Four contenders for gold in pairs and the struggle for bronze in men and in dances: the main intrigues of the Czech Republic in figure skating

Samarin and Aliyev against all

Compared to last year, the men's podium at the Russian Figure Skating Championships will certainly be updated by at least two-thirds. The triumphant of the tournament in Saransk, Maxim Kovtun, ended his career without taking advantage of that brilliant performance, and Mikhail Kolyada, who took second place, completely misses the 2019/20 season due to ongoing sinusitis. There was a possibility that the winner of the world championships would still come to Krasnoyarsk, however, closer to the competition it became clear that the disease, although not the worst, had forced the skater to stay home.

The two main favorites of the current championship of Russia are obvious. Alexander Samarin and Dmitry Aliyev all season quite confidently performed at the stages of the Grand Prix and qualified for the finals, where they took fourth and sixth places. Both skaters own a quadruple lutz and demonstrate it at competitions, try to perform other quadruple jumps, but they succeed with varying degrees of success. Both still lack the stability that is needed in high-level competitions, but Samarin and Aliyev remain out of competition in the domestic arena.

Unlike the favorites in other types of programs, Samarin and Aliyev are in a slightly more difficult situation. Girls, couples and dancers do not need to think about a specific place in the prize three - all of it falls into the national team for the European and World Championships. Men have three quotas only for the continental championship, and only two skaters can still go to Montreal. The resulting nervousness can play into the hands of those who came to Krasnoyarsk to fight for bronze, and there will be several such athletes at once.

First of all, a new name for Russian men's skating is highlighted - Makar Ignatov. At the Grand Prix stage in Moscow, he was able to take third place, flawlessly fulfilling the quadruple salchow and sheepskin coat available in the arsenal. The 19-year-old skater then unsuccessfully performed in Japan, but Ignatov became the winner of the other tournaments of the season in which he participated, which indicates his stability - when there is enough physical strength to perform.

Stronger than Ignatov in the technical component is the participant in the last World Cup, Andrei Lazukin. This season, Alexei Mishin’s student showed a clean quadruple lutz, and this is a solid argument in domestic competitions. But on all other elements, Lazukin openly rained down. In early December, he missed the Golden Horse of Zagreb due to injury, and if the damage was not too serious, then a break should have been beneficial to him, to finally put his head in order and give a maximum at the Russian championship.

Sergey Voronov, who will perform at the competitions for the 15th time and finally break the record of Evgeni Plushenko, did not say his last word. This could happen a year ago, but then Voronov starred due to illness. For the past five years, the 32-year-old skater has not been selected for the national team, but now the young rivals themselves provide him with this opportunity, you just have to skate cleanly yourself.

In addition to the fight for medals, the interest for the fans will be the performance of juniors, who will gather a lot in Krasnoyarsk. This is a very young talent Daniil Samonov, and the more experienced Andrei Mozalev and Pyotr Gumennik, and the vice-world champion among juniors Arthur Danielyan. Each of them does not lose the opportunity to reach the bronze, only this will they create confusion in the formation of the national team for the European Championship.

Pressure on Tarasova and Morozov

Pair skating is the second most powerful type of program in Russia after the women's. Serious passions will boil here, since there are only three places in the national team, and there are no less than four applicants for permits. And there could have been even more if not for the health problems of Alexander Enbert and Andrey Novosyolov, which is why their partners Natalya Zabiyako and Ksenia Stolbova will have to be ordinary spectators at these competitions.

There are not only a lot of favorites in pairs - they also cannot figure out with respect to each other who should be considered a leader. Before the Grand Prix finals, such a pair could be called Alexander Boykov and Dmitry Kozlovsky, but in Turin they performed much lower than their very high capabilities.

In this case, it was not Daria Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykin, who had at least some experience playing in big tournaments, who climbed into their place, but the debutants of adult competitions Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov. Only among Russian couples they managed to climb the podium, although they themselves did not expect such a success from themselves.

All three couples are young enough and have their own trump cards in technology, but, as the first half of the season has shown, they are sometimes subject to inexplicable breakdowns and still do not have sufficient authority among the judges so that their components are appreciated. Even Boykova and Kozlovsky, although they are bronze medalists of the European Championship, did not achieve this right.

The notorious authority remains only with Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, who could not qualify for the Grand Prix finals and instead had the opportunity to better prepare for the national championship. Their restructuring under the leadership of Marina Zueva continues and now must pass a really serious exam. If before the couple could argue that its flaws are connected with the new requirements of the titled coach, now it is time to present all of their achievements.

It would be beneficial for the whole of Russian figure skating if it were Tarasova and Morozov who were selected for the World and European Championships - the experiment with three young pairs did not justify itself. It is very likely that the couple will be favored by the judges, so they will have to try to convince their exclusivity of the audience, which can not be deceived. Tarasova and Morozov will fall in Krasnoyarsk under a certain press of circumstances, but with their experience there should be no problem getting out of him.

The list of participants is complemented by another pair, which is worth paying attention to. This is Apollinaria Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov, who recently won the Junior Grand Prix finals. In terms of paired elements, they have already reached a very decent level, but they need to continue to work on skating and especially on jumping - in Turin, juniors were unpleasantly surprised by the absence of triple jumps. Panfilova and Rylov have not yet fought for medals, and in and next season will remain juniors, but they have the potential that should maintain pair skating in Russia with highly competitive discipline.

The dispute between Sinitsina and Katsalapov with Stepanova and Bukin

The balance of power in ice dancing before the Russian Championship does not change for the second year. Victoria Sinitsina - Nikita Katsalapov and Alexander Stepanova - Ivan Bukin are the main favorites and actually compete only with each other. Only these Russian duets are quoted on the international stage, so their failure to reach the podium in Krasnoyarsk can affect the medal chances of Russian dancers in the second half of the season.

The performances of both pairs at the stages of the Grand Prix series in the fall can hardly be called cloudless. They had to endure strange judging decisions, the apotheosis of which was the “fall” of Sinitsina and Katsalapov, for which the partner’s rotation with his knee on ice was taken. Dancers will be able to leave all such negativity behind when the Russian championship begins and they will only have to perform for their pleasure.

There are very few applicants for the third place and one more ticket to the national team. A year ago, a similar question seemed practically resolved in favor of Tiffany Zagorski and Jonathan Gureiro, but problems with the laces of the partner led to the loss of several months of competitive practice. This season, the couple recovered from that annoying misunderstanding and returned to their lost positions, but relative to the whole world remained in its place.

There is practically no one to impose a fight between Zagorski and Gureyro. Betina Popova and Sergey Mozgov in Krasnoyarsk, where they won the Universiade, will not come because of the sore back of the partner. The current bronze medalists of the Russian championship Sofya Evdokimova and Yegor Bazin could not take their chance and take a full step forward. World champions among juniors Anastasia Skoptsova and Kirill Aleshin also did not show sufficient progress.

It is possible to highlight in dancing on ice only Annabel Morozov and Andrei Bagin. In early December, this young duo successfully performed at the Golden Skate of Zagreb and scored a very solid 191.17 points - this year it is the 12th result in the world, exceeding the season record of Zagorski and Gureiro. Young dancers will need to prove that this was not a one-time surge of love of judges, but a well-deserved result of their efforts. But for themselves they should not be a tragedy if this time they give way to more experienced duets in a dispute over bronze.