Tuktamysheva vs. Valieva: Grand Prix Final favourites, line-up and schedule

Athletistic/ Figure Skating. Already this Saturday, the last important tournament of the 2022/23 season, the Russian Grand Prix Final, will begin on the ice of the luxurious Yubileiny sports complex.

On the eve of the ice battles on the banks of the Neva, several significant reshuffles among single skaters occurred at the same time. So, together with Alexandra Trusova, Anna Frolova will go to St. Petersburg, and Anastasia Zinina, injured in the northern capital, will be replaced by Adelia Petrosyan, who received a special invitation from the Federation.

Also, Ksenia Sinitsyna was forced to abandon the fight for the main trophy of the competition – doctors raised a red flag in front of student Svetlana Panova, who forbade the skater to go on the ice after a fracture leg fatigue.

To date, the official start list for the competition includes 12 solo skaters.

The youngest of the participants is Sofia Zakharova. Representative of the St. Petersburg school of the Star Ice School, born in 2008 (14 years old).

The most experienced athlete in the tournament is Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, born in 1996 (26 years old).

The full list of participants is as follows:

Competition Favorites

Experts continue to call Kamila Valieva the main candidate for the final victory in St. Petersburg. In favor of the coming triumph, Kami speaks of both the skater’s skill level and the thirst for revenge.

The December slap, received by Kami in the Chechen Republic-2023 from the modest Akatieva, still burns the cheeks of the “invincible” favorite of Khrustalny. There is no doubt about that!

In Krasnoyarsk, Akatieva, who made her debut at adult level, overtook Kamila in the final protocol by just two points, literally snatching the national crown from the hands of Valieva.

Immediately after the announcement of the classification in Krasnoyarsk, Kamila had the strength and the dignity to congratulate her young rival on a brilliant victory, but let’s not forget that we are talking about athletes! Catching up and overtaking – this is the blood formula of any athlete. Of course, Akatieva’s victory touched Valieva – Kami will arrive in St. Petersburg fully loaded with revenge.

Another contender for victory in the Grand Prix Final, of course, is Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who has the most stable rentals over the season. Lisa’s experience is the main asset of the student of Alexei Mishin. During the season, Elizaveta won two stages, winning successively in Moscow and Perm.

Lisa’s only weak point is the absence of quadruple jumps in the program. Even before the start of the season, the district of Mishina announced the appearance of a quadruple in the “arbitrary”. Moreover, there was a sea of ​​videos on the network proving that Lisa was ready to spin in four rounds. However, in reality, alas, we have never seen Liza’s quads on competitive ice.

Sure, Tuktamysheva’s signature trixel is a formidable weapon, but it’s more for defense than offense. With the help of triple axes, you can punish your opponents for their mistakes – bypassing the chi on the turn. But what if all the favorites are skating without error, bouncing their quads cleanly? In this case, trixels are no longer enough – pure arithmetic.

In order to get a general idea of ​​who can shoot in St. Petersburg, let’s look at the best results of skaters during the season.

The seven best results of the 2022/23 Grand Prix season:

1 Kamila Valieva – 244.66 Stage 1. Moscow

2 Elizvaeta Tuktamysheva – 239.94 Step 6. Perm

3 Adelia Petrossian – 239.31 Stage 2. Sochi

4 Sofia Muravyova – 239.15 Step 6. Perm

5 Sofia Akatieva – 236.68 Stage 1. Moscow

6 Sofia Samodelkina – 218.73 Stage 2. Sochi

7 Alina Gorbacheva – 210.86 Step 6. Perm

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that someone in St. Petersburg will jump over his head, leaving the leaders overboard, but according to the number of real contenders, there are exactly seven of them!

Recall that in St. Petersburg figure skaters will fight not only for sports prestige, but also for decent prizes. This year, the FFKKR has allocated a lot of money for the Grand Prix Final. Thus, the winners of the competition are guaranteed to receive one million rubles each. Owners of silver discs will replenish their bank account with 750,000, and for third place skaters will receive half a million.

We add that the results presented in the Grand Prix Final are traditionally one of the main criteria for selecting skaters for the national team for the next season. Those who receive their quota in the ranks of the national team will be guaranteed to receive state funding and other benefits during the year, which, you see, is also a serious incentive for athletes .

We bring to your attention the calendar of the next ice battles in the northern capital:

March 4 (Saturday)

Ice Dance, Rhythm Dance – 1:30 p.m. (Moscow time)

Women’s short program – 3:00 p.m.

Sports couples, short program – 4:45 p.m.

Men’s short program – 6:05 p.m.

March 5 (Sunday)

Ice Dance, Free Dance – 1:00 p.m.

Women’s free program – 14:45

Sports couples, free program – 4:45 p.m.

Men, free program – 6:15 p.m.