2022-23 ISU Grand Prix Assignments are published

[Karen-W]

I'm just fascinated by the way Skate Canada has studiously avoided adding a Korean woman to their lineup when the opportunity has presented itself. They have had 4 spots open up and they've chosen Andrews, van Zundert, Wang, and, now, Watanabe.

The only other openings have been a MKJW and NHK when Ryabova retired - and NHK already had 3 Korean women, so it wasn't possible for another Korean woman to be added there.

 

[Gris]

Sina Visitor System

Yi Zhu just posted on Weibo that she has withdrawn from Skate America due to injury.

 

[Sylvia]

USFS is not obliged to replace Zhu at this point, correct? I've crossed her name out from Karen's GP Women's alternates list:

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 (SCI & NHK)

ETA - from page 10 of the GP Announcement: https://www.isu.org/docman-document...-grand-prix-general-announcement-2022-23/file

"7.6 Replacements
It is mandatory that an Organizing ISU Member replaces any Pair who withdraws from the event with an
alternate up to fourteen (14) days prior to the Team Leaders Meeting for that event.
For a Women or Men Skater, up to fourteen (14) days prior to the Team Leaders Meeting for that event, it is
voluntary that an Organizing ISU Member replaces any Skater who withdraws from the event who would be
the 11th or 12th entry but must replace with an alternate any Skater who withdraws if fewer than 10 entries
remain."

 

[Karen-W]

Sina Visitor System

Yi Zhu just posted on Weibo that she has withdrawn from Skate America due to injury.

USFS is not obliged to replace Zhu at this point, correct? I've crossed her name out from Karen's GP Women's alternates list:

Yes, that is correct, since we are within the 14-day window for the event.

Korea and the USA are both maxed out at SkAm, so that leaves the following women:

Yokoi (SCI)
Paganini (MKJW)
Brezinova (SCI)
Serna (GPdF)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)

Sauter, Peltonen and Saarinen haven't competed yet this season. My bet would be on Brezinova getting a late invitation, with Serna and Paganini being the other likely choices.

 

[PRlady]

Yes, that is correct, since we are within the 14-day window for the event.

Korea and the USA are both maxed out at SkAm, so that leaves the following women:

Yokoi (SCI)
Paganini (MKJW)
Brezinova (SCI)
Serna (GPdF)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)

Sauter, Peltonen and Saarinen haven't competed yet this season. My bet would be on Brezinova getting a late invitation, with Serna and Paganini being the other likely choices.

Isn’t Paganini a Long Island girl? That would be nice for her to skate at “home.”

 

[tony]

Isn’t Paganini a Long Island girl? That would be nice for her to skate at “home.”

She trains in Germany now AFAIK. She used to be coached, at least in part, by Craig Maurizi.

 

[Karen-W]

Isn’t Paganini a Long Island girl? That would be nice for her to skate at “home.”

Her ISU bio says she's training in Zurich and Michael Huth was with her in KnC at Finlandia this past weekend.

My money is on Brezinova mostly because she's spent a considerable amount of time training in the US, and specifically at SCoB, this summer.

 

[Stephanie]

Isn’t Paganini a Long Island girl? That would be nice for her to skate at “home.”

For the record, she's from Westchester County, not Long Island

 

[euterpe]

Nella Pelkonen competed at Espoo, but she also had two JGP events (France and Latvia) so she can't do the GP.

 

[Sylvia]

Emmi Peltonen (not Pelkonen) is assigned to the GP in Espoo.

 

[Karen-W]

Nella Pelkonen competed at Espoo, but she also had two JGP events (France and Latvia) so she can't do the GP.

Nella Pelkonen competed at Finlandia Trophy, which was held in Espoo.

The "Espoo" referred to in this thread is the GP event being hosted by Finland, which will also be held in Espoo. And, just to further confuse matters, this season's European Championships are being held in the same arena in Espoo, Finland.

And, Nella Pelkonen is not to be confused with Emmi Peltonen, who is one of the Finnish entries for the Espoo GP. Emmi Peltonen IS eligible for selection to other GP events as she was on the 2021-22 SB Top 75 list. You are correct, though, that Nella is not eligible for the Espoo GP (or any other GP) since she competed in a JGP event this season.

 

[swissskate]

Brezinova has been added to Skate America

 

[Karen-W]

Brezinova has been added to Skate America

Lol, called that! She really did make the most sense of the available options for the USFS. Eventually, really, feds will be left with no choice but to invite those Korean women, lol.

Women - no spots currently open (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 (SkAm & SCI)
Ji (NHK)
Serna (GPdF)

Next to be added:
Wang (SCI)
Sauter (MKJW)
Peltonen (Espoo)
Saarinen (Espoo)

 

[Frau Muller]

Brezinova has been added to Skate America

Well, that’s gonna make a difference! Glad that she got in.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Brezinova has been added to Skate America

You guys against it. And she’s in Great Britain this weekend for the competition, Correct?

 

[Sylvia]

“Unfortunate news that Yuma Kagiyama has to withdraw from this season’s Grand Prix due to left talus and fibula injuries.

He hopes to be recovered in time for Japanese Nationals in December.”

https://twitter.com/figureskatingm1/status/1580854606426689541

ETA link to JSF’s announcement of his WD from Skate America & France: https://www.skatingjapan.or.jp/common/img/info/2022-23gp_Yuma Kagiyama.pdf

 

[Karen-W]

@Sylvia beat me to posting the Kagiyama news, but here is the Men's refresher update. Since we are just 5 days out from the start of SkAm, the USFS isn't required to replace him. It wouldn't necessarily surprise me if they did replace him though since everyone sort of had a heads up that this might be coming a week ago when he withdrew from the Japan Open. Best guesses would be Shimada, Honda, or Orzel. The FFSG, obviously, has more time to select a replacement.

Men's Alternates refresher -
Men - 1 open spot SkAm, 1 open spot GPdF (note JPN is maxed out at MKJW, NHK, & Espoo)
Miyake (SkAm)
Frangipani (NHK)
A. Selevko (SCI)
S. Lee (GPdF)
Shimada (MKJW)
Zandron (NHK)
Honda (Espoo)
Orzel (SCI)
Levandi (Espoo)
Majorov (Espoo)
Britschgi (SCI)

Next to be added:
Carrillo (SkAm)
Shmuratko (GPdF)
Starostin (none)
Circelli (MKJW)
Sjoberg (SkAm)
Kapeikis (SkAm)
Newberry (MKJW)
Guarino Sabate (none)

 

[Karen-W]

Updating with what we now about some of these skaters a week later...

Looking over the GP assignments, there seem to be a few question marks about whether or not they're ready for competition since they haven't competed, even domestically, yet, so we might have a few withdrawals coming up. I'm deliberately not including skaters/teams whose status is known, information about is very limited, or they haven't been entered/withdrawn from any Challengers (Chock/Bates, Gilles/Poirier, Carreira/Ponomarenko, Wang/Liu, Muramoto/Takahashi, Knierim/Frazier, Crafoord/Crafoord, Peng/Jin, Jin)

Men -
Kagiyama (SkAm & GPdF) - ankle injury caused him to withdraw from the Japan Open this weekend withdrew from both GPs today
Aymoz (GPdF & Espoo) - ankle injury at French Masters competition this weekend (my guess is he would be replaced by Landry le May at GPdF as a host pick)
Hiwatashi (MKJW & NHK) - shoulder injury caused him to withdraw from Lombardia Trophy 3 weeks ago
Zandron (NHK) - has not competed yet this fall; scheduled to compete at Tayside Trophy this weekend

Women -
Tennell (MKJW & Espoo) - ankle injury caused her to withdraw from Japan Open this weekend; scheduled to compete at Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur next weekend
Daleman (SCI & MKJW) - car accident & various other nagging injuries have kept her out of competition this summer/fall (no Canadian woman to replace her as a host pick since Lia Pereira had a JGP assignment earlier this season); scheduled to compete at Skate Ontario Sectional October Series this weekend
Yun (SkAm) - withdrew from Nebelhorn prior to FS due to warm-up accident where she was showing concussion symptoms
Peltonen (Espoo) - has not competed yet this fall, withdrawn from Budapest Trophy original entries list (would be replaced by a Finnish host pick - Janna Jyrkinen or Oona Ounasvuori)
Saarinen (Espoo) - has not competed yet this fall, not entered in any Challengers yet (would be replaced by a Finnish host pick - Janna Jyrkinen or Oona Ounasvuori)

Pairs -
Miura/Kihara (SCI & NHK) - she is in recovery mode from an ankle injury sustained in July while on tour, only resumed training throws about 2 weeks ago (probably replaced by Yunoki/Ichihashi as a host pick for NHK if they have to withdraw)
Safina/Berulava (GPdF & Espoo) - have not competed this fall, withdrawn from Finlandia original entries list
McBeath/Bartholomay (SCI & MKJW) - have not competed since they debuted their SP at a summer domestic comp, withdrawn from Nebelhorn original entries list
Faula/Belle (GPdF host pick) - barely cracked 106 total score at French Masters competition this weekend (no viable host pick option as Keriven/Bouvart scored even lower); scheduled to compete at Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur next weekend

Dance -
Kazakova/Reviya (GPdF & MKJW) - have not competed this fall, withdrawn from Finlandia original entries list; scheduled to compete at Trophee Metropole Nice Cote d'Azur next weekend
Janse van Rensburg/Steffan (SkAm) - have not competed this fall, withdrawn from Nebelhorn due to slow recovery from unspecified injury; posted on IG that they're looking forward to SkAm next weekend

 

[Andrea82]

Danilova/Tsiba confirmed at NHK on ISU grid

 

[Karen-W]

Danilova/Tsiba confirmed at NHK on ISU grid

Fantastic!!!!! I'm so glad the ISU was able to work with the JSF and the team to get them a 2nd assignment!

 

[TanithandBenFan]

Koshiro Shimada is now listed on the grid for Skate America.

 

[Sylvia]

Since we are just 5 days out from the start of SkAm, the USFS isn't required to replace him. It wouldn't necessarily surprise me if they did replace him though since everyone sort of had a heads up that this might be coming a week ago when he withdrew from the Japan Open. Best guesses would be Shimada, Honda, or Orzel.

Good call!

 

[Andrea82]

And Miyake in France

 

[Karen-W]

Good call!

Pretty cheap to change a name on an airline ticket, even a week out! ;-)

ETA - and the Men's alternates list updated again!

Men - 0 spots currently open (note JPN is maxed out at every event except SCI where they have 2 men)
Miyake (SkAm & GPdF)
Frangipani (NHK)
A. Selevko (SCI)
S. Lee (GPdF)
Shimada (SkAm & MKJW)
Zandron (NHK)
Honda (Espoo)
Orzel (SCI)
Levandi (Espoo)
Majorov (Espoo)
Britschgi (SCI)
Carrillo (SkAm)

Next to be added:
Shmuratko (GPdF)
Starostin (none)
Circelli (MKJW)
Sjoberg (SkAm)
Kapeikis (SkAm)
Newberry (MKJW)
Guarino Sabate (none)

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I would not mind seeing Frangi at skate America after I saw his skate last week or so, he was so much improved

And he’s always fun to watch in the kiss and cry

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Speaking of Italians is Daniel still a go for skate America?

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Oh it’s already gone to Shimada

 

[Karen-W]

Speaking of Italians is Daniel still a go for skate America?

Should be - he was at Japan Open last weekend and seems recovered.

 

[Karen-W]

Pairs - no spots currently open
Danilova/Tsiba NED (NHK & Espoo) - seeded team that couldn't get visas for SkAm, first priority for any GP spot that opens up (likely NHK)
Holichenko/Darenskiy UKR (55) (Espoo)
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 (SkAm)
Yunoki/Ichihashi JPN 140.46 (none)
Piegad/Strekalin FRA 138.36 (GPdF)
Wessenberg/Eisenach 138.22 USA (none)

 

[Firedancer]

Eric Sjoberg has withdrawn from Skate America and been replaced by Dinh Tran.

https://twitter.com/anythinggoe/status/1582073318999400448?s=46&t=p-1U4VgS0LNrly3g2clQ5g