[2017/18] Senior Ladies of the Grand Prix circuit

[Yatagarasu]

ISU GP Skate America 2017

 

No.	Name
1	Gabrielle DALEMAN	CAN
2	Xiangning LI	CHN
3	Satoko MIYAHARA	JPN
4	Kaori SAKAMOTO	JPN
5	Alena LEONOVA	RUS
6	Anna POGORILAYA	RUS
7	Polina TSURSKAYA	RUS
8	Nicole RAJICOVA	SVK
9	Karen CHEN	USA
10	Bradie TENNELL	USA
11	Ashley WAGNER	USA

 

[Yatagarasu]

1

Gabrielle DALEMAN

CAN

 

Gabrielle Daleman is a Canadian figure skater. She was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on January 13, 1998. She has a younger brother who is also a competitive figure skater. She began skating at age four and debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in autumn 2012. At the 2013 World Junior Championships she finished sixth. As a second time national silver medalist at the Canadian Championships, she was named to the Canadian team at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games, where she finished 17th, as the youngest athlete in the Canadian delegation. The following season brought her senior Grand Prix debut and her first national title. She also finished seventh at the 2015 Four Continents Championships, 21st at the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, and 8th at the 2015 World Team Trophy. The season after, she competed at the 2016 World Championships in Boston where she finished 9th. During the season 2016/17 she won yet another silver at nationals, a silver at the 2017 Four Continents Championships in Gangneung, South Korea and finally at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki a bronze medal.

 

She is the 2017 World bronze medalist, 2017 Four Continents silver medalist, 2014 CS Autumn Classic champion, and 2015 Canadian national champion. 

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
72.70	142.41	214.15

 

Daleman underwent surgery to have an abdominal cyst removed during this off season.

She is currently coached by Lee Barkell and Brian Orser, and is a member of the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Habanera (from "Carmen") by George Bizet (choreo. by Lori Nichol)

FS: Gladiator Rhapsody, Now We Are Free (from "Gladiator" soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer (choreo. by Lori Nichol)

 

She participated in the ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2017 where she finished 6th.

She then participated at 2017 Cup of China where she placed 6h (video: Short Program, Free Skate).

 

 

2

Xiangning LI

CHN

 

Li Xiangning is a Chinese figure skater. She was born in Qiqihar, China on May 11, 2000. She began skating at the age of four and debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in August 2013, placing 10th in Riga, Latvia. She participated in the 2015 World Junior Championships, held in March in Tallinn, Estonia where she finished 21st overall and the following season she was 20th at the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. In 2016/17 she made her senior international debut\in November at the Cup of China and at the 2017 World Championships in Helsinki, Finland she placed 14th, the highest for a Chinese lady. Li won her first senior international medal, silver, at the International Cup of Nice in October 2017.

 

She is the 2017 International Cup of Nice silver medalist and a four-time Chinese national senior medalist. 

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
63.81	117.09	179.42

 

She is currently coached by Xin Zhang and is a member of the Qiqihar Winter Sports Centre skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Cinema Paradiso by Ennio Morricone and Andrea Morricone (choreo. by David Wilson)

FS: Raymonda by Alexander Glazunov (choreo. by David Wilson)

 

She participated in International Cup of Nice 2017 where she finished 2nd.

She then participated in 2017 Cup of China, where she placed 8th (video: Short Program, Free Skate).

 

 

3

Satoko MIYAHARA

JPN

 

Satoko Miyahara is a Japanese figure skater. She was born on March 26, 1998 in Kyoto, Japan. She started skating when she was five years old, during the time she lived in the United States, due to her parents' work. She made her Junior international debut in the 2011/12 season, on the Junior Grand Prix circuit, in Gdańsk, Poland. That season she also participated in her first World Junior Championships, that was held in Minsk, Belarus, where she placed fourth. Next season she qualified for the JGP Final in Sochi, Russia and placed fifth and at the 2013 World Junior Championships she finished seventh. Debuting on the senior Grand Prix, she finished fifth at the 2013 NHK Trophy. She was selected to compete at the 2014 Four Continents Championships, where she won the silver medal. Miyahara finished fourth at the 2014 World Junior Championships — less than a point out of third. At the 2015 Four Continents Championships, she won silver for the second year in a row. At the 2015 World Championships she placed second overall. In the 2015/16 she qualified for her first Grand Prix Final and won the silver medal. She then won gold at the 2016 Four Continents and finished fifth at the 2016 World Championships in Boston. The following season she again qualified for the  Grand Prix Final in Marseille and placed second. Due to a stress fracture in her left hip joint, Miyahara withdrew from two February competitions, the 2017 Four Continents Championships and the 2017 Asian Winter Games, and subsequently,  withdraw from the 2017 World Championships.

 

She is the 2015 World silver medalist, a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist, the 2016 Four Continents champion, and a three-time Japanese national champion (2014–2016).

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
74.64	143.69	218.33

 

She is currently coached by Mie Hamada, Yamato Tamura, C. Reed and H. Okamoto, and is a member of the Kansai University SC skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Memoirs of a Geisha (soundtrack) by John Williams (choreo. by Lori Nichol)

FS: Madame Butterfly Act 3 by Giacomo Puccini, Goro's Entrance, Butterfly Bids Her Child Farewell (Madame Butterfly Act 2) by Giacomo Puccini, Prelude (choreo. by Tom Dickson)

 

She participated at 2017 NHK Trophy, where she placed 5th (video: Short Program, Free Skate).

 

 

4

Kaori SAKAMOTO

JPN

 

Kaori Sakamoto is a Japanese figure skater, born in Kobe, on April 9, 2000. She began skating when she as 4 years old. Her first victory came at Japan Novice Championships in 2012/13 season, when she also placed 9th at the Japan Junior Championships. In 2015, she competed at the World Junior Championships, where she placed 6th. Last season she medaled at both of her JGP events and participated in the Junior Grand Prix finals, where she took the bronze medal. She also won the Japanese junior title and placed 7th competing on the senior level at the Japan Championships.

 

She is the 2017 World Junior bronze medalist, 2016 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, 2016 JGP Yokohama champion, and 2017 Japan junior national champion.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
68.88	127.76	195.54

 

She is currently coached by Sonoko Nakano and Mitsuko Graham, and is a member of Kobe FSC skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Moonlight, Danse Macabre (choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto)

FS: Amélie by Yann Tiersen (choreo. by Benoit Richaud)

 

This season she participated in ISU CS US Internat. FS Classic 2017 where she placed 4th.

She then participated at 2017 Rostelecom Cup, where she placed 5th (video: Short Program, Free Skate).

 

 

5

Alena LEONOVA

RUS

 

Alena Igorevna Leonova is a Russian figure skater. She was born on 23 November 1990 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Leonova started skating at the age of four and won silver at the 2007 Junior Grand Prix in Romania. She then won gold at the 2009 World Junior Championships. Leonova won the bronze medal at the 2009 Cup of Russia and silver at the 2009 NHK Trophy to qualify her for the Grand Prix Finalwhere she finished sixth. he finished 13th at the 2010 World Championships and earned one of Russia's two ladies' entries for the 2010 Winter Olympics, where she placed ninth. The following season she finished fourth at the 2011 World Championships and the one after that, she at the Grand Prix Final, she won the bronze medal. At  the 2012 World Championships she won the silver medal. She did not go to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and her career slowly wound down since then, though she regularly participates in Challenger and GP series.

 

She is the 2012 World silver medalist, the 2011 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2009 World Junior champion, and a three-time (2010–2012) Russian national medalist. She is also the 2014/15 ISU Challenger Series runner-up.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
68.11	127.34	191.39

 

She is currently coached by Evgeni Rukavicin and is a member of the Olympic School St. Petersburg skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Bla Bla Bla Cha Cha Cha by Petty Booka (choreo. by Olga Glinka)

FS: Tune Maari Entriyaan (Bollywood Selection)

 

She participated at the CS Finlandia Trophy 2017 and finished 5th.

She then participated at 2017 NHK Trophy where she placed 6th  (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

 

[Yatagarasu]

6

Anna POGORILAYA

RUS

 

Anna Alexeyevna Pogorilaya is a Russian figure skater. She was born 10 April 1998 in Moscow, Russia. Pogorilaya began skating at age four and about two years later, Anna Tsareva became her coach. She made her ISU Junior Grand Prix debut in the 2012/13 season. After taking bronze in Croatia, her first event, she then won gold at the JGP event in Germany which was enough to qualify for the JGPF in Sochi, where she won the bronze medal. At the Russian Championships, she placed fifth in her senior debut and sixth on the junior level. The following season she made her senior Grand Prix debut and qualified for her first senior Grand Prix Final where she placed sixth in Fukuoka, Japan. At Worlds in Saitama, Japan she finished fourth overall. She again qualified for the GPF in the 2014/15 season held in Barcelona, where she placed fourth. She was selected to compete at the 2015 European Championships where she won the bronze medal and the 2015 World Championships in Shanghai, where she finished 13th overall. Her placement was significantly affected by an injury that had not year healed by the time the competition was held. The following season she won the bronze medal at the 2016 Russian Championships in Yekaterinburg, repeated the bronze at the  European Championships, which were held in Bratislava, Slovakia and at the 2016 World Championships in Boston won  the bronze medal behind Russia's Evgenia Medvedeva and USA's Ashley Wagner. In 2016/17 season she obtained the bronze medal in Marseille, France, at her third Grand Prix Final. At the 2017 Worlds, after a bad free program, she finished 13th.

 

She is the 2016 World bronze medalist, a three-time European medalist (2017 silver, 2015–2016 bronze), the 2016/17 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and the 2016 Russian national bronze medalist. She has won gold at four Grand Prix events – 2013 Cup of China, 2014 Skate Canada International, 2016 Rostelecom Cup, and 2016 NHK Trophy.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
74.39	143.18	216.47

 

She is still coached by Anna Tsareva and is a member of Sambo 70 skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:
SP: Esperanza by Maxime Rodriguez

FS: Swan Lake by Petr I. Tchaikovski (choreo. by Nikolai Morozov)

 

She has participated at 2017 Skate Canada, where she placed 9th (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

She has now withdrawn from the competition, due to a back injury. She is being replaced by Serafima Sakhanovich (RUS)

 

 

7

Polina TSURSKAYA

RUS

 

Polina Igorevna Tsurskaya is a Russian competitive figure skater. She  was born on 11 July 2001 in Omsk, Russia and moved to Moscow in 2013. She began skating in 2005 and made her international debut in August 2015 at the Junior Grand Prix, in Bratislava, Slovakia. She qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Finals, held in Barcelona, where she won the gold medal. She broke the junior records in the free skate and total scores set by compatriot Elena Radionova. Competing on the senior level, Tsurskaya finished fourth later in December at the Russian Championships before winning her first junior national title in January. In February, Tsurskaya won gold at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway but was forced to withdraw from 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen due to an ankle injury. In September 2016, Tsurskaya won gold at two JGP series events. She was the second-ranked qualifier to the JGP Final in Marseille, but withdrew on 29 November and underwent surgery on her right knee.

 

She is the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic champion, the 2015–16 JGP Final champion and the 2016 Russian Junior National champion.

She is the former junior ladies' record-holder for the highest short program score, free program score and combined total scores.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
70.04	140.15	210.19

 

She is currently coached by Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov, and is a member of the Sambo 70 (Khrustalni) skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Light of the Seven (Games of Thrones soundtrack) by Ramin Djawadi (choreo. by Daniil Gleikhengauz)

FS: Nocturne in F Minor Op. 55, No. 1 by Frederic Chopin (arr. by Chad Lawson for Piano), Song for the Little Sparrow performed by Patricia Kaas

 

She has participated at 2017 HNK Trophy where she placed 3rd  (video: Short Program, Free Skate).

 

8

Nicole RAJICOVA

SVK

 

Nicole Rajičová is a Slovak figure skater. She was born August 13, 1995 in Garden City, New York. By the age of five, Rajicova began taking figure skating lessons in Long Island from Milada Kubikova-Stastny, a former Olympian for Czechoslovakia. Early in her career, she competed as Nicole Rajic in U.S. regional and domestic events. She debuted internationally for Slovakia in December 2011 at the Golden Spin of Zagreb and began appearing in ISU Junior Grand Prix (JGP) events in autumn 2012. Her first senior ISU Championship was the European Championships in January 2014 in Budapest, Hungary where she finished 17th. In March, she competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia; she qualified for the free skate by placing 21st in the short program and finished 24th overall but missed qualifying for the free skate at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. She finished 11th at the 2015 European Championships in Stockholm, Sweden and 15th in Shanghai, China at the 2015 World Championships. At the 2016 Europeans in Bratislava she placed 12th, and at the 2016 Worlds in Boston she placed 13th. She achieved her career-best continental result at the 2017 European Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic when she finished 6th overall. At Worlds that season she placed 17th.

 

She is a three-time Slovak national champion and has won five senior international medals.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
60.98	118.72	179.70

 

She is currently coached by Igor Krokavec, Nikolai Morozov and Tom Rajic, and is a member of the SKP Bratislava skating club.

 

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Une page d'amour by Nathalia Mansner (choreo. by Nikolai Morozov)

FS: Primavera by Ludovico Einaudi, Clouds, The Mind on the (Re)Wind by Ezio Bosso, Experience by Ludovico Einaudi (choreo. by Nikolai Morozov)

 

She participated at the 2017 CS Nepela Trophy and finished 7th.

She then participated at 2017 NHK Trophy, where she placed 10th (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

 

 

9

Karen CHEN

USA

 

Karen Chen is an American figure skater. She was born in Fremont, California on August 16, 1999. She has a younger brother, Jeffrey, who is also a figure skater and started skating when she was six years old. In 2013/14 she had her Junior Grand Prix debut and qualified for the JGP Final. While practicing a triple Lutz, she broke her right ankle and had to withdraw but still participated at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria where she finished 9th overall. The following season she won the bronze medal in her senior national debut at the 2015 U.S. Championships, behind Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold. Though she finished 8th at the 2016 U.S. Championships, the following season was much more successful and Chen won the gold medal at the 2017 U.S. Championships. She set a new U.S. record with her short program score of 72.82. At the 2017 Four Continents Championships she finished 12th but at the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships Chen skated to a fourth place finish overall in her first appearance at the World Championships. Her placement, combined with a seventh place finish from USA's Ashley Wagner, qualified Team USA three spots for the 2018 Olympics and 2018 World Figure Skating Championships.

 

She is a bronze medalist at two ISU Challenger Series events, the 2015 U.S. national bronze medalist, and the 2017 U.S. national champion. She placed fourth at the 2017 World Championships.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
69.98	129.31	199.29

 

She is currently coached by Tammy Gambill and is a member of the Peninsula FSC San Jose skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Tango de Roxanne (from "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack) (choreo. by Mark Pillay)

FS: Slow Dancing in the Big City by Bill Conti (choreo. by Karen Chen)

 

She participated in 2017 CS U.S. Classic International where she won the bronze medal.

She then participated at 2017 Skate Canada where she placed 7th (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

 

10

Bradie TENNELL

USA

 

Bradie Tennell is an American competitive figure skater. Tennell was born on January 31, 1998 in Winfield, Illinois, USA. She started skating when she was three years old. 

Tennell won the novice bronze medal at the 2013 U.S Championships. The following year, she moved up to the junior ranks and placed fourth on that level at the 2014 U.S Championships. She debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the 2014/15 season. She  competed at 2014 JGP Japan, where she finished 8th. At the 2015 U.S Championships, Tennell won the junior gold medal. She finished 6th on the senior level at the 2016 U.S. Championships in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 23, 2016 and was assigned to the 2016 World Junior Championships in Debrecen. Ranked 4th in the short program and 14th in the free skate, she finished 11th overall in Hungary.

 

She is the 2016 CS Tallinn Trophy bronze medalist and 2015 U.S national junior champion. She finished in the top ten at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
64.34	132.36	196.70

 

She is currently coached by Denise Myers and is a member of the Wagon Wheel FSC Crystal Lake skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Taegukgi by Lee Dong-jun (choreo. by Scott Brown)

FS: Cinderella (soundtrack) by Patrick Doyle (choreo. by Benoît Richaud)

 

She has participated at 2017 Lombardia Trophy where she placed 4th (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

 

 

11

Ashley WAGNER

USA

 

Ashley Elisabeth Wagner is an American figure skater. She was born on a U.S. Army Base in Heidelberg, Germany, on May 16, 1991. She  began skating at age five in Eagle River, Alaska because she was made to choose between it and ballet by her mother. In the 2006/07 season she made her Junior Grand Prix debut and qualified her for the Junior Grand Prix Final in Sofia, Bulgaria, where she won the silver medal.  At the 2007 Junior Worlds in Oberstdorf, Germany she won the bronze. She made her senior international debut at the 2007 Skate Canada International in Quebec City, Quebec, where she placed fifth overall. At the 2008 World Championshipsin Goteburg, Sweden, she finished 16th and the following year she represented the United States at the 2009 Junior Worlds in Sofia, Bulgaria where she placed third, winning her second junior world medal. She was placed on the team to the 2010 Junior Worlds, but withdrew from the team before the event.

 

At the 2012 U.S. Nationals, she won her first Nationals title and placed 4th at the 2012 World Championships. She qualified for the Grand Prix Final the following season and won her first medal, a silver. At the 2013 U.S. Championships she won her second national title and then placed 5th at Worlds 2013. Though she finished fourth at the 2014 U.S. Championships she was sent to 2014 Sochi Olympics where she won a team bronze medal. At the 2014 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan she placed 7th overall and at 2015 World Championships in Shanghai 5th. At the 2016 U.S. Championships she won the bronze medal which qualified her to compete at the 2016 World Championships in Boston where she won the silver medal, becoming the first American woman to win a medal at the World Championships in a decade. At the 2017 World Championships in Helsink she placed 7th.

 

She is the 2016 World silver medalist, 2012 Four Continents champion, a three-time Grand Prix Final medalist, winner of five Grand Prix events (2012 and 2016 Skate America; 2012and 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard; 2015 Skate Canada), and a three-time U.S. national champion (2012, 2013, and 2015). She is the bronze medalist from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, in the Team Event.

 

ISU personal best scores

Short Program	Free Skate	Combined Score
73.16	142.23	215.39

 

According to an interview, Wagner has suffered several concussions and she believes these incidents had affected her cognitive abilities, including her ability to remember choreographies.

 

She is currently coached by Rafael Arutunian and is a member of the SC of Wilmington skating club.

 

2017/18 season programs:

SP: Hip Hip Chin Chin performed by Club des Belugas (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne)

FS: Diamonds, One Day I'll Fly Away, The Show Must Go On (from "Moulin Rouge" soundtrack) (choreo. by Shae-Lynn Bourne, Benji Schwimmer)

 

She has participated at 2017 Skate Canada, where she placed 3rd (video: Short Program, Free Skate)

 

[Moria Polonius]

 

7 minutes ago, LadyLou said:

sorry for OT

in the last podcast Max & Angelo were arguing that it might have been easier for Med to WD if Polina, her training mate, were the one to take her place...but now it would be a jpn skater, so it might add more external pressure for her not to wd from the final (on top of her own determination to compete, of course, which I think would still be the major reason for her to go)

 

I'm confused, why would it make a difference who takes her place? Zagitova's most likely to win in Med's absence anyway.

 

Edit: Thanks Yata, I'll move my question!

[EisElle]

Bringing this here from SA's ladies thread

 

7 minutes ago, Moria Polonius said:

 

I'm confused, why would it make a difference who takes her place? Zagitova's most likely to win in Med's absence anyway.

because her place would go to another girl of Eteri's group, so her wd would mean one of her training mates gets a chance, instead of one competitor (of course even polina is a competitor, but it's still russian and more important one trained by her coaches). So Russia (and Eteri in particular) have more chances for medals even without her

[Yatagarasu]

4 minutes ago, Moria Polonius said:

I'm confused, why would it make a difference who takes her place? Zagitova's most likely to win in Med's absence anyway.

 

Edit: Thanks Yata, I'll move my question!

 

Thank you! 

And because the Russians will want as many medals as they can get. With another Russian being there to jump in, it lessens the pressure but as it is, and especially with Satoko being the first alternate - and Satoko with her JSF push is a bigger threat than say Wakaba - it's just going to add to the list of why she should compete.

[Moria Polonius]

9 minutes ago, LadyLou said:

Bringing this here from SA's ladies thread

 

because her place would go to another girl of Eteri's group, so her wd would mean one of her training mates gets a chance, instead of one competitor (of course even polina is a competitor, but it's still russian and more important one trained by her coaches). So Russia (and Eteri in particular) have more chances for medals even without her

 

That's pretty harsh - risking a top skater like that. Damn. I never thought I'd feel sorry for Med. "Go skating on your fractured foot because Russian Fed /our school wants medals, never mind that you might bomb because of your injury, get no medals, damage your reputation and risk your Olympic chances." Argh. I hope I'm wrong and Eteri and Russian fed will be reasonable and not pressure her unnecessarily.

[Yatagarasu]

5 minutes ago, Moria Polonius said:

 

That's pretty harsh - risking a top skater like that. Damn. I never thought I'd feel sorry for Med. "Go skating on your fractured foot because Russian Fed /our school wants medals, never mind that you might bomb because of your injury, get no medals, damage your reputation and risk your Olympic chances." Argh. I hope I'm wrong and Eteri and Russian fed will be reasonable and not pressure her unnecessarily.

 

Well another issue is that Zhenya herself wants to skate; she's a little bit like Yuzuru there. She's pretty much chafing at the bit to go and as she's an adult now, she does have a say in these choices. Another problem is Zagitova, not to go over all of this, you have that conversation in the Team Russia thread but I can see why she would want to win at GPF considering all of that. So it's a more than one factor in play here, we'll see how it all turns out.

[EisElle]

I hope I'm not making look Eteri like a evil ice queen, because I think that despite her cool attitude she really cares for her students, but I think she shares and understands her student's absolute will to compete and win, too, and Zhenya's will is very strong.

Also, imo even psychologically maybe it would be easier for Zhenya to say: ok, this still sucks but I will crush everyone at Nats and Polina, who had her loads of injuries herself and whose hard work and will to compete I see everyday, might go there in my place. (thin silver lining, like for Yuzuru: withdrawing from the GP was heartbreaking, but the thought of Olys made that wd a little bit less bitter, or at least made acceptance easier, once the decision was made)

But this part is just my own speculation. In the end it will all come down to how Zhenya's foot will be, her confidence and how strongly she'll want be there (or feel that she has to).

For sure Satoko will be more than ready, and with the final in Nagoya I'd expect a strong push for her, were she to take Zhenya's place.