GP 2012 assignments

[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...:disapp:

 

[OS]

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? :scratch:

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.:yes:

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.

 

[clairecloutier]

Initial reactions:

--In men, no Lysacek OR Plushenko. Plush promised at Euros he'd do the full Grand Prix season this year; makes me wonder if recovery from his surgery is not going well. Still hope to see him at Rostelecom. :-( As to Lysacek, WHAT is going on with him? So far his "comeback" seems for publicity purposes only.

--So glad Johnny Weir got two assignments. I'm eager to see how 2 years off, maturity, and marriage will affect him as a skater and competitor.

--Very glad that Ross Miner got two assignments. This could be his year to break out and challenge for the national title. I'm not expecting much out of Abbott or Rippon after the disappointments at Worlds and WTT.

--Glad that Oda still got some assignments. Hope he can come back from his semi-disastrous season last year. Ditto for Kozuka.

--In ladies, I'm pleased with the U.S. assignments. They seem fair. Would have preferred not to see Flatt at Skate America. Why not give that opportunity to a more up-and-coming skater, like Ashley Cain (if she's senior-eligible) or Nina Jiang?

--So, Lipnitskaya is competing the senior Grand Prix! Should be very interesting!

--Miki Ando's on the list. Will she actually compete?

--Korpi and Kostner apparently planning to continue--I thought one or both might consider retirement, although for different reasons.

--Good draw for Wagner. Being the U.S. star at Skate America will boost her confidence, and then she'll have a nice break before Paris 4 weeks later.

--In pairs, can't wait to see the new team of Yankowskas/Coughlin. I hope they have strong showings this summer and get the TBA slot for Skate America. Also excited to see Donlan/Speroff at Skate America. Glad that Marley/Brubaker got 2 slots.

--I'm disappointed the new Chinese team of Peng/Zhang got 2 slots, while Yu/Jin got 0. Yu/Jin did pretty well last year, and they need more senior-level exposure to develop and improve. Looks like Pang/Tong are planning a full season; smart move if they plan to stay in for Sochi.

--Interesting that Gerboldt/Enbert got a slot despite lack of results the last few years.

--In dance, not too many surprises. This will be Maia & Alex's second year doing the 2 Asian Grand Prixs. A part of me wonders if this is a good idea. Last year they lost ground to the top European teams; I wonder if they wouldn't benefit from getting more exposure in Europe generally and with European judges, officials, etc. Yes, I know judges and officials travel all over, just like the skaters, but still . . . . I could be all wrong about this, though.

--Interested to see Sinitsina/Zhiganshin. I'm not a fan of the current Russian teams, so am interested in seeing new contenders.

--No slot for Samuleson/Gilles. Will this partnership last?

 

[conga]

No slot for Samuleson/Gilles. Will this partnership last?

I think that the TBA slot is being held for either them, C/M or the new team of Olson/Hubbell and will be decided after the summer competition at Lake Placid.

 

[Mrs. P]

--In dance, not too many surprises. This will be Maia & Alex's second year doing the 2 Asian Grand Prixs. A part of me wonders if this is a good idea. Last year they lost ground to the top European teams; I wonder if they wouldn't benefit from getting more exposure in Europe generally and with European judges, officials, etc. Yes, I know judges and officials travel all over, just like the skaters, but still . . . . I could be all wrong about this, though.

They're doing Rostelecom Cup. So it's not an all Asian GP series. Not surprised about the NHK invite -- this is their third year in a row doing that event! They had a decent draw -- they have a good chance at silver at both events. Their biggest competition will be I/K at both events. They will face V/M in Russia and D/W in Japan.

 

[let`s talk]

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.

I told you people that His Majesty Television willl have the final word and all three major J-stars will be at NHK. Pretty much the same can be said about TEB. FS ia having not its best financial times. So blindly following the rules became the luxury that this sport cannot afford anymore.

Plush said before going to Kislovodsk that he has no plans at all about the coming season. They didn't discussed it even with Mishin yet. I assume RFSF didn't dare to put him on the list without his final agreement since now he is the only hope in Men's field for Russia to get more spots in Sochi after Gachi's fiasco in Nice.

 

[heyhey]

For dance, I will be interested to see how Gilles/Poirier vs. Capellini/Lanotte do at both Skate Canada and TEB. In terms of Weaver/Poje - they have interesting match-ups and we will see how they perform the Yankee Polka...well it seems that the politicking has started....

 

[snowflake]

Pretty good events for Jeremy; No Chan and no Daisuke.

Excited to see what happens with Johnny's comeback.

I want to go to Paris!

 

[NMURA]

Since this year's NHK trophy is in Sendai, the JSF could have some commitments. It's quite apparent they had planned to use this occasion to "encourage" tsunami stricken people in Tohoku region. Hanyu is indispensable as the local star. But putting Takahashi aside for the sake of Hanyu is a little problematic. Doing so could give the impression that the JSF is ready to favor Hanyu over Takahashi. They are still reluctant to embrace the idea after Takahashi's "win" over Patrick Chan. The best case is to assign both of them to NHK trophy. I think ticket sales and TV ratings were not the major concerns this time.

 

[Jammers]

How the hell did Flatt get Skate America over Gracie?

 

[R.D.]

Well, well.

First, I'm glad Gold picked up 2 assignments. This will be a full senior season for her and it will be a great building block for her future. Zawadzki picks up 2 (surprisingly- thought she'd be down to 1), and Wagner gets 2, including SA. Czisny down to 1 (NHK) as expected.

OTOH, I'm disappointed Nagasu only got one- and Flatt & Gao get SA?? Come on man...what a waste!

 

[R.D.]

How the hell did Flatt get Skate America over Gracie?

Gold already has 2 (other) events, so no problem there.