Minimum Total Element Scores (TES) for 2023 ISU Championships

[Vagabond]

Is Alina Urushadze going to compete this season? She has earned the TES minimums for Worlds.

 

[Karen-W]

Is Alina Urushadze going to compete this season? She has earned the TES minimums for Worlds.

She hasn't competed at all this season, so my guess is she is done competing.

 

[LoisAGOEs]

The last update was from September, Urushadze has had a leg injury dating back to last season and wasn’t fully training, but was still under Sokolovskaya.

 

[Andrea82]

Trying to do RoseRed's exercise on Men

1) Japan 1
2) Japan 2
3) Japan 3
4) USA 1
5) USA 2
6) USA 3
7) Canada 1
8) Canada 2
9) France 1
10) France 2
11) Georgia 1
12) Georgia 2
13) Italy 1
14) Italy 2
15) Austria (Zandron or Maierhofer)
16) Azerbaijan (Litvintsev)
17) China (Boyang)
18) Spain (Guarino)
19) Estonia (Selevko #1 or #2 or Levandi)
20) Great Britain (Newberry)
21) Germany (Starostin)
22) Hungary (Vlasenko)
23) Israel (Gorodnitsky)

24) South Korea (Cha, Lee or Kyeong)
25) Latvia (Vasiljevs)
26) Mexico (Carillo)
27) Poland (Samoilov or Witkowski)
28) Switzerland (Britschgi)
29) Slovakia (Hagara)
30) Sweden (Majorov or Nordeback)
31) Turkey (Demirboga or Oktar)
32) Ukraine (Shmuratko or Marsak)
+
33) Australia (Kerry, currently injured)
34) Czech Republic (Reshtenko, not seen this season)
35) Kazakhstan (Shaidorov* not competed this season yet)

We can add Bulgaria.
Alexander Zlatkov achieved the FS minimum at Golden Spin, he already had the SP minimum from 2022 Bellu Memorial.
And Shaidorov finally showed up.
So 34 countries + Australia and Czech Republic.

 

[Andrea82]

For the women's Worlds field:

Japan, USA, Belgium and South Korea have 3 spots. Georgia, Azerbaijan, Germany have 2 spots.

Listed skaters are those who have the minimums currently. Where a country has a few options like Japan I won't give a list.

1. Japan 1
2. Japan 2
3. Japan 3
4. USA 1
5. USA 2
6. USA 3
7. South Korea 1
8. South Korea 2
9. South Korea 3
10. Germany 1 (Nicole Schott)
11. Germany 2 (Kristina Isaev)
12. Belgium 1 (Loena Hendrickx)
13. Georgia 1 (Anastasia Gubanova)
14. Austria (Olga Mikutina or Stefanie Pesendorfer)
15. Bulgaria (Alexandra Feigin)
16. Canada (Madeline Schizas or Gabby Daleman)
17. Cyprus (Marilena Kitromilis)
18. Czechia (Eliska Brezinova)
19. Estonia (Eva-Lotta Kiibus or Niina Petrokina)
20. Finland (Janna Jyrkinen or Oona Ounasvuori)
21. France (Lorine Schild or Lea Serna)
22. Great Britain (Kristen Spours)
23. Hungary (Julia Lang)
24. Italy (Anna Pezzetta)
25. Moldova (Gracheva)
26. The Netherlands (Lindsay van Zundert)
27. Norway (Gomez)
28. Poland (Ekaterina Kurakova)
29. Slovenia (Dasa Grm)
30. Switzerland (five options)

31th is Latvia. Sofja Stepchenko obtained the Senior minimums at Latvia Trophy this weekend.

Pinzarrone achieved the FS minimum but not the SP. Hovine fell short again in the SP. Given her content (3+2 combo), she needs to go clean to get 32 (in an event with a panel not too strict on GOEs. Latvia Trophy panel was ready...but she fell on the 3Lo).
Meda Variakojete (Lithuania) got the SP minimum but missed the FS one (by a sizable margin). It is the other way around for Afinogenova.

 

[Karen-W]

31th is Latvia. Sofja Stepchenko obtained the Senior minimums at Latvia Trophy this weekend.

Pinzarrone achieved the FS minimum but not the SP. Hovine fell short again in the SP. Given her content (3+2 combo), she needs to go clean to get 32 (in an event with a panel not too strict on GOEs. Latvia Trophy panel was ready...but she fell on the 3Lo).
Meda Variakojete (Lithuania) got the SP minimum but missed the FS one (by a sizable margin). It is the other way around for Afinogenova.

Pinzarrone has the Euros mins, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's sent to Euros with Loena. In another 5 weeks, she, hopefully, will be able to get the Worlds SP min with ease.

 

[Karen-W]

The ISU still hasn't updated the TES mins charts to include Asian Open or Latvia Trophy, but... Here's what we're looking at for the Women's field at Euros:

3: RUS*
2: AZE, BLR*, BEL, EST, GEO, POL, SUI

1) AUT - Olga Mikutina
2) BEL - Loena Hendrickx
3) BEL - Nina Pinzarrone or Jade Hovine
4) BUL - Alexandra Feigin
5) CYP - Marilena Kitromilis
6) CZE - Barbora Vrankova
7) DEN - Maia Sorensen
8) EST - Eva-Lotta Kiibus
9) EST - Niina Petrokina
10) FIN - Janna Jyrkinen
11) FRA - Lea Serna
12) GBR - Natasha McKay
13) GEO - Anastasiia Gubanova
14) GER - Nicole Schott or Kristina Isaev (whomever wins German Nationals)
15) GRE - Alexandra Mintsidou
16) HUN - Julia Lang
17) ISR - Mariia Seniuk
18) ITA - Lara Naki Gutmann
19) LAT - Sofia Stepcenko
20) LTU - Aleksandra Golovkina
21) MDA - Anastasia Gracheva
22) NED - Lindsay van Zundert
23) NOR - Mia Carolina Risa Gomez
24) POL - Ekaterina Kurakova
25) ROU - Julia Sauter
26) SLO - Dasa Grm
27) SRB - Antonina Dubinina
28) SUI - Livia Kaiser
29) SUI - Kimmy Repond
30) SVK - Alexandra Michaela Filcova
31) SWE - Josefin Taljegard
32) UKR - Mariia Andrichuk or Anastasia Gozhva

ISL's Aldis Kara Bergsdottir still has the TES mins from last season, but I don't think she's been competing at all this season, so she's a question mark for Euros, IMO.

GEO's Alina Urushadze's injury status is unknown, but it seems unlikely that she'll compete at Euros.

Poland doesn't have a second senior woman with the TES mins.

 

[Gris]

ISL's Aldis Kara Bergsdottir still has the TES mins from last season, but I don't think she's been competing at all this season, so she's a question mark for Euros, IMO.

Aldís Kara Bergsdóttir🤍 on Instagram: "❤️Takk fyrir mig❤️ Listskautar hafa verið allt mitt líf síðan ég steig á ísinn í fyrsta skiptið og nú eftir 15 ára feril hef ég tekið þá ákvörðun að leggja skautana á hilluna❤️ Ég er svo ótrúlega stolt af öllu

aldiskaraaDecember 3, 2022 on : "❤️Takk fyrir mig❤️ Listskautar hafa verið allt mitt líf síðan ég steig á ísinn í fyrsta skiptið og nú eftir 15 ára fe..."

www.instagram.com

She recently announced her retirement.

 

[Karen-W]

And, looking at the Men's field for Euros:

Men
3: ITA, RUS*
2: AZE, CZE, FRA, GEO, LAT

1) ARM - Semen Daniliants
2) AUT - Maurizio Zandron
3) AZE - Vladimir Litvintsev
4) BUL - Larry Loupolover
5) CRO - Jari Kessler
6) CZE - Petr Kotlarik
7) CZE - Georgii Reshtenko
8) ESP - Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate
9) EST - Mihhail Selevko
10) FIN - Valter Virtanen
11) FRA - Kevin Aymoz
12) FRA - Adam Siao Him Fa
13) GBR - Graham Newberry
14) GEO - Nika Egadze
15) GEO - Morisi Kvitelashvili
16) GER - Kai Jagoda or Nikita Starostin (whomever wins German Nationals)
17) HUN - Aleksandr Vlasenko
18) IRL - Samuel McAllister
19) ISR - Mark Gorodnitsky
20) ITA - Matteo Rizzo
21) ITA - Daniel Grassl
22) ITA - ??? (Gabriele Frangipani, Nikolaj Memola)
23) LAT - Deniss Vasiljevs
24) MON - Davide Lewton Brain
25) POL - Vladimir Samoilov
26) SLO - David Sedej
27) SUI - Lukas Britschgi
28) SVK - Adam Hagara
29) SWE - Andreas Nordeback
30) TUR - Burak Demirboga
31) UKR - Ivan Shmuratko

I don't think there's been a formal announcement of which three Italian men will be sent to Euros and their Nationals results really made a cluster of what should have been a straightforward decision.

Azerbaijan doesn't have a second senior man with TES mins.

Latvia's Daniel Kockers hasn't competed since last season and did not compete at last weekend's Latvia Trophy, which also doubled as Latvia's defacto national championships, so I presume he won't be sent to Euros.

 

[Evgeniafan]

And, looking at the Men's field for Euros:

Men
3: ITA, RUS*
2: AZE, CZE, FRA, GEO, LAT

1) ARM - Semen Daniliants
2) AUT - Maurizio Zandron
3) AZE - Vladimir Litvintsev
4) BUL - Larry Loupolover
5) CRO - Jari Kessler
6) CZE - Petr Kotlarik
7) CZE - Georgii Reshtenko
8) ESP - Tomas-Llorenc Guarino Sabate
9) EST - Mihhail Selevko
10) FIN - Valter Virtanen
11) FRA - Kevin Aymoz
12) FRA - Adam Siao Him Fa
13) GBR - Graham Newberry
14) GEO - Nika Egadze
15) GEO - Morisi Kvitelashvili
16) GER - Kai Jagoda or Nikita Starostin (whomever wins German Nationals)
17) HUN - Aleksandr Vlasenko
18) IRL - Samuel McAllister
19) ISR - Mark Gorodnitsky
20) ITA - Matteo Rizzo
21) ITA - ??? (Daniel Grassl, Gabriele Frangipani, Nikolaj Memola)
22) ITA - ??? (Daniel Grassl, Gabriele Frangipani, Nikolaj Memola)
23) LAT - Deniss Vasiljevs
24) MON - Davide Lewton Brain
25) POL - Vladimir Samoilov
26) SLO - David Sedej
27) SUI - Lukas Britschgi
28) SVK - Adam Hagara
29) SWE - Andreas Nordeback
30) TUR - Burak Demirboga
31) UKR - Ivan Shmuratko

I don't think there's been a formal announcement of which three Italian men will be sent to Euros and their Nationals results really made a cluster of what should have been a straightforward decision.

Azerbaijan doesn't have a second senior man with TES mins.

Latvia's Daniel Kockers hasn't competed since last season and did not compete at last weekend's Latvia Trophy, which also doubled as Latvia's defacto national championships, so I presume he won't be sent to Euros.

What about Armenia's Slavik Hayrapetyan?

 

[Karen-W]

@Andrea82 compiled a great list in the Dance Hall thread over in the Trash Can of the likely Euros dance teams:

Ice Dance
3: RUS*, ESP
2: FRA, GBR, ITA, LTU, UKR

1) ARM - Azroian/Gruzdev
2) AZE - Ritter/Brylakov or Carhart/Kolosovskyi
3) CZE - Taschlerova/Taschler
4) FIN - Turkkila/Versluis
5) FRA - Lopareva/Brissaud
6) FRA - Demougeot/Le Mercier
7) GBR - Fear/Gibson
8) GEO - Kazakova/Reviya
9) GER - Janse van Rensburg/Steffan
10) HUN - Ignateva/Szemko
11) ISR - Nosovitskaya/Nosovitskiy
12) ITA - Guignard/Fabbri
13) ITA - Manni/Roethlisberger
14) LAT - Ipolito/Russell
15) LTU - Reed/Ambrulevicius
16) LTU - Ramanauskaite/Kizala
17) NED - Jakucs/Galli
18) NOR - Bjorkli/Koszuta
19) POL - Polibina/Golovishnikov
20) SUI - Sassi/Morini
21) SVK - Simova/Aksenov
22) UKR - Holubtsova/Bielobrov
23) UKR - Pinchuk/Pogorielov

Based on the season and national results, the only assignment for Europeans I wouldn't be sure to predict is Azerbaijan.
Ritter/Brykalov won the head to head with Carhart/Kolovskyi at Santa Claus Cup. Carhart/Kolovskyi have the higher ISU SB (because they attended the Denis Ten Memorial). I don't know which result they have, if any at all.

The only other question mark is EST's Mazingue/Gaidajenko - I would be surprised, based on the severity of her injury, if they are ready to compete at Euros. Crossing my fingers for Worlds.

Great Britain doesn't have a 2nd team with the Euros mins.

 

[Karen-W]

And the pairs field for Euros (as well as 4CCs since there aren't any other competitions to earn the TES mins between now and then):

Euros field - 15 teams
3: ITA, RUS*
2: BLR*, GEO, GER, HUN, ESP

1) AUT - Schaller/Mayr
2) CZE - Simioli/Zarbo
3) FRA - Kovalev/Kovalev
4) GBR - Vaipan-Law/Digby
5) GEO - Metelkina/Parkman
6) GEO - Safina/Berulava
7) GER - Efimova/Blommaert
8) GER - Hocke/Kunkel
9) HUN - Pavlova/Sviatchenko
10) ITA - Conti/Macii
11) ITA - Ghilardi/Ambrosini
12) ITA - Beccari/Guarise
13) NED - Osipova/Epstein
14) SWE - Crafoord/Crafoord
15) UKR - Sierova/Khobta or Holichenko/Darenskiy - does anyone know 1) if HolDar are healthy yet?, 2) if so, what Ukraine's selection criteria is?

4CCs field - 12 teams
1) AUS - Golubeva/Giotopoulos-Moore
2) CAN - Stellato-Dudek/Deschamps*
3) CAN - Pereira/Michaud*
4) CAN - McIntosh/Mimar*
5) CHN - Peng/Jin
6) CHN - Wang/Jia
7) CHN - Zhang/Yang
8) JPN - Miura/Kihara
9) PHI - Gamez/Korovin
10) USA - Chan/Howe*
11) USA - Smirnova/Siianytsia*
12) USA - Kam/O'Shea*

* contingent on Canadian & US Nationals results (Knierim/Frazier are slated for Art on Ice in Switzerland the same week as 4CCs)

ETA - updated 4CCs field due to announcement in the Australian News thread of their team.

 

[Karen-W]

What about Armenia's Slavik Hayrapetyan?

He hasn't competed since last season, so I presume he's retired.

 

[Andrea82]

I don't think there's been a formal announcement of which three Italian men will be sent to Euros and their Nationals results really made a cluster of what should have been a straightforward decision.

Based on the rules (ranking computed based on Nationals + 2 top other scores) it should be Rizzo and Grassl and selection committee can pick whoever they want between Frangipani and Memola (gap in the ranking between them being less than 30 points).

 

[Karen-W]

Based on the rules (ranking computed based on Nationals + 2 top other scores) it should be Rizzo and Grassl and selection committee can pick whoever they want between Frangipani and Memola (gap in the ranking between them being less than 30 points).

Thanks! I've edited my post to include Grassl and leave the 3rd spot up in the air.

 

[Sylvia]

Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) and Ema Doboszova (SVK) have attained the Worlds SP minimum of 32 that they didn't have before today's SP at Dragon Trophy in Slovenia.

For those keeping track of the skaters/teams still looking for 2023 Worlds minimums, maybe a list for all 4 disciplines can be consolidated into this thread?

 

[Karen-W]

Lara Naki Gutmann (ITA) and Ema Doboszova (SVK) have attained the Worlds SP minimum of 32 that they didn't have before today's SP at Dragon Trophy in Slovenia.

For those keeping track of the skaters/teams still looking for 2023 Worlds minimums, maybe a list for all 4 disciplines can be consolidated into this thread?

I was planning on updating for all four disciplines as the weekend's events conclude. I've already pulled the current TES lists into separate Excel spreadsheets with the competitors seeking TES mins this weekend and at the rest of this month's competitions marked and color-coded.

 

[Andrea82]

In Ice Dance, Netherlands is in now (Jakucs/Galli got the RD minimums they were missing today in Egna).
Belgium may join soon.

 

[Karen-W]

As noted above, Gutmann ITA and Doboszova SVK earned the Worlds SP TES mins they were both in need of earlier today. None of the other women competing at Dragon Trophy who need TES mins achieved them. There are three competitions left for TES mins to be achieved: Tallink Hotels Cup (entries - next weekend), Bellu Memorial (entries - last weekend of Feb) and Challenge Cup (entries - last weekend of Feb). Entry lists are available for each of these competitions already. These could, of course, change, but, as of now, here is a comprehensive list of women still searching for the Worlds TES mins who are entered in one or more of these upcoming competitions to fill open spots for their countries - I'm deliberately leaving off skaters from countries where the Worlds team has already been announced or the Worlds entrant is obvious (ie - Feigin of Bulgaria, Grm of Slovenia, etc):

Jade Hovine BEL - Challenge Cup
Eliska Brezinova CZE - Bellu Memorial (she has the TES mins, but is coming back from surgery, so who knows if she's really ready to compete)
Barbora Vrankova CZE - Tallink Hotels Cup, Bellu Memorial and Challenge Cup (she's entered for both, not sure which she'll wind up doing)
Marie Kolly-Millasson ESP - Bellu Memorial
Lucia Ruiz Manzano ESP - Bellu Memorial
Mae Berenice Meite FRA* - Tallink Hotels Cup
Elisavet Voulgari GRE - Bellu Memorial
Tara Prasad IND - Bellu Memorial
Mariia Seniuk ISR - Tallink Hotels Cup and Challenge Cup
Anastasia Konga LAT** - Tallink Hotels Cup
Daria Afinogenova LTU - Tallink Hotels Cup
Jogaile Aglinskyte LTU - Tallink Hotels Cup and Bellu Memorial
Frida Turiddotter Berge NOR*** - Challenge Cup
Linnea Kilsand NOR*** - Challenge Cup
Jocelyn Hong NZL - Bellu Memorial
Ana Sofia Beschea ROU - Bellu Memorial
Julia Sauter ROU - Bellu Memorial
Lovisa Aav SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup
Emelie Ling SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup
Josefin Taljegard SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup
Anastasia Gozhva UKR - Tallink Hotels Cup

* - Lea Serna FRA & Lorine Schild FRA both already have the Worlds TES mins, but I'm not sure if the FFSG has made their decision on who will represent FRA at Worlds yet, especially since Serna didn't even make it out of the SP at Euros.
** - Sofia Stepcenko LAT has the Worlds TES mins, but I'm not sure if she's been named to the Worlds team already, and she's also doing Jr Worlds.
*** - Mia Carolina Risa Gomez NOR has the Worlds TES mins, but all three of the top Norwegian women, including Mia, are competing at Challenge Cup, so the Worlds assignment might not be decided yet.

 

[Wyliefan]

I'm glad for Gutmann but sorry for Pezzetta. I dream of both of them getting to go to Worlds, but for now it's a pipe dream.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm glad for Gutmann but sorry for Pezzetta. I dream of both of them getting to go to Worlds, but for now it's a pipe dream.

There's always WTT - and Italy is all but sure to qualify for that.

 

[Karen-W]

Pairs teams seeking Worlds TES minimums is a pretty short list. There are 4 teams lacking the SP min and all four are slated to compete at Challenge Cup in two weeks:

Sophia Schaller / Livio Mayr AUT
Oceane Piegad / Denys Strekalin FRA*
Isabella Gamez / Aleksandr Korovin PHI
Greta Crafoord / John Crafoord SWE

* - Kovalev/Kovalev FRA and Vouillamoz/Giniaux FRA both have the Worlds TES mins, but I'm not sure if the FFSG has named the 2nd pairs team for Worlds yet, especially since Vouillamoz/Giniaux are doing Jr Worlds already

 

[Karen-W]

Shilling/Baeten BEL just earned the Worlds FD TES min this morning!

The list of Dance teams trying to earn the Worlds TES mins at Challenge Cup is actually shorter than the list of Pairs teams trying there too, lol.

India Nette/Eron Westwood AUS*
Sofia Val/Asaf Kazimov ESP
Chelsea Verhaegh/Sherim van Geffen NED*

* - Harris/Chan AUS and Jakucs/Galli NED already have the Worlds TES mins and will certainly be the entries for Australia and the Netherlands respectively, but I'm sure their feds would like to have another team qualified

 

[Karen-W]

No Worlds TES mins achieved by the men this weekend. There are three competitions left for TES mins to be achieved: Tallink Hotels Cup (entries - next weekend), Bellu Memorial (entries - last weekend of Feb) and Challenge Cup (entries - last weekend of Feb). Entry lists are available for each of these competitions already. These could, of course, change, but, as of now, here is a comprehensive list of Men still searching for the Worlds TES mins who are entered in one or more of these upcoming competitions to fill open spots for their countries:

Fedor Chitipakhovian ARM - Tallink Hotels Cup
Jari Kessler CRO - Tallink Hotels Cup and Bellu Memorial
Petr Kotlarik CZE - Bellu Memorial
Arttu Juusola FIN - Tallink Hotels Cup
Jan Ollikainen FIN - Tallink Hotels Cup
Makar Suntsev FIN - Tallink Hotels Cup
Valtter Virtanen FIN - Tallink Hotels Cup and Challenge Cup
Lev Vinokur ISR* - Tallink Hotels Cup
Davide Lewton Brain MON - Challenge Cup
Iwan van Hulst NED - Challenge Cup
Naoki Rossi SUI* - Tallink Hotels Cup
Andrew Torgashev USA - Challenge Cup

* - Gorodnitsky ISR and Britschgi SUI already have the Worlds TES mins and I presume will be at Worlds, but I'm sure their feds would like another skater with the mins as alternates.

 

[Karen-W]

Just for some perspective, since people seem to be harping on the Women's TES mins being too high...

Currently, if every country who has a woman with the TES mins sends a woman/women (JPN, USA, KOR = 3 each; BEL, GEO, & GER = 2 each), there would be 35 entrants. There are another 9 countries+1 BEL woman still attempting to achieve the TES mins in the next 2 weeks.

On the men's side, if every country who has a man with the TES mins sends a man/men (JPN, USA = 3 each; CAN, FRA, GEO, ITA = 2 each), there would be 33 entrants. There are another 6 countries still attempting to achieve the TES mins in the next 2 weeks.

In pairs, if every country who has a pairs team with the TES mins sends their full quota (USA, CAN = 3 each; FRA, GER, GBR, NED = 2 each), there would be 22 teams at Worlds. There are another 3 countries attempting to earn the TES mins at Challenge Cup in 2 weeks, plus we still don't know the status of Barquero/Zandron - it will have been a full year since her doping violation at the end of this month.

And, in dance, if every country who has a dance team with the TES mins sends their full quota (USA, FRA = 3; CAN, ITA, LTU = 2 each), there would be 32 teams at Worlds. There is 1 other country with a team attempting to earn the TES mins at Challenge Cup in 2 weeks.

I realize BEL has 3 women's spots but only 2 have the TES mins at the moment; same with GBR in dance/GEO in pairs - they have 2 spots, but only 1 team has the mins; and right now, AZE (2 women's spots)/AUT (2 pairs spots)/ESP (2 dance spots) don't have anyone with the TES mins for those spots.

Certainly not every country is likely to fill the spots they have, but I don't think there's a strong argument to be made to reduce the TES mins in any discipline, and certainly not for the Women, who, at the moment, have the most qualified of all the disciplines. Just because certain fan/sentimental favorites don't have their mins doesn't mean that the field isn't full enough already.

 

[Aceon6]

Certainly not every country is likely to fill the spots they have, but I don't think there's a strong argument to be made to reduce the TES mins in any discipline, and certainly not for the Women, who, at the moment, have the most qualified of all the disciplines. Just because certain fan/sentimental favorites don't have their mins doesn't mean that the field isn't full enough already.

Agree. If the purpose is to get as close as possible to 36 singles, 24 pairs, and 30 dance, the mins seem to be doing the job. An argument might be made to tweak pairs, but that would inevitably bring more skary pairs into the equation.

 

[airgelaal]

Certainly not every country is likely to fill the spots they have, but I don't think there's a strong argument to be made to reduce the TES mins in any discipline, and certainly not for the Women, who, at the moment, have the most qualified of all the disciplines. Just because certain fan/sentimental favorites don't have their mins doesn't mean that the field isn't full enough already.

The field is full enough for what?
This is the World Championship. And if the goal is not in the number of countries, but in the number of participants, then what is the point? For many, participation in the WC is an opportunity to receive additional funding and attention to themselves.
There is already a tournament for the strongest - it's the Grand Prix. Why create another one?

 

[Karen-W]

The field is full enough for what?
This is the World Championship. And if the goal is not in the number of countries, but in the number of participants, then what is the point? For many, participation in the WC is an opportunity to receive additional funding and attention to themselves.
There is already a tournament for the strongest - it's the Grand Prix. Why create another one?

It seems pretty clear that the ISU wants to limit the size of the fields at Worlds to somewhere around 6-7 groups per discipline. With the TES mins set at their current levels, they appear to have achieved that. We will have to see how things play out over the next three competitions and what the initial entry lists look like, but I don't think the TES mins are going to be lowered.

 

[MacMadame]

The field is full enough for what?

Full enough to let a lot of skaters qualified but not be too expensive to run or too exhausting for the officials? That's my guess of their thinking.

 

[Karen-W]

Barbora Vrankova CZE - Tallink Hotels Cup, Bellu Memorial and Challenge Cup (she's entered for both, not sure which she'll wind up doing)
Mae Berenice Meite FRA* - Tallink Hotels Cup
Mariia Seniuk ISR - Tallink Hotels Cup and Challenge Cup
Anastasia Konga LAT** - Tallink Hotels Cup
Daria Afinogenova LTU - Tallink Hotels Cup
Jogaile Aglinskyte LTU - Tallink Hotels Cup and Bellu Memorial
Lovisa Aav SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup
Emelie Ling SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup and Challenge Cup
Josefin Taljegard SWE - Tallink Hotels Cup and Challenge Cup
Anastasia Gozhva UKR - Tallink Hotels Cup

Just an update on the women seeking TES mins this weekend at Tallink Hotels Cup - Vrankova, Meite and Afinogenova all WD before the SP, so no TES mins for any of them. And, none of the women who did compete earned the SP TES mins they needed, so that would be the end of the road for Konga, Aav, and Gozhva. Part of me will be a little surprised if Vrankova competes next week since it seems pretty clear she's dealing with some sort of injury that kept her out of Euros after originally being named to the Czech team.