This is the third of six articles detailing the Grand Prix assignments for the coming up season. As with the previous articles, I will go through all the assignments. I will detail any new countries, any returns or debuts as well as any interesting thoughts. These are bound to change in the coming up months, but these are the initial assignments.
Next up is the Cup of China.
Men
Jin Boyang CHN
- Grand Prix Debut
Yan Han CHN
TBA CHN
- Okay, this is tough. The problem is that China’s list of skaters is slim. Here are my thoughts:
- Song Nan – Had a rough past few years, but he was named to Worlds and the World Team Trophy with Yan Han, so this might go to him.
- Guan Yuhuan – He is the reigning Canadian bronze medalist and was sent to Four Continents, so they might award this spot to him.
- Yi Wang – He is the only other Chinese man apart from Jin and Yan to have a Grand Prix assignment, the Trophee Bompard. That would give him two spots, so they might award the last host spot to him.
Daniel Samohin ISR
- Grand Prix Debut
Takahiko Kozuka JPN
- I’m a bit surprised that he’s continuing as he’s had a rough past few years since winning the silver medal at Worlds in 2011. I’m curious to see if he can rebound.
Michael Christian Martinez PHI
Moris Kvitelashvili RUS
Sergei Voronov RUS
Javier Fernandez ESP
Richard Dornbush USA
Grant Hochstein USA
Misha Ge UZB
Ladies
Li Zijun CHN
TBA CHN
TBA CHN
- Okay, this is even tougher than the men. There really aren’t any Chinese ladies except Li. She was the lone entry to Four Continents and Worlds as well as Cup of China last year after Zhang Kexin’s withdrawal and retirement. Nonetheless, I will attempt it:
- Zhao Ziquan is an obvious choice, as she was the second lady at the World Team Trophy. She is also the reigning four-time Chinese silver medalist – though that’s not saying much.
- As for the third spot, I’m honestly at a loss. Perhaps Guo Xiaowen or Geng Bingwa? They have both competed on the Grand Prix circuit before, but not in years. They were also twelfth and thirteenth at Chinese Nationals and that is saying a lot.
- I find it more likely that they will give up at least one of their spots, if not both.
Mao Asada JPN
- First competition since the 2014 World Championships.
Rika Hongo JPN
Anna Pogorilaya RUS
Elena Radionova RUS
Nicole Rajicova SVK
Park So-youn KOR
Karen Chen USA
- Grand Prix Debut
Courtney Hicks USA
Hannah Miller USA
- Grand Prix Debut
Pairs
Lubov Iliushechkina / Dylan Moscovitch CAN
- Grand Prix Debut as a pair, though both have competed on the Grand Prix circuit with different partners.
Sui Wenjing / Han Cong CHN
Wang Xuehan / Wang Lei CHN
Yu Xiaoyu / Jin Yang CHN
Kristina Ashtakova / Alexei Rogonov RUS
Lina Fedorova / Maxim Miroshkin RUS
- Grand Prix Debut
Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov RUS
Madeline Aaron / Max Settlage USA
Ice Dance
Wang Shiye / Liu Xinyu CHN
Zhao Yue / Zheng Xun CHN
TBA CHN
- Yeah, this is a tough one because there are even less dance teams than there are singles skaters. I really have no idea who could possibly fill this spot, as the third dance team that competed last year was on the roster automatically – Zhao Yue / Zheng Xun were the added host pick. The fact that it’s changed makes me think maybe they aren’t competing anymore. I honestly don’t know here. I find it likely that they'll give up this spot.
Anna Cappellini / Luca Lanotte ITA
Elena Ilinykh / Ruslan Zhiganshin RUS
Federica Testa / Luckas Csolley SVK
Madison Chock / Evan Bates USA
Kaitlyn Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker USA
That’s it for now! Next up is the Trophee Eric Bompard.
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