Skating in Sheffield

The Junior Grand Prix is making it's next stop in Britain at the John Curry Memorial Trophy in Sheffield. Contendors here will include.

Ladies
Adelina Sotnikova- fresh of her win in Graz
Yasmin Siraz and Kristeine Gong of the US could both be contenders for the podium
Stephanie Ridgley (right)- who I've always seen as being one of Caroline Zhang's rink buddies in California is apparently competing for Great Britain.
Isabelle Olsson- a JGP circuit regular with the ability to reach the podium if she skates well.

Mens
Joshua Farris of the US will definitely be looking for another medal, as will Keiji Tanaka of Japan and Zhan Bush of Russia. None of them have yet added JGP gold to their collection.

Pairs
Japan's Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran are the standout names here having been their countries main senior pair for several years now and the reigning world jr silver medallists.
Russian pair Ksenia Stolboza and Fedor Klimov will be hot on their heels after their win in Graz
Fellow russians Alexandra Vasileva and Yuri Shevchuk will also be in the hunt for a medal.

Dance
Aside from Ridgeley, this may be where the GB team has their best shot of a medal with 3 good teams out there
However, competing with reigning JGP champs Ksenia Monko and Kirill Khaliavin of Russia may be a step too far.
Other medallists this season so far include Lauri Bonacorsi and Travis Maeger (USA, 3rd in Brasov) and Viktoria Sinitsiva and Ruslan Zinganshin (2nd in Graz)

Picked for the team.

Thanks to Elaine on the IG forum and Brigid, The Couch Gymnast for this info. More and more world teams are now taking shape. These teams are nominative only and much can (and probably will) change...

Team USA
Rebecca Bross, Mackenzie Caquatto, Alicia Sacramone, Kytra Hunter, Mattie Larson, Alexandra Raisman (Samantha Shapiro -reserve). No mention of reigning world champ Bridget Sloan - she supposedly is too injured to compete. If this team stays the same then Bross will be the only common element with last years team.


Team Russia:
Ksenia Afanasyeva, Ksenia Semyonova, Tatiana Nabieva, Aliya Mustafina, Anna Myzdrikova, Ekaterina Kurbatova (Anna Dementieva -reserve). Sad not to see olympic veteran Anna Pavlova make the cut.


Team Romania:
Sandra Izbasa, Ana Porgras, Diana Chelaru, Raluca Haidu, Cerasela Patrascu, Gabriela Dragoi and Amelia Racea (reserve). This is surprising as Racea is the reigning european champion on beam, again I suspect injuries play the part. Olympic floor champ Izbasa looks in good form.

Team China:
Sui Lu, Huang Qiushuang, Deng Linlin, Jiang Yuyuan, He Kexin, Yang Yilin Wu Liufang (reserve). If all goes well for themChina are certainly capable of stealing the beam and bars golds and possibly upsetting the US or Russia on floor or in the all around. Sui Lu is looking fantastic!

Team Japan:
Koko Tsurumi, Yuko Shintake, Rie Tanaka, Mai Yamagishi, Momoko Ozawa, Kyoko Oshima (Akiko Sato -reserve).

Team North Korea:
Hong Un-jong, Hong Su-jong, Kim Un-hyang, Kang Yong-mi.

Team Ukraine:
Yana Demyanchuk, Alina Fomenko, Angelina Kysla, Yevzhenya Cherniy, Valentina Holenkova, Anastasia Koval and Alyona Kaidalova (reserve). No mention of Daria Zgoba.

Team Belarus:
Alina Sotnikava, Nadezhda Visotskaya, Liliya Khaan, Anastasia Marachkouskaya, Volha Makhautsova, Yevzhenya Zaitseva, no reserve.

Ecuador, Guatemala and Singapore have withdrawn from the event. Several other countries have reduced the number of athletes competing, prompting the FIG to wonder whether the draw for the event should be amended.

I love this!

A few mistakes in the short dance kept Maia and Alex Shibutani from reaching the podium on their senior debut at Nebelhorn last week. However - this free dance is a fantastic piece of skating and a breath of fresh air.

The pair should be well recieved in their first season. They're benefitting not only from the expert tutelage of Igor Spilband and Marina Zueva (coaches of champions!) but also from the fact that Maia has grown significantly over the summer and the height difference between them is not so crazy!

Commonwealth Chaos

Excitement for the upcoming commonwealth games in Delhi has been tarnished as the first teams to arrive have found not only filthy conditions in the athletes village, flood waters near the site breeding mosquitoes and even competition venues falling around them.


Several nations have even threatened to pull out if things don't improve and fast. The organising commitee stands fast that everything will be ready in time. The british gymnastics teams are still in training and planning to fly out Monday. I personally want to see all the gymnasts still attend and do well, and for them all to stay healthy (particularly the ozzies, many of whom are also due to compete at Worlds.)

Speaking of Worlds. The GB world team have been training together at the Lilleshall sports hall and posed held a media day. Photos can be seen on the BG facebook page . Several more nations have also announced their world teams this week.

Romania

Sandra Izbasa, Ana Porgras, Diana Chelaru, Raluca Haidu, Ceresela Patrascu, Gabriela Dragoi, Amelia Racea (one will be the alternate)

Argentina Ayelén Tarabini, Lucila Estarli, Aldana Carraro, Delfina Ortuño
Australia

Georgia Bonora, Ashleigh Brennan,Emily Little, Larissa Miller,Lauren Mitchell, Georgia Simpson,Georgia Wheeler

Also in the world of skating. The JGP has headed to Japan this week with several rematches of medallists from some the earlier events this season. The senior international season is also kicking off with the Nebelhorn trophy in Germany.

Several of the names to watch at Nebelhorn include-
Ice Dance
Anna Capellini and Luca Lanotte - the italian olympians won the short dance earlier today.
Natalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat- always crowd favourites
Alex and Maia Shibutani - promising US juniors for several seasons now- hoping to make a splash on the senior scene.
Ladies
Kiira Korpi and Jenna McCorkell are the seasoned faces.
Ashley Wagner of the US has withdrawn due to illness and will be replaced by Melissa Bulanhagui.
Mens
Long time favourite of mine Kevin Van-Der-Perren appears to be still putting off retirement. If he's healthy I'd predict a two horse race between him and Michael Brezina for the title.
Pairs
The promising young russian team Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov are the favourites here, although I couldn't like to count out Megan Duhamel of Canada and her new partner Eric Radford.

Also Queen Yu-Na has told the LA times that she has settled in well in California, she is looking for an appartment and will announce her new coach next month. As it is someone based in the LA area some potential names include Rafael Aratunian, John Nicks, Frank Caroll, or maybe even Michelle Kwan (unlikely - but it would be cool!)

An overdue update

Finally - I have internet again! Here are some of the goings on that been happening while I was under the blogging radar.

The third stop on the JGP circuit visited Graz, Austria. Another talented russian prodigy - Adelina Sotnikova (Pictured Right) won the ladies event ahead of Brian Orser's new leading lady Christina Gao. Sotnikova won the Russian senior nationals 2 years ago as a 12 year old and is only now old enough to compete internationally. In the pairs event world junior champions Wenjing Sui & Cong Han (China) attempted to make history by trying a quad throw and a quad twist. The throw came off but the twist was downgraded. They ended up second here behind Stolbova & Klimov of Russia but if they continue to throw such big skills they could be the next ones-to-watch! Han Yan of China won the men's event and Americans Lichtman and Copely took Ice Dance gold. Next week the JGP heads to Karuizawa, Japan.

In the Gymnastics world the Romanians have had their national championships - Ana Porgras won gold (57.55) Amelia Racea silver (56.75) and Diana Chelaru bronze (56.70). The Romanians have one more international meet to finalise the world team.

The Russians have named an 8 woman preliminary team for the world championships, including 2008 olympian Anna Pavlova, who has been out of competition for the better part of 2 years. Russia's national and youth olympic champion Viktoria Komova is not old enough to compete in Rotterdam. The selected gymnasts are- Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Dementyeva, Yekaterina Kurbatova, Aliya Mustafina, Anna Myzdrikova, Tatiana Nabiyeva, Anna Pavlova and Ksenia Semyonova.

Team USA is have gathered at the Karolyi ranch for the first of two camps to select their world team, only vuague rumours circulating at the moment. International gymnast has a whole forum of world team gossip for those so inclined. The choices made for the USA team will no doubt have quite an effect on the distribution of world medals come Rotterdam.

This his old news but well worth a mention! GB announced their world team while I was off the airways.

Women’s Artistic
Beth Tweddle, Rebecca Downie, Danusia Francis
Nicole Hibbert, Jennifer Pinches, Hannah Whelan

Men’s Artistic
Sam Hunter, Ruslan Panteleymonov, Dan Purvis
Theo Seager, Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas

And finally - for those who like a bit of acro. Britain's got Talent winners Spelbound gave a new performance with Katherine Jenkins at the concert for heroes. Watch it on youtube ot here.

More goings on

Team USA took home a large handful of bling from the Pan American gymnastics championships in Mexico- the americans took gold in the team, all around (Kyla Ross), Vault (Mckayla Maroney) , Bars (Gabrielle Douglas), Beam (Sabrina Vega) and Floor (Maroney again). Not bad for a junior team gaining international experience.


Mao Asada has finally picked a coach- Japanese veterain Nobuo Sato. After the controversey created by her approaching Brian Orser, this looks like a good move for Mao. She is happiest when living and training in Japan and Sato has a good track record with his other students, including recently Takahito Kozuka and Aikiko Suzuki. Mao knows how she wants to work so will likely do better without having to try and match Tatiana Tarasova's methods.


Meanwhile, Yu-Na Kim has moved for the time being to LA and Michelle Kwan's rink - The East West Ice Palace. (Again - I said so!!) Her coaching spot is still not filled, she is in town mainly to get ready for her show at at the Staples Centre. There aren't many high-reputation coaches at the rink, although Universal Sports suggests she might pick Mao's old old coach- Rafael Aratunian.

In case that wasn't enough coach switching, Nobunari Oda has left Nicolai Morozov and moved to train with Lee Barkell in Canada. Kimmie Meissner has left Richard Callahagn in Florida and is training in Fairfax Va, closer to home with Chris Conte (I would LOVE to see Kimmie make a comeback!). And Brian Joubert has once again left his coach Laurent Depoully and is possibly looking for North American coach (.....another Brian??) to take him through to the 2012 worlds which will be in France.

Busy Busy Busy!!

Tessa tells it like it is!

In an interview this week with PJ Kwong of CBC sports- 2010 Olympic and World champion Tessa Virtue made her goals for the new season very clear - “I mean I don’t think it’s a secret. We want to win everything”
Virtue and Moir, along side their training partners and friendly rivals Davis and White made mincemeat of their competition in Vancouver and Torino and paved the way for a new, modern style of ice dance.

I this extract from the interview - Tessa admits to feeling a little surprise at how easily they got back into training and how much they enjoy it.It’s a good thing too as their day at the rink can often go for 8 or 9 hours where they continue to train with Marina Zueva and Igor Shpillband. Tessa says: “Scott and I talked about it and we want to be having fun training as well as competing.- Getting back to skating after a crazy season we know that the challenges will be to come up with innovation and stay within the rules.”

They will start their season with Grand Prix events in Canada and in Paris and will go on from there. She says: :”We can have fun and compete. So nothing has really changed.”

The pair have this message on their official website

WOW! We are still celebrating and trying to prolong the euphoria we experienced at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and at Worlds in Torino, Italy. The Olympic experience was so much better than we could have ever imagined, especially since we were competing in our home country. We will never forget standing on the podium hearing our national anthem.
Thank you for all the congratulatory messages – you inspire us to improve.

For myself I am so glad both V&M and D&W are continuing to compete- They raised the bar last year and I'm sure they can raise it further.

As an aside note - I'm moving into my new house tomorrow and will probably be without internet there for a bit- I'll try to keep the posts coming - but they may be a bit more few and far between!

JGP heads to Romania

The second stop on this season's Junior Grand Prix will be coming to you from Brasov, Romania.

The Romanians are high up there in the world of gymnastics, lets see if they can host a good skating competition. They will have plenty of international talent to contend with.

Skaters to look out for include:

Ladies

Russia's leading junior Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, finally old enough to compete on the international stage- she already has a triple axel and 2 medals from senior Russian nationals in her back pocket.

Fellow russian Rosa Sheveleva, who won the bronze last week in Courchevel will be hoping to pick up another medal early in the series.

Ameicans Kristeine Gong and Samantha Cesario are both strong medal contenders. Gong finished 4th at a JGP series event last year and Cesario won the Gardenga spring trophy earlier this summer.

Also not to be counted out are Alexandra Najarro (Canada), Yuki Nishino (Japan) and Isabelle Olsson (Sweden). Korea sends its first entry of the series in the form of unknown Ho-Jung Lee.

Mens

The highly competetive Joshua Farris of the USA will face off against Russians Artur Dimitriev (another Mishin student) and Stanlisav Kovalev. Keegan Messing of the USA could also come away with a medal here. More outside chances include Canada's junior champ Lium Firus and Japan's Keiji Tanaka

Ice Dance

Last years JGP final champions Ksenia Monko & Kirill Khaliavin lead the field here.

Possible contenders for a medal include:

Anastasia Galeta & Alexei Shumski (Ukraine) - 8th at the World Junior champs

Lori Monacorsi & Travis Mager (USA) bronze medallists at last years JGP Lake Placid

Abby Carswell & Andrew Doleman (Canada)

Commonwealth Games - Team England

British Gymanstics and English Gymnastics have announced the England team for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

As the Commonwealth and World teams are seperate, we can safely expect a GB world team announcement will follow soon.

The girls headed to Delhi are

Marissa King
Imogen Cairns
Laura Edwards
Rebecca Wing
Jocelyn Hunt
(Alternate - Charlotte Lindsley)


Based on this (and the recent team in Gateshead) we can guess some (fairly) safe bets for the Rotterdam Team

Beth Tweddle
Becky Downie
Danushia Francis
Hannah Whelan
Nicole Hibbert
Jennifer Pinches/Niamh Rippin

The Men's Commonwealth team will be:

Reiss Beckford
Luke Folwell
Danny Lawrence
Max Whitlock
Steven Jehu
(Alternates - Robert Payne, Mathew Firth)

I said so!

Laura at the Required Elements blog has reported that Yu-Na Kim has left the Toronto Cricket Club and moved training venues across the city to the Granite Club.



As I said in my previous post, this seemed like a natural move. She will now be able to work with Shae-Lynn Bourne (at least as a choreographer- no word on the coaching yet) and I hope she might get some input from Kurt Browning too.