The 2008/2009 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating continues with Homesense Skate Canada International in Ottawa, Ontario, from October 30th to November 2nd. Skate Canada is the second of six events in the series. The skaters compete for a global prize money of US $ 180, 000 per individual event of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating and receive points according to their placements. This is the 35th edition of Skate Canada International.
2008 World bronze medalists Jessica Dube/Bryce Davison (CAN) headline the Pairs event. The challenge should come from 2007 World Junior Champions Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker (USA), who just won the silver medal last week at Skate America and from reigning European bronze medalists Yuka Kawaguchi/Alexander Smirnov (RUS), who were bronze medalists at Homesense Skate Canada International last year. Also competing are 2008 World Junior bronze medalists Huibo Dong/Yiming Wu (CHN), Rachel Kirkland/Eric Radford (CAN), Amanda Evora/Mark Ladwig (USA) and Tiffany Vise/Derek Trent (USA), who are the first couple to land a throw quadruple Salchow in international ISU competition.
Reigning World silver medalist Carolina Kostner (ITA) leads the Ladies field at Skate Canada. Canadian Champion Joannie Rochette and 2007 World Junior Champion Caroline Zhang (USA) are looking to upset the top favorite. 2005 Skate Canada Champion Alissa Czisny (USA), 2006 World silver medalist Fumie Suguri (JPN) and 2007 NHK Trophy bronze medalist Nana Takeda (JPN) are also hoping for a podium finish at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Other contenders are Cynthia Phaneuf (CAN), Jenni Vähämaa (FIN) and Elena Glebova (EST).
The Men’s event looks wide open with a couple of strong challengers for their first medal at Skate Canada International. Top contender Evan Lysacek (USA), who comes fresh from a third-place finish at Skate America last week, will face competition from 2008 Canadian Champion Patrick Chan, 2008 Russian Champion Sergei Voronov and Yannick Ponsero (FRA). Other competitors include Anton Kovalevski (UKR), Ryan Bradley (USA), Brandon Mroz (USA), Shawn Sawyer (CAN), Yasuhari Nanri (JPN) and Vladimir Uspenski (RUS).
The Ice Dancing competition features 2007 Skate America silver medalists Nathalie Pechalat/ Fabian Bourzat (FRA), reigning Four Continents silver medalists Meryl Davis/Charlie White, 2008 Four Continents bronze medalists Kim Navarro/Brent Bommentre (USA) as well as 2007 World Junior Champions Ekaterina Bobrova/Dmitri Soloviev (RUS). 2008 World Junior silver medalists Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier (CAN) and 2008 World Junior bronze medalists Kristina Gorshkova/Vitali Butikov (RUS) are debuting in the senior Grand Prix series.
The full list of entries is available at www.isu.org
The schedule of Homesense Skate Canada International is as follows:
Friday, October 31: Compulsory Dance, Men, Ladies and Pairs Short Program
Saturday, November 1: Original Dance, Ladies, Pairs and Men Free Skating
Sunday, November 2: Free Dance, Exhibition Gala
