“When Kawaguchi and Smirnov did a quadruple throw, I was shocked” – figure skater Khabibullina

Figure skater Natalia Khabibullina playing in tandem with Ilya Kniajouk in an interview with , she said that she was very impressed with the training process Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov.

Kawaguchi/Smirnov are two-time European champions and winners of two bronze medals at the world championships. The couple also won the Russian championship three times.

— Which couples from the recent past impressed you the most?

— Natalia Khabibullina (NH): Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov – exactly. I remember the performance of Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov at the European Championships in 2018. Then I haven’t thought about pair skating yet. Zhenya and Vova have always been my favorite couple, I loved them very much.

— Ilya Kniazhuk (IR): I agree with Natasha. We really love them.

— What if we took pairs from the previous generation? Since the 2000s, for example.

— NH: Maria Petrova and Alexey Tikhonov are very cool.

— IR: Yes, I really like it. Who else?

— Yuko Kawaguchi and Alexander Smirnov?

— NH: Yes! I remember how in 2015 I arrived at the training camp with Alexei Nikolaevich Mishin. I went on the ice with everyone, starting with the skaters alone. I trained with every coach and learned something new. I remember going out with the talons, Kawaguchi/Smirnov were practicing there doing a quadruple throw, I was just in shock.

— IR: Yes, they did a quadruple Salchow.

— NH: I was 10 years old then, still living in Izhevsk. I watched them and I was just delighted,” the skaters told .

Khabibullina and Knyazhuk took second place at the Russian Grand Prix stage in Omsk, scoring 221.67 points. Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov took first place (232.98), bronze went to Yulia Artemyeva and Alexey Bryukhanov (203.32).