Russia’s representation in the women’s final of the Grand Prix in figure skating has significantly thinned after the news from the injuries of Alexandra Trusova and Daria Usacheva. Anna Shcherbakova and Alena Kostornaya are to compete for a ticket to the main start in 2021 this weekend, and Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin must ensure their place in the Grand Prix finals in the dances. MK-Sport will tell you when and who to follow in Grenoble.
The Grand Prix is coming to a close, which is scheduled for December 9-12 in Osaka. Less than a month is left before the final of the series and there are only two stages – in Grenoble and Sochi. The penultimate business trip of Russian figure skaters will take place this weekend (November 19-21). At the French Grand Prix, the fate of tickets to the final for some Russians should be decided. And, first of all, for single women.
Alena Kostornaya, Anna Shcherbakova and Ksenia Sinitsyna will come to Grenoble . And if the student of Svetlana Panova , who became the fifth at Skate America, will have to try hard to get to the Grand Prix finals on the sum of two stages, then the Khrustalny skaters are practically guaranteed tickets to Osaka.
Of the notable rivals, Ekaterina Ryabova (Azerbaijan), Wakaba Higuchi (Japan), as well as American women Mariah Bell and Karen Chen will come to Grenoble . Shcherbakova and Tuktamysheva already had to compete with all of them this season – Anna won her stage in Italy, Alena in Canada became the third after Kamila Valieva and Elizaveta Tuktasheva.
By and large, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya should play for the gold of the French Grand Prix. Anna, despite her injuries, has proven herself well this year, and Alena still has room to grow. But after criticism from her own coaching staff , Kostornaya is probably more motivated than ever. Which of them will take the gold away from Grenoble and become the main intrigue in the women’s competition.
In men, Dmitry Aliev and Artur Danielyan will get the second attempt at the Grand Prix . Both did not have a very successful start in the series – Arthur finished 10th at Skate America, Dmitry showed 9th place in Italy. But to be honest, in the company of Jason Brown, Kevin Aimoz and Yuma Kagiyama , it will not be easy for our skaters to cling to the top three. There is still hope for Andrey Mozalev , for whom the stage in Grenoble will be his debut.
Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky should fight for reaching the Grand Prix finals this weekend . The best result of a sports couple this year was third place at Skate America, but then the figure skaters were opposed by Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov . This time Boykova and Kozlovsky will come to France in the company of compatriots in the person of Yulia Artemyeva and Mikhail Nazarychev . And the main rivals of the Russian couples will be Canadians Vanessa James and Eric Radford.
But in dancing, most likely, the fate of gold is predetermined in advance – victory may again go to Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron . On home ice, the French should take their own – they are very good this season, their rhythm dance is already discussed by the whole world. Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin , who have already played with the French on the same ice, can fight the leaders of the season , but even Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donoghue lost at the Italian Grand Prix . There will be no Americans in Grenoble, so the Russians should become at least second.
Russian national team at the stage of the French Grand Prix:
Women: Alena Kostornaya, Anna Shcherbakova, Ksenia Sinitsyna.
Men: Dmitry Aliev, Artur Danielyan, Andrey Mozalev.
Sports couples: Yulia Artemieva / Mikhail Nazarychev, Alexandra Boykova / Dmitry Kozlovsky
Dancing couples: Annabel Morozova / Andrey Bagin, Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin.
Schedule of the fifth stage of the Figure Skating Grand Prix
Grenoble (France)
November 19 (Friday)
15:00 (Moscow time) – women, short program
17:00 – dance couples, rhythm dance
18:45 – men, short program
20:45 – sports couples, short program
November 20 (Saturday)
15:00 – women, free program
17:10 – dance couples, free dance
19:00 – men, free program
21:10 – sports couples, free program
November 21 (Sunday)
16:30 – demonstration performances
