The competition will be held Sept. 25-27 at the Eissportzentrum Oberstdorf, with official practice taking place Wednesday, Sept. 24. The compulsory and original dances and the men's and pairs short programs will be skated Thursday, followed by the ladies short program and men's and pairs free skates on Friday. The event wraps up Saturday with the ladies free skate and free dance.
Ladies
Italy's Carolina Kostner is the defending ladies champion of this event, and favored to hand-in a repeat performance. Kostner is fresh off a breakthrough 2007-08 season, where she won bronze at the 2007 Grand Prix Final, captured her second consecutive European championship and took the silver at the world championships.
Her main challenger figures to be Finland's Laura Lepisto, who won the bronze medal at the 2008 European Championships as well as at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy.
Other skaters contending for a spot on the podium are Na-Young Kim of Korea (fourth at the 2008 ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships ), Brit Jenna McCorkell (eighth at the 2008 European Championships), German Annette Dytrt (career-best 12th at the 2008 ISU World Figure Skating Championships), Japan's Akiko Suzuki (gold medalist at the 2007 World University Games, Golden Spin of Zagreb and AEGON Challenge Cup) and American Alissa Czisny (2007 U.S. bronze medalist).
Men
The men's competition in Oberstdorf promises to be fierce. Reigning European champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic and 2007 European bronze medalist Kevin van de Perren of Belgium should each bring home a medal of some color. The wild card in the field, and the skater whose performance will likely be most scrutinized, is Japan's Nobunari Oda, who sat out all of last season because of suspension and personal problems. As Oda showed in winning the 2006 Four Continents Championships and earning the bronze at the 2006 Grand Prix Final, he can compete with anyone in the world when he wants to.
The hottest skater coming into the competition is Verner's countryman, Michal Brezina, who won both of his Junior Grand Prix assignments this fall by substantial margins. He is also the reigning Nebelhorn Trophy champ. Also capable of landing on the podium are 2005 world junior silver medalist Yannick Ponsero of France and 2004 world junior champion Andrei Griazev of Russia.
Pairs
Thirteen of the pairs teams in Oberstdorf are likely skating for second place. That's because Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy will take the ice in a tune-up for what should be another banner Grand Prix Series. Savchenko and Szolkowy went 6-for-7 last season, winning every event they entered except the Cup of Russia, where they placed second.
Taking aim at the reigning world, European and Grand Prix Final champions are Russia's Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov, the 2008 European silver medalists; Ukranians Tatiana Volosozhar and Stanislav Morozov, the fourth-place finishers at the 2007 World Championships; and Russians Ekaterina Sheremetieva and Mikhail Kuznetsov, the 2007 JGP Final silver medalists.
Ice Dancing
The ice dancing field in Oberstdorf lacks star power and, thus, should be fairly wide open. Israelis Alexandra Zaretski and Roman Zaretski are the most accomplished team on the roster, with a ninth-place finish at last year's world championships to their credit. Americans Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates are the reigning world junior champs. Russians Julia Zlobina and Alexei Zitnikov qualified for the JGP Final two seasons ago. Czech skaters Kamila Hajkova and David Vincour have two seasons of Grand Prix Series experience under their belts. Jane Summersett and Todd Gilles cleaned up at this summer's Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships and may be ready to make a name for themselves on the international scene.
icenetwork.com
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