Natalia Alekseevna Khabibullina (Russian: Наталья Алексеевна Хабибуллина, born 18 December 2004) is a Russian pair skater. With her current partner, Ilya Knyazhuk, she is the 2021 JGP Austria champion, the 2021 JGP Russia silver medalist, and the 2022 Russian junior national champion.
| Natalia Khabibullina | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Natalia Alekseevna Khabibullina |
| Native name | Наталья Алексеевна Хабибуллина (Russian) |
| Other names | Natalya |
| Born | 18 December 2004 Izhevsk, Russia |
| Hometown | Moscow, Russia |
| Height | 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Country |  Russia |
| Partner | Ilya Knyazhuk |
| Coach | Sergei Dobroskokov, Sergei Rosliakov |
| Skating club | Olympic Sports School No. 2, Moscow |
| Began skating | 2008 |
Personal life edit
Khabibullina was born on 18 December 2004, in Izhevsk, Russia, to parents Aleksei and Marina. She has a younger brother, Mikhail.[2]
Career edit
Early years edit
Khabibullina began learning to skate in 2008 as a four-year-old in her hometown of Izhevsk. She shares the same first coach as 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova, Natalia Antipina. Khabibullina trained under Antipina as a single skater until the end of the 2015–16 season, after which she relocated to Moscow to train under Eteri Tutberidze and her coaching team at Sambo-70. She skated under Tutberidze for two seasons before transitioning to pair skating with her first partner, Ivan Balchenko, for the 2018–19 season.
Khabibullina/Balchenko competed together for just one season, coached by Sergei Dobroskokov in Moscow. They received one international junior assignment, the 2018 Ice Star, where they finished second behind Alina Pepeleva / Roman Pleshkov.[3] The team split at the end of the 2018–19 season, leading Khabibullina to team up with her current partner, Ilya Knyazhuk.
2021–22 season: International junior debut edit
Khabibullina/Knyazhuk made their international junior debut in September at the 2021 JGP Russia. They placed second in both the short program and the free skate to take the silver medal overall behind compatriots Ekaterina Chikmareva / Matvei Ianchenkov. At their second assignment, the 2021 JGP Austria in October, the team set new personal bests in both segments of competition, as well as overall, to take the title ahead of Russian teammates Anastasia Mukhortova / Dmitry Evgenyev and Georgian pair Karina Safina / Luka Berulava. Their placements across their two events qualified them to the 2021–22 Junior Grand Prix Final as the second-seeded team of four, but the event was later canceled due to concerns related to the discovery of the Omicron variant.
Khabibullina/Knyazhuk next made their debut at the senior-level Russian Championships in December. The team placed ninth in the short program and eighth in the free skate to finish seventh overall due to shifting ordinals. They were the highest-ranked of the teams competing internationally as juniors.
At the 2022 Russian Junior Championships the following month, Khabibullina/Knyazhuk narrowly won the title over Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev with a strong free skate performance after placing second to the rival team in the short program.[4]
Programs edit
With Knyazhuk edit
| Season | Short program | Free skating |
|---|---|---|
| 2023–2024 |
|
|
| 2022–2023 |
|
|
| 2021–2022 [5] |
|
Competitive highlights edit
JGP: Junior Grand Prix
With Knyazhuk edit
| International: Junior[6] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 20–21 | 21–22 | 22–23 | 23–24 |
| JGP Final | C | |||
| JGP Austria | 1st | |||
| JGP Russia | 2nd | |||
| National | ||||
| Russian Champ. | 7th | 6th | 4th | |
| Russian Junior Champ. | 8th | 1st | ||
| Russian Cup Final [a] | 6th J | 1st J | 4th | 4th |
| GPR Golden Skate | 1st | 2nd | ||
| GPR Heart of Siberia | 2nd | |||
| GPR Moscow Stars | 2nd | |||
| TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Event cancelled J = Junior level | ||||
With Balchenko edit
| International: Junior | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | 2018–19 | ||
| Ice Star | 2nd | ||
Detailed results edit
With Knyazhuk edit
- Senior results
| 2023–24 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14-19 February 2024 | 2024 Russian Grand Prix Final |
4 77.10 |
6 135.62 |
4 212.72 |
| 20–24 December 2023 | 2024 Russian Championships |
6 73.82 |
4 141.87 |
4 215.69 |
| 24–27 November 2023 | 2023 Cup of Russia Series, 6th Stage |
3 76.40 |
2 143.92 |
2 220.32 |
| 20–23 October 2023 | 2023 Cup of Russia Series, 2nd Stage |
3 72.69 |
2 148.98 |
2 221.67 |
| 2022–23 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 3-5 March 2023 | 2023 Russian Grand Prix Final |
6 76.52 |
4 140.96 |
4 217.48 |
| 20–26 December 2022 | 2023 Russian Championships |
6 74.89 |
6 134.64 |
6 209.53 |
| 11–14 November 2022 | 2022 Cup of Russia Series, 4th Stage |
2 74.75 |
2 139.44 |
2 214.19 |
| 21–24 October 2022 | 2022 Cup of Russia Series, 1st Stage |
2 77.87 |
1 146.60 |
1 224.47 |
| 2021–22 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
| 21–26 December 2021 | 2022 Russian Championships |
8 71.35 |
9 124.51 |
7 195.86 |
- Junior results
| 2021–22 season | ||||
| Date | Event | SP | FS | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18–22 January 2022 | 2022 Russian Junior Championships | 2 71.60 |
1 130.22 |
1 201.82 |
| 6-9 October 2021 | 2021 JGP Austria | 1 64.23 |
1 124.61 |
1 188.84 |
| 15-18 September 2021 | 2021 JGP Russia | 2 63.00 |
2 120.87 |
2 183.87 |
References edit
- ^ The 2023 Russian Cup Final was renamed as the 2023 Russian Grand Prix Final.
- ^ "Natalia Khabibullina / Хабибуллина Наталья Алексеевна" [Natalia Khabibullina / Khabibullina Natalia Alekseevna] (in Russian). allskaters.info.
- ^ "Наталья Хабибуллина". 24SMI (in Russian). Retrieved 2023-01-16.
- ^ "Ice Star 2018". Rink Results.
- ^ "Фигуристка-татарка Наталья Хабибуллина выиграла Юниорский Чемпионат РФ-2022". Татары (in Russian). 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
- ^ "Natalia KHABIBULLINA / Ilya KNYAZHUK: 2021/2022". International Skating Union.
- ^ "Natalia KHABIBULLINA / Ilya KNYAZHUK: Competition Results". International Skating Union.