Takahashi & Tran split

[NadineWhite]

Wow, pairs is so shocking, one blow after another it seems. Rockne's partner bails on him after such a promising 2 years, complete with a National silver medal, then John Couglin sustains a serious hip injury (the kind that effectively ended the careers of Lipinski, Kwan, Yagudin, et al), and now the reigning World Bronze Medalists call it quits. What next!?! Seriously, what next...

Btw, any male pair partner that's lucky enough to acquire Andrea Poapst is blessed indeed; she's exquisite! In fact, as soon as I heard that Rockne was left partnerless this past summer I suggested Andrea over on IN. Her "Swan Lake" program at Nationals this past year was magnificent, only topped (barely; tied even) by Gretchen Donlan's "Sleeping Beauty". Alas, I heard she's a tried & true Canadian, so no luck for Rockne, but Mervin should scoop her up pronto. Jmho.

Anyhow, I enjoyed this partnership because they reminded me of D/S, and gave me great hope for pairs that excel in artistry/presentation/pcs.

[orbitz]

Yes and yes. It's easy to assume Mervin is taller than Rockne because Narumi is so tiny.

Rockne also has shorter legs than Mervin, which make him look even shorter.

[Debrah]

He should team up with his girfried -- Amelie Lacoste, she won't likely be a podium champion in singles again unless disaster strikes, given how the latest batch of Cdn ladies are now stepping things up and letting fly the 3/3's, but Lacoste would likely be a great addition to Cdn pairs skating with Tran if she could pick up the pair tricks in time, or for the next Oly cycle after Sochi as they are both still young-just "wishin. hopin," and speculating, LOL!

[emilieh]

I'm trying to remember if Wakamatsu and Fecteau who skated for Canada instead, but were not Oly-eligible since she didn't give up her Japanese citizenship kept skating after the Olympics.

They did. Their last competition was Canadians 2007, and they had a fantastic free skate there, but finished fourth.

[minx]

Is Katherine Bobak still skating?

She registered in singles for sectionals but did not skate. Bo-Tran? Tran-Bo?

[Rock2]

I'd offer up Gaby Daleman. She skated pairs in novice and is just under 5 ft. Very senior skating skills and they both have an exotic look.

[arakwafan2006]

They seemed to get along so well and had their own style... she was a spitfire. I will miss them. YUCK!!!

[easilydistracte]

Awwww... so sad to read that another quality pair splits up. The state of pairs skating world-wide has taken another blow with this announcement. I hope they are able to find suitable partners. I'll miss seeing them.

Agreed. So sad that they split. Honestly, I liked T&T's skating so much that I would have been content to watch them for hours on end even if all they did during that time was practice sbs pairs unison drills.

I hope that they'll both be able to find compatible partners. I would think that Tran would probably have an easier time finding a new partner than Takahashi would, especially if Japan wants to field an eligible pairs team in Sochi. I do hope that T&T's success at worlds will spur the Japan Fed to aggressively develop and promote the pairs discipline in Japan, including actively seeking out men who'd be able to handle the rigors of pairs skating.

Best of luck to both Narumi and Mervin, whatever their future endeavors may be!

[By the way, how far along is Narumi in her recovery from the shoulder dislocation?]

[shah]

[rfisher]

If Japan wanted a Japanese male skater in order to compete in the team medal competition, they'll still have problems with any team making the minimum TES scores. T/T's scores came from their lifts and spins. Finding a competent male skater who could match Mervin here will be impossible in the amount of time they have. Since they were pretty much the only pair teams entered at Japanese Nationals, it's not as if there are good male pair partners standing in the wings. I would be extremely surprised if they field a team that makes it to the Olympics at all.

I really do hope he, OTOH, finds a partner and can skate for either Canada or where ever he wants. The US would welcome him with open arms. I'm certain we could find somebody for him.

[skateboy]

So sad to hear this news.

[query5]

wasn't expecting that. sorry for all of them. but good luck to their future

[lauravvv]

Such a pity . I was thinking - finally one more team of high level in the mix. Now it will be back to the old order of things again - except that Bazarova/Larionov will probably change places with Kavaguti/Smirnov as Russia's 2nd and 3rd pair. Not good also for Takahashi and Tran themselves (especially for Takahashi).

[Jammers]

Pairs was already lacking in depth before Coughlin got injured and Tran and Takahashi broke up. Now it will really suck.

[2sk8]

Andrea Poapst would possibly be a good choice, but she isn't on IcePartnerSearch anymore, so I wonder if she re-thought the idea of sticking with Canada...

[rfisher]

I'm certain there will be lots of breakups following nationals and lots of people looking to hook up. Wonder if Caydee Denny has already sent him a text inviting him to visit Colorado?

[museksk8r]

</3 Heartbroken.

[walei]

I enjoy Mervin much more than Narumi so... I think I'm the only one here who is a little glad to hear they split

[kwanfan1818]

There's been a lot of argument here about whether a Federation's refusal to release a skater makes any difference if the skater has citizenship for another country and is accept by that country's Federation, as long as the skater has sat out the required period. It isn't explicit in any documentation I can find, but it may be possible, under Rule 109.5 to be granted an exception by the ISU:

Exceptions to paragraphs 2 & 3 of this Rule may be granted by the Council, which may also enter a Competitor for an event (see also Rule 115, paragraph 5 and Rules 130 and 131). A Competitor nominated by the ISU does not count in the quota of the country of his citizenship or residence.

• 109.2 (a-d) describes the citizenship requirements for singles/teams and the waiting periods for competing for a new country.
• 109.3 applies the waiting periods in 109.2.b.ii/iii for skaters who don't have citizenship, but have residency, apply to skaters switching countries. (Can't have competed for another country in international competition within 12 months of 1 July before the season of the first international competition and 18 months of 1 July before the season of first international championships.) This doesn't apply to non-citizen/non-resident partners, though, who simply have to wait 12 months from the last international competition under the only country, or Volosozhar/Trankov would have had to have waited another season to start their international career, regardless of how cooperative Ukraine was about releasing her.
• 115.5 says that the Federations have to submit the participants names, except where the ISU has made exceptions.
• 130 describes entry restrictions for Figure, Speed, and Synchonized Skating, with country-restrictions for Euros and 4C's, and references to other rules about who can enter them and other championships (all of the minutiae about minimum scores, number of entries, etc.)
• 131 describes how competitors, officials, and members have to sign Declaration forms before they can compete, and that these forms must be submitted by the member, unless an exception is made under Rule 109 (and then it happens through the ISU)

109.2.b.iv states, "Any denial of a request for permit by the Member submitted in accordance with sub-paragraph (i) above may be the subject of a request to the Council by the involved Skater or any involved Member for exceptional permission as provided in paragraph 5 of this Rule."

Sub-paragraph (i) states, "[A Skater may compete for the Member of the country of which he is not a citizen if he fulfils the following conditions:] he has resided for at least one year in that country and has been permitted to compete for that Member by the National Association of the country of which he is a citizen, or he has resided for at least one year in that country and he (or his parents if he is not of age) has applied for citizenship in that country;"

The way it's written, it would seem to apply only to someone who is released by his home Federation to skate for a foreign Federation (which, presumably, Skate Canada did to allow him to compete for Japan in the first place), but doesn't take into consideration the reverse: the release of a skater by a foreign nation to compete for his home Federation.

Not that the ISU documentation has ever been very complete, but this could mean:

1. They left the Prodigal Skater case out because they didn't think to put it in, and the exception rules apply to his case.
2. They left the Prodigal Skater case out because such a skater has no recourse (in which case it would have helped if they were explicit)*
3. They left the Prodigal Skater case out because it never applies, and a skater doesn't need a release by a foreign Federation to skate for his home Federation.

*Have they never heard of using a table where they describe the scenarios in the far left column and then fill in the right hand columns with the applicable actions/consequences? It's so much easier than what they do.

If a skater is a citizen of more than one Federation, it might get trickier. Volosozhar was a Ukrainian citizen and then got Russian citizenship, and V/T explicitly discussed a release from the Ukraine Federation. (The online info I could find on Ukranian citizenship is that she'd have to renounce it when she got Russian citizenship, but also that there could be an overlap before the Ukranian citizenship was revoked.) It's hard to say from their documents whether a home Federation has rights that a foreign Federation doesn't, as long as the skater was a citizen skating for the home Federation at the time.

Tran was never a citizen of Japan, although he competed for the Japanese Federation. Perhaps it was written into Tran's original release agreement that permission to skate for the Japanese Fed was revoked if Tran wanted to compete for Canada again. While it might not be fair for the Japanese Federation to refuse him a release on financial (investment) grounds, since she dumped him, and the Japanese Federation knew going in that they couldn't compete in the Olympics without a rare, unprecedented exception from the Japanese Assembly, the competitive argument could be the same as with every release: they don't want the skater competing with their own skaters, especially if they paid to get him to that level, and Japan might have a Pairs team by Sochi, if they enlist a tall enough singles guy in time to Pair with Takahashi. (Even if it would be a huge health risk on her part coming off a major injury to take the additional falls with an inexperienced partner.) Still, one or two points in the Pairs event might be the difference between making the finals and not, if the singles do what they're capable of in the team event.

[reese]

Add my to the Andrea Poapst bandwagon. She's a star. I was just rewatching 2012 US Nationals yesterday and she was second only to Donlan among the US ladies when it came to the wow! and general on-ice presence. She's a catch.