I say that Rostelecom Cup this week will be a mini-Nationals for Russia, but it’s not as if we don’t see some version of that on a pretty regular basis with the Russian Cup competitions that have been happening during the fall. We are definitely missing a few big names in this competition due to injury or illness, but this will be as large of a gathering of big names as we’ve had in Russia since the test skates a few months ago. What happens this week will absolutely be a preview of what’s to come at Nationals next month.
Rostelecom Cup predictions
Unofficial hashtag: #RostelecomCup2020
Ladies Top 5 predictions
GOLD Alexandra Trusova RUS
SILVER Anna Shcherbakova RUS
BRONZE Alena Kostornaia RUS
4. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva RUS
5. Anastasiia Guliakova RUS
A lot of people have their eyes on this one! One very big name had to withdraw - Evgenia Medvedeva is still recovering from a back injury and pulled out of the competition earlier - but the competition is stacked with skaters who could very well make up the podium at the World Championships this year (and last year, for that matter).
They may no longer be training mates, but Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Alena Kostornaia are back in international competition against each other for the first time since they swept the podium at Europeans in January. Of the three, Trusova looks to have the edge, especially on the technical front, as her jumps have gotten even more explosive since she moved to train with Evgeni Plushenko’s team. Shcherbakova is always a bit of the overlooked one of the three, but she’s proven that she can win it all against her two teammates. And Kostornaia’s fate is going to be tied to whether or not her triple axel is back - it represents a swing of 15-20 points for her in her overall scoring potential.
BUT here’s a dark horse for you - and she shouldn’t even be a dark horse given that she’s won Worlds before - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva comes into this season with her strongest material ever, and maybe, just maybe, a potential quad toe in the free skate. Could Tuktamysheva be the one to sneak onto that podium?
Men Top 5 predictions
GOLD Mikhail Kolyada RUS
SILVER Andrei Mozalev RUS
BRONZE Dmitri Aliev RUS
4. Makar Ignatov RUS
5. Morisi Kvitelashvili GEO
We are seeing glimpses of a (potentially) consistent Mikhail Kolyada after a full-year layoff and a switch of coaches to Alexei Mishin. He looks to be a pretty solid favorite in a continuously-improved field of Russian men. World junior champion Andrey Mozalev makes his senior Grand Prix debut with some new tricks since last season, and could very well be the surprise silver medalist, but that depends on how well Dmitri Aliev’s recovery has been from this summer, when he was being treated for joint issues. The men’s event could be the only one in which a non-Russian could show up in the top five - Morisi Kvitelashvili has done well internationally in the past, but this will be the first we are seeing of him in competition this season.
Pairs Top 5 predictions
GOLD Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii RUS
SILVER Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov RUS
BRONZE Apollinariia Panfilova/Dmitry Rylov RUS
4. Iasmina Kadyrova/Ivan Balchenko RUS
5. Iuliia Artemeva/Mikhail Nazarychev RUS
A week ago, Anastasia Mishina/Aleksandr Galliamov pulled off a huge upset and beat Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii AND Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov to win one of the Russian Cup domestic events. It is particularly significant because Boikova/Kozlovskii had been squarely the top Russian pair since early last season, and it showed the visible improvements from Mishina/Galliamov this season. Tarasova/Morozov are not going to be at Rostelecom Cup, but it should be a really good showdown between the other two pairs - the results could play a big role in how Russian Nationals shapes up.
Dance Top 5 predictions
GOLD Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov RUS
SILVER Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro RUS
BRONZE Anastasia Skoptcova/Kirill Aleshin RUS
4. Annabelle Morozov/Andrei Bagin RUS
5. Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Egor Bazin RUS
With Alexandra Stepanova/Ivan Bukin out because they are still recovering from their bout with COVID-19, the clear favorites here will be Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov. There is something to the posturing of scores within each of these mostly domestic Grand Prix events this season that play to the larger narrative of how the different countries are jockeying for position heading into Worlds (if there is one). Without truly international competition, we’ve seen scores average pretty high for ice dance teams (see: Skate America, and especially Cup of China). I expect to see some monster scores this week for the top 3-4 teams in Moscow.