NHK Trophy 2012 assignments

Miyagi    23-25 Nov

MEN
Kevin REYNOLDS
Andrei ROGOZINE
Yuzuru HANYU
Daisuke MURAKAMI
Daisuke TAKAHASHI
Sergey VORONOV
Javier FERNANDEZ
Richard DORNBUSH
Ross MINER
Adam RIPPON


LADIES
Zijun LI
Elena GEDEVANISHVILI
Mao ASADA
Haruka IMAI
Akiko SUZUKI
Sofia BIRYUKOVA
Ksenia MAKAROVA
Mirai NAGASU
Agnes ZAWADZKI

PAIRS
Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS /Dylan MOSCOVITCH
Mari VARTMANN /Aaron VAN CLEAVE
Nicole DELLA MONICA/Matteo GUARISE
Vera BAZAROVA /Yuri LARIONOV
Anastasia MARTIUSHEVA/Alexei ROGONOV
Marissa CASTELLI /Simon SHNAPIR
Lindsay DAVIS /Mark LADWIG


DANCE
Nicole ORFORD /Thoms WILLIAMS
Xintong HUANG /Xun ZHENG
Xiaoyang YU /Chen WANG
Penny COOMES /Nicholas BUCKLAND
Cathy REED /Chris REED
Elena ILINYKH /Nikita KATSALAPOV
Meryl DAVIS /Charlie WHITE
Maia SHIBUTANI /Alex SHIBUTANI

Trophee Eric Bompard 2012 assignments

Paris 16-18 Nov 2012

MEN
Jorik HENDRICKX

Jinli GUAN
Nan SONG (could retire due to injury caused at Cup of China)
Tomas VERNER
Chafik BESSEGHIER
Florent AMODIO
Brian JOUBERT (could retire due to injury)
Samuel CONTESTI
Takahito MURA
Jeremy ABBOTT



LADIES
Elena GLEBOVA
Lena MARROCCO
Mae Berenice MEITE
Jenna MCORKELL
Polina KOROBEYNIKOVA
Julia LIPNITSKAIA
Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA
Joshi HELGESSON
Ashley WAGNER
Christina GAO


PAIRS
Meagan DUHAMEL /Eric RADFORD
Cheng PENG /Hao ZHANG
Daria POPOVA /Bruno MASSOT

Vanessa JAMES/Morgan CIPRES
Aliona SAVCHENKO /Robin SZOLKOWY
Stefania BERTON /Ondrej HOTAREK
Yuko KAVAGUTI /Alexander SMIROV
Ksenia STOLBOVA /Fedor KLIMOVA


DANCE
Julia ZOBLINA/Alexei SITNIKOV
Piper GILLES /Paul POIRIER
Pernelle CARRON /Lloyd JONES
Nathalie PECHALAT /Fabian BOURZAT
Anna CAPELLINI /Luca LANOTTE
Ekaterina PUSHKASH /Jonathan GUERREIRO
Ekaterina RIAZANOVA /Ilia TKACHENKO
Madison HUBBELL /Zachary DONOHUE

Rostelecom Cup 2012 assignments

Moscow 9-11 Nov 2012

MEN
Patrick CHAN
Michal BREZINA
Takahiko KOZUKA
Nobunari ODA
Denis TEN
Zhan BUSH
Artur GACHINSKI
Richard DORNBUSH
Johnny WEIR
Konstantin MENSHOV

LADIES
Kiira KORPI
Kanako MURAKAMI
Valentina MARCHEI
Alena LEONOVA
Adelina SOTNIKOVA
Viktoria HELGESSON
Gracie GOLD
Agnes ZAWADSKI
Caroline ZHANG
Polina KOROBEYNIKOVA

PAIRS
Nicole DELLA MONICA/Matteo GUARISE
Paige LAWRENCE /Rudi SWIEGERS
Anastasia MARTIUSHEVA/Alexei ROGONOV
Vera BAZAROVA /Yuri LARIONOV
Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR /Maxim TRANKOV
Caydee DENNEY /John COUGHLIN
Tiffany WISE/Don BALDWIN


DANCE
Tessa VIRTUE /Scott MOIR
Nicole ORFORD/Thomas WILLIAMS
Nelli ZHIGANSHINA /Alexandra GAZSI
Penny COOMES /Nicholas BUCKLAND
Elena ILINYKH /Nikita KATSALAPOV
Ksenia MONKO /Khirill KHALIAVIN
Victoria SINITSINA /Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN
Maia SHIBUTANI /Alex SHIBUTANI

Cup of China 2012 assignments

Shanghai 2-4 Nov 2012

MEN
Kevin REYNOLDS
Jinlin GUAN
Nan SONG
Brian JOUBERT
Tatsuki MACHIDA
Daisuke TAKAHASHI
Artur DMITRIEV
Adam RIPPON
(there's another spot for a Chinese athlete, to be announced)

LADIES
Bingwa GENG
Kexin ZHANG
Yretha SILETE
Mao ASADA
Julia LIPNITSKAIA
Joshi HELGESSON
Mirai NAGASU
(there's another spot for a Chinese athlete, to be announced)

PAIRS
Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS /Dylan MOSCOVITCH
Qing PANG /Jian TONG
Cheng PENG /Hao ZHANG
Wenjing SUI /Cong HAN
Narumi TAKAHASHI /Mervin TRAN
Yuko KAVAGUTI /Alexander SMIROV
Ksenia STOLBOVA /Fedor KLIMOVA
Caitlin YANKOWSKAS /Joshua REAGAN

DANCE
Kaitlyn WEAVER /Andrew POJE
Xintong HUANG /Xun ZHENG
Nathalie PECHALAT /Fabian BOURZAT
Charlene GUIGNARD /Marco FABBRI
Ekaterina BOBROVA /Dmitri SOLOVIEV
Victoria SINITSINA /Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN
Madison CHOCK /Evan BATES
(there's another spot for a Chinese dance team, to be announced)

Skate Canada 2012 assignments

Windsor, Ontario 26-28 oct 2012

MEN
Patrick CHAN
Liam FIRUS
Florent AMODIO
Takahito MURA
Nobunari ODA
Denis TEN
Artur GACHINSKI
Javier FERNANDEZ
Ross MINER
(there's another spot for a Canadian athlete, to be announced)

LADIES
Amelie LACOSTE
Kaetlyn OSMOND
Elena GEDEVANISHVILI
Kanako MURAKAMI
Akiko SUZUKI
Ksenia MAKAROVA
Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA
Gracie GOLD
Caroline ZHANG
(there's another spot for a Canadian athlete, to be announced)


PAIRS
Meagan DUHAMEL /Eric RADFORD
Paige LAWRENCE /Rudi SWIEGERS
Aliona SAVCHENKO /Robin SZOLKOWY
Stefania BERTON /Ondrej HOTAREK
Katarina GERBOLDT /Alexander ENBERT
Mary Beth MARLEY /Rockne BRUBAKER
Tiffany VISE /Don BALDWIN
(there's another spot for a Canadian pair, to be announced)

DANCE
Julia ZLOBINA /Alexei SITNIKOV
Piper GILLES /Paul POIRIER
Kharis RALPH /Asher HILL
Tessa VIRTUE /Scott MOIR
Pernelle CARRON /Lloyd JONES
Anna CAPPELLINI /Luca LANOTTE
Ekaterina RIAZANOVA /Ilia TKACHEKO
Madison HUBBELL /Zachary DONOHUE

Skate America 2012 assignments

Skate America   Seattle, Kent  19-21 october 2012

MEN
Michal BREZINA
Tomas VERNER
Yuzuru HANYU
Takahiko KOZUKA
Tatsuki MACHIDA
Konstantin MENSHOV
Alexandra MAJOROV
Jeremy ABBOTT
Douglas RAZZANO
(there's another spot for a US athlete, to be announced)

LADIES
Mae Berenice MEITE
Sarah HECKEN
Valentina MARCHEI
Haruka IMAI
Alena LEONOVA
Adelina SOTNIKOVA
Viktoria HELGESSON
Rachael FLATT
Christina GAO
Ashley WAGNER

PAIRS
Jessica DUBE /Sebastien WOLFE
Qing PANG /Jian TONG
Vanessa JAMES /Morgan CIPRES
Tatiana VOLOSOZHAR /Maxim TRANKOV
Caydee DENNEY /John COUGHLIN
Gretchen DONLAN /Andrew SPEROFF
(there's another spot for a US PAIR, to be announced)

DANCE
Kaitlyn WEAVER /Andrew POJE
Nelli ZHIGANSHINA /Alexandra GAZSI
Lorenza ALESSANDRINI /Simone VATURI
Isabella TOBIAS /Delvidas STAGNIUAS
Ekaterina BOBROVA /Dmitri SOLOVIEV
Meryl DAVIS /Charlie WHITE
Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT /Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT
(there's another spot for a US dance team, to be announced)

All That Skate spring 2012 video links

Yuna Kim: -All of Me
    -Someone Like you     

Stephane Lambiel: -La donna e' mobile
                            -My body is a cage


Carolina Kostner: -It's oh so quiet
                           -Halleluja




















Patrick Chan: -Elegie in E flat minor
                     -Mannish Boy

                                                                                          

Alissa Czisny: -La vie en rose
                      -I like the way you move

Volosozhar/Trankov: -Bring me to life
                                -I will always love you

Sale/Pelletier: -Who wants to live forever
                     -Scream

Evan Lysacek: -El tango de Roxanne
                       -The climb

Shen/Zao: -Tian Xia Wu Shuang
                -Io ci saro'

Min jeong Kwak: The truth is

Jinseo Kim: Fantastic Baby

Haejin Kim: Moonlight Sonata

Patrick Chan: Elegie in E Flat minor

Patrick Chan at All that skate spring 2012

Volosozhar/Trankov: I will always love you

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov at All that skate spring 2012

Sale/Pelletier: Who wants to live forever

Sale Pelletier at All That skate spring 2012

Evan Lysaceck: El Tango de Roxanne

Evan Lysacek at All That Skate Spring 2012

Carolina Kostner: It's oh so quiet

Carolina Kostner at All that skate spring 2012

Patrick Chan: Mannish boy

Patrick Chan at All that skate spring 2012

Alissa Czisny: I like the way you move

Alissa Czisny at All that skate spring 2012

Future Promises: Sui/Han

In the past ten years China presented a lot of talented pairs to the competitive world.

Sui/Han are youngest Chinese team that already made a senior debut. They won junior worlds few times and their highlight result in 2012 was a win at 4 Continents.

In their senior debut they astonished everyone with terrific technical content. They are very solid on throw jumps and twists while they are weaker on side by side jumps.

They have in their repertoire a throw quad salchow (that actually is not very consistent, it is most of the times two footed, but its base value is so high that a -1 or -2 goe doesn't affect too much) and a quad twist.

They didn't really focus on presentation and general components of the program in the past years, maybe it is due to the huge amount of work that their quads need.

This lack was clearly evident during worlds 2012 where they ranked 9th despite an overall good performance (It was not free of mistakes, they completely missed a lift, but it was good on the whole).

Anyway, they can surely better their artistry because they are very young and have all the time for improving and making experiences. One sure fact is that they are tremendously talented on the technical side and sooner or later they will use it to their fullest advantage.

Sui Han at 2012 4 Continents

Volosozhar/Trankov: Bring me to life

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov perform to Bring me To life at All That Skate Spring 2012

Stephane Lambiel: My body is a Cage

Stephane performs My Body is a Cage at All that Skate spring 2012

Pair Zhang Zhang split

The well known Chinese couple Zhang/Zhang decided to end their partnership. Yao Bin has stated that because of Dan's increase in height and weight, Hao had to put a higher effort in their routine. On the other side Dan want to pursue her education and for that had decided to retire from competitive skating.

Hao is going to compete at least for other two seasons untill Winter Games, as he stated, with 16 years old Peng Cheng.

So this is a time for saying farewell to a great couple, silver medallists in Torino 2006 and few times world medallists. I wish them the best luck  for their future inside and outside the figure skating world.

Here is the video of their free skate at 2006 Olympic Games where Dan found the strenght of going on after a tremendous fall on a throw quad salchow to end up with a silver medal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yemYXpZEnXg&feature=related

Stephane Lambiel: La donna e' Mobile

Stephane performs on Verdi's Rigoletto at All that Skate Spring 2012

Yuna Kim: Someone Like you

Here is Yuna Kim performing at All that Skate spring 2012 to "Someone like you". What do you think?

Yuna Kim-All of me

Here is Yuna pretending to be a man to "All of Me" by Buble at All that Skate spring 2012

Future Promises: Elizaveta Tuktamisheva

Elizaveta Tuktamisheva is just one of the Russian gifted girls. From next year we're going to see a lot of babies entering the senior circuit. Elizaveta had already done her senior debut during the 2011 grand prix series where she proved to be one of the top contenders. She was the only lady who won two grand prix golds (at Skate Canada and Trophee Eric Bompard) with consistency and charactere. She showed to feel pressure just at the final, where, due to a weak short program, she couldn't take a medal. Anyway, she continued her season with a win at Youth Olympic Games (see my post about it here) against her team mate and long time rival Adelina Sotnikova.

Elizaveta has a wonderful jumping technique including all the triples (except triple axel) and a very consistent triple lutz-triple toe combo. Her weaknesses are on the components score at the moment. If we can forgive her for interpretation abilities considering her very young age (she's still fifthteen), it is pretty sure that she has to improve on skating skills and overall speed.  Next season David Wilson will choreograph her programs and from this experience I think she could better her skating and bring it to an upper level. Anyway she has a lovely and charismatic presence on ice that could make her a very interesting skater in the future.

Elizaveta at Skate Canada 2011 (universal sports version above, but since it is geoblocked there is another version below)