GP 2012 assignments

[dorispulaski]

Ladies

Skate America
Mae Berenice Meite FRA
Sarah Hecken GER
Valentina Marchei ITA
Haruka Imai JPN
Alena Leonova RUS
Adelina Sotnikova RUS
Viktoria Helgesson SWE
Ashley Wagner USA
Rachael Flatt USA
Christina Gao USA

Skate Canada
Amelie Lacoste CAN
Kaetlyn Osmond CAN
Elena Gedevanishvili GEO
Akiko Suzuki JPN
Kanako Murakami JPN
Ksenia Makarova RUS
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva RUS
Gracie Gold USA
Caroline Zhang USA
TBA Canada

Cup of China
Bingwa Geng CHN
Kexin Zhang CHN
Yrethe Silete FRA
Carolina Kostner ITA
Mao Asada JPN
Miki Ando JPN
Julia Lipnitskaia RUS
Joshi Helgesson SWE
Mirai Nagasu USA
TBA China

Rostelecom Cup Russia
Kiira Korpi FIN
Valentina Marchei ITA
Kanako Murakami JPN
Alena Leonova RUS
Adelina Sotnikova RUS
Viktoria Helgesson SWE
Gracie Gold USA
Agnes Zawadzki USA
Caroline Zhang USA
TBA Russia

Trophee Bompard France
Kexin Zhang CHN
Yretha Silete FRA
Lena Marrocco FRA
Carolina Kostner ITA
Miki Ando JPN
Polina Koribeynikova RUS
Julia Lipnitskaia RUS
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva RUS
Ashley Wagner USA
TBA France

NHK Japan
Zijun Li CHN
Elena Gedevanishvili GEO
Mao Asada JPN
Haruka Imai JPN
Akiko Suzuki JPN
Sofia Biryukova RUS
Ksenia Makarova RUS
Polina Shelepen RUS
Alissa Czisny USA
Agnes Zawadzki USA

And now we get to guess who will scarf up the TBA's

[Whitneyskates]

I wonder who will get the 3rd SA dance spot? Chock/Bates perhaps?

[os168]

I want to go to cup of China so much! Ando Asada Kostner and Lipinskaya T/S K/S

and Amazing Daisuke!!!! who I would love more than anyone to see him live again!

Such a shame that I will not be in Asia anymore at that time

I can't wait for this one... I have a feeling it would be the scene changer, Lipinskaya show off all the old ladies of the club: Rumble in China!! :P

By the way, I read there's a new ISU rule change, that athletes who took year(s) off and intend to come back are now required to sign an agreement that they are obliged to participate in GPS unless unforeseeable incidents happen.

Does the fact Yuna is not listed on any of the GP assignment indicate she won't able to qualify for WC even if she change her mind later and want to participate?

-------

And how come all the US ladies Mirai, Alissa, Rachel only got 1 spot?

[demarinis5]

Thanks npavel and Doris!

Is NHK a mistake both Dai and Hanyu?

[doctor2014]

How come NHK has both Hanyu and Takahashi (#3 and #2 seeds) when both are doing only two events? And TEB has both Joubert and Amodio (#4 and #5 seeds)?

I suppose there were deals made between federations.

The French federation might have made some deal with the Japanese federation so TEB has both #4 and #5 from the Worlds and NHK has both #2 and #3. This means that NHK doesn’t get anyone from #4, #5, and #6 while TEB doesn't get anyone from the top three. I guess the French wants two French skaters instead of one French skater + one top-three skater.

[Brenda]

Does the fact Yuna is not listed on any of the GP assignment indicate she won't able to qualify for WC even if she change her mind later and want to participate?

No, she would just have to do a senior B to get a minimum qualifying score...or ask ISU for an exception like Plushenko did for Euros this past season. Plushenko was able to skate at Euros after arguing that the minimum score was meant to restrict low-score skaters, not high-scoring ones...and he would have to skate in the Euros qualifying round anyway... As reigning OGM, Yuna could easily get the same. and I don't think South Korea has a direct entry at Worlds, so Yuna would have to skate a qualfying round too.

of course, rules could change with the upcoming ISU congress, I suppose.

[l'etoile]

No Evan? :(

[sorcerer]

No Evan? :(

This may mean that Evan has used up his only once valid "comback skater" status last year, and the only route is the host pic this season.
Why "TBA"? Evan and USFS still seem to have things to negotiate till the last minute ... maybe, that is.

[redwing]

For CoR I'm guessing Biryukova or one of the Polina's and maybe Plush for men

ugh Finland has only one entry, have a feeling this might be Kiira's last year

[heyhey]

With regards to the ladies and Skate Canada - TBA - my guess is that they want to see what is happening with Myriam Samson and her recovery and not give it automatically to Cynthia Phaneuf....or in my ideal scenario....Ms. Rochette decides in the next couple of weeks to come back...stranger things have happened...

ETA: Disappointed that Paul/Islam did not get a GP spot for dance...way to go Skate Canada...the only way for this team to go anywhere now is to kick butt at Nationals...

[os168]

No, she would just have to do a senior B to get a minimum qualifying score...or ask ISU for an exception like Plushenko did for Euros this past season. Plushenko was able to skate at Euros after arguing that the minimum score was meant to restrict low-score skaters, not high-scoring ones...and he would have to skate in the Euros qualifying round anyway... As reigning OGM, Yuna could easily get the same. and I don't think South Korea has a direct entry at Worlds, so Yuna would have to skate a qualfying round too.

of course, rules could change with the upcoming ISU congress, I suppose.

Thank you!

[emma]

Thanks npavel and Doris!

Is NHK a mistake both Dai and Hanyu?

Thank you both very much!!! This is confusing re: Dai and Hanyu.

No Evan? :(

It will be so interesting to so what Weir does...and whether Evan comes back at all. Wow, lot's to wonder about in the off season.

With regards to the ladies and Skate Canada - TBA - my guess is that they want to see what is happening with Myriam Samson and her recovery and not give it automatically to Cynthia Phaneuf....or in my ideal scenario....Ms. Rochette decides in the next couple of weeks to come back...stranger things have happened...

Thank you!

Personally, I'd love to see Rochette back - I really love her skating! Is this correct - no Phaneuf, yet? And Mao only one?

[ImaginaryPogue]

This is why predicting the GPs is such a foolish game.

a) Presumably, the rules were either changed or broken for NHK and TEB to get the seeded skaters arranged the way they were. I'm more interested that NHK WANTED Hanyu and Takahashi together, though. TEB makes sense - two stars might help fill the venue, whereas NHK has enough audience appeal with Suzuki, Asada, T/T and Takahashi or Hanyu, imo.

b) No P/I was unsurprising. They need senior Bs. Period. If not, they stand very little hope of emerging into the top 24 of season best/world ranking and earning a spot on their own. That Ralph/Hill were given the spot suggests either that SC wants to reward them for a solid performance in Nice or they want to avoid direct comparisons between P/I and G/P, just in case the international judges decide a different way. At any rate, without senior Bs, we won't be seeing P/I on the senior circuit until after Sochi.

c) V/M chose a bigger gap between their last event and the GPF. Interesting.

d) But not as interesting as the fact that W/P lucked into a competition with P/B outside of France. If they win their first head-to-head of the season, it could set the stage. Conversely, they have to avoid losing to Bob/Sol in either of their events.

e) Dornbush got two assignments. Armin got none.

f) Interesting battles galore: Shibutanis vs I/K in Russia. Kozuka vs Oda in Russia. Miner vs Rippon in Japan. Lipnitskaia vs Tuktamysheva in France. Kostner vs Ando vs Asada in China

g) Super happy that Donlan/Speroff got a host pick.

h) Skate Canada learned from it's gamble last season, and now we see all of their top pairs getting two GP entries.

[ImaginaryPogue]

Personally, I'd love to see Rochette back - I really love her skating! Is this correct - no Phaneuf, yet? And Mao only one?

Asada has two - NHK and CoC.

[Bluebonnet]

So the real fights are going to be in Asia. Real treats for the audiences but not necessarily good for skater themselves to meet early and be beaten down early. Looks like Brian Joubert is determined to get CoC before he retires. (But it's a bit difficult this time.) Weir and Abbott will meet at TEB. A test for both. Miki Ando got two assignments, and so did Richard Dornbush.

No Evan? :(

How come it's so difficult for Evan to commit his comeback?

This is why predicting the GPs is such a foolish game.

One tried to follow the logic but the logic has fundamentally changed. See if there is some sort of explanation from JSF or ISU later.