I know he just competed this past weekend, but I would have chosen Maxim Naumov all the same. Plus the event's at his home rink!
I was looking forward to seeing him skate again at SA, although I've already seen him twice this fall (Cranberry and U.S. Classic). He's quite special.
ETA: Dinh Tran now has a bye to nationals (3 GP/JGP/CS rule: Skate America, Lombardia, and Finlandia)
I agree with both of you. Naumov has more than earned it, based on his Budapest score alone. His score from that event is 36 points higher than Tran's from Finlandia the week before. If the USFS wanted to give Tran a bye to Nationals, they could have assigned him to IceChallenge Graz the same week as Sectionals.That's too bad about Eric withdrawing.
Agree that Naumov would have been a better choice, IMO anyhow.
@kirkbiggestfan asked in the Kiss & Cry section why Maxim Naumov was not selected to replace Sjoberg and, from what I've heard, Eric was injured last week (so
for him).
any news on why??
And are Smirnova/Siianytsia in a situation that might allow them to represent the US at the GP Espoo Finland event in late November?
US may be testing out pairs, S/S haven’t done well over the off season (injury???), I think it’s a good decision to give M/M a GP experience
The Mokhovs placed even lower than S/S at Finlandia a couple weeks ago. Additionally. S/S withdrew from Nebelhorn because of a minor injury they were recuperating from, so my guess is the injury has flared up again.
Didn’t he just compete last week? Considering how late this is, I don’t blame usfs for not having enough time to change plans. (Though the replacement announcement just came out, I suspect the planning happened before then)
ETA: Dinh Tran now has a bye to nationals (3 GP/JGP/CS rule: Skate America, Lombardia, and Finlandia)
There is no reason to withdraw them 6 weeks before the competition. Give it a few weeks. If they don't compete at the US Pairs Final to qualify for Nats, then I wouldn't be surprised if they do wind up withdrawing from Espoo, but we'll see.
Wellll, based on how they skated at French Masters the weekend before last, I'd have pulled them if I was the FFSG - they barely cracked 100 in their total score, and while host GP picks aren't required to meet the total score minimum, that was their first competition and not pretty by any stretch. I figured that a final decision wouldn't be made until after this weekend's Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur, where they're scheduled to compete. Either way, I'm rather glad they're no longer listed - and I really hope that the FFSG doesn't replace them with Keriven/Bouvart (who also barely cracked 100 at French Masters), but instead goes with another team on the Alternates list. I love Efimova/Blommaert and Plazas/Fernandez, but I'd love to see Osipova/Epstein invited - spread the GP love to as many teams as possible!
No, there aren't. But, I forgot to cross Miyake and Shimada off the Alternates list when they were added to GPdF and SkAm respectively to replace Kagiyama last Friday.
usfigureskatingfanzone.com
usfigureskatingfanzone.com
I guess SC doesn’t have to invite another woman but it’s a shame to waste the spot.
Too bad. Hope she is well, in general…just a little injury?
The last time SC was held in Missisauga there were only 11 women after Mallet withdrew at the last minute. Is it too late for Canada to add another Canadian skater? LMAO I just made a joke!
I'm bummed that Wang isn't going to SCI - I've been concerned she wouldn't be competing since she's never been listed on the USFS' Int'l Assignments page for this assignment.
The last time SC was held in Missisauga there were only 11 women after Mallet withdrew at the last minute. Is it too late for Canada to add another Canadian skater? LMAO I just made a joke!
