International Challenge Cup 2008, The Hague, March 5-9

[Sylvia]

People can discuss (and are discussing) the state and development of Canadian ladies skating, as well as why the Canadians skaters are not at this competition in this thread in The Edge :
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20035&page=2

JUNIOR MEN Final results:
1. Andrew GONZALES JR. USA 156.68 56.85 (1) 99.83 (2)
2. Daniel O'SHEA USA 152.87 45.19 (5) 107.68 (1)
3. Yukihiro YOSHIDA JPN 143.38 47.36 (3) 96.02 (3)
4. Laurent ALVAREZ SUI 140.37 47.91 (2) 92.46 (5)
5. Javier RAYA ESP 137.66 42.85 (6) 94.81 (4)
6. Mario-Rafael IONIAN AUT 129.43 46.49 (4) 82.94 (6)
7. Saverio GIACOMELLI ITA 124.86 42.67 (7) 82.19 (7)
8. Kamil BIALAS POL 115.46 37.55 (10) 77.91 (9)
9. Jorik HENDRICKX BEL 115.23 38.09 (9) 77.14 (10)
10. Ruben BLOMMAERT BEL 113.62 35.69 (11) 77.93 (8 )
11. Aritz MAESTU ESP 113.10 38.53 (8 ) 74.57 (11)
12. Joos KÜNDIG SUI 95.23 31.87 (12) 63.36 (12)
13. Boyito MULDER NED 87.93 28.11 (13) 59.82 (13)
Marco ZAKOURIL CZE
FS details/protocols:
http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=16&segm=2

JUNIOR LADIES Final results:
1. Brittney RIZO USA 150.35 53.06 (1) 97.29 (1)
2. Shoko ISHIKAWA JPN 134.98 44.84 (2) 90.14 (2)
3. Amanda DOBBS USA 122.65 39.60 (3) 83.05 (3)
4. Joshi HELGESSON SWE 113.06 37.22 (5) 75.84 (4)
5. Roberta RODEGHIERO ITA 110.41 37.78 (4) 72.63 (5)
6. Angelica OLSSON SWE 101.64 32.52 (9) 69.12 (6)
7. Alice GARLISI ITA 98.76 36.10 (6) 62.66 (10)
8. Manouk GIJSMAN NED 96.81 33.42 (8 ) 63.39 (9)
9. Oona LINDAHL FIN 95.78 31.66 (11) 64.12 (8 )
10. Reetta ROMPPANEN FIN 94.22 29.18 (15) 65.04 (7)
11. Anna WEINBERGER FRA 92.77 34.74 (7) 58.03 (11)
12. Stephanie ELLENSOHN AUT 88.58 30.74 (14) 57.84 (12)
13. Barbora SVÉDOVÁ CZE 86.41 31.00 (13) 55.41 (13)
14. Alexandria RIORDAN POL 80.46 31.98 (10) 48.48 (15)
15. Sylvie HAUERT SUI 79.53 31.02 (12) 48.51 (14)
16. Britt VANMAL BEL 72.48 26.46 (18 ) 46.02 (16)
17. Jamie VAN BESOUW NED 71.00 25.10 (20) 45.90 (17)
18. Michelle COUWENBERG NED 69.19 27.38 (16) 41.81 (20)
19. Lydia FUENTES CAPORALI AND 69.02 25.82 (19) 43.20 (18 )
20. Kaat VAN DAELE BEL 68.77 26.70 (17) 42.07 (19)
FS details/protocols:
http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=15&segm=2

JUNIOR DANCE Final results:
1. Kaylyn PATITUCCI
Karl EDELMANN USA 125.44 25.88 (1) 39.41 (1) 60.15 (1)
2. Justyna PLUTOWSKA
Dawid PIETRZYNSKI POL 120.78 22.13 (2) 38.63 (2) 60.02 (2)
3. Sonja PAULI
Tobias EISENBAUER AUT 108.53 16.30 (3) 36.61 (3) 55.62 (3)
4. Lora SEMOVA
Dimitar LICHEV BUL 91.96 13.39 (4) 31.42 (4) 47.15 (4)
FD details/protocols: http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=19&segm=3

 

[Sylvia]

Senior Men's FS is going on right now -- link to live results in progress: http://www.figureskatingonline.info/live.php?comp=50&seg=1

 

[Sandra_persch]

Senior Mens are through!

Final Standings
1 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 197.75 1 2
2 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 187.61 7 1
3 Clemens BRUMMER GER 175.23 2 4
4 Pavel KASKA CZE 173.85 5 3
5 Ryo SHIBATA JPN 168.80 8 5
6 Martin LIEBERS GER 168.10 3 6
7 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 163.61 4 7
8 Yoann DESLOT FRA 158.35 6 8
9 Stephane WALKER SUI 143.22 10 9
10 Tomas JANECKO CZE 127.99 9 10
11 Alper UCAR TUR 114.87 11 11
12 Eray OZBAL TUR 89.40 12 12

FS
1 Samuel CONTESTI ITA 133.36 71.66 62.70 6.40 5.75 6.35 6.35 6.50 1.00 #1
2 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 129.27 63.97 66.30 6.75 6.15 6.55 6.75 6.95 1.00 #11
3 Pavel KASKA CZE 116.75 61.45 55.30 5.80 5.00 5.65 5.75 5.45 0.00 #7
4 Clemens BRUMMER GER 115.11 57.51 57.60 5.70 5.55 5.70 5.85 6.00 0.00 #12
5 Ryo SHIBATA JPN 115.10 63.40 51.70 5.55 4.75 5.25 5.35 4.95 0.00 #4
6 Martin LIEBERS GER 108.75 54.55 54.20 5.70 5.05 5.45 5.40 5.50 0.00 #10
7 Paolo BACCHINI ITA 104.69 52.09 52.60 5.65 4.75 5.30 5.40 5.20 0.00 #9
8 Yoann DESLOT FRA 102.16 51.76 52.40 5.55 4.65 5.25 5.25 5.50 2.00 #8
9 Stephane WALKER SUI 100.70 57.10 44.60 5.05 4.10 4.50 4.40 4.25 1.00 #3
10 Tomas JANECKO CZE 82.73 42.53 40.20 4.50 3.95 3.95 4.00 3.70 0.00 #5
11 Alper UCAR TUR 72.84 30.24 44.60 4.85 4.20 4.45 4.55 4.25 2.00 #2
12 Eray OZBAL TUR 57.66 26.56 31.10 3.40 2.90 3.15 3.35 2.75 0.00 #6

 

[Sylvia]

Senior Men's FS protocols are linked from: http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=18&segm=2

SENIOR LADIES Final results:
1. Akiko SUZUKI JPN 152.02 53.70 (1) 98.32 (1)
2. Tugba KARADEMIR TUR 128.17 46.04 (3) 82.13 (2)
3. Becky BERESWILL USA 127.08 48.00 (2) 79.08 (3)
4. Olga IKONNIKOVA EST 114.92 42.92 (4) 72.00 (4)
5. Viktoria HELGESSON SWE 111.86 39.92 (5) 71.94 (5)
6. Eva LIM NED 100.40 33.22 (7) 67.18 (6)
7. Henriikka HIETANIEMI FIN 99.41 33.18 (8 ) 66.23 (7)
8. Martina BOCEK CZE 87.99 29.48 (11) 58.51 (8 )
9. Kirsten VERBIST BEL 84.37 29.82 (10) 54.55 (9)
10. Jacqueline VOLL NED 80.32 33.46 (6) 46.86 (10)
11. Kerstin FRANK AUT 31.74 31.74 (9)
Barbara KLERK BEL
Isabel HEINTGES GER
Link to FS results/protocols: http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=17&segm=2

According to the protocols, Suzuki landed 3 clean triples (3Lz+2T, 3Lo, 3S+2A seq.) as well as Karademir (3T+2T, 3S, 3T). Bereswill landed 2 triples (flip and toe), missed her opening 2A+3T planned combo (which she can execute really well), and had a tough day with her 3Lz (2nd one was downgraded and 1st one was supposed to be in combo with a 2Lo, I believe). Bereswill had a better FS performance at Nationals than here (on paper), but in any case, winning a bronze medal in her first-ever international is a good result for her.

The competition ends tomorrow with the Novice Men and Debs Men/Ladies FS.

2008 U.S. Novice champ Danny O'Shea is also writing an online journal about the competition: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080308&content_id=45353&vkey=ice_news
(plus a second gallery of Team USA backstage photos has been added on IceNetwork)

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Seniors

Contesti? - didn't he just leave France for Italy? So, Italy now has a contender.Berntsson must have done a quad in the SP.

Why do I know Akiko Suzuki? I think I saw her somewhere and liked her. Is she in the Worlds?

Juniors

Gonzalez. I remember him from US Nats and thought he was promising. We all wondered where he came from? Arizona? Never heard of him before.

Britney Rizo - No surprise. She's good.

Joe

 

[lerei]

Seniors

Contesti? - didn't he just leave France for Italy? So, Italy now has a contender.Berntsson must have done a quad in the SP.

Why do I know Akiko Suzuki? I think I saw her somewhere and liked her. Is she in the Worlds?

Yep, Contesti now skates for Italy. I love his free skate. You can find it on youtube.

Suzuki won the Winter Universiade last year (Takahashi won the men's, Carron/Jost won dance, Zhangs won pairs). She got a level four on her step sequence at some competition (Golden Spin?). She's someone who definitely deserves a Grand Prix assignment.

 

[Snowgirl]

Berntsson didn't do a quad in the short nor in the long. I doubt he ever attempted it.

How old is Akiko Suzuki? The competition site shows she's 37!

 

[luckyguy]

Akiko Suzuki is 22.

http://www.isufs.org/bios/isufs00004484.htm

 

[ChrisH]

JUNIOR LADIES Final results:
1. Brittney RIZO USA 150.35 53.06 (1) 97.29 (1)
2. Shoko ISHIKAWA JPN 134.98 44.84 (2) 90.14 (2)
3. Amanda DOBBS USA 122.65 39.60 (3) 83.05 (3)
4. Joshi HELGESSON SWE 113.06 37.22 (5) 75.84 (4)
FS details/protocols:
http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=15&segm=2

Brittney turned 17 in February. She's the lady at Nationals who had very mechanical arm movements prior to her jumps (and had an upper body comparable to Joannie Rochette), y'know, besides finishing a strong 3rd as a junior. Assuming that she wants to skate internationally next season as a junior, will her age bother the USFA in submitting her for a JGP assignment (probably not)? Will it bother the other federations in accepting her?

It's hard to imagine that Amanda will not get 2 JGP assignments.

 

[chuckm]

Brittney turned 17 in February. She's the lady at Nationals who had very mechanical arm movements prior to her jumps (and had an upper body comparable to Joannie Rochette), y'know, besides finishing a strong 3rd as a junior. Assuming that she wants to skate internationally next season as a junior, will her age bother the USFA in submitting her for a JGP assignment (probably not)? Will it bother the other federations in accepting her?

It's hard to imagine that Amanda will not get 2 JGP assignments.

Brittney Rizo has two more seasons of Junior eligibility. If Myriane Samson (turned 19 in September) could skate in the JGP, then I don't see any problem with Brittney Rizo skating there at 17. Other older JGP skaters include Charlotte Belair (CAN), 19; Kathryn Kang (CAN), 18; Nella Simaova (CZE), 19; Sara Twete (BEL), 18; Sonia Lafuente (ESP), 19; Akiko Kitamura (JPN), 19; Charissa Tansomboon (THA), 19.

If Rizo meets the age requirements, why should other federations have any say in "accepting" her?

 

[luckyguy]

Brittney turned 17 in February. She's the lady at Nationals who had very mechanical arm movements prior to her jumps (and had an upper body comparable to Joannie Rochette), y'know, besides finishing a strong 3rd as a junior. Assuming that she wants to skate internationally next season as a junior, will her age bother the USFA in submitting her for a JGP assignment (probably not)? Will it bother the other federations in accepting her?

It's hard to imagine that Amanda will not get 2 JGP assignments.

Brittney Rizo may compete internationally also in the seasons 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 as a junior (according to the ISU age requirements).

 

[Sylvia]

It's hard to imagine that Amanda will not get 2 JGP assignments.

Amanda Dobbs is in line to receive an initial JGP assignment this fall based on her Nationals placement (5th in Jr.) even though she did not skate as well in The Hague as she did at Nationals. Based on how it's been done recently, the U.S. skaters can receive a 2nd JGP assignment depending on the results of and/or performance in their first JGP.

 

[Sylvia]

The competition concluded today with these last 3 events...

Novice Men Final results:
1. Keiji TANAKA JPN 130.79 47.40 (1) 83.39 (1) - he's 13 and will be old enough for the JGP this fall
2. David WANG USA 107.36 37.65 (2) 69.71 (2)
3. Filippo AMBROSINI ITA 93.65 33.86 (4) 59.79 (3)
4. Sebastian LOFEK POL 90.22 35.59 (3) 54.63 (5)
5. Toby CONNOCK NED 89.33 29.74 (7) 59.59 (4)
6. Julian LAGUS FIN 84.93 32.07 (5) 52.86 (6)
7. Maximilian OBSIEGER AUT 77.66 26.27 (10) 51.39 (7)
8. Francesc PALAU ESP 77.61 29.88 (6) 47.73 (8 )
9. Dmitry EPSTEIN NED 74.50 27.70 (9) 46.80 (9)
10. Florian GOSTELIE NED 74.21 27.97 (8 ) 46.24 (10)
FS results/protocols: http://www.figureskatingonline.info/compresult.php?comp=50&cat=14&segm=2

Debs Ladies Final results:
1. Mariko KIHARA JPN 89.32 25.96 (13) 63.36 (1)
2. Satoko MIYAHARA JPN 88.96 27.72 (7) 61.24 (2)
3. Victoria HÜBLER AUT 85.55 26.78 (10) 58.77 (3)
4. Anaïs CLAES BEL 82.66 29.40 (1) 53.26 (5)
5. Tina STÜRZINGER SUI 80.22 26.92 (9) 53.30 (4)
6. Andrina SIGRON SUI 80.03 28.50 (2) 51.53 (6)
7. Victoria MANNI ITA 78.94 28.34 (3) 50.60 (7)
8. Jasmine TESSARI ITA 77.50 28.28 (4) 49.22 (10)
9. Niki WORIES NED 77.47 28.24 (5) 49.23 (9)
10. Anouk BERGSMA NED 75.74 27.74 (6) 48.00 (12)
11. Maria JIMENEZ ESP 75.56 26.22 (11) 49.34 (8)
12. Jenny LIN AUT 75.12 26.16 (12) 48.96 (11)
13. Rosaliina KUPARINEN FIN 73.15 27.12 (8) 46.03 (14)
14. Chantal MAAS BEL 68.56 21.54 (16) 47.02 (13)
15. Gina PONZIO NED 65.64 25.40 (14) 40.24 (15)
16. Elina KUUTTI FIN 62.96 23.88 (15) 39.08 (16)

Debs Men Final results:
1. Giorgio SETTEMBRINI ITA 80.73 27.67 (2) 53.06 (1)
2. Kamil DYMOWSKI POL 77.49 34.37 (1) 43.12 (3)
3. Thomas KENNES NED 74.66 26.32 (3) 48.34 (2)
4. Junya WATANABE JPN 66.40 25.10 (4) 41.30 (4)
5. Manuel DRECHSLER AUT 53.40 20.05 (5) 33.35 (5)

 

[luckyguy]

Novice Men Final results:
1. Keiji TANAKA JPN 130.79 47.40 (1) 83.39 (1) - he's 13 and will be old enough for the JGP this fall

Tanaka has a lot of concurrents in Japan. He finished "only" in 8th place at the Japanese Junior Championships 2007/2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007-2008_Japan_Figure_Skating_Championships).

 

[Sylvia]

Tanaka has a lot of concurrents in Japan. He finished "only" in 8th place at the Japanese Junior Championships 2007/2008).

Keiji Tanaka also won the silver medal in Japan's Novice A Nationals in October 2007 (thereby qualifying him to compete in Junior Nationals one month later) behind gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu (Junior men's bronze medalist). However, I don't know if Hanyu is old enough for the JGP this fall (ETA: looks like he isn't because he reportedly was 12 at the time of Jr. Nationals in Nov. 2007), or why he wasn't sent to Challenge Cup.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Well, Amanda Dobbs was one of the surprises at US Nats last January. She's good and hope the GPs are given to her and Rizo. I'd like to see both of them again for a more serious look and not just a surprising one.

Joe

 

[ChrisH]

Thanks for replies. So we can be sure that Brittney will compete internationally as a junior rather than as a senior. It looks like the results of the Challenge Cup don't count on the ISU seasons best scores. Thus, Brittney appears to not even qualify for 1 GP assignment.

... even though she did not skate as well in The Hague as she did at Nationals. Based on how it's been done recently, the U.S. skaters can receive a 2nd JGP assignment depending on the results of and/or performance in their first JGP.

Ah, but surely Amanda will do well enough in her 1st assignment to warrant a 2nd one.

 

[chuckm]

I don't see that USFS would even consider Brittney for the GP, not only because she has no international experience other than the Challenge Cup, but because there are so many Senior ladies who do qualify for GP invitations. Meissner, Wagner, Hughes, Zhang, Flatt, Nagasu and Liang will all be skating in the GP next season.

Depending on how she does in summer competitions, Brittney will be pointed toward the JGP, along with Gilles, Hacker, Maxwell, Musademba and probably Secundy.

 

[Sylvia]

... there are so many Senior ladies who do qualify for GP invitations. Meissner, Wagner, Hughes, Zhang, Flatt, Nagasu and Liang will all be skating in the GP next season.

Acccording to an unofficial compilation of 2007-08 ISU Seasonal Best scores for the ladies pre-Worlds, there are 7 U.S. ladies currently in the top 24: Zhang, Flatt, Meissner, Nagasu, Hughes, Wagner and Hacker (I believe Liang and Czisny are around the top 30 or so). USFS has usually assigned some initial JGP assignments before the summer competition season starts... we'll have to wait and see what happens this year.

Back to the topic of Challenge Cup...

 

[champs]

A closing performance by Akiko Suzuki accompanied by pianist Wibi Soerjadi at the gala:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-smyHFuzAfk

According to the comment written by the poster, this was a tribute to Karen Venhuizen, the dutch ladies singles skater who we know competed at the Euros just two months ago but who has since been diagnosed as having Guillain-Barré syndrome. Heartbreaking. I wish her well and hope she will overcome the illness just as Akiko overcame her severe eating disorder.