17 Teams to Compete at Nebelhorn

Nebelhorn Trophy has long been the traditional start of the senior international season. This year, however, a couple of international events have already been staged, but that doesn’t diminish the excitement. In the Bavarian resort of Oberstdorf, Germany, 17 teams from 16 countries will battle for medals and points at Nebelhorn Trophy.

The top five finishers will receive ISU World Ranking points, and even a small boost can make the difference in start orders on the Grand Prix later this fall. Many teams also have their eyes on the new ISU minimum technical scores required for this season’s championships. Ice dancers need to hit a Technical Element Score (TES) of at least 18.00 in the short dance and 28.00 in the free dance in order to enter the European and Four Continents Championships. The benchmarks for the World Championships are 29.00 in the short dance and 39.00 in the free dance.

Canada is the only country that has entered two dance teams at Nebelhorn. Kharis Ralph & Asher Hill (pictured, right) will kick off their international season this week, hoping to continue the momentum that they picked up last season by delivering one of the best performances of their career at their first World Championships. They have not yet met the short dance minimum TES for the World Championships, although they came within a point at this event last year, where they won the bronze medal. Ralph & Hill train in Scarborough, Ont., with Carol Lane and Juris Razgulajevs, and they have been skating together for ten years. They will skate to music from Gigi in the short dance, and their free dance is to “Barcelona” by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé.

Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam, also of Canada, have some momentum of their own. They recently won the silver medal at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, where they also met the minimum scores for the ISU championships. After a difficult season, Paul & Islam spent the summer training at the Detroit Skating Club with Pasquale Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova. The summer was such a positive experience that they decided to stay, leaving their home base of Barrie, Ont., where they had been coached by Islam’s father, David. Paul & Islam have chosen a French theme and music by Edith Piaf for the short dance, and their free dance uses music from The Legend of 1900 and has a bit of a ragtime feel. Paul & Islam do not have any Grand Prix assignments this year and are not at the top of the substitute list, so it is likely that this will be their last international assignment this fall.

Madison Chock & Evan Bates also competed at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic, but their experience was not quite as stellar. Bates was ill prior to competing, and his illness combined with Salt Lake City’s altitude meant that they had a tough time in the free dance, dropping to fourth place after placing first in the short dance. Chock & Bates already met the TES minimums last year, so that is not an issue. With time for Bates to recover, they are certainly hoping for a podium finish this week as they gear up for their Grand Prix assignment to Cup of China later this fall. They train with Igor Shpilband at his new home base in Novi, Mich. Their short dance uses music from Cirque du Soleil and their free dance is set to Doctor Zhivago.

The home team is represented by Nelli Zhiganshina & Alexander Gazsi (pictured, left), the three-time German national champions who train in Oberstdorf. They won the silver medal at Nebelhorn last year before going on to pick up fourth-place finishes at their Grand Prix events. They were 11th at the 2012 World Championships. Zhiganshina & Gazsi have already met the TES minimums as well, so they do not have to deal with that pressure. They are an engaging team that always puts on a terrific show, especially for a home crowd.

Isabella Tobias & Deividas Stagniunas, who represent Lithuania, had a breakthrough last season when they won the bronze medal at Skate America, just edging out Zhiganshina & Gazsi. At Nebelhorn last year, they finished fifth. After the off-season fallout between Igor Shpilband and Marina Zoueva, Tobias & Stagniunas also followed Shpilband to Novi, so they will travel with training mates Chock & Bates. Nebelhorn will mark their international debut this season.

Russia’s Ksenia Monko & Kirill Khaliavin are a bit of an unknown entity. After a flawless final season in the junior ranks that saw them become the 2011 JGP Final, Russian Junior, and World Junior champions, an injury prevented them from making their senior international debut last year. They returned to competition for the Russian National Championships, where they placed fifth. Monko & Khaliavin also switched coaches this summer, moving to train with Alexander Zhulin, Russia’s current “it” coach. All eyes will be on them to see how they fare in Oberstdorf.

France’s Pernelle Carron & Lloyd Jones will be back on competitive ice for the first time season last season’s disappointing World Championships, when they failed to qualify for the free dance. Over the summer, they left coaches Natalia Linichuk & Gennadi Karponosov, moving back to Jones’ native Great Britain to work with Marika Humphreys-Baranova and Vitaly Baranov. Carron & Jones won their first Grand Prix medal last year, a bronze at Cup of China. The French national silver medalists are chasing the 29-point TES minimum in the short dance; they missed the mark by just .08 last season at the European Championships.

Julia Zlobina & Alexei Sitnikov, representing Azerbaijan, gained notoriety among skating fans last season for their innovative choreography. They made big improvements after beginning to work with coach Alexander Zhulin and will skate on the Grand Prix this year for the first time since 2007. They recently won the gold medal at Ice Star in Minsk, Belarus, where they met the short dance TES minimum, making them fully eligible for all of this season’s championships. They also debuted new programs, including a free dance to Balkan music by Goran Bregovic.

Siobhan Heekin-Canedy & Dmitri Dun of Ukraine finished fifth at the U.S. International Figure Skating Classic a couple of weeks ago. At the end of a solid, but not outstanding, first season together, Heekin-Canedy & Dun delivered a terrific performance at the World Championships, where they finished 15th. They train at in Hackensack, N.J., U.S.A., with Galit Chait and John Kerr.

The roster also features Italians Federica Bernardi & Christopher Mior, who displayed off-season improvements at North American summer competitions. Sara Hurtado & Adriá Díaz of Spain are also entered at Nebelhorn as they begin their quest for that 29-point minimum score in the short dance.

Two new teams will debut at Nebelhorn. Emi Hirai & Marien de la Asuncion represent Japan. Hirai has competed for Japan in the past, although this is her first international competition since the Winter Universiade in 2009. De la Asuncion competed internationally on the junior level for France.

Allison Reed has teamed up with Vasili Rogov to represent Israel. Rogov was part of Israel’s top junior dance team last year, while Reed formerly competed on the senior level for Georgia with Otar Japaridze. Reed sat out last season while seeking a partner.

Lucie Mysliveckova & Neil Brown of the Czech Republic, Charlotte Aiken & Josh Whidborne of Great Britain, Zsuzsanna Nagy & Balazs Major of Hungary, and Ramona Elsener & Florian Roost of Switzerland complete the roster.

The short dance in Oberstdorf is set for Thursday and the free dance will be skated on Saturday.