2022-23 ISU Grand Prix Assignments are published

Kind of unusual to withdraw this early, isn't it? I hope Eunsoo's not seriously injured.
I think during a post-Olympic season we often see athletes put on the list who have not yet officially let their federations know that they aren't going to compete. So no, I don't think it's that unusual to see athletes come off the list the summer after an Olympics. I actually feel like there might be fewer doing so. The announcement was later than normal, and it seems to me like more athletes & federations may have gotten their ducks in a row before the GP list came out.

No idea what's going on with Eunsoo. Just saying that athletes withdrawing the summer after an Olympics doesn't feel uncommon to me.
 
I'm not surprised, given that she could not go to the Olympics, a position in the national team is impossible without a solid 3-3 or equivalents, and she has to attend college full time.

Most likely her next competition would be (domestic) Winter Festival competitions towards the end of the season, but that is all. In Korea, Winter Festival "college class" is considered as a sort of collegiate league.
 
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Just realised that Eun-soo is not even 20 yet :eek:
The drama with Mariah at 2019 Worlds didn't do her any favour though, she's a very elegant and talented skater but I'm not sure that she will ever fulfill her great potential...
Totally agree. And I dare to blame Raff. It was he who needed to manage the situation and it was he was totally lacking any basic psychological knowledge. His reaction was rather childish. He needed to protect both her skaters and to manage to find the ways how not to destroy one skater while protecting the other one. Eun-soo came from abroad and was teenager while he was her coach and adult. I think that deeply inside Eun-soo does feel destroyed of how everything happened and yes, she rather might never ever fulfill her potential.
I listened interview back then with Eun-soo ( on TSL). She was training in US already for few month when this interview took a place. I was taken aback how well spoken she was, how full of dedication to become the best skater she could and how much she trusted in Raff... and then there was a moment the Enu-soo really needed a help and no one there to give her a helping hand. She was 16, and not in her home country. Raff needed to solve the problem in his skating environment and not run away from it.

And, imo, Eun-soo English was much better than Raff's at the time. If Raff is coach it is her obligation to be fluent in English.
 
Totally agree. And I dare to blame Raff. It was he who needed to manage the situation and it was he was totally lacking any basic psychological knowledge. His reaction was rather childish. He needed to protect both her skaters and to manage to find the ways how not to destroy one skater while protecting the other one. Eun-soo came from abroad and was teenager while he was her coach and adult. I think that deeply inside Eun-soo does feel destroyed of how everything happened and yes, she rather might never ever fulfill her potential.
I listened interview back then with Eun-soo ( on TSL). She was training in US already for few month when this interview took a place. I was taken aback how well spoken she was, how full of dedication to become the best skater she could and how much she trusted in Raff... and then there was a moment the Enu-soo really needed a help and no one there to give her a helping hand. She was 16, and not in her home country. Raff needed to solve the problem in his skating environment and not run away from it.

And, imo, Eun-soo English was much better than Raff's at the time. If Raff is coach it is her obligation to be fluent in English.
Oh, for goodness sake! This has got to be one of the biggest pieces of revisionist history of recent FS drama I've read in quite some time. The whole kerfuffle between Lim and Bell was stoked by Lim's management team. It was a nothing bit in practice that was blown entirely out of proportion by Lim's management team and some irrational Korean fans.
 
Oh, for goodness sake! This has got to be one of the biggest pieces of revisionist history of recent FS drama I've read in quite some time. The whole kerfuffle between Lim and Bell was stoked by Lim's management team. It was a nothing bit in practice that was blown entirely out of proportion by Lim's management team and some irrational Korean fans.
I don't think you're contradicting each other here - Raf was clearly really offended that Lim's management team went over his head and did what they did, and maybe that meant he abandoned Eunsoo a a result. Which was unfair, as she probably wasn't in control of all that. I do wonder if he could have handled it better.
 
I don't think you're contradicting each other here - Raf was clearly really offended that Lim's management team went over his head and did what they did, and maybe that meant he abandoned Eunsoo a a result. Which was unfair, as she probably wasn't in control of all that. I do wonder if he could have handled it better.
It wasn't her fault, but was she willing to switch to new management? If she wasn't going to, then I could understand a coach deciding they don't want to deal with that. I always felt bad for Eunsoo in that situation (though just as much for Mariah), and I remember questioning how Raf seemed with Eunsoo in the KnC during the event (don't remember it that clearly, but definitely possible Raf could have handled that better). But I would consider it fair for him, after Worlds was over, to say either you fire them now, or find a new coach.
 
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I said at the time that if I was any one of Raf's skaters I wouldn't want to be on the same ice as someone with a management team like that. I don't see Raf willing to protect one skater over many when it was her team that started the issues.
 
Back to the GP assignments...

Here's the Pairs Alternates list:

Alternates/Substitution List for Pairs (SB place):

1) Roscher/Schuster GER (51) (MKJW)
2) Holichenko/Darenskiy UKR (55) (SkAm???)
3) Chernyshova/Windsor AUS (60) (NHK)
4) Crafoord/Crafoord SWE (63) (SkAm)

Teams that do not have the Total Score Minimum for GP assignments:
5) Vaipan-Law/Digby GBR (64) 132.56 (MKJW host spot)
6) Osipova/Epstein NED (69) 119.00
7) Simioli/Zarbo ITA (75) - status unknown 97.73

I'm leaving Holichenko/Darenskiy on the alternates list at this time, operating under the assumption that them being crossed off the SkAm list is a mistake and it should have been Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore instead. That still leaves openings at SkAm and Espoo. Who knows which of the 4 teams with the total score minimum will get invitations - I'd say Roscher/Schuster are likely for Espoo, and maybe Chernyshova/Windsor for SkAm.

Any way you slice it, there's got to be some real hoping/praying for Vaipan-Law/Digby to get the minimum at US Classic, and for Osipova/Epstein to do the same whenever they make their Challenger debut (Nebelhorn?). If both those teams earn the minimum scores and HolDar aren't out of SkAm (which would take them off the Alternates List completely), that would expand the Alternates List a bit (4 teams still, but 1 of those with no assignments yet).
 
The Ukrainians cannot get an American visa so they have indeed been pulled from the event.

Sounds like there’s a small chance some shifts will be made and they could potentially end up in France.
Oh, that is such a shame for them! Hopefully either Hocke/Kunkel or Ghilardi/Ambrosini can be shifted to SkAm instead so that Holichenko/Darenskiy will still have an assignment and be eligible for a 2nd one.
 
The Ukrainians cannot get an American visa so they have indeed been pulled from the event.

Sounds like there’s a small chance some shifts will be made and they could potentially end up in France.
It is very difficult for Ukrainians to get American visa now. So it's strange that Skate America decided to invite them
 
Oh, for goodness sake! This has got to be one of the biggest pieces of revisionist history of recent FS drama I've read in quite some time. The whole kerfuffle between Lim and Bell was stoked by Lim's management team. It was a nothing bit in practice that was blown entirely out of proportion by Lim's management team and some irrational Korean fans.
:-) really? oh, dear, then I truly deserve a gold medal 😊!!!

on the more serious note, I expressed only my pain of heart ( Eun-soo) and my opinion in general, and there was no any tendency that "piece of history" which you mentioned to ignore
 
The Ukrainians cannot get an American visa so they have indeed been pulled from the event.

Sounds like there’s a small chance some shifts will be made and they could potentially end up in France.
According to the Ukrainian Federation we will see them in Finland

But it is not very clear from the news whether they be eligible for a 2nd assignment
 
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According to the Ukrainian Federation we will see them in Finland

But it is not very clear from the news whether they be eligible for a 2nd assignment
My guess is they will still be eligible for a 2nd assignment. The challenge will be, of course, in them getting one, if the visa challenges exist for not just the US but any other country outside the Schengen zone.
 
My guess is they will still be eligible for a 2nd assignment. The challenge will be, of course, in them getting one, if the visa challenges exist for not just the US but any other country outside the Schengen zone.
Yes, I think France is the only option for them
 
Yes, I think France is the only option for them
It does make me wonder if Holubtsova/Bielobrov will be able to get visas to compete at SkAm and MKJW. I'm not sure if it will be easier for them since they're now in Canada for training. Hopefully they have that sorted out already.
 
It does make me wonder if Holubtsova/Bielobrov will be able to get visas to compete at SkAm and MKJW. I'm not sure if it will be easier for them since they're now in Canada for training. Hopefully they have that sorted out already.
The main problem for Ukrainians - you can not get a visa in Ukraine. It is easier for those who are currently abroad to obtain visas.
 
The main problem for Ukrainians - you can not get a visa in Ukraine. It is easier for those who are currently abroad to obtain visas.
I thought Holichenko/Darenskiy were training in Poland - did they return to Ukraine this summer?
 
The Pairs grid has been officially updated to show Holichenko/Darenskiy assigned to Espoo (taking the spot vacated by G/GM), and Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore are crossed out of SkAm. So, that leaves two SkAm spots to be reassigned.


Alternates/Substitution List for Pairs (SB place):

1) Roscher/Schuster GER (51) (MKJW)
2) Holichenko/Darenskiy UKR (55) (Espoo - not able to get visas for SkAm)
3) Chernyshova/Windsor AUS (60) (NHK)
4) Crafoord/Crafoord SWE (63) (SkAm)

Teams that do not have the Total Score Minimum for GP assignments:
5) Vaipan-Law/Digby GBR (64) 132.56 (MKJW host spot - scheduled to compete at US Classic)
6) Osipova/Epstein NED (69) 119.00 (scheduled to compete at Nebelhorn)
7) Simioli/Zarbo ITA (75) - status unknown 97.73

My guess is the USFS will wait to issue invitations for their open SkAm spots until after US Classic and Nebelhorn; but they could surprise us and issue invitations to either Roscher/Schuster and/or Chernyshova/Windsor.
 
And Brendan Kerry is officially scratched off of skate America. I know people said that that was already announced. But it came off the grid today. What is the situation? Did he retire or what’s going on

sorry @SidelineSkater

It's OK. I appreciate the fax and the fact you are so updated on grids.

As been stated earlier, the pairs replacement pool is very shallow. Hopefully these spots can be filled in the coming weeks.
 

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