International Figure Skating – September-October 2019

OCTOBER 2019 IFSMAGAZINE.COM 35

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LADIES MEN PAIRS ICE DANCE

Veronik MALLET CAN Keegan MESSING CAN

Ekaterina

ALEXANDROVSKAYA/

Harley WINDSOR AUS

Laurence FOURNIER

BEAUDRY/

Nikolaj SØRENSEN CAN

Wakaba HIGUCHI JPN Boyang JIN CHN Andrew WOLFE CANCamille RUEST/ Zhuoming SUN CHNHong CHEN/

Kaori SAKAMOTO JPN Michal BĕEZINA CZE Yang JIN CHNCheng PENG/ Marie-Jade LAURIAULT/Romain LE GAC FRA

Mako YAMASHITA JPN Romain PONSART FRA Daria PAVLIUCHENKO/ Denis KHODYKIN RUS Sofia SHEVCHENKO/Igor EREMENKO RUS

Elizabet TURSYNBAEVA

KAZ Koshiro SHIMADA JPN

Natalia ZABIIAKO/

Alexander ENBERT RUS

Alexandra STEPANOVA/

Ivan BUKIN RUS

Eunsoo LIM KOR Kazuki TOMONO JPN Ashley CAIN-GRIBBLE/Timothy LEDUC USA Jonathan GUERREIRO RUSTiffany ZAGORSKI/

Stanislava

KONSTANTINOVA RUS Jun-Hwan CHA KOR

Haven DENNEY/

Brandon FRAZIER USA

Olivia SMART/

Adrià DÍAZ ESP

Anna SHCHERBAKOVA

RUS Dmitri ALIEV RUS TBD USA

Christina CARREIRA/

Anthony PONOMARENKO

USA

Elizaveta

TUKTAMYSHEVA RUS Roman SAVOSIN RUS

Madison HUBBELL/

Zachary DONOHUE USA

Karen CHEN USA Jason BROWN USA TBD USA

Bradie TENNELL USA Nathan CHEN USA

TBD USA TBD USA

SKATE AMERICA – October 18-20 – Las Vegas, Nevada

Las Vegas

The 2019 Grand Prix Series opens in Las Vegas, Nevada, and

concludes in Sapporo, Japan. China has returned to the roster

this season, and will host the fourth event in Chongqing.

T

he 2019 Grand Pr i x Ser ies opens

with Skate America under the

bright lights of Las Vegas.

Russia has 18 ladies spots

in this season’s Series, and will field

three in each of the six events. Elizaveta

Tuktamysheva leads the trio that will

compete in Nevada. Reigning World junior

silver medalist Anna Shcherbakova, who

will come armed with at least one quad,

will join her.

Both will be in a battle for a place on

the podium along with reigning World

silver medalist Elizabet Tursynbaeva of

Kazakhstan and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto.

Reigning World champion Nathan

Chen headlines the men’s event and will

no doubt claim his third consecutive Skate

America crown. Czech star Michal Březina

has signed on for another season, after

considering retirement earlier this year.

Also in the field are China’s Boyang Jin

and Jason Brown of the U.S.

Russia’s Roman Savosin, and 2019

Junior Grand Prix bronze medalist Koshiro

Shimada of Japan, who is coached by

Stéphane Lambiel, will make their senior

debuts at this competition.

In pairs, reigning World bronze

medalists Natalia Zabiiako and Alexander

Enbert of Russia are the top-ranked team

in the field and will looking to claim the

top step of the podium. But China’s rising

stars Cheng Peng and Yang Jin have the

potential to cause an upset and take the

title from the Russians.

Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy

LeDuc of the U.S. will be in the hunt for

a top-three finish, as will their teammates

Haven Denney and Brandon Frazier.

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue,

the 2019 World bronze medalists, are the

headliners in the ice dance discipline. But

Russia’s Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan

Bukin, who were narrowly edged out of

third by the American team in Saitama,

could be spoilers at this event.

Canada’s Laurence Fournier Beaudry

and Nikolaj SØrensen have a good shot at

claiming the bronze.

Reigning World junior ice dance bronze

medalists Sofia Shevchenko and Igor

Eremenko of Russia w i l l ma ke their senior

Grand Prix debut in Las Vegas.