Recap

The new programs have been presented in Russia!


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Presenting their new free program, Team Paradise skated to a classical music in flashy dresses. /Credits: Anna Negasheva

Autumn is the most expected time of the year for all the Synchro lovers in Russia. The reason for that is presented in the fact that the competition season 2018-2019 was recently launched in Russia. Everyone was looking forward to performing at the first Stage of the Russian Cup, which took place in Moscow from the 3rd to the 4th of November. During those days the ice palace Dream permeated with a festive atmosphere and the stands were joyful.

There are 3 Stages of the Russian Cup, where Junior and Advanced Novice teams have to participate and take the first 4 places to be qualified to the Nationals. The 1st stage takes place every time in Moscow. However, Novouralsk, a city in the Urals, await for the teams of the 2nd. Finally, 3rd Stage is held in Tolyatti city in the Russian Volga region.

The 3rd of November was the first day of the competition, when the youngest skaters, Basic Novice, started to compete. There were 6 teams in that category and they all performed nicely.

However, the 3rd place (with 32.82 points) was for Young Yamal from Salekhard, despite the fact that this team is relatively new in this sport. Moreover, Golden Prize Team from Saint Petersburg won the second place with 40.42 points, whereas and the 1st place was for Team Fleur-de-Lys from Gubkin.

Advanced Novice, standing out by their 14 teams, competed on the 4th of November. Team Sunrise – 2 from Saint Petersburg, many times national champions, got its familiar leading place, finishing with 73.20 points. Moscow team Ice Fantasy, which got 65.36 points, took the 2nd place as the Pirouette Plus from Orenburg finished on the 3rd place with 55.23 points. Less than a point separated the team Yamal from the podium. In case, all in all, teams presented interesting performances and soft skating.



As the tradition goes, Junior and Senior competitions lasted for 2 days. Teams performed their short programs on the 3rd and free programs on the 4th of November.

Music from “The Greatest Showman” film was the most popular among teams. However, performances were not similar, of course. It has been thrilling to see completely different visions of the images, feelings, and movements. Every team showed the music in their own way. For instance, Moscow team Crystal Ice Junior finished the first day with the best scores 80.50, where they performed on the song “Never Enough” and showed beautiful program, tender in the beginning and emotionally strong at the end.

The team Sunrise-1 from Saint Petersburg took the 2nd place, after a short program, which got them 74.75 points. Choosing the song “This is me”, they performed nicely with interesting transitions.

The team Pirouette from Orenburg also skated to the music of “The Greatest Showman” and had an exciting performance. They got 54.83 points, which granted for them the 3rd place.
Teams, as usual, showed soft, smooth skating and good stretch.



On the second day, there was a real struggle in Juniors for the 1st place between Crystal Ice and Sunrise-1. The gap in the free program scores between them was only 0.09 points. Crystal Ice earned 119.53 points and Sunrise -1 earned 119.44. Despite the fact that Sunrise had the highest technical score, it was not enough to win, where the Moscovites saved the leading position with a total of 200.03 points. Pirouette, anyway, confidently took the 3rd place, earned a total of 147.78 points and ahead of the 4th place on 7 points.

Speaking about the performances and music, team Crystal Ice presented themselves in the image of the vampires and showed clear and strong skating. Sunrise-1 performed their personal understanding of the famous “Ave Maria”. The performance was full of beautiful elements, which perfectly synchronized with the music. Additionally, Pirouette presented “Megapolis” by Bel Suono in a magnificent free performance. 



From the very first day, Team Paradise from Saint Petersburg saved the leadership in the Senior category, earning 87.35 points. They performed well with their tender short program and even a quick fall could not prevent them from the victory. On the other hand, the young team Crystal Ice Senior, that started competing only in this season, came second with 75.85 points, although they had two offensive falls. However, Dream team from Samara, unlike the other team that had already unveiled their short programs at Finlandia Trophy, competed for the first time and earned the 3rd place with 54,71 points. They showed a nice program with clear skating.



The free programs did not change the situation. Team Paradise was lightly waltzing on the ice, dazzling the audience and spectators. Their beautiful program brought to them 154.61 points and a total of 241.96 points. Crystal Ice Senior presented incredibly colorful performance, moving the crowd to India, metaphorically. The team came second with 136.17 points in their free performance and had a total score of 212.02 points.

Last but not least, Dream Team finished their first competitions on the 3rd place with 109.09 points and a total of 163.80 points. There were plenty of interesting details and elements in their free program and two unfortunate falls, which did not spoil their efforts.

In conclusion, all participators of the 1st Stage of the Russian Cup reflected a good level of training, capacity and willingness for the self-improvement, as we are looking forward to the next competition, 2nd stage, where we will not only follow their personal growth but also observe for the first time some other Russian teams.

We will keep you posted and updated!