The Russian Figure Skating Federation on Sunday, December 26, announced the squad for the European Championship, which will be held in Tallinn from January 10 to 16. But even here there were some incidents and mistakes. Initially, Sofia Muravyova was among the substitutes, who, due to her age, cannot go to the tournament. Also, Evgeny Semenenko, who took fifth place in the national championship, is sent to Estonia as the main skater. MK-Sport tells how the federation explained it all.
As promised, the next day after the end of the competition at the Russian Championship, the Figure Skating Federation announced the squad for the European Championship, which will be held in Tallinn from January 10 to 16, 2022.
Initially, the federation’s website contained the following list:
Women: Kamila Valieva, Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova.
Subs : Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Sofia Muravyova, Maya Khromykh.
Men : Mark Kondratyuk, Mikhail Kolyada, Evgeny Semenenko.
Spare : Andrew Mozalev Peter Bean Goose, Alexander Samarin.
Couples : Anastasia Mishina – Alexander Gallyamov, Alexandra Boykova – Dmitry Kozlovsky, Evgenia Tarasova – Vladimir Morozov.
Subs : Daria Pavlyuchenko – Denis Khodykin, Yulia Artemyeva – Mikhail Nazarychev, Karina Akopova – Nikita Rakhmanin.
Dances : Alexandra Stepanova – Ivan Bukin, Diana Davis – Gleb Smolkin, Victoria Sinitsina – Nikita Katsalapov.
Subs : Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva – Yegor Bazin, Annabel Morozov – Andrei Bagin, Elizaveta Shanaeva – David Narizhny.
All the first three prize-winners of the Russian championship go in the women’s single skating. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva , who took seventh place, was announced as a substitute, as did Evgeni Plushenko’s student Sofia Muravyova (sixth place) and Eteri Tutberidze’s pupil Maya Khromykh (eighth place).
Adelia Petrosyan (fourth) and Sophia Samodelkina (fifth) are too young for international starts. But it turned out that according to the regulations, Muravyova cannot go to the European Championship. To be admitted to the tournament, an athlete must have reached the age of 15 by July 1, 2021. Muravyova was born on August 4. And it turned out that she was included in the list by mistake.
“Sophia is a wonderful girl, but for a month or so she does not fit in age. Why was it included? The date of birth was hard to see in the passport. Unfortunately, there was a mistake,” the head of the FFKKR Alexander Gorshkov commented on Match TV on another scandalous episode . They did not replace Muravyov, and Tuktamyshev and Khromykh remained alone as spare.
But questions arose about the composition in men’s single skating. Andrei Mozalev took third place at the end of the Russian championship , but he was sent to the reserve. And the place in the main team was staked out by Evgeny Semenenko , who completed the national selection in fourth place.
“Why is it Semenenko and not Mozalev? Because the executive committee agreed with the coaching proposal. Semenenko is a more experienced athlete and showed better results during the season than Mozalev, ” Aleksandr Kogan, FFKKR CEO, told Sport24 .
Mozalev’s coach Kirill Davydenko did not resent the decision of the coaching council. “We need to train even better so as not to get into third place, which does not guarantee selection for the European Championship. In any case, Andrei is the first substitute. We continue to train and prepare in the same mode. We will continue to be in shape,” Sport24 quotes Davydenko …
The performance at the European Championships will give the coaching advice even more food for thought about the third tickets to the Beijing Olympics. It will be all the more interesting to watch the performances of our skaters in Tallinn. European Championship
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