2019 ISU Challenger Series

[Sonata]

The Taiwan Fed is denying giving up the event voluntarily.

Error | Focus Taiwan - CNA English News

The Central News Agency (CNA) is the national news agency of the Republic of China (ROC) and the most influential news organization in Taiwan.

m.focustaiwan.tw

That article is interesting. This passage elucidates things:

"Speaking at a press event on Thursday, CTSU Secretary-General Eddy Wu (吳奕德) confirmed the ISU statement that it did propose another Asian country should host the event "as an option" to the ISU in May.

However, that proposal was only made because the CTSU had been informed by members of the ISU that some would boycott the tournament if Taiwan hosted.

Wu did not explain why some members would boycott Taiwan, saying only that there has been "invisible pressure in the international arena." He also would not speculate whether Chinese pressure was the main reason countries threatened to boycott Taiwan as the host.

If there were insufficient participating countries, the results may not have been recognized by the ISU, Wu explained."

I think the "members" (or member) who threatened to boycott is pretty obvious. Basically, CTSU took the high road by agreeing that ISU start looking for other countries to host to guarantee that participating athletes could have their results recognized at this event. So Taiwan plays nice for the good of the athletes and loses an event, while some other country bullies the ISU and gets its way.

 

[Tinami Amori]

I think Chinese Federation talked to other Asian Federations individually, told each one that "the others agreed" so that the one they were talking to felt it is a "done deal" and agreed, and then Chinese Feds informed ISU that "all have agreed". old trick.

 

[Coco]

This reminds me of when the IOC faked comments by Yuna Kim after she lost Adelina Sotnikova in Sochi.

 

[Samurina]

This raises a lot of questions, such as why the ISU is standing for this, why China never protested when Taipei bid for and was assigned Four Continents (a much more important competition) and whether it will prevent athletes from Chinese Taipei (aka Taiwan or the Republic of China) from participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Why would it do that when china invited Tsao Chih-I to CoC

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

This reminds me of when the IOC faked comments by Yuna Kim after she lost Adelina Sotnikova in Sochi.

It reminds me of that time I crank called Kat Witt... and pretended to be the Kennedy Center... told her she won an award.. ahhhh, Good Times Coco!

 

[cohkaix]

The recording of the press conference by CTSU (in Chinese) can be found here: (Starting @ around 37:00)

I will try to provide a rough translation of key points from the statement and explanations by Mr. Wu below.

• CTSU Secretary-General (also ISU judge), Mr. Eddy Wu started by apologizing to the general public about the confusion made by their original statement.
• On Jul 22nd., CTSU received the notification from ISU, also from ISU official website about the relocation (to China Donggua) and taking-over (by HKSU) of the CS event. They also contacted ISU to confirm this. As the information was already publicized, CTSU made the notification for (local) competitors/parents to announce the cancellation on CTSU website.
• Mr. Wu confirmed that the lines about 'due to international situation' was not in the original notification from ISU, so they made correction in a second announcement by deleting those lines in order to avoid confusion.
• For the whole process of CS event application, it goes as follows:
• CTSU passed out the application of the event to ISU at the beginning of Feb. At the same time, HKSU applied for the same event. [Later on during the QA part, it was clarified that CTSU got the event as the timing proposed is considered better than the proposed time by HKSU, which is in early Aug.]
• In the ISU Comm. #2234, it is confirmed that one of the CS events has been granted to Chinese Taipei. In ISU Comm. #2250 the event is listed in the schedule as '2019 Asian Classic Figure Skating Open, Taipei'
• While CTSU has begun with the process of preparation, at the same time they also heard that HKSU didn't give up chance and had been pursuing the opportunity of hosting from ISU.
• CTSU then followed the advice from other member countries to appeal to ISU for support on the event. In the process, CTSU realized that they didn't get support from all the member countries (some are in support but not all). And of course there were 'hidden pressure' (the source of which was never clarified throughout the press) and even the hearsay about boycotting the event. Also there's the consideration of not reaching the minimum requirements (of number of competitors) for the event.
• In order to void the pressure that ISU is getting (so as to maintain the relationship), CTSU directly appealed to ISU for support of the event, also with one additional line 'it could be an option to consider changing the location.' And this added statement could be mis-interpreted during the whole communication.
• However, CTSU had never made a statement of giving up hosting the event, but they didn't hear any other reply nor confirmation from ISU afterwards.
• On Jun 25, CTSU did get a letter from ISU notifying that HKSU's intention to undertake the event and seeking the agreement from CTSU. CTSU eventually replied on Jun 28 to agree. This was due to the consideration of: continuation of support from ISU; application to hosting future events, and advice from other member countries. But up to this moment everything would be pending the ISU meeting to confirm the final decision.

-Then it's the announcement of changing location and hosting country publicized by ISU on Jul. 22.

 

[mikeko]

So, does HKSU think they can host the CS in October/November while they gave up hosting Asian Open in August in the same location of Mainland China due to the ongoing social chaos?

 

[cohkaix]

So, does HKSU think they can host the CS in October/November while they gave up hosting Asian Open in August in the same location of Mainland China due to the ongoing social chaos?

I was surprised by the role of HKSU in this whole process as well. BTW, I didn't went through the whole QA part from the press conference (as some questions involve local affairs), but I do recall that Mr. Wu said that there was 'only one' event, in referring to the Asian Open CS event. So most likely (and for unknown reason), after the confirmation that CTSU would host the CS event, HKSU was still in the process of organizing the 'Asian Open FS Trophy' (AOFST). Actually the information can be found in the HKSU facebook website. So AOFST was the FS event by Asian Skating Union (ASU, see the earlier post on their FB). It's interesting the FB page didn't event mentioned that AOFST will be postponed but only later on make the statement that the original AOFST will be combined with the CS event to be held by HKSU until everything is set. (I'm aware that at least two countries' confirmed the AOFST originally planned in Aug: CTSU and Japan Skate Federation).

I didn't answer the question directly, well, perhaps HKSU thinks there will be no problem as the venue is in China, and by taking over and combining the events it also means their union is willing to undertake any possible risks and factors that could influence the occurrence of the CS event in the future.

 

[Tinami Amori]

...... well, perhaps HKSU thinks there will be no problem as the venue is in China..

How could they not know that there is a) some countries do not need visas into Taiwan, and pretty much all do into China. b) Visa process into China for all who need it is more complicated and takes longer, c) in China a foreigner can only stay in designated hotels for foreigners and they are intentionally more expensive (than regular hotels for locals, and over all more expensive than in Taiwan).

 

[mikeko]

How could they not know that there is a) some countries do not need visas into Taiwan, and pretty much all do into China. b) Visa process into China for all who need it is more complicated and takes longer, c) in China a foreigner can only stay in designated hotels for foreigners and they are intentionally more expensive (than regular hotels for locals, and over all more expensive than in Taiwan).

I expect to see few participants from Europe or North America. China is geographically too far to begin with, there are enough CS and Senior B in Europe, and American and Canadian skaters will be busy with regionals/sectionals. Chinese government has hinted to send their military to Hong Kong, and you have to fly to Hong Kong to get to Dongguan.

Only skaters from Asian countries with limited opportunities to compete in CS may participate, but as now the things got too confusing and risky, some of them may give up to apply for visas. I am not sure if there will be enough skaters to fulfill the minimum requirements, especially in pairs and ice dance.

 

[seabm7]

I am not sure if there will be enough skaters to fulfill the minimum requirements, especially in pairs and ice dance.

The pairs discipline is separate and planned to be an ordinary B competition, not a Challenger series.

 

[Jeschke]

Autumn Classic International entries are up:

Event Overview

Thanks @levineismine for the hint

Edit: Sorry, have no idea what I have done that entries are looking that way
Someone help?

Men

1​

Keegan MESSING

CAN​

1​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

2​

Conrad ORZEL

CAN​

1​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

3​

Kevin AYMOZ

FRA​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

4​

Peter James HALLAM

GBR​

3​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

5​

Harry MATTICK

GBR​

3​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

6​

Harrison Jon-Yen WONG

HKG​

4​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

7​

Mark GORODNITSKY

ISR​

5​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

8​

Yuzuru HANYU

JPN​

6​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

9​

Donovan CARRILLO

MEX​

7​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

10​

Christopher CALUZA

PHI​

8​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

11​

Edrian Paul CELESTINO

PHI​

8​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Yamato ROWE

PHI​

8​

S​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

12​

Junhwan CHA

KOR​

9​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

13​

Camden PULKINEN

USA​

10​

​

Ladies

1​

Kailani CRAINE

AUS​

1​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

2​

Gabrielle DALEMAN

CAN​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

3​

Michelle LONG

CAN​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

4​

Veronik MALLET

CAN​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

5​

Mae Berenice MEITE

FRA​

3​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

6​

Nina POVEY

GBR​

4​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

7​

Hiu Ching KWONG

HKG​

5​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

8​

Maya GORODNITSKY

ISR​

6​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

9​

Rika KIHIRA

JPN​

7​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

10​

Anastassiya KHVAN

KAZ​

8​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

11​

Andrea MONTESINOS CANTU

MEX​

9​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

12​

Cirinia GILLETT

PHI​

10​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

13​

Eunsoo LIM

KOR​

11​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

14​

Evgenia MEDVEDEVA

RUS​

12​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

15​

Chloe ING

SGP​

13​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

16​

Alexia PAGANINI

SUI​

14​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

17​

Karen CHEN

USA​

15​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

18​

Bradie TENNELL

USA​

15​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Amber GLENN

USA​

15​

S​

​

Ice Dance

1​

Matilda FRIEND / William BADAOUI

AUS​

1​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

2​

Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER

CAN​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

3​

Carolane SOUCISSE / Shane FIRUS

CAN​

2​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

4​

Marie-Jade LAURIAULT / Romain LE GAC

FRA​

3​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

5​

Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON

GBR​

4​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

6​

Misato KOMATSUBARA / Tim KOLETO

JPN​

5​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

7​

Olivia SMART / Adrian DIAZ

ESP​

6​

 

[danafan]

Michelle Long makes her international return! Woohoo

 

[oleada]

Fab ladies field

 

[Eisfee]

Sinitsina/Katsalapov will begin their season at 2019 Nepela Memorial in Bratislava.

 

[Sylvia]

Edit: Sorry, have no idea what I have done that entries are looking that way
Someone help?

It's happened to me, too, @Jeschke. You have to "turn off" the Toggle BB code before copying & pasting (the one that looks like a flower on the far right of the navigation bar).

ETA:

@cohkaix, belated thanks for your informative post #96 above. If you would like to copy it over to the separate GSD thread that was started on this topic, here's the link: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...g-kong-to-host-event-in-china-instead.105814/

 

[Sylvia]

Announcements are published for the 9 other CS events:

Lombardia Trophy: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...21540-lombardia-trophy-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday August 16, 2019– 20:00 h local time Bergamo ITA."

U.S. International Classic/Salt Lake City (inc. pairs): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...-international-classic-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, August 16, 2019 at 20:00 h (Mountain Time)."

Ondrej Nepela Memorial: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...1/21499-nepela-memorial-2019-anouncement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, August 23, 2019 – 20:00 h" (local time Bratislava SVK).

Nebelhorn Trophy (incl. pairs): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...21307-nebelhorn-trophy-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, August 23rd, 2019 – 20:00 h (local time Oberstdorf)."

Finlandia Trophy (incl. pairs): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...21461-finlandia-trophy-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, September 6th, 2019 at 20:00 h (local time city of Espoo, Finland)."

Ice Star (pairs event added): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...7-minsk-arena-ice-star-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday September 20, 2019 – 20:00 h (local time Minsk BLR)."

Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy (moved to Dongguan, China): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...-figure-skating-trophy-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, 27 September, 2019 – 20:00 h (Hong Kong)."

Warsaw Cup (incl. pairs): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...91/21547-cs-warsaw-cup-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: October 12th , 2019 – 20:00 h (local time - Warsaw)."

Golden Spin of Zagreb (incl. pairs): https://www.isu.org/docman-document...-golden-spin-of-zagreb-2019-announcement/file
Entries are due "not later than: Friday, November 8, 2019 – 20:00 h (local time Zagreb, Croatia)."

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Surprised AC dance event is so thin. I know there is also Lombaradia and US Classic but that is a thin field still.

At first glance it looks like a prior pairs field which got reduced this year.

 

[Colonel Green]

Surprised AC dance event is so thin. I know there is also Lombaradia and US Classic but that is a thin field still.

I looked back and it actually has the same number of entries as (and more countries than) last year -- I didn't remember 2018 ACI as so small; then it had seven entrants from four nations; here it's seven entrants from six. Biggest difference being the Chinese teams aren't here. Canada also only sent two dance teams, for whatever reason.

 

[barbarafan]

I looked back and it actually has the same number of entries as (and more countries than) last year -- I didn't remember 2018 ACI as so small; then it had seven entrants from four nations; here it's seven entrants from six. Biggest difference being the Chinese teams aren't here. Canada also only sent two dance teams, for whatever reason.

They should send Fabbri/Ayer as they won't be assigned a GP. Not very good thinking Canada

 

[Sylvia]

Excerpted from the 2019/20 ISU Challenger Series Announcement: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...nger-series-2019-20-general-announcement/file

... the minimum number of entries per discipline are as follows:
• Men / Ladies: minimum of eight (8) entries each, from at least four (4) ISU Members;
• Pair Skating: minimum of five (5) entries from at least three (3) ISU Members;
• Ice Dance: minimum of six (6) entries from at least four (4) ISU Members.

ISU World Standings ranking points distribution for Challengers that meet the requirements above:
1st place 300 points (250 for regular Senior B)
2nd place 270 points (225)
3rd place 243 points (203)
4th place 219 points (182)
5th place 198 points (164)
6th place 178 points Men/Ladies/Dance
7th place 160 points Men/Ladies only
8th place 144 points Men/Ladies only

 

[Impromptu]

I guess this is probably unofficial, but the Nebelhorn Trophy's page, does list a couple of the planned competitors (translation provided by Google - so if spelling/grammar/weird errors, blame the bot):

"The entry list is not complete yet, but German Champion Nicole Schott and German Ice Dance Champion Shari Koch / Christian Nüchtern have announced their arrival, as well as dancers Jennifer Urban / Benjamin Steffan. High-caliber participants from abroad include Tae Ok Ryom / Ju Sik Kim from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), multiple Olympic starters Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer from Austria and European Vice Champion 2016, Alexei Bychenko (Israel). The popular American Jason Brown wants to present his new freestyle on "Schindler's List" in Germany for the first time in front of an audience."

 

[Colonel Green]

The popular American Jason Brown wants to present his new freestyle on "Schindler's List" in Germany for the first time in front of an audience."

"Freestyle" makes it sound like he's going to rap.

 

[Maximillian]

I don't keep track of these things, is it pretty standard for the U.S. not to send a team to the Autumn Classic? And does Canada normally reciprocate by not sending teams to the U.S. Challenger? Just seems weird when the U.S. would seem to have teams to spare and Canada is so accessible.

 

[Colonel Green]

I don't keep track of these things, is it pretty standard for the U.S. not to send a team to the Autumn Classic? And does Canada normally reciprocate by not sending teams to the U.S. Challenger? Just seems weird when the U.S. would seem to have teams to spare and Canada is so accessible.

There are always Canadian teams at the US Classic; at least one dance team is known to have been assigned this year. The American teams stopped coming to ACI last season, for no known reason.

 

[Sylvia]

Hawayek/Baker were originally assigned to Autumn Classic last year but had to WD due to Baker’s concussion earlier that summer.

AFAIK, the U.S. dance teams can ask for specific Challengers to test out their programs, if they want, before the GP season starts. Autumn Classic is the earliest Challenger this year, along with Lombardia Trophy. U.S. Classic in Salt Lake City and Nepela Memorial both take place the following week.

 

[Sylvia]

@rosewood posted Japan's initial CS assignments in the JPN news thread back on July 24: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...eason-news-updates.105719/page-2#post-5610113

Autumn Classic: Yuzuru Hanyu, Rika Kihira, Komatsubara/Koleto
Lombardia Trophy: Kazuki Tomono, Mai Mihara, Wakaba Higuchi
US Classic: Keiji Tanaka, Sota Yamamoto, Satoko Miyahara, Yuna Shiraiwa
Nepela Memorial: Mitsuki Sumoto, Kaori Sakamoto, Mako Yamashita
Nebelhorn Trophy: Koshiro Shimada, Marin Honda
Finlandia Trophy: Shoma Uno, Sota Yamamoto, Yuhana Yokoi

 

[Dobre]

I don't keep track of these things, is it pretty standard for the U.S. not to send a team to the Autumn Classic?

This is the first time at least one U.S. team hasn't been assigned there (unless you count Hawayek & Baker's withdrawing last year).

It is also, per Wikipedia, the first time a third Canadian team hasn't been assigned there, except for the year that Autumn Classic wasn't a Challenger event.

 

[aftershocks]

The below site offers a handy list of 2019-2020 event dates for ISU Challenger series events, and for GP events. Dates are helpful for advance personal schedule planning.

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Challenger Series 2019/20 Schedule dates - SportsHistori

ISU confirmed schedule dates, locations for ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series 2019/2020, ISU Challenger Series 2019/2020 calendar.

www.sportshistori.com

^^ I figured out that's Carreira/Ponomarenko featured in the thumbnail

Plus, bonus pre-confirmation of GP series event dates for 2020-2021 season...

 

[Sylvia]

Skate Canada's website is updated (https://skatecanada.ca/event-schedule/#tab-31263c319f20cf01436 ) with these Challenger assignments:

2019 AUTUMN CLASSIC INTERNATIONAL
SEPT. 12-14, 2019
OAKVILLE, ON, CANADA
3 ladies:
VERONIK MALLET
GABRIELLE DALEMAN
MICHELLE LONG
2 men:
KEEGAN MESSING
CONRAD ORZEL
2 dance:
PIPER GILLES / PAUL POIRIER
CAROLANE SOUCISSE / SHANE FIRUS

LOMBARDIA TROPHY
SEPT. 13-15, 2019
BERGAMO, ITALY
2 dance:
LAURENCE FOURNIER-BEAUDRY / NIKOLAJ SORENSEN
MARJORIE LAJOIE / ZACHARY LAGHA

U.S. INTERNATIONAL FIGURE SKATING CLASSIC
SEPT. 17-22, 2019
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA
2 ladies:
HANNAH DAWSON
ALICIA PINEAULT
1 man: NICOLAS NADEAU
3 pairs:
LORI-ANN MATTE / THIERY FERLAND
CAMILLE RUEST / DREW WOLFE
NADINE WANG / FRANCIS BOURDREAU-AUDET
2 dance:
CAROLANE SOUCISSE / SHANE FIRUS
MOLLY LANAGHAN / DMITRE RAZGULAJEVS

NEBELHORN TROPHY
SEPT. 25-28, 2019
OBERSTDORF, GERMANY
1 lady: AURORA COTOP
1 man: NAM NGUYEN
1 pair: KIRSTEN MOORE-TOWERS / MICHAEL MARINARO
2 dance:
LAURENCE FOURNIER-BEAUDRY / NIKOLAJ SORENSEN
HALEY SALES / NIKOLAS WAMSTEEKER

Nepela Memorial is not listed but Finlandia Trophy and Warsaw Cup are the other 2 Challengers with TBA assignments.