2023-24 Challenger Series

[Sylvia]

Egadze must have been removed by mistake yesterday instead of Rizzo - I edited my post #87 today:

No longer listed are:

Men (3):
Corentin SPINAR FRA
ETA on Saturday: Nika EGADZE GEO - Egadze is back & now removed is Matteo RIZZO ITA
Daniel GRASSL ITA

 

[Karen-W]

last night, Friday USA time, Matteo was still on, but Daniel was off. Now Matteo is gone ?

Matteo was gone yesterday late afternoon when I looked at the list.

 

[Gris]

Nepela entries: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00117408.htm

Copying out:

Men
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Filip KAYMAKCHIEV BUL 1
2 Conrad ORZEL CAN 2
3 Henry PRIVETT-MENDOZA GBR 3
4 Nika EGADZE GEO 4
5 Denis GURDZHI GER 5
6 Aleksandr VLASENKO HUN 6
7 Mark GORODNITSKY ISR 7
8 Lev VINOKUR ISR 7
9 Gabriele FRANGIPANI ITA 8
10 Daniel GRASSL ITA 8
11 Mikhail SHAIDOROV KAZ 9
12 Junhwan CHA KOR 10
13 Hyungyeom KIM KOR 10
14 Fedir KULISH LAT 11
15 Deniss VASILJEVS LAT 11
16 Vladimir SAMOILOV POL 12
17 Kornel WITKOWSKI POL 12
18 Milosz WITKOWSKI POL 12
19 Adam HAGARA SVK 13
20 Lukas VACLAVIK SVK 13
21 Ivan SHMURATKO UKR 14
22 Maxim NAUMOV USA 15

Women
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Madeline SCHIZAS CAN 1
2 Nikola RYCHTARIKOVA CZE 2
3 Michaela VRASTAKOVA CZE 2
4 Nina POVEY GBR 3
5 Julia LANG HUN 4
6 Daria ZSIRNOV HUN 4
7 Ella CHEN ISR 5
8 Mariia SENIUK ISR 5
9 Lara Naki GUTMANN ITA 6
10 Chaeyeon KIM KOR 7
11 Haein LEE KOR 7
12 Young YOU KOR 7
13 Sofja STEPCENKO LAT 8
14 Jogaile AGLINSKYTE LTU 9
15 Aleksandra GOLOVKINA LTU 9
16 Meda VARIAKOJYTE LTU 9
17 Ekaterina KURAKOVA POL 10
18 Julia SAUTER ROU 11
19 Antonina DUBININA SRB 12
20 Sara FRANZI SUI 13
21 Ema DOBOSZOVA SVK 14
22 Vanesa SELMEKOVA SVK 14
23 Yelizaveta BABENKO UKR 15
24 Anastasia GOZHVA UKR 15
25 Amber GLENN USA 16

Ice Dance
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Olivia Josephine SHILLING / Leo BAETEN BEL 1
2 Nadiia BASHYNSKA / Peter BEAUMONT CAN 2
3 Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA CAN 2
4 Natalie TASCHLEROVA / Filip TASCHLER CZE 3
5 Sofia VAL / Asaf KAZIMOV ESP 4
6 Yuka ORIHARA / Juho PIRINEN FIN 5
7 Phebe BEKKER / James HERNANDEZ GBR 6
8 Lilah FEAR / Lewis GIBSON GBR 6
9 Diana DAVIS / Gleb SMOLKIN GEO 7
10 Charise MATTHAEI / Max LIEBERS GER 8
11 Mariia NOSOVITSKAYA / Mikhail NOSOVITSKIY ISR 9
12 Paulina RAMANAUSKAITE / Deividas KIZALA LTU 10
13 Olivia OLIVER / Filip BOJANOWSKI POL 11
14 Maria Sofia PUCHEROVA / Nikita LYSAK SVK 12
15 Anna SIMOVA / Kirill AKSENOV SVK 12
16 Mariia HOLUBTSOVA / Kyryl BIELOBROV UKR 13
17 Caroline GREEN / Michael PARSONS USA 14
18 Emilea ZINGAS / Vadym KOLESNIK USA 14
Emily BRATTI / Ian SOMERVILLE USA 14 S
Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO USA 14 S
Isabella FLORES / Ivan DESYATOV USA 14 S
Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER USA 14 S
Raffaella Adele KONCIUS / Alexey SHCHEPETOV USA 14 S
Angela LING / Caleb WEIN USA 14 S
Lorraine MCNAMARA / Anton SPIRIDONOV USA 14 S
Eva PATE / Logan BYE USA 14 S
Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Dimitry TSAREVSKI USA 14 S

 

[SidelineSkater]

Women
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Madeline SCHIZAS CAN 1
2 Nikola RYCHTARIKOVA CZE 2
3 Michaela VRASTAKOVA CZE 2
4 Nina POVEY GBR 3
5 Julia LANG HUN 4
6 Daria ZSIRNOV HUN 4
7 Ella CHEN ISR 5
8 Mariia SENIUK ISR 5
9 Lara Naki GUTMANN ITA 6
10 Chaeyeon KIM KOR 7
11 Haein LEE KOR 7
12 Young YOU KOR 7
13 Sofja STEPCENKO LAT 8
14 Jogaile AGLINSKYTE LTU 9
15 Aleksandra GOLOVKINA LTU 9
16 Meda VARIAKOJYTE LTU 9
17 Ekaterina KURAKOVA POL 10
18 Julia SAUTER ROU 11
19 Antonina DUBININA SRB 12
20 Sara FRANZI SUI 13
21 Ema DOBOSZOVA SVK 14
22 Vanesa SELMEKOVA SVK 14
23 Yelizaveta BABENKO UKR 15
24 Anastasia GOZHVA UKR 15
25 Amber GLENN USA 16

Early fax/b-day present for @AngieNikodinovLove.

 

[Karen-W]

I feel like we're going to see that dance field at Nepela winnowed down over the next month.

Also updated today - both ReedAmbru and Minchae Kim are out of Autumn Classic, Deniss Vasiljevs is out of Nebelhorn, and Lev Vinokur is out of Lombardia.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Early fax/b-day present for @AngieNikodinovLove.

OMG airline bs again. I made the connection because I can run like an animal and AA canceled my connection as they said, there wasn’t enough time for me to get to the gate, guess what ANL got his ass to the gate but nonetheless Had to wait six more hours in London for the Bcn Flight

and thank you for the birthday wishes, how did another one creep up already? Thank goodness I spent every day at the gym this year

 

[PRlady]

I feel like we're going to see that dance field at Nepela winnowed down over the next month.

Also updated today - both ReedAmbru and Minchae Kim are out of Autumn Classic, Deniss Vasiljevs is out of Nebelhorn, and Lev Vinokur is out of Lombardia.

That dance field is amazing. I gotta look up dates and times to make sure my socializing DH doesn’t schedule us into something.

 

[Marta24]

It's interesting that L/L, G/Pa and the Taschlers will meet 3 times before Worlds. Considering last season's result Taschlers should lose all those match ups, but who knows what Zanni has cooked up for them. The 3 of them would be my dream Olympic podium for 2026. I know, I know not going to happen, because F/G+ IAM power. But I will continue hoping for my dream podium until reality smacks me in the face

 

[Sylvia]

Lombardia Trophy livestream info (requires a subscription this year ): https://solidsport.com/lombardia-trophy

"Day tickets [Friday, Saturday & Sunday] are available for 7,99€, the All Access Pass for 19,99€ (This pass gives you access to all streams and replays. This pass is valid until October 31st 2023)."

Link to the competition thread in Kiss & Cry section: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-lombardia-trophy-sept-8-10-bergamo-ita-cs-1.110956/

 

[Wyliefan]

Goodness, USA, got enough dance subs there?

 

[Wyliefan]

I feel like we're going to see that dance field at Nepela winnowed down over the next month.

Also updated today - both ReedAmbru and Minchae Kim are out of Autumn Classic, Deniss Vasiljevs is out of Nebelhorn, and Lev Vinokur is out of Lombardia.

Lajoie/Lagha are also out of Autumn Classic.

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1699427459211333677

 

[BlueRidge]

Lajoie/Lagha are also out of Autumn Classic.

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1699427459211333677

Well phooey, I was hoping to be able to watch that one.

 

[Karen-W]

Finlandia Trophy entries are out! https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00117410.htm

Men
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Charlton DOHERTY AUS 1
2 Gabriel BLUMENTHAL CAN 2
3 Roman SADOVSKY CAN 2
4 Georgii RESHTENKO CZE 3
5 Iker OYARZABAL ALBAS ESP 4
6 Arlet LEVANDI EST 5
7 Aleksandr SELEVKO EST 5
8 Mihhail SELEVKO EST 5
9 Arttu JUUSOLA FIN 6
10 Makar SUNTSEV FIN 6
11 Denis GURDZHI GER 7
12 Nikita STAROSTIN GER 7
13 Mark GORODNITSKY ISR 8
14 Nikolaj MEMOLA ITA 9
15 Kao MIURA JPN 10
16 Shun SATO JPN 10
17 Younghyun CHA KOR 11
18 Sihyeong LEE KOR 11
19 Davide LEWTON BRAIN MON 12
20 Lukas BRITSCHGI SUI 13
21 Andreas NORDEBACK SWE 14
22 Kyrylo MARSAK UKR 15
23 Liam KAPEIKIS USA 16

Women
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Fiona BOMBARDIER CAN 1
2 Nataly LANGERBAUR EST 2
3 Kristina LISOVSKAJA EST 2
4 Janna JYRKINEN FIN 3
5 Oona OUNASVUORI FIN 3
6 Nella PELKONEN FIN 3
7 Emmi PELTONEN FIN 3
Linnea CEDER FIN 3 S
Olivia LISKO FIN 3 S
Minja PELTONEN FIN 3 S
8 Anastasiia GUBANOVA GEO 4
9 Kristina ISAEV GER 5
10 Tara PRASAD IND 6
11 Anna PEZZETTA ITA 7
12 Mai MIHARA JPN 8
13 Rinka WATANABE JPN 8
14 Yelim KIM KOR 9
15 Seoyeong WI KOR 9
16 Angelina KUCHVALSKA LAT 10
17 Lindsay VAN ZUNDERT NED 11
18 Linnea KILSAND NOR 12
19 Mia RISA GOMEZ NOR 12
20 Antonina DUBININA SRB 13
21 Alexia PAGANINI SUI 14
22 Josefin TALJEGARD SWE 15
23 Tzu-Han TING TPE 16
24 Ava Marie ZIEGLER USA 17

Pairs
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Sophia SCHALLER / Livio MAYR AUT 1
2 Brooke MCINTOSH / Benjamin MIMAR CAN 2
3 Barbora KUCIANOVA / Martin BIDAR CZE 3
4 Milania VAANANEN / Filippo CLERICI FIN 4
5 Camille KOVALEV / Pavel KOVALEV FRA 5
6 Oceane PIEGAD / Denys STREKALIN FRA 5
7 Letizia ROSCHER / Luis SCHUSTER GER 6
8 Maria PAVLOVA / Alexei SVIATCHENKO HUN 7
9 Irma CALDARA / Riccardo MAGLIO ITA 8
10 Rebecca GHILARDI / Filippo AMBROSINI ITA 8
11 Isabella GAMEZ / Aleksandr KOROVIN PHI 9
12 Ellie KAM / Danny O'SHEA USA 10
13 Chelsea LIU / Balazs NAGY USA 10
Maria MOKHOVA / Ivan MOKHOV USA 10 S

Ice Dance
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Holly HARRIS / Jason CHAN AUS 1
2 Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Nikolaj SOERENSEN CAN 2
3 Lily HENSEN / Nathan LICKERS CAN 2
4 Olivia SMART / Tim DIECK ESP 3
5 Yuka ORIHARA / Juho PIRINEN FIN 4
6 Juulia TURKKILA / Matthias VERSLUIS FIN 4
7 Marie DUPAYAGE / Thomas NABAIS FRA 5
8 Olexandra BORYSOVA / Aaron FREEMAN POL 6
9 Oona BROWN / Gage BROWN USA 7
10 Christina CARREIRA / Anthony PONOMARENKO USA 7
Emily BRATTI / Ian SOMERVILLE USA 7 S
Isabella FLORES / Ivan DESYATOV USA 7 S
Caroline GREEN / Michael PARSONS USA 7 S
Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER USA 7 S
Raffaella Adele KONCIUS / Alexey SHCHEPETOV USA 7 S
Angela LING / Caleb WEIN USA 7 S
Lorraine MCNAMARA / Anton SPIRIDONOV USA 7 S
Eva PATE / Logan BYE USA 7 S
Emilea ZINGAS / Vadym KOLESNIK USA 7 S

 

[Andrea82]

US ice dance subs list is almost as long as the rest of the field.

 

[Wyliefan]

Ava and Anna and Rinka. How nice to have all my headcases together in one event.

 

[PRlady]

Are Hawayek/Baker doing a Challenger? I feel like I’ve seen so many lists that I can’t remember.

Also the dance field is gonna be fun…Danadians, Finns, the ? of Smart/Dieck….and where do CarPon fit in?

 

[Sylvia]

Are Hawayek/Baker doing a Challenger? I feel like I’ve seen so many lists that I can’t remember.

H/B are not assigned to an ISU Challenger yet. From the U.S. Ice Dance news thread:

Seems pretty clear that Chock/Bates are going with the same strategy as last season and won't debut until SkAm. HawBak are either pursuing a similar and, IMO for them, riskier strategy of waiting to debut at GPdF or they'll debut at Budapest Trophy which is the last CS before the GP series starts.

Lombardia Trophy livestream info (requires a subscription this year ): https://solidsport.com/lombardia-trophy

"Day tickets [Friday, Saturday & Sunday] are available for 7,99€, the All Access Pass for 19,99€ (This pass gives you access to all streams and replays. This pass is valid until October 31st 2023)."

Link to the competition thread in Kiss & Cry section: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-lombardia-trophy-sept-8-10-bergamo-ita-cs-1.110956/

24,99€ for the All Access Pass if you buy today (competition is about to start).

 

[Dobre]

So no Hawayek & Baker yet. Hmm.
ETA: LOL. I see we all noticed the same thing about the Finlandia list.

Well, that dance win at the Autumn Classic is now looking very doable for somebody. (Should be Lopareva & Brissaud if they're ready, but those brand new teams now have perfectly legitimate shots of landing on the podium. It really can pay to be ready early).

 

[Dobre]

No Lauriault & Le Gac at any CS events yet either. Like Hawayek & Baker, they start the GP at the 3rd event so they could sign up for Budapest.

(That dance field at the French GP is no walk in the park. It would be a very good GP to come into very well prepared).

 

[Karen-W]

So no Hawayek & Baker yet. Hmm.
ETA: LOL. I see we all noticed the same thing about the Finlandia list.

Well, that dance win at the Autumn Classic is now looking very doable for somebody. (Should be Lopareva & Brissaud if they're ready, but those brand new teams now have perfectly legitimate shots of landing on the podium. It really can pay to be ready early).

Yeahhhh... Smart/Dieck and Pate/Bye have a real opportunity there, if LopBri aren't ready.

No Lauriault & Le Gac at any CS events yet either. Like Hawayek & Baker, they start the GP at the 3rd event so they could sign up for Budapest.

(That dance field at the French GP is no walk in the park. It would be a very good GP to come into very well prepared).

Hmmm... I hadn't noticed that, but yeah, curious. Also curious is that Komatsubara/Koleto aren't entered in any of the early Challengers, which is really odd since they only have NHK.

FWIW - GilPoir seem to be taking the same route as Chock/Bates in waiting to debut until SCI - they also got a fairly late start to their programs this season, so it makes sense, but... I guess it'll make the GP all sorts of fun!

 

[Habs]

Fiona Bombardier at Finlandia!

 

[Sylvia]

Thoughts?

Sometimes I wonder if the importance of challengers is somewhat overstated? Sure you need feedback for your program, but C/B and G/P both managed to be successful without challengers last season. Also teams don’t always carry their momentum from gps to worlds either.

Senior Bs used to be for skaters without a gp but all that changed in recent years. Esp with Liza doing a ton of challengers some years ago.

 

[airgelaal]

Challengers are important to receive an official SB. This is the only option for most skaters.

 

[jlai]

Thoughts?

want to clarify the context...the original question was why certain teams aren't invited to the challengers, and the answer was that the team in question isn't on the GP so there's no reason they need a pre-season CS.

But those without GPs need the challengers more (it seems) because they need their SB, like the poster above indicated.

 

[On My Own]

Thoughts?

What they're saying is just true for top tier skaters. It's a cheap way for them getting SBs and additional WS points, so they can have a nice cumulated WS by the time worlds rolls by. I wish skaters within, say, the top 30, would be limited to one. Limit top 10 to zero per season. Beyond that, it can be said many skaters can only get SBs at CS events.

 

[Sylvia]

want to clarify the context...the original question was why certain teams aren't invited to the challengers, and the answer was that the team in question isn't on the GP so there's no reason they need a pre-season CS.

Thanks for clarifying. AFAIK, the U.S. skaters/teams are asked if they want ISU Challengers before their Grand Prix assigments and work with their respective coaching teams to decide ones which they prefer/get assigned to. The skaters/teams without GP assignments (or those with only 1) usually will get the later Challengers.

Bringing over these 2 relevant replies from the U.S. Dance news thread:/

C/B [Chock/Bates] and G/P [Gilles/Poirier] had already been on the World podium and were expected to be vying for the title in 2023. They also had substantial WS points to skate in the last group of the RD at Worlds, even though G/P couldn’t get 4C’s championship points due to her recovery. Both teams had substantial experience and were the top contender from their rinks, and they were able to turn around feedback quickly.

Skaters who have GP’s can use early CS’s to get WS points to improve their GP starting orders and get feedback and their international travel legs before their GP’s.

For skaters who need to establish themselves as a new team and get TES minimums and WS points, CS might be their only international opportunity, because their fed won’t pay for regular senior B’s, due to the travel costs, and because they don’t allow skaters to pay their own way. Not everyone can pull a Torgeshev and get sent to a last-minute international, because if it’s close, their Fed can choose another skater/team that already ticks the boxes, so that there’s reasonable certainty about the named team, and not provisional selections.

CS events, many of which are streamed and get the skaters exposure, are important to and for the skaters.

C/B & G/P had years of competing at Challengers in order to establish themselves, bolster their reputations, secure their world standings, and help fund their training before they reached this point in their careers. Chock & Bates, in particular, (and Guignard & Fabbri also) earned opportunities via the Challenger route & set themselves up for many a final flight in major competition via attendance at more Challenger events than their competition. It's a wise route, IMO. We've seen teams fall completely off the list due to unanticipated injuries over the years, and especially for teams that compete in deep fields at home, there are never guarantees that the big end-of-the-season points will happen.

 

[Sylvia]

Autumn Classic entries: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00117403.htm

Copying out:

Men
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Wesley CHIU CAN 1
2 Boyang JIN CHN 2
3 Tomas-Llorenc GUARINO SABATE ESP 3
4 Kevin AYMOZ FRA 4
5 Mark GORODNITSKY ISR 5
6 Nikolaj MEMOLA ITA 6
7 Sota YAMAMOTO JPN 7
8 Donovan CARRILLO MEX 8
9 Edrian Paul CELESTINO PHI 9
10 Jimmy MA USA 10
11 Ilia MALININ USA 10
12 Daniil MURZIN USA 10

Women
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Kaiya RUITER CAN 1
2 Eliska BREZINOVA CZE 2
3 Emmi PELTONEN FIN 3
4 Ella CHEN ISR 4
5 Elizabet GERVITS ISR 4
6 Mone CHIBA JPN 5
7 Kaori SAKAMOTO JPN 5
8 Dabin CHOI KOR 6
9 Minchae KIM KOR 6
10 Eugenia GARZA MEX 7
11 Sofia Lexi Jacqueline FRANK PHI 8
12 Tara Maria IENCIU ROU 9
13 Amanda HSU TPE 10
14 Audrey SHIN USA 11
15 Bradie TENNELL USA 11
16 Lindsay THORNGREN USA 11

Pairs
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Anastasia GOLUBEVA / Hektor GIOTOPOULOS MOORE AUS 1
2 Sophia SCHALLER / Livio MAYR AUT 2
3 Caidence DERENISKY / Raine EBERL CAN 3
4 Emmanuelle PROFT / Nicolas NADEAU CAN 3
5 Deanna STELLATO-DUDEK / Maxime DESCHAMPS CAN 3
6 Camille KOVALEV / Pavel KOVALEV FRA 4
7 Anastasia VAIPAN-LAW / Luke DIGBY GBR 5
8 Riku MIURA / Ryuichi KIHARA JPN 6
9 Isabella GAMEZ / Aleksandr KOROVIN PHI 7
10 Chelsea LIU / Balazs NAGY USA 8
11 Isabelle MARTINS / Ryan BEDARD USA 8

Ice Dance
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Holly HARRIS / Jason CHAN AUS 1
2 Sandrine GAUTHIER / Quentin THIEREN CAN 2
3 Marjorie LAJOIE / Zachary LAGHA CAN 2
4 Alyssa ROBINSON / Jacob PORTZ CAN 2
5 Olivia SMART / Tim DIECK ESP 3
6 Evgeniia LOPAREVA / Geoffrey BRISSAUD FRA 4
7 Leia DOZZI / Pietro PAPETTI ITA 5
8 Hannah LIM / Ye QUAN KOR 6
9 Allison REED / Saulius AMBRULEVICIUS LTU 7
10 Mariia HOLUBTSOVA / Kyryl BIELOBROV UKR 8
11 Eva PATE / Logan BYE USA 9
12 Katarina WOLFKOSTIN / Dimitry TSAREVSKI USA 9

ACI updates - Gogolev added in men; Miclette and Andrea Astrain Maynez MEX have been added in women .

Withdrawals (names crossed out by me in the quoted post above): Lajoie/Lagha & Reed/Ambrulevicius; Bradie Tennell, Lindsay Thorngren & Minchae Kim; Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore.

Entry numbers are now 13 men, 14 women, 10 pairs & 10 dance teams. Free livestreaming (this Thursday to Saturday) by Skate Canada on their Dailymotion channel!

 

[barbarafan]

Withdrawals (names crossed out by me in the quoted post above): Lajoie/Lagha & Reed/Ambrulevicius; Bradie Tennell, Lindsay Thorngren & Minchae Kim; Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore.

Entry numbers are now 13 men, 14 women, 10 pairs & 10 dance teams. Free livestreaming (this Thursday to Saturday) by Skate Canada on their Dailymotion channel!

Has Stephen G. withdrawn?

 

[Karen-W]

Has Stephen G. withdrawn?

No, he's still on the updated entry list as of today.

 

[barbarafan]

No, he's still on the updated entry list as of today.

Thank-you