2023 Challenge Cup

[Winnie_20]

@surimi I don’t know why they even moved away from The Hague, which, yes, is definitely easier to get to for the vast majority of people. Tilburg sure isn’t helping any in getting attendance, that’s for certain. :-(

I don’t know much about FS in my own country. Makes you wonder, though, if there would be better-accessible places for this sort of international event. I’m guessing in the end it probably just comes down to money, though. Maybe The Uithof wasn’t affordable anymore.

Please let me know if you make it here, I would love to try and meet up!

 

[ladyjane]

As far as I understand, the conditions in Tilburg were better financially, which always plays an important part for organisers. So @Winnie_20 is totally in the right!

 

[ladyjane]

Pretty good line up of skaters though. From many countries. Really looking forward to the event.

 

[elektra blue]

this is my birthday present this year and both Matteo and Lara are ready to give me an heart attack

 

[ladyjane]

Yes, there will be a live stream Waiting to see if it's free or not.

Probably yes. It was free last year, The only time when we had to pay had to do with the pandemic and we weren't allowed to attend physically.

 

[ladyjane]

Please be okay @elektra blue. I just spent a long weekend in the greatest city in the world - Rome - and I really hope Matteo and Gabriele will attend here!

 

[surimi]

@surimi I don’t know why they even moved away from The Hague, which, yes, is definitely easier to get to for the vast majority of people. Tilburg sure isn’t helping any in getting attendance, that’s for certain. :-(

I don’t know much about FS in my own country. Makes you wonder, though, if there would be better-accessible places for this sort of international event. I’m guessing in the end it probably just comes down to money, though. Maybe The Uithof wasn’t affordable anymore.

Please let me know if you make it here, I would love to try and meet up!

I'm not going. All hotels in Tilburg are now shown as booked on booking com, except one by what appears to be a highway, so fat chance of a bus stop. I've hesitated for too long. I'm sad... and stupid. ;_; I bet a bigger city would have more hotels available, though, so my complaint about a small, poorly accessible city still stands.

 

[Matthew]

I've booked a hotel early, so I'm going to Tilburg

 

[surimi]

I've booked a hotel early, so I'm going to Tilburg

Good for you. We were having seious health issues in the family and going was unlikely, so early booking didn't make much sense in my case.

 

[ladyjane]

Some news:

Gratis kijken naar wereldtoppers bij Challenge Cup | Schaatsen.nl

Unieke kans voor fans van kunstrijden: gratis wereldtoppers kijken tijdens Challenge Cup

www.schaatsen.nl

It is in Dutch, but it says (in English summary), there will be lot of high ranked skaters, you can attend for free (the city council of Tilburg will subsidise) and it's about the participants in all the senior disciplines with extra emphasis on the the Dutch (except for the men, which focuses mostly on Sota, Matteo and Andrew).

The will also be a livestream (https://www.schaatsen.nl/live/) but I really don't know whether you will be able to rewind and watch later. It is for free.

 

[gsk8]

A note that the livestream will be free

 

[4everchan]

and again, no Canadian entries.... I guess they will never learn.

 

[ladyjane]

and again, no Canadian entries.... I guess they will never learn.

That saddens me. There is such a nice mix of countries represented, and Canada will be missed.

 

[ladyjane]

Here an article about a young woman who is organising it in Tilburg (I'll offer a summary translation after the link).

Na carnaval? Tijd voor de Challenge Cup! | Schaatsen.nl

'Ik hoop dat er 5000 toeschouwers op de Challenge Cup afkomen'

www.schaatsen.nl

There's a very enjoyable comparison in this article with Berit Gunderson who is organising this event. She used to be a figure skater herself but compared herself rising to the top with a bicycle trip to the moon. She is looking forward to the event and sees it as a kind of present after her studies to be linked to the sport again. She is sad Loena will not come (who has won this event twice. Personal remark) but is really happy with the level of the skaters who are. She remarks that everything has become much more expensive since she was skating and is happy the municipality of Tilburg has made it free to watch. The Arena can encompass about 2500 people, so she hopes there will be 5000 people wanting to watch - she will find a solution!

 

[Winnie_20]

Bit odd: you want to attract the attention of a potential audience? Then don’t focus on who is NOT coming, but who are. Advertize with it in your interview: the reigning world champion, and the reigning GPF champion.
Hey, it works for me (I would not make the effort to come if those two WD).
Missed opportunity, I guess?
Other than that, good article.

 

[Andrea82]

Result page is online now: https://knsbfigureskatingresults.nl/2022-2023/20230223/

 

[surimi]

I'm surprised all the big names are still listed! So far, only Pucherova/Lysak (SVK) in senior dance were replaced by Borysova/Freeman (POL), and Vrankova (CZE) by Saari (AUT).

 

[yesterday]

Emily is "home", didn't know that
Funny they put Sophia Schaller into Juniors? Either Flora will be there or they mixed up the categories.

Excited also for Luc, doing also singles and pairs here, their first int. competition iirc.

And all in all, this one is hugely staffed

 

[Winnie_20]

For those traveling by public transportation, please take note that the regional transport will be on strike next Friday (as well as Wednesday).

This does NOT include the NS (National Railways), so the trains from the Amsterdam etc. area to Tilburg are not a problem.

I don’t know if there will be an impact on the local busses from the train station to the skating rink; it looks like Arriva is the transportation company there, and they are involved with the strike, but possibly there will still be busses. If you’re traveling on Friday, it might be worth using https://9292.nl/ as it will be updated as timely as possible with the latest information.

 

[icybear]

Pretty big names in both women and men. Well as big as the current state of FS is internationally. Also some skaters will be looking to get the min for Worlds so good competition. Also free entry too. GP sheffield organisers would have charged £200 for a day.