2023 Skate Canada: Pairs' Thoughts?

FlossieH · Nov 1, 2023

ladyjane said:
I know why they withdrew from Nebelhorn: money problems. They could skate at a smaller competition close to home (I've seen them, I was there). But the withdrawal from SA? I really don't know. There could be an injury as they had withdrawn from a Dutch competition (close by, their rivals were there) a few days after an interview where they had been discussing the future and the intention to continue despite the money problems. That happened after Nebelhorn.

I seem to remember both of your pairs teams withdrawing because of visa issues in the past, with the Russian passport holder in each pair having problems. It is possible that entry to the US was going to be a problem (unless they all have Dutch passports now?).

BlissfulSynergy · Nov 1, 2023

Sk8swan said:
AFAIK Matteo is very much aware who's got the higher SB to get invited first, but the fact that Skate America pairs competition was left with only 7 pairs in the field... well sounds fishy to me! He and Lucrezia would have been more than happy to accept an invitation and compete there. He's saying there should be a rule so that the organizing country, following the ranking, has to go on inviting skaters until they fill all the spots available for the competition. That's why he spoke about not being happy.

There were how many withdrawals from SA? Three? Some were late withdrawals. The Hanns/ Neudecker withdrawal was filled by a U.S. team, Martins/ Bedard. The Miura/Kihara withdrawal was filled by Vaipan-Law/ Digby. I'm not sure about the third withdrawal, and whether or not it occurred too late to be deemed feasible for a replacement team to be assigned (ok, it was Osipova/ Epstein who withdrew). I do not know when they withdrew. Surely, there are rules governing such a situation, or there should be.

Matteo Guarise sounds impatient. He should be happy that he and Beccari received at least one GP invitation. They are a recent team, and thus they did not compete on the GP last season. Anyway, he and Beccari have now been selected to replace Chan/Howe at NHK, so that should solve Matteo's complaints.

ladyjane · Nov 2, 2023

FlossieH said:
I seem to remember both of your pairs teams withdrawing because of visa issues in the past, with the Russian passport holder in each pair having problems. It is possible that entry to the US was going to be a problem (unless they all have Dutch passports now?).

Although a visa problem is also an issue, better that than an injury! Thanks, I hadn't thought about that.