2012-13 ISU Grand Prix Assignments

[Marta24]

Orford/Williams got the spot at Rostelecom Cup

[toddlj]

Orford/Williams got the spot at Rostelecom Cup

O/W are #22 in World Standings

[euterpe]

O/W are #22 in World Standings

Ralph/Hill are #21 in World Standings, but on the SB list, O/W are #21 and R/H #25.

I believe it is the SB list they use for replacements.

[kwanfan1818]

A comeback skater is one who has finished top 6 at Senior Worlds and did not compete since then. M/K won JUNIOR Worlds 2011 and that is not the same thing at all.

You're right: junior placement doesn't count. M/K can only get Rostelecom Cup, and the Russian Fed assigned it to them, unlike Skate Canada, which left P/I out in the cold.

It will be interesting to see if the rules changed to allow the host to choose among the skaters in the Top 24 SB with one rather than go in strict order -- strict order was specified last year -- or if Tobias/Stagniunas passed on a second. Last season there was speculation that Joshi Helgesson, who was Top 24 WS, turned down a second when it was her turn and the host chose from Top 75.

Russia/Japan (O/W's original assignment) is probably the toughest travel schedule for NA skaters.

[SUN]

I believe it is the SB list they use for replacements.

You are right. The list of alternates is arranged based on the SB only (no matter if somebody has 1 event or not).
But the organizers have some flexibility. The can pick anyone from the top 5.An these top 5 will be updated when someone is picked from this group. Now that Orford \Williams (I think they were 3rd or 4th in this list) are picked for the second event, the couple with the 6th SB moved to the top 5.

[kwanfan1818]

O/W were #21 in the SB list.

Top 5 would be new this year. Last year the third and fourth bullet points (after comeback skaters and split couples) were:

• Skaters in proper order of top 24 season’s best would be next.
• Skaters from the top 24 who have only one event will be listed in the next order and should be
picked in that order (done by points).

Does that mean that it's the top 5 SB with one or none, and that Top 24 SB and WS can be skipped for a second, while skaters in the Top 75 with none can get a first (or second)? This could mean more spots for more skaters and going into Top 75 or deeper into Top 75, thus spreading the wealth, since there's incentive for a host to get the weakest competition for their own skaters.

Top 5 after Orford/Williams:

• Tobias/Stagniunas (18-USA)
  Chock/Bates (20-CHN)
  Alessandrini/Vaturi (22-USA)
  Slobina/Sitnikov (23-CAN)
  Ralph/Hill (25-CAN, also 21 WS)

If Top 24 SB and Top 24 WS are taken into consideration, then

• Guignard/Fabbri (29-CHN, also 18 WS), assuming Zenkova/Sinitsin stay Junior,
  Pushkash-Guerreiro (32-FRA, 17 WS)
  Yu/Wang (50-JPN, 20WS)

would be next, in that order to move into the top 5.

If only SB is taken into consideration, then

• Guignard/Fabbri (29-CHN, also 18 WS)
  Heekin-Canedy/Dun (30)
  Pushkash-Guerreiro (32-FRA, 17 WS)

would be next.

[Ziggy]

Can somebody explain why Orford/Williams (21st on the SB list) were picked over Tobias/Stagniunas (18th) and Chock/Bates (20th)?

I find it highly unlikely that both of these teams would pass on a second spot, so I guess ISU is again making it up as they go along?

Why in the friggin world would China give a friggin damn about friggin WTT? Where is this coming from? Unless, I see the Chinese Fed forcing Shen/Zhao to compete at WTT, I am assuming the folks at the Chinese Fed are not idiots.

Because China is a collectivist society therefore the team performance is probably seen as more important than the performances of individual skaters.

Artur Gachinski is just one year older than Joshua and Jason and already will be in his third Senior season this year. The Federation supported him when he indicated that he was ready, and so he moved up. Was he too young in his first Senior season? He was 17 - the same age Joshua and Jason are now. And he won the World bronze medal. I'm not saying exactly the same thing could happen, but it sure shows that if you support your skater by backing them, good things can happen.

The federation supported Gachinski going senior because they had no successful senior men at that time.

That is certainly not the USFS' problem.

I'm still baffled that Armin didn't get an assignment and Dornbush got 2 (?).

Then I will reply again:

Dornbush has a higher WR than Ihaveasnoozeday and the latter had a low SB as well.

Why would he get assigments?

[kwanfan1818]

SUN explained that the host Fed can choose any one if the top 5 with none or one in SB order, so O/W could be chosen over T/S. (The team in between was already assigned to RC. )
It looks like a rule change from last season.

[Ziggy]

SUN explained that the host Fed can choose any one if the top 5 with none or one in SB order, so O/W could be chosen over T/S. (The team in between was already assigned to RC. )
It looks like a rule change from last season.

Ahhhh how could I have missed that post.

So basically Orford/Williams have been chosen as the weakest team of the five. Nice.

[icellist]

if they're going by top 5 from SB now, then for the ladies...

Alissa Czisny
Kiira Korpi
Mirai Nagasu
Sofia Biryukova
Polina Korebeynikova

who's the weakest link of the 5? XD

[Ziggy]

Well Czisny probably won't accept a replacement due to her surgery.

I guess Biryukova and Korobeynikova would be the weakest here but then Nagasu and Korpi are both the kind of names that could draw skating fans in.

And well you'd want Kiira just so you could use her pictures in your promotional materials.

[haribobo]

Men with 1 spot-

Sergei Voronov SB 25
Jorik Hendrickx SB 28
Andrei Rogozine SB 29
Artur Dmitriev SB 30
Jinlin Guan SB 31
Zhan Bush SB 32
Konstantin Menshov SB 33
Daisuke Murakami SB 36
Alexander Majorov SB 37
Douglas Razzano SB 38
Liam Firus SB 40

No Spots and not JGP

Misha Ge SB 31
Armin Mahbanoozadeh SB 41
Brandon Mroz SB 42
Peter Liebers SB 43

[Hedwig]

No Spots and not JGP

Misha Ge SB 31
Armin Mahbanoozadeh SB 41
Brandon Mroz SB 42
Peter Liebers SB 43

I can live perfectly without seeing Mroz and the GP but I really hope the other three still get a spot. Especially Ge and Liebers as being the only ones from their country and thereby providing national diversity.

[Lara]

Fourth place at US Nats should not be sitting at home without a GP spot, and I don't care if you find Armin boring. He should have been allowed a chance to gain points at 4CC.

[Sylvia]

I posted the following earlier in this thread (have since added some extra info):

From the ISU's bulletin on the 2012-13 Grand Prix: http://www2.isu.org/vsite/vnavsite/p...0.html?id=1066

The minimum score for the 2012/13 season is 3/5 of the highest score per discipline at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships, which is 113.43 points for Ladies; 159.66 points for Men; 120.90 points for Pairs and 109.59 for Ice Dance.

MEN
1 GP assignment received (listed in order of ISU SB score ranking):
25 Sergei Voronov RUS (NHK)
28 Jorik Hendrickx BEL (TEB; #27 in World Standings)
29 Andrei Rogozine CAN (NHK; #33 in WS)
30 Artur Dmitriev RUS (Cup of China; #37 in WS)
31(tie) Jinlin Guan CHN (Cup of China host pick)
32 Zhan Bush RUS (Rostelecom Cup host pick)
33 Konstantin Menshov RUS (Skate America; #21 in WS)
36 Daisuke Murakami JPN (NHK host pick)
37 Alexander Majorov SWE (Skate America; #15 in WS)
38 Douglas Razzano USA (Skate America host pick)
40 Liam Firus CAN (Skate Canada host pick)

No initial GP assignment (in order of ISU SB score ranking, all JGP age-eligible men removed):
3 Evgeni Plushenko RUS (Rostelecom Cup's TBA?)
31(tie) Misha Ge UZB
41 Armin Mahbanoozadeh USA
42 Brandon Mroz USA
43 Peter Liebers GER
44 Christopher Caluza PHI
46 Viktor Pfeifer AUT
47 Jialiang Wu CHN
48 Chafik Besseghier FRA
49 Kim Lucine MON
50 Gordei Gorshkov RUS
51 Zoltan Kelemen ROU
53 Timothy Dolensky USA
56 Paolo Bacchini ITA
57 Ryuichi Kihara JPN
59 Jiaxing Liu CHN
61 Paul Fentz GER
63 Javier Raya ESP
65 Maciej Cieplucha POL
66 Philip Warren USA
77 Romain Ponsart FRA
[Cut-off (159.66) is above #78 Jeremy Ten CAN 159.22]

No SB score from 2011-12: Evan Lysacek USA - status still unknown (Skate America TBA?)

LADIES
1 GP assignment received (listed in order of ISU SB score ranking):
8 Alissa Czisny USA (NHK; #4 in World Standings; currently recovering from surgery on 6/6)
11 Mirai Nagasu USA (Cup of China; #13 in WS)
14 Kiira Korpi FIN (Rostelecom Cup; #5 in WS)
15 Sofia Biryukova RUS (NHK)
17 Polina Korobeynikova RUS (TEB)
18 Kexin Zhang CHN (Cup of China host pick, guaranteed 1)
19 Polina Shelepen RUS (NHK; #23 in WS)
24 Zijun Li CHN (NHK; #20 in WS)
30 Christina Gao USA (Skate America host pick)
35 Amelie Lacoste CAN (Skate Canada host pick, #21 in WS)
37 Joshi Helgesson SWE (Cup of China; #17 in WS)
38 Rachael Flatt USA (Skate America host pick)
41 Kaetlyn Osmond CAN (Skate Canada host pick)
42 Mae Berenice Meite FRA (Skate America; #15 in WS)
47 Bingwa Geng CHN (Cup of China host pick)
62 Sarah Hecken GER (Skate America; #24 in WS)
69 Lena Marrocco FRA (TEB host pick)

No initial GP assignment (in order of ISU SB score ranking, JGP age-eligible ladies removed except for 1):
39 Cynthia Phaneuf CAN (#25 in WS)
44 Elena Glebova EST
46 Jenna McCorkell GBR
50 Sonia Lafuente ESP (#27 in WS)
51 Joelle Forte USA
53 Natalia Popova UKR (#31 in WS)
60 Yuki Nishino JPN (#28 in WS)
63 Min-Jeong Kwak KOR (ISU Junior age-eligible 1 more season)
65 Isabelle Olsson SWE
66 Adriana DeSanctis CAN
68 Kate Charbonneau CAN
70 Kerstin Frank AUT

[I went down to #75 on the Ladies' SB scores list. Cut-off for the ladies' GP minimum score (113.43) is #98 Isabelle Drescher GER & above.]

PAIRS
1 GP assignment received (listed in order of ISU SB score ranking):
20 Vise/Baldwin USA (Skate Canada)
26 Castelli/Shnapir USA (NHK)
27 Gerboldt/Enbert RUS (Skate Canada)
28 Hausch/Wende GER (Rostelecom Cup)
35 Popova/Massot FRA (TEB host pick)
38 Kemp/King GBR (Skate America)
-- Peng/Zhang CHN (split couple; Cup of China host pick)
-- Yankowskas/Reagan USA (split couple; Cup of China)
-- Davis/Ladwig USA (split couple; NHK)
-- Donlan/Speroff USA (Skate America host pick)

No initial GP assignment (in order of ISU SB score ranking, confirmed split & JGP age-eligible pairs removed):
29 Dong/Wu CHN - split?
33 Steele/Schultz CAN
34 Zhang/Wang CHN - split?
40 Della Monica/Guarise ITA
43 Duarte/Grafton USA
51 Bakirova/Kamianchuk BLR
[Cut-off (120.90) is above #53 Montalbano/Krasnopolski ISR 120.32]

1 TBA pair slot open at: Skate America, Skate Canada, Rostelecom Cup, TEB.

Order of GP events in fall of 2012 is: Skate America, Skate Canada, Cup of China, Rostelecom Cup, TEB, NHK Trophy.

[Skittl1321]

I really hope Misha Ge gets a spot. I feel very badly Armin doesn't have one (honestly, that is a travesty), but Ge is amazing too- and the only skater from his country. How can federations grow programs if they can't even send out the skaters they have? (I'm surprised Caluza isn't on there either.)

I'm surprised Mroz doesn't have one, but his skating isn't too exciting to me, so eh. There are a lot of Americans out there.


Why did the GP reduce the number of spots. What a mistake.

[Hedwig]

Fourth place at US Nats should not be sitting at home without a GP spot, and I don't care if you find Armin boring. He should have been allowed a chance to gain points at 4CC.

Nationals does not play into the GP selection process. Skaters are chosen from the SB list and their world standing not by how they placed at their Nationals.

[Sylvia]

Lara's point (and mine earlier) was that Armin Mahbanoozadeh's 4th place finish at US Nationals should have earned him at least the men's 1st alternate spot to 4CC. Dornbush ended up going as the 1st alternate instead (he did not raise his SB score from Cup of China at 4CC), and so Mahbanoozadeh missed out on the opportunity to raise his ISU SB score (he was skating much better following the GP season after he moved his training base to Colorado Springs to prepare for Nationals).

[Hedwig]

ah okay, sorry, I assumed because so many seem to believe that the federation has a say in this (well, a bigger say than they do)

[jlai]

USFSA had somehow managed in the past to get a GP for their top 5 at nationals. This is the first year the fed won't be able to do so, mainly because of reduced entries, a couple of poor strategies (4cc assignment), and probably the return of Evan (who will likely take up the TBA at SA)