), which is pretty unusual during the last events. I'm sad we won't see Adeliya, though

I will probably root for Berestovskaya and Zakharova.

Muravyeva's a Plushenko skater, but yes I agree that there will be far less drama. It'll be a nice break after the last two days