2022-23 ISU Grand Prix Assignments are published

[Andrea82]

Schumacher out of Skate Canada

Pair TBD (CAN) crossed out of Skate Canada.

 

[danafan]

Schumacher out of Skate Canada

Pair TBD (CAN) crossed out of Skate Canada.

Sigh. I'm not surprised about the pairs, as frankly there really isn't another Canadian pair of international calibre at the moment. But sad about Schumacher, as it seems likely this is the end of her career. It would be shocking if the spot went to another Canadian skater.

 

[Karen-W]

Sigh. I'm not surprised about the pairs, as frankly there really isn't another Canadian pair of international calibre at the moment. But sad about Schumacher, as it seems likely this is the end of her career. It would be shocking if the spot went to another Canadian skater.

Have to agree on both points.

The only Canadian woman who I could see getting that spot would be Ruiter, since she hasn't appeared on the JGP yet. Pereira would be the other option, but she's had a JGP assignment, so she's not eligible for the GP.

Pairs is pretty dire for Canada right now, but at least the four teams on the GP each have two assignments.

Selfishly, I'd love to see either Plazas/Fernandez or Mokhova/Mokhov get the open SCI spot, but I'd also be thrilled for Efimova/Blommaert. There are some good teams for Skate Canada to choose from.

 

[Andrea82]

Schumacher's spot assigned today. Kate Wang of USA got it.

 

[Karen-W]

Schumacher's spot assigned today. Kate Wang of USA got it.

Interesting... I don't know what to make of the alternates list because Wang shouldn't have been available for assignment - the only Japanese woman on the alternates list is Yokoi who is already assigned to SCI, which would have bumped Zhu up to the Top 10 alternates along with Serna since Brezinova is already at SCI too, but that would have left Wang sitting at #11. The only logical reason would be if Ziegler wasn't put on the USFS' selection list when the GP hosts met in July, but that would be surprising since she's clearly still skating and at the senior level this season given her Challenger assignment.

As it is, I'm very happy for Wang - and the USA is now maxed out with 3 women at 4 of the GPs.

Oh, and eventually, the Canadian, French, British & Finnish feds are going to run out of eligible women to invite who aren't Korean and they're going to have to pony up the airfare from Seoul to Toronto, Paris, Manchester or Helsinki.

Women - current Alternates should another spot open up (note JPN maxed out at SCI, GPdF, NHK & Espoo; KOR maxed out at SkAm & NHK; USA maxed out at SkAm, SCI, MKJW & NHK)
Yun (SkAm)
Wi (NHK)
Park (SkAm)
Yokoi (SCI)
Kitromilis (SkAm)
Paganini (MKJW)
Izzo (MKJW)
Ziegler (none)
Brezinova (SCI)
Ji (NHK)

Next to be added:
Zhu (SkAm)
Serna (GPdF)
Wang (SCI)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)
Schumacher (SCI)
Watanabe (none)

 

[Bouffantrex]

I am sorry to say Canadian skating is in a shambles at the moment.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

I am sorry to say Canadian skating is in a shambles at the moment.

Not to worry. Canada a great skating nation. It will come back!

 

[her grace]

Hope some of the Koreans get a second assignment if more become available!

 

[Karen-W]

Hope some of the Koreans get a second assignment if more become available!

Doubtful. I expect the host feds are going to go through every single North American, European and Japanese woman on the alternates list before they select any of the Korean women, especially if they are considering additional airfare from Seoul to their location.

 

[Kateri]

Korea really needs its own GP!

 

[Karen-W]

Korea really needs its own GP!

It's not as if they didn't have the opportunity to host one this year... I have to admit, I've wondered if part of why their women are being passed over for assignments is some sub-conscious "screw you" from the other hosts, feeling somewhat put out that assignments were delayed in part because Korea wasn't willing to step up and host another Asian GP, which you know would have been the ISU's preference.

 

[her grace]

Eh, the Koreans have always been passed up. It's more to do with costs and competitiveness, IMO.

 

[Karen-W]

Eh, the Koreans have always been passed up. It's more to do with costs and competitiveness, IMO.

True enough. There was also a glut of Russian women taking up spots on the GP, so there were less opportunities all around, I think.

 

[danafan]

Alisa EFIMOVA / Ruben BLOMMAERT added to Skate Canada

 

[Karen-W]

Alisa EFIMOVA / Ruben BLOMMAERT added to Skate Canada

YESSSS! I'm really glad Skate Canada went there with the strongest team on the alternates list. It would have been so easy to add one of the weaker teams that have earned the total score minimum at US Classic or Nebelhorn, but the field at SCI was already really thin and Efimova/Blommaert are a quality team who will contend for the podium here. Plus, we still don't know if Miura/Kihara are really going to be ready for SCI since she's recovering from her own injury.

This also confirms what we thought after Laurin/Ethier were added to SkAm, which is that any teams who meet the total score minimum at a Challenger are being added to the Pairs Alternates List.

Pairs - 1 potential TBD @ NHK (Chernyshova/Windsor probably out due to his ankle injury)
Holichenko/Darenskiy UKR (55) (Espoo)
Chernyshova/Windsor AUS (60) (NHK)
Crafoord/Crafoord SWE (63) (SkAm)
Osipova/Epstein NED (69) (none)
Efimova Blommaert GER 186.17 (SCI)
Plazas/Fernandez USA 166.25 (SkAm)
Mokhova/Mokhov USA 161.29 (none)
Valesi/Piazza ITA 150.96 (none)
Yunoki/Ichihashi JPN 140.46 (none)
Piegad/Strekalin FRA 138.36 (GPdF)

Next to be added:
Wessenberg/Eisenach 138.22 USA (none)

Teams that do not have the Total Score Minimum for GP assignments but are scheduled to compete at Finlandia:
Vaipan-Law/Digby GBR (64) 132.56 (MKJW host spot)
Gamez/Korovin PHI

 

[leilaofpaper]

Chernyshova/Windsor have withdrawn from NHK Trophy

 

[Orm Irian]

Chernyshova/Windsor have withdrawn from NHK Trophy

Unsurprising, given his broken ankle, but such a shame for them.

 

[Karen-W]

Chernyshova/Windsor have withdrawn from NHK Trophy

Hmmmm... It's not reflected on the ISU grid yet. I do see it reflected on the Australian fed's international assignments page though. :-(

I'll update the pairs alternates list once Finlandia is complete since there are two teams competing there who are trying to earn the total score minimum, which would expand the list a bit more, though I think it's most likely that the JSF will add their own pairs team of Yunoki/Ichihashi, especially since they train in Japan.

 

[Karen-W]

From the Japanese news thread... Wakaba will miss the rest of the season.

Wakaba Higuchi will miss the 2022-23 figure skating season. The Japanese skater confirmed she is still recovering from a right-shin stress fracture.

https://olympics.com/en/news/figure-skating-japan-higuchi-wakaba-2022-2023-season-injury?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-organic&utm_campaign=twitter_global_news_tw-tweet_6cd27ac6fd&utm_content=twitter_global_news_tw-tweet_6cd27ac6fd

Women - 1 open spot at SCI, 1 open spot at NHK (note JPN maxed out at GPdF & Espoo; KOR maxed out at SkAm & NHK; USA maxed out at SkAm, SCI, MKJW & NHK)
Yun (SkAm)
Wi (NHK)
Park (SkAm)
Yokoi (SCI)
Kitromilis (SkAm)
Paganini (MKJW)
Izzo (MKJW)
Ziegler (none)
Brezinova (SCI)
Ji (NHK)

Next to be added:
Zhu (SkAm)
Serna (GPdF)
Wang (SCI)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)
Watanabe (none)

Thoughts on potential replacements - Poor Skate Canada - Wakaba is the FOURTH woman they've had to replace (and who knows if Rika Kihira really is in shape to be competitive). This might be an opportunity for one of those Korean women assigned to SkAm to get a 2nd assignment. As far as NHK goes - it wouldn't surprise me if the JSF does assign it to Watanabe after her fantastic Lombardia win.

 

[Rhumba d’Amour]

From the Japanese news thread... Wakaba will miss the rest of the season.

Women - 1 open spot at SCI, 1 open spot at NHK (note JPN maxed out at GPdF & Espoo; KOR maxed out at SkAm & NHK; USA maxed out at SkAm, SCI, MKJW & NHK)
Yun (SkAm)
Wi (NHK)
Park (SkAm)
Yokoi (SCI)
Kitromilis (SkAm)
Paganini (MKJW)
Izzo (MKJW)
Ziegler (none)
Brezinova (SCI)
Ji (NHK)

Next to be added:
Zhu (SkAm)
Serna (GPdF)
Wang (SCI)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)
Watanabe (none)

Thoughts on potential replacements - Poor Skate Canada - Wakaba is the FOURTH woman they've had to replace (and who knows if Rika Kihira really is in shape to be competitive). This might be an opportunity for one of those Korean women assigned to SkAm to get a 2nd assignment. As far as NHK goes - it wouldn't surprise me if the JSF does assign it to Watanabe after her fantastic Lombardia win.

I vote for Josefin! Any federation who invites her will be sure to have a crowd-pleaser.

 

[Karen-W]

I vote for Josefin! Any federation who invites her will be sure to have a crowd-pleaser.

Doesn't work that way. Unfortunately, she wasn't on the SB Top 75 list, so she isn't eligible for GP selection. There are lots of good skaters still left for Skate Canada to select from. The women's field at SCI is a bit thin with the loss of Wakaba, so I really won't be surprised if one of the Korean women is invited.

 

[leilaofpaper]

Rinka Watanabe is replacing Wakaba.

 

[Karen-W]

Rinka Watanabe is replacing Wakaba.

And it's official on the grid! Not a bit surprising to me, and very deserved!

https://isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/event-documents/figure-skating-4/2022-23-4/grand-prix-3/entries-7/29098-entries-women-2022-23/file

Women - 1 open spot at SCI (note JPN maxed out at GPdF, NHK & Espoo; KOR maxed out at SkAm & NHK; USA maxed out at SkAm, SCI, MKJW & NHK)
Yun (SkAm)
Wi (NHK)
Park (SkAm)
Yokoi (SCI)
Kitromilis (SkAm)
Paganini (MKJW)
Izzo (MKJW)
Ziegler (none)
Brezinova (SCI)
Ji (NHK)

Next to be added:
Zhu (SkAm)
Serna (GPdF)
Wang (SCI)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)
Watanabe (NHK)

 

[Karen-W]

Pairs grid was updated to show Chernyshova/Windsor as withdrawn from NHK. Neither Vaipan-Law/Digby nor Gamez/Korovin earned the GP total score minimum at Finlandia, so the alternates list looks like this:

Pairs - 1 TBD @ NHK
Holichenko/Darenskiy UKR (55) (Espoo)
Chernyshova/Windsor AUS (60) (NHK)
Crafoord/Crafoord SWE (63) (SkAm)
Osipova/Epstein NED (69) (none)
Efimova Blommaert GER 186.17 (SCI)
Plazas/Fernandez USA 166.25 (SkAm)
Mokhova/Mokhov USA 161.29 (none)
Valesi/Piazza ITA 150.96 (none)
Yunoki/Ichihashi JPN 140.46 (none)
Piegad/Strekalin FRA 138.36 (GPdF)
Wessenberg/Eisenach 138.22 USA (none)

It'll be interesting to see what the JSF does. I sort of expected them to just invite Yunoki/Ichihashi and be done with it, but the grid hasn't been updated yet and they were pretty fast to move on the opening left by Higuchi, so we'll see what they do.

Also, I don't know if anyone's following the French Masters comp, but Faula/Belle scored a meager 35.80 in the SP yesterday. The other new French team yet to receive an international assignment, Keriven/Bouvart, were even worse with 34.43 points. We'll have to see how it goes in the FS for both teams, but I wouldn't be surprised if the FFSG pulls the GPdF assignment for Faula/Belle and gives it to a team on the alternates list instead.

 

[Karen-W]

Oh no!!!! Pairs grid was updated and Danilova/Tsiba are crossed out of SkAm! I wonder if they sustained an injury earlier today during Finlandia???

 

[Andrea82]

Georgii Reshtenko also crossed out France

 

[airgelaal]

Visa problems for russians?

 

[clairecloutier]

Oh no!!!! Pairs grid was updated and Danilova/Tsiba are crossed out of SkAm! I wonder if they sustained an injury earlier today during Finlandia???

Please invite Efimova/Blommaert ....

 

[Karen-W]

Georgii Reshtenko also crossed out France

I wondered if he was going to make it to his GP when he didn't compete at any of the early Challengers this fall.

Visa problems for russians?

For the US? I didn't think the US was restricting travel for Russians yet the way many of the EU nations have done.

 

[airgelaal]

For the US? I didn't think the US was restricting travel for Russians yet the way many of the EU nations have done.

The problem may be with the logistics.