2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

Elucidus said:

I am afraid it's impossible. GP spots field is too cluttered for now - so neither Tarusina nor Gubanova can't be guaranteed to get any spot at all. Therefore scenario where they stay in juniors is still highly likely.
There are people who recalculated world rating for next season already and applied season's best scores too - so they deducted the following list for GP spots:
1) Zagitova (2 spots)
2) Medvedeva (2 spots)
3) Tuktamysheva (2 spots)
4) Samodurova (2 spots)
5) Trusova (2 spots)
6) Scherbakova (2 spots)
7) Kostornaya (2 spots)
8) Konstantinova (2 spots)
9) Sotskova (1 spot)
10) Sakhanovich (1 spot)

Also, there are rumors that Kostornaya left Eteri group and transferred to other couch (presumably in CSKA). I can't say whether the rumor is true or not. Still there are at least three circumstantial evidences:

1) there is some video of very poor quality which appeared on anonymous boards where some girl filmed with her phone some foggy silluet on ice and exclaimed that she is Alena Kostornaya. And it wasn't in Khrustalniy ice rink.
2) Usacheva (Eteri skater) who is known for her rather talkative disposition - ignored the question about Kostornaya transfer in her ask account.
3) Kostornaya wasn't listed in Plushenko ice show in May whereas Trusova and Scherbakova were. Considering that it is in one month ahead - she would have enough time to restore her health to skate - at least without jumps.

So, yeah..

Click to expand...

the official Team Tutberidze instagram account (@teamtutberidze_) just posted an advertisement for their show later this month a couple hours ago, and they listed Alena as one of the participants, both in the picture and in the description. I guess this could have been some sort of mistake where they copied and pasted the description, but maybe not? I hope this is all just another rumour, I mean the same rumour went around when she withdrew from junior worlds.

Also, I think either Tarusina or Gubanova are more likely to get spots than Sakhanovich, considering that they both went to/did well at nationals (and are from CSKA). I would say the same about Sotskova because of how badly she did this season, but you never know because the federation does love her.

Elucidus said:

I am afraid it's impossible. GP spots field is too cluttered for now - so neither Tarusina nor Gubanova can't be guaranteed to get any spot at all. Therefore scenario where they stay in juniors is still highly likely.
There are people who recalculated world rating for next season already and applied season's best scores too - so they deducted the following list for GP spots:
1) Zagitova (2 spots)
2) Medvedeva (2 spots)
3) Tuktamysheva (2 spots)
4) Samodurova (2 spots)
5) Trusova (2 spots)
6) Scherbakova (2 spots)
7) Kostornaya (2 spots)
8) Konstantinova (2 spots)
9) Sotskova (1 spot)
10) Sakhanovich (1 spot)

Click to expand...

Gubanova and Tarusina are guaranteed a GP spot if they move up to seniors and are submitted since they're currently 20 & 21 on the SB list (and there's only one lady at WTT that can realistically move up above them).

Zagitova (1), Medvedeva (3), Samodurova (8) - guaranteed 2 from top 10 at worlds
Konstantinova (9), Samodurova (10), Tuktamysheva (13), Trusova (18), Sotskova (19) - guaranteed 1 from top 24 WS
Shcherbakova (7), Kostornaia (10), Sakhanovich (18), Tarusina (20), Gubanova (21) - guaranteed 1 from top 24 SB (Kanysheva is not age eligible)

However, some of them, namely Sakhanovich, Tarusina, and Gubanova + potentially Sotskova run the risk of not being submitted by Rusfed for consideration. Imo wouldn't be a bad idea for Tarusina and Gubanova to stay in juniors and get some more medals now that the 3A are moving up.

Elucidus said:

I am afraid it's impossible. GP spots field is too cluttered for now - so neither Tarusina nor Gubanova can't be guaranteed to get any spot at all. Therefore scenario where they stay in juniors is still highly likely.
There are people who recalculated world rating for next season already and applied season's best scores too - so they deducted the following list for GP spots:
1) Zagitova (2 spots)
2) Medvedeva (2 spots)
3) Tuktamysheva (2 spots)
4) Samodurova (2 spots)
5) Trusova (2 spots)
6) Scherbakova (2 spots)
7) Kostornaya (2 spots)
8) Konstantinova (2 spots)
9) Sotskova (1 spot)
10) Sakhanovich (1 spot)

Also, there are rumors that Kostornaya left Eteri group and transferred to other couch (presumably in CSKA). I can't say whether the rumor is true or not. Still there are at least three circumstantial evidences:

1) there is some video of very poor quality which appeared on anonymous boards where some girl filmed with her phone some foggy silluet on ice and exclaimed that she is Alena Kostornaya. And it wasn't in Khrustalniy ice rink.
2) Usacheva (Eteri skater) who is known for her rather talkative disposition - ignored the question about Kostornaya transfer in her ask account.
3) Kostornaya wasn't listed in Plushenko ice show in May whereas Trusova and Scherbakova were. Considering that it is in one month ahead - she would have enough time to restore her health to skate - at least without jumps.

So, yeah..

Click to expand...

[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33]

Let us know if you find out something else. Do you guys think she would leave Eteri? I think maybe she felt sided by Anna and Sasha, but I always had the impression Eteri liked her, one of the reasons being that her programs/outfits/music are always so great. Eteri said in an interview that she looked like an angel (because of the SP), so idk...

dunffvanstorn said:

[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33]

Let us know if you find out something else. Do you guys think she would leave Eteri? I think maybe she felt sided by Anna and Sasha, but I always had the impression Eteri liked her, one of the reasons being that her programs/outfits/music are always so great. Eteri said in an interview that she looked like an angel (because of the SP), so idk...

Click to expand...

I dont think that would be wise, simply put.
I mean, yep, Buianova retired Sotskova from the main team, so they are clearly getting someone new. But after Radionova, Tsurskaya and Gubanova, I don't think switching to Buianova is a great idea. Her skaters spend last 4 years strugling and it doesnt look very good honestly. We dont know how much time Eteri spends with her skaters, but so far she has been beating Buianova by a large margin. This would be a major downgrade.
Mishin doesn't take grown ups usually (and also honestly, Kostornaia with Mishin choreo, just nope)
Alena is not a world star yet to pay by herself a foreign coach.
FS in Russia is much about reputation of the coach, so going to some less well known coach means she would be losing lots of points at rusnats and other internal competitions, which cannot be afforded at all, considering the war for spots in team and for worlds and euros.

moriel said:

I dont think that would be wise, simply put.
I mean, yep, Buianova retired Sotskova from the main team, so they are clearly getting someone new. But after Radionova, Tsurskaya and Gubanova, I don't think switching to Buianova is a great idea. Her skaters spend last 4 years strugling and it doesnt look very good honestly. We dont know how much time Eteri spends with her skaters, but so far she has been beating Buianova by a large margin. This would be a major downgrade.
Mishin doesn't take grown ups usually (and also honestly, Kostornaia with Mishin choreo, just nope)
Alena is not a world star yet to pay by herself a foreign coach.
FS in Russia is much about reputation of the coach, so going to some less well known coach means she would be losing lots of points at rusnats and other internal competitions, which cannot be afforded at all, considering the war for spots in team and for worlds and euros.

Click to expand...

In this day and age switching to any coach who doesn't believe in the concept of underrotations would be an extremely poor career move, and Alena K is not stupid. That's all I need to know about this rumor.

Orlov said:

Masha Sotskova changed coach. Now she is with Sokolovskaya (coach of Alexander Samarin)

Buyanova:

"Masha and I came to the conclusion that our working relations had been exhausted, mutual understanding disappeared. In this case, there is simply no point in continuing to work together. Masha decided to go to the coach of our club, Svetlana Sokolovskaya. I sincerely wish her to achieve better results under the guidance of a new coach than those that were achieved during our joint work."

Click to expand...

The second sentence has me confused " I sincerely wish ... ", isn't that a jab at Sotskova?

CSKA seems to be struggling a little to keep up with the top rinks in ladies single, is there an actual current ranking list of all Moscow skaters?

At the moment their two top juniors Muravyova and Samodelkina are ineligble for the 2022 Olympics, which I assume is the main goal for any Russian rink the coming seasons.
So CSKA Olympic contenders need to come from the older age group, and if not 'home grown', they need to be 'poached'?
However, is CSKA better equipped (at Megasport Ice Complex in Krilatskoye?) and does is really have 'better' trainers and support staff than smaller Moscow rinks like where for instance Snow Leopards train?
Or can CSKA still recruit from Army Sports Clubs all around Russia and move both kids and families to Moscow if necessary?

Elucidus said:

I am afraid it's impossible. GP spots field is too cluttered for now - so neither Tarusina nor Gubanova can't be guaranteed to get any spot at all. Therefore scenario where they stay in juniors is still highly likely.
There are people who recalculated world rating for next season already and applied season's best scores too - so they deducted the following list for GP spots:
1) Zagitova (2 spots)
2) Medvedeva (2 spots)
3) Tuktamysheva (2 spots)
4) Samodurova (2 spots)
5) Trusova (2 spots)
6) Scherbakova (2 spots)
7) Kostornaya (2 spots)
8) Konstantinova (2 spots)
9) Sotskova (1 spot)
10) Sakhanovich (1 spot)

Also, there are rumors that Kostornaya left Eteri group and transferred to other couch (presumably in CSKA). I can't say whether the rumor is true or not. Still there are at least three circumstantial evidences:

1) there is some video of very poor quality which appeared on anonymous boards where some girl filmed with her phone some foggy silluet on ice and exclaimed that she is Alena Kostornaya. And it wasn't in Khrustalniy ice rink.
2) Usacheva (Eteri skater) who is known for her rather talkative disposition - ignored the question about Kostornaya transfer in her ask account.
3) Kostornaya wasn't listed in Plushenko ice show in May whereas Trusova and Scherbakova were. Considering that it is in one month ahead - she would have enough time to restore her health to skate - at least without jumps.

So, yeah..

Click to expand...

Who shot this video of her at another rink?

Elucidus said:

Also, there are rumors that Kostornaya left Eteri group and transferred to other couch (presumably in CSKA). I can't say whether the rumor is true or not. Still there are at least three circumstantial evidences:

1) there is some video of very poor quality which appeared on anonymous boards where some girl filmed with her phone some foggy silluet on ice and exclaimed that she is Alena Kostornaya. And it wasn't in Khrustalniy ice rink.
2) Usacheva (Eteri skater) who is known for her rather talkative disposition - ignored the question about Kostornaya transfer in her ask account.
3) Kostornaya wasn't listed in Plushenko ice show in May whereas Trusova and Scherbakova were. Considering that it is in one month ahead - she would have enough time to restore her health to skate - at least without jumps.

So, yeah..

Click to expand...

Rumour, gossip, conjecture, projection ...

Khrustalniy is the top rink in Russia to go to if you are as talented as Kostornaya and have achieved your best results under tutelage of their trainers in such a short stay, two years actually, right? What could be your reason to leave, even before your senior season has even started?

Neither FFKKR, Khrustalniy, Alyona herself and us know how she will fare in her first senior season, often competing with and against her 'stable mates' Trusova and Shcherbakova. Will Alyona get the individual scores that she deserves and will those scores be good enough to satisfy her ambitions? Switching to another rink won't make any difference in the internal competition between the FFKM skaters for spots. I think Khrustalniy trainers are professional enough to work with each and every of their charges to their full potential, and training in such a challenging group brings out the best in everybody.

Only if there are serious issues like constant bullying, daily fierce clashing of characters, not being able to cope with the workload, teenage 'diva attitude' problems, that make Alyona feel really miserable she should leave and try her luck elsewhere. Even if Alyona's parents are more ambitious than she herself is, moving to a 'lower' rank is no good career move.

The one thing that I would hold not against her is she decides to give priority to her academic future, i.e. future entrance into Medical University or whatever, and she still wants to skate at a less intense level while getting the best grades possible in school. Even then, suitable arrangements could me made with Khrustalniy, unless of course they don't want to work with 'recreational' skaters and will force Alyona to move elsewhere?

Do we even know Kanysheva is out of probation and officially accepted into the Khrustalniy ranks?

Do we even know Tarakanova regrets her decision to leave Khrustalniy for Plyushchenko's Angels?

Coming May, FFKKR, will publish its official list and ranking for coming 2019/2020 season, by then we'll know for sure where everybody stands and will be skating.

dunffvanstorn said:

Do you guys think she would leave Eteri?

Click to expand...

I certainly hope she wouldn't.. :noshake:

dunffvanstorn said:

[emoji33][emoji33][emoji33]

Let us know if you find out something else. Do you guys think she would leave Eteri? I think maybe she felt sided by Anna and Sasha, but I always had the impression Eteri liked her, one of the reasons being that her programs/outfits/music are always so great. Eteri said in an interview that she looked like an angel (because of the SP), so idk...

Click to expand...

moriel said:

I dont think that would be wise, simply put.
I mean, yep, Buianova retired Sotskova from the main team, so they are clearly getting someone new. But after Radionova, Tsurskaya and Gubanova, I don't think switching to Buianova is a great idea. Her skaters spend last 4 years strugling and it doesnt look very good honestly. We dont know how much time Eteri spends with her skaters, but so far she has been beating Buianova by a large margin. This would be a major downgrade.
Mishin doesn't take grown ups usually (and also honestly, Kostornaia with Mishin choreo, just nope)
Alena is not a world star yet to pay by herself a foreign coach.
FS in Russia is much about reputation of the coach, so going to some less well known coach means she would be losing lots of points at rusnats and other internal competitions, which cannot be afforded at all, considering the war for spots in team and for worlds and euros.

Click to expand...

I didn't believe Zhenya would leave Khrustalniy and I was wrong, so now I can't exclude anything. But this is still very different situation. Moriel's points are solid and iron logic. In Russia there is no real equivalent to Eteri's team for a skater like Alyona and going abroad is too expensive for her (only if she would switch countries like e. g. Kurakova and new country would pay for it, but I doubt RusFed would let her go easily). So the probability of such move from Alyona's side is extremely low, understandable only in case of some complete clash of opinions with the team, bullying or something that serious and I very doubt about something the like that. The only other case would be some complete irrational idea and Alyona is too smart for it.

moriel said:

I dont think that would be wise, simply put.
I mean, yep, Buianova retired Sotskova from the main team, so they are clearly getting someone new. But after Radionova, Tsurskaya and Gubanova, I don't think switching to Buianova is a great idea. Her skaters spend last 4 years strugling and it doesnt look very good honestly. We dont know how much time Eteri spends with her skaters, but so far she has been beating Buianova by a large margin. This would be a major downgrade.
Mishin doesn't take grown ups usually (and also honestly, Kostornaia with Mishin choreo, just nope)
Alena is not a world star yet to pay by herself a foreign coach.
FS in Russia is much about reputation of the coach, so going to some less well known coach means she would be losing lots of points at rusnats and other internal competitions, which cannot be afforded at all, considering the war for spots in team and for worlds and euros.

Click to expand...

Mishin is the best choice in Russia if you want to have a sustainable career, that said yes i don't think he'd accept Alena.

If she wants to leave (i hope not, at least try another season, win as much as you can and then leave in a better position as world medalist maybe), i'd either risk with a minor coach (Panova, Plushenko) or go abroad if you can afford it: Stephane Lambiel would do wonders with her.

CSKA is the place where your career ends, they have no clue on how to build success in ladies figure skating, Sotnikova winning Sochi is more and more looking like a fluke, they haven't achieved anything after that despite coaching some of the best talents from arguagbly the best pool in the world. The only good coach there is Sergej Davydov but for some reason he only coaches juniors.

This is already stressful and it's just rumours. I really hope she won't move to another coach

Koatterce said:

Gubanova and Tarusina are guaranteed a GP spot if they move up to seniors and are submitted since they're currently 20 & 21 on the SB list (and there's only one lady at WTT that can realistically move up above them).

Zagitova (1), Medvedeva (3), Samodurova (8) - guaranteed 2 from top 10 at worlds
Konstantinova (9), Samodurova (10), Tuktamysheva (13), Trusova (18), Sotskova (19) - guaranteed 1 from top 24 WS
Shcherbakova (7), Kostornaia (10), Sakhanovich (18), Tarusina (20), Gubanova (21) - guaranteed 1 from top 24 SB (Kanysheva is not age eligible)

However, some of them, namely Sakhanovich, Tarusina, and Gubanova + potentially Sotskova run the risk of not being submitted by Rusfed for consideration. Imo wouldn't be a bad idea for Tarusina and Gubanova to stay in juniors and get some more medals now that the 3A are moving up.

Click to expand...

Gubanova didn't skate in any Junior events last season so it's bizarre that some would still consider her a junior. So not fair. Let her move on with her career and up to seniors even though the competition is so tough.

Can she skate both seniors and juniors? I thought she would do that this past season but she didn't skate any Junior events from what I recall.

Alena should stay with her coaching situation for the foreseeable future and she should remember how much better she became once she started working with Eteri than she was before. Yes Alena as pure and natural skating abilities that few have and most good coaches would be able to help her at this stage of her career. But somehow well she's stated the last season or two under the tutelage of her current coaches I see no reason for her to switch. No one leaves Eteri and gets better. But Alena would be a real test for that because her career is obviously on the upswing quiz a lot of room for improvements even as great as she already is.

flanker said:

I didn't believe Zhenya would leave Khrustalniy and I was wrong, so now I can't exclude anything. But this is still very different situation. Moriel's points are solid and iron logic. In Russia there is no real equivalent to Eteri's team for a skater like Alyona and going abroad is too expensive for her (only if she would switch countries like e. g. Kurakova and new country would pay for it, but I doubt RusFed would let her go easily). So the probability of such move from Alyona's side is extremely low, understandable only in case of some complete clash of opinions with the team, bullying or something that serious and I very doubt about something the like that. The only other case would be some complete irrational idea and Alyona is too smart for it.

Click to expand...

I don’t blame the Russian Fed from not encouraging their skaters to train abroad. By keeping the talent in the country they keep the skater coach ecosystem alive and so the next wave of Russian skaters can be trained at home.

A fourth season on the JGP for Gubanova? Why? She’s already a CS silver medalist, and is in the top 24 for SB. She can at least get challengers next season and (hopefully?) a GP event. In juniors there’s Alysa, Anastasia and Kamila, so it’s not like getting medals will be easy-breezy.

Let’s pretend FFKKR funds each of the top skaters with the equivalent of USD 10K a year.
This amount of money will probably cover half of the basics, and parents and sponsors/endorsements will furnish the same amount.
So you’re all set and go for 20/25K while living with your parents still, who will have to buy you new boots, blades and dresses every season, another 5K expense. Skates can be traded, I doubt a parent would want to trade a custom made >1K dress their child became champion in.
Training abroad at a commercial rink like TCC will cost you 5K a month, let’s pretend. A roof over your head and a full stomach every day and a trip home every two months is another 1K a month, let’s pretend.
So assuming you keep your FFKKR stipend and your parents/sponsors/endorsements money, you can live and train for half a year abroad before your Russian funds are depleted and you’ll have to work/ask/steal/beg/borrow for more money, or earn lots of price money to pay back any debt you might have incurred.
Medvyedeva can work at TCC or a friendly local rink with the young kids, earning her keep at least partially. Too many endorsements take away valuable time and energy so are not recommendedable, there is only so much hours in a day, and you want to have a little life outside the rink and hostel room.

A 15/16 y.o. like Zagitova or Kostornaya can not in my opinion be asked to work to earn her keep. They are adolescents and need education, parental love, affection and attention and ordinary social interaction with same age youths after skating, and of course there is always school if you don't want to end up with an empty head when your career is over.
So unless the skater has reached adulthood, I can find no reason or argument why they would and even can leave Russia to train elsewhere.
Besides, young and still developing skaters need coaches, trainers, tutors, therapists, med staff in all aspects of skating i.e. the total package that is available in Russia’s state funded Specialized Sports Schools for Children and Youths.

Moving to Lambiel for a month to have your choreo done is no good when there isn’t equal skills, jumps or edges training. And how will Lambiel be able to give you follow up advice and corrections?

I pity the KOR girls that are required to live abroad full time, with their sponsors controlling large parts of their formative years all in the name of becoming your nations best in figure skating.

PS I am only making the numbers up, I have no idea about the economics of figure skating at the highest level.
It is expensive no doubt due to the many one on one rink and trainer's hours required. But the Russian state schools provide these basics at very low cost and are renowned for the quality they deliver.

I must have missed a lot of weekend news. So, there’s a rumor that Kostornaya might be leaving Eteri, Gubanova and Tarakanova are STILL remaining junior, and it’s apparently a trend to announce your music choices early.

Grin said:

Kamila's FS "Hope Russia"
https://youtu.be/mExSZKFwNDo

She is getting better and better!

Click to expand...

Great spins, nice flow on the jumps and good extension. I just wish she would slow down a bit--I felt like she was racing the music the entire time.

Happy Skates said:

Also, I think either Tarusina or Gubanova are more likely to get spots than Sakhanovich, considering that they both went to/did well at nationals (and are from CSKA).

Click to expand...

It's not how GP allocation system works. For senior GP events - it's ISU and other countries federations who decides what skater they invite based on their ranking and SB criterias. Nationals success or RusFed wishes have nothing to do with it. And so it happens that Sakhanovich has more higher SB score this season than those two. Therefore she has priority for ISU.

Koatterce said:

Gubanova and Tarusina are guaranteed a GP spot if they move up to seniors and are submitted since they're currently 20 & 21 on the SB list

Click to expand...

No. You forgot obvious limitation rule - one country can't have more than 18 spots at GP events. Divide it by two - and we have generally no more than 9 participants. And so it happens that Russia have much more skaters than that number - in SB top 24 list. Therefore priority is given to those who are at the top of the list. And those who are at the bottom - will be discarded. Guaranteed spot or not - there are only so much of them.

SkateSkates said:

Who shot this video of her at another rink?

Click to expand...

Idk :confused2:
Some low-level little-known skater, I suppose. Or acquaintance/relative of a skater who was training in the rink at that time. Or even some random passerby/onlooker.

TripleAxelQueens3 said:

A fourth season on the JGP for Gubanova? Why? She’s already a CS silver medalist, and is in the top 24 for SB. She can at least get challengers next season and (hopefully?) a GP event. In juniors there’s Alysa, Anastasia and Kamila, so it’s not like getting medals will be easy-breezy.

Click to expand...

See the above.

Edwin said:

Moving to Lambiel for a month to have your choreo done is no good when there isn’t equal skills, jumps or edges training. And how will Lambiel be able to give you follow up advice and corrections?

I pity the KOR girls that are required to live abroad full time, with their sponsors controlling large parts of their formative years all in the name of becoming your nations best in figure skating.

PS I am only making the numbers up, I have no idea about the economics of figure skating at the highest level.
It is expensive no doubt due to the many one on one rink and trainers hours required.

Click to expand...

I agree with everything except this last part.

Lambiel more than the others, is a very good choreographer (the SP he did for Yulia was very cool and unique), like almost Lori Nichol's level, and he lives in Europe, it's easier to go there as opposed to North America and Canada with all the visa issues and also many russian coaches already spend their off-season time in Switzerland or Italy.

They should send more skaters to him, even for a month just for the programs, because honestly i haven't seen amazing programs from russian choreographers in Russia in a while. I don't know if it is lack of ideas, or bad vision, but it is a shame because you have these amazing girls like Kostornaya who already has great skating skills, she deserves some great material and instead you give that cheap RJ free program, you're doing a disservice to your skater.

I'm not saying Daniil or Eteri are bad choreographers (and most importantly this is a problem in general in Russia), they did good programs but when you set the bar so high for your skaters, the programs have to be that good as well.

As for korean girls at this stage they have to live abroad because Korea doesn't have the facilities and the experts to make them successful, they are clearly working well in the novice-juniors level cause all these girls have strong basis, but if you notice those that decide to stay there they don't win much.