2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

Yuna Luna · Jul 12, 2019

moriel said:
Its just that I feel we need balance - if there are non objective fans, we need h people too. Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, blablabla =)

I do not think we need h people at all. They make figure skating toxic.

TeamGubanova · Jul 12, 2019

Fluture said:
I think 1 quad for Anna. 4Lz. And maybe later in the season, after the GPF, she could introduce the 4F. Two quads of the same type seems incredibly risky because you risk not getting to do one in combo and having +REP. Sasha will go for at least two, I think. I‘d say 4Lz and 4T at the beginning of the season. If it goes well, maybe a second 4T. She mentioned before that warming up 3 different quads is difficult, so even though we know that she can do all types of quads other than the 4Lo (and 4A obviously), I don‘t think she‘s likely to include them in her programs (yet). It would be interesting to know what the state of their 3A is. Daniil talked very seriously about it, that they plan to really train it in the off-season and have it ready for all three girls by the beginning of the new season. Depending on the 3A, the amounts of quads could change too.

For example, I could see Sasha doing 4T + 4Lz + 3A in her FS and a 3A in the SP. That would be more than enough. It sounds like an incredibly risky layout already....

If she has two 3As, she could even cancel the 4Lz altogether. It hasn‘t been too consistent and maybe it would be better to wait before introducing it. But then again, that‘s not like Sasha at all. She wants to be the first at doing something. Lil‘Bet already took her chance to be the first senior lady to land a quad so I can imagine she‘ll want to be the first to land two, or the first to land 4Lz and 4T...

Overall, though this is just speculating. We will see at test skates what their layout looks like.

I think that all the russian ladies that have 2 grand prix spots except for Alina & Zhenya will try a 3A or quad. I have seen videos of Konstantinova and Samadurova 3A's with harness and they'll probably try it in there free skate because they know they'll have to in order to contend with the leading ladies from Russia. Also Kostornaia and Tukt. will do 3A. Sasha and Anna will probably do 3 & 1 quads respectively but idk about 3A. Sasha will probably do 4S, 4T+3T, 4T for a safe bet ot she might do 4Lz, 4T+3T, 4T. Anna will prbably do 4Lz.

Amei · Jul 12, 2019

TeamGubanova said:
I think that all the russian ladies that have 2 grand prix spots except for Alina & Zhenya will try a 3A or quad. I have seen videos of Konstantinova and Samadurova 3A's with harness and they'll probably try it in there free skate because they know they'll have to in order to contend with the leading ladies from Russia. Also Kostornaia and Tukt. will do 3A. Sasha and Anna will probably do 3 & 1 quads respectively but idk about 3A. Sasha will probably do 4S, 4T+3T, 4T for a safe bet ot she might do 4Lz, 4T+3T, 4T. Anna will prbably do 4Lz.

Kostornaia has mentioned in the past that whenever she starts to train the 3A that she gets injured. When was the last time they posted any videos of her doing it? Iif she was actively training it I think that we would be getting videos of it like we do with every other skater at Sambo that's attempting quads and 3A's.

moriel · Jul 12, 2019

Fluture said:
I agree that the 3A will have to compete in seniors first before we can crown them but I have to say that they enter the season with more of a status than Sofia last year. She was a complete surprise at her first GP, whereas the 3A have been getting a lot of attention, especially for juniors. Anna‘s and Sasha‘s quads were all over the news. They are, contrary to Sofia, expected to at least medal at both their GPs.

And I‘m not sure Anna would bomb her SP. She took out the 3Lz+3Lo and since then she‘s been incredibly consistent with it. Everything can happen, of course but unless she really tries to include a 3A in the SP at her first GP, I can‘t see it. But that‘s just what if scenarios, I understand that.

About Sofia: I like her. She has guts. Her Euros FS is one of my favourite moments last season. Unfortunately, though, the Euros Gold didn‘t help her all too much at Worlds, her PCS were still pretty low. If she managed to pull off a 3A, that would be amazing. But most important for her, would be, imo, to get programs that the judges will like - meaning, more transitions. Then, if she stays consistent and maybe adds a bit more difficult combos, she could build on the momentum from last year and stay relevant. I certainly hope so because she was such a great surprise last season. Maybe she can do it again.

Yep, I agree about Sonia vs 3A.
Sofia turned senior after basically 1 junior season. All she had were 2 JGP golds. She din't medal at JGPF, and didn't make JW. She didn't have any extra tricks either.
Now, for 3A, we have:
- Trusova is 2 times JW champion, with 4 JGP golds, and a gold and silver at JGPF. Her records and achievemnts list is longer than the bios of some skaters.
- Shcherbakova is the Russian champion, and JW silver medalist. One of the few ladies to land quads.
- Kostornaia won JGPF, and also has a huge bunch of medals.

Just some fun statistics, to give an idea, the number of words on the english wiki pages of each skater:
3959 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Trusova
2253 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alena_Kostornaia
1913 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Shcherbakova
1675 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samodurova

while this is just random stat, it kind of gives an idea of the importance of each of the girls - and there is more blablabla about each of 3A while they are still in juniors tan about Sonia.

Imho, 3A turning senior would be more like Medvedeva and Zagitova, and later Kihira turning senior. They won't be hold back in PCs, and will be able to compete with the top skaters from the very beginning.

moriel · Jul 12, 2019

Happy Skates · Jul 12, 2019

Tolstoj said:
yeah but i mean she is no longer a debutant, score will go higher if she shows improvements, and the same is true from 3A. I do agree that eventually this season 3A might surpass Samodurova.

I don't think the 3A were ever behind Samodurova in the first place, or that any of them will be behind her even in the beginning of the season. They were ahead of her two season ago in juniors, and last season you can't really compare because the 3A were junior internationally, but they were far ahead of her at nationals where Samodurova basically skated clean, while Alena and Sasha had a fall each. Not to mention they are all head of her on the SB list IIRC. And next year, Kostornaya at least will probably start off with high PCS off the bat (her PCS at JGPF last year were some of the highest junior PCS I can remember, and they're not gonna go down unless Twilight affects it), and Sasha and Anna are probably going to be at a similar level of PCS to her. She never had super high PCS to begin with, and these girls are the most well known/accomplished first year seniors you can be.

Scott512 · Jul 12, 2019

TeamGubanova said:
I think that all the russian ladies that have 2 grand prix spots except for Alina & Zhenya will try a 3A or quad. I have seen videos of Konstantinova and Samadurova 3A's with harness and they'll probably try it in there free skate because they know they'll have to in order to contend with the leading ladies from Russia. Also Kostornaia and Tukt. will do 3A. Sasha and Anna will probably do 3 & 1 quads respectively but idk about 3A. Sasha will probably do 4S, 4T+3T, 4T for a safe bet ot she might do 4Lz, 4T+3T, 4T. Anna will prbably do 4Lz.

The competition for one-upping each other with tough moves is amazing.

But one thing we can never devalue is consistency like Sofia has. I would love to see nastya with that type of consistency to go along with her beautiful artistry and wonderful skating skills.

By the way you should post in Nastyas Fan Fest from time to time.

Tolstoj · Jul 12, 2019

moriel said:
Yep, I agree about Sonia vs 3A.
Sofia turned senior after basically 1 junior season. All she had were 2 JGP golds. She din't medal at JGPF, and didn't make JW. She didn't have any extra tricks either.
Now, for 3A, we have:
- Trusova is 2 times JW champion, with 4 JGP golds, and a gold and silver at JGPF. Her records and achievemnts list is longer than the bios of some skaters.
- Shcherbakova is the Russian champion, and JW silver medalist. One of the few ladies to land quads.
- Kostornaia won JGPF, and also has a huge bunch of medals.

Just some fun statistics, to give an idea, the number of words on the english wiki pages of each skater:
3959 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Trusova
2253 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alena_Kostornaia
1913 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Shcherbakova
1675 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia_Samodurova

while this is just random stat, it kind of gives an idea of the importance of each of the girls - and there is more blablabla about each of 3A while they are still in juniors tan about Sonia.

Imho, 3A turning senior would be more like Medvedeva and Zagitova, and later Kihira turning senior. They won't be hold back in PCs, and will be able to compete with the top skaters from the very beginning.

I mean, 3A were Russia's biggest promises from the start, Sofia was the last on the list of skaters available both for the JGP and seniors last year and she exceeded expectations in both seasons.

3A are more talented, but i personally value an European title a lot more than any from the Juniors on often empty arenas, different rules, different judging, etc.

They don't give 3 gold medals at GPF, Europeans or Worlds, only one skater will win these events.

I disagree on components though: Trusova in particular needed to work on skating skills and flow yesterday, and with a particular judging that do care about these things like often in Canada, you might not see huge components for her, but then i haven't seen the programs yet so it's hard to say.

This is an area that can be masked well depending on the program: Kihira was one of the weaker Hamada skaters in skating skills when she was in juniors, now she's seen as an artistic skater by some.

TeamGubanova · Jul 12, 2019

ec00834 said:
I would put Alina in group A (difficult combos, high PCS, also reigning world champ?!)

Yes, but she is gaining height and she has already been dinged several times by the technical panel, and all it takes is 2 sub-par performances and she's off the world team just like Maria Sotskova from last year.

ec00834 · Jul 12, 2019

Alina definitely already had at least 2 sub-par performances last season (e.g. Russian Nats, Europeans) but she was still on the world team (and won). Zhenya, who is in group A, also struggled last season and had at least 2 sub-par performances so I don't understand why one is in group A while the other isn't. Obviously, it's going to be hard to predict what happens next season but you could argue the same things for either.

Bluediamonds09 · Jul 12, 2019

*I wish Samodurova would announce her programs soon so we would know what direction she’s going in this year. Will she be flirty and sassy again? Or will she pick a warhorse?

*Mark my words, Medvedeva will be doing everything in her power to land a quad salchow. I just know it.

*Im still a big fan of Guliakova, and that makes me sad because clearly she’s not a favorite.

How is her progress on the triple axel?

Mathman · Jul 12, 2019

moriel said:
1675.

I am going to make a user edit of Sofia's page and add some more words. :yes:

Skuratov · Jul 12, 2019

SkateSkates said:
What do you guys think the strategy will be for Sasha and Anna’s program layouts in their GPs? Do you think they will play it “safe” and just go for 1 quad each (maybe 2 for Sasha) or try to go for records with multiple quads?.

Sasha going safe?? I think Sasha will include 3 quads in her FS basic layout. Depending on how this works
and depending on her health (at Yerevan she was sick, her FS only included 1 quad) Eteri will change this layout.
Sasha's more consistent quad is 4T so this will be one of these 3 quads. We watched her in youtube
trying the 4F and she is eager to learn and land 4Lo. Her SP will include 3Axel.

Anna is gaining confidence with her quads (4Lz, 4F) but she has the hardest GP assignments. If she
wants to win a place on the podium there is no room for "play safe". Well is just my opinion.

Bluediamonds09 · Jul 12, 2019

Skuratov said:
Sasha going safe?? I think Sasha will include 3 quads in her FS basic layout. Depending on how this works
and depending on her health (at Yerevan she was sick, her FS only included 1 quad) Eteri will change this layout.
Sasha's more consistent quad is 4T so this will be one of these 3 quads. We watched her in youtube
trying the 4F and she is eager to learn and land 4Lo. Her SP will include 3Axel.

Anna is gaining confidence with her quads (4Lz, 4F) but she has the hardest GP assignments. If she
wants to win a place on the podium there is no room for "play safe". Well is just my opinion.

I’m not worried for Sasha at all. I haven’t even seen her land a triple axel in practice, yet I know she’s gonna land it in competition. And she’ll land or at least fully rotate all the quad jumps she plans. Sasha will get high marks in pcs and tech, and I fully expect her to be the gpf champion. I’m rooting for Kostornaya, the angel, but I fully, completely, and totally expect Sasha to dominate.

TripleAxelQueens3 · Jul 13, 2019

TeamGubanova said:
Yes, but she is gaining height and she has already been dinged several times by the technical panel, and all it takes is 2 sub-par performances and she's off the world team just like Maria Sotskova from last year.

Masha was left off the Worlds Team this year because she couldn’t rotate her jumps or skate a clean short or free (and I say this as a fan of Masha). Had she been able to pull performances like that of last years, maybe she wouldn’t be going to Worlds per se, but RusFed would definitely give her two assignments and a spot on the Main Senior List. Last year (2017-18 that is) Masha never had two subpar skates, always one good, one bad or both good, and last season (2018-19) she had MUCH more than just two subpar performances. She’s had like 6. Alina’s URs have been called, but so have Zhenya’s flutzes. And since Alina has 3Lz+3Lo and 3Lz+3T and is current reigning World, Olympic Champ and holds two WRs and is number one is SB and WS she ought to be at least in the top 6 in Russia right? Especially if someone she’s beaten MANY times (Zhenya) is in group A. Maybe Worlds was the momentum Alina needed like how the RusNats FS was the momentum Zhenya needed. Maybe pressure will make both stronger, or weaker. Ice is slippery but facts are real. Alina deserves to be in Group A based off the FACTS not guesses and personal opinions.

Fluture · Jul 13, 2019

Tolstoj said:
I mean, 3A were Russia's biggest promises from the start, Sofia was the last on the list of skaters available both for the JGP and seniors last year and she exceeded expectations in both seasons.

3A are more talented, but i personally value an European title a lot more than any from the Juniors on often empty arenas, different rules, different judging, etc.

They don't give 3 gold medals at GPF, Europeans or Worlds, only one skater will win these events.

I disagree on components though: Trusova in particular needed to work on skating skills and flow yesterday, and with a particular judging that do care about these things like often in Canada, you might not see huge components for her, but then i haven't seen the programs yet so it's hard to say.

This is an area that can be masked well depending on the program: Kihira was one of the weaker Hamada skaters in skating skills when she was in juniors, now she's seen as an artistic skater by some.

When talking about Sofia, I like to remember this video. I don‘t know when I‘ve last seen a Russian lady so excited about winning Euros.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz0QlpTndRm/?igshid=dlls9b2rdcv3

I think what‘s remarkable about Sofia is that she doesn‘t hesitate, she uses every chance she‘s offered. I really like Stasya but would she have been able to skate the way Sofia did if she‘d known beating the Olympic Champion in international competition was on the line? I don‘t think so. Sofia had huge pressure on her and she delivered every time.

About her chances for next year? No idea. I‘d say they are worse than last season, especially because the 3A seem more talented. But then again, at this time last year we would have thought everything would be about Medvedeva vs. Zagitova again and then came the likes of Sofia and Rika who changed all that. So, maybe someone else will play spoiler to what most think now, which is the 3A dominating? I don‘t know; especially not if Sofia can do it again. But I know that she‘ll at least try. Her jumps aren‘t high and she needs polishing but if she gets some good programs, harder combos and somehow manages to stay consistent? Never say never.

About Trusova: Why yesterday? Have we seen her skate yesterday or have I missed anything? :laugh:

In general, I agree that she needs to work on the PCS part of skating but I don‘t know whether skating in Canada will make such a difference. She has the quads and even if she doesn‘t get the high PCS yet, her second GP is in Russia, so whatever happens, the PCS will be there at least by then. I think her program choice this year is promising. Now I hope they spend time on working on her stroking, skating skills and artistry.

TripleAxelQueens3 said:
Masha was left off the Worlds Team this year because she couldn’t rotate her jumps or skate a clean short or free (and I say this as a fan of Masha). Had she been able to pull performances like that of last years, maybe she wouldn’t be going to Worlds per se, but RusFed would definitely give her two assignments and a spot on the Main Senior List. Last year (2017-18 that is) Masha never had two subpar skates, always one good, one bad or both good, and last season (2018-19) she had MUCH more than just two subpar performances. She’s had like 6. Alina’s URs have been called, but so have Zhenya’s flutzes. And since Alina has 3Lz+3Lo and 3Lz+3T and is current reigning World, Olympic Champ and holds two WRs and is number one is SB and WS she ought to be at least in the top 6 in Russia right? Especially if someone she’s beaten MANY times (Zhenya) is in group A. Maybe Worlds was the momentum Alina needed like how the RusNats FS was the momentum Zhenya needed. Maybe pressure will make both stronger, or weaker. Ice is slippery but facts are real. Alina deserves to be in Group A based off the FACTS not guesses and personal opinions.

Alina is the reigning World and Olympic Champ. Whatever issues she had last season, this is a fact. There shouldn‘t even be a discussion about this, she belongs in the A group based on her results. Both her and Zhenya struggled in the last season but managed to turn it around at Worlds. Both deserve to be in the A list. Depending on what they do next season, they may either fall or rise, who knows. But so far that‘s the way it is. Alina won Gold at Worlds. If she isn‘t on the A list, who should even be? :shrug:

Georgya · Jul 13, 2019

I come across this - Veronica Zhilina 3A on floor! I don't know if this was posted here, so I share it.

https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456242756/e892695ff425e6dc83/pl_wall_-97272391

https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456242757/95c79746edd56ac981/pl_wall_-97272391 ( slow mo)

When will she be able to compete in JGP?

Georgya · Jul 13, 2019

Fluture said:
To talk about something else maybe:

Zhenya has just announced that her FS will be choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne and showed some small parts of it.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz1B-zNB4M3/?igshid=c59sxiw9z156

Amazing speed and edges here! Go Evgenia :love:

Alex65 · Jul 13, 2019

Georgya said:
I come across this - Veronica Zhilina 3A on floor! I don't know if this was posted here, so I share it.

https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456242756/e892695ff425e6dc83/pl_wall_-97272391

https://vk.com/eteritutberidze?z=video-97272391_456242757/95c79746edd56ac981/pl_wall_-97272391 ( slow mo)

When will she be able to compete in JGP?

In season 21/22. Together with Akateva.
These girls are the next amazing generation after Valieva and co.

Vandevska · Jul 13, 2019

I'm very happy about Evgenia's announcement, and also very sad about Aliona's one. Can't wait to see all of the programs anyway though

2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

Yuna Luna

TeamGubanova

Amei

moriel

moriel

Happy Skates

Scott512

Tolstoj

TeamGubanova

ec00834

Bluediamonds09

Mathman

Skuratov

Bluediamonds09

TripleAxelQueens3

sasha trusova is superior

Fluture

Georgya

Georgya

Alex65

Vandevska

U don't have to build the end of the world out it.

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