Ladies Results Men's Results Pairs Results Dance Results
The Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, is the third of the six qualifying events of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The event features 1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya (RUS), reigning World Pair Champions Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov (RUS), as well as current World Junior Champions Stefan Lindermann (GER), Ice Dance couple Natalia Romaniuta & Danil Barantsev (RUS), and Pair team Aliona Savchenko & Stanislav Morozov (UKR). In the pairs event Danielle & Steven Hartsell, 1999 U.S. Pairs Champions, are returning to competition after missing last season due to Danielle's knee injury.
1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya will present her new free program at this competition, which is her first Grand Prix appearance this year and her first scoring event. Challenging Butyrskaya are Sarah Hughes (USA), who placed second at Skate America two weeks ago, and French Champion Vanessa Gusmeroli, who finished fourth at the Worlds last season. Gusmeroli is also competing in her first Grand Prix event this season and she is skating for points here. Ukraine's Elena Liashenko is also aiming for a spot on the podium. Making her comeback on the international scene is 1999 Four Continents Champion, Tatiana Malinina from Uzbekistan, who was hampered by injuries last season.
European Champion Evgeni Plushenko from Russia heads the Men's field, which will be his first Grand Prix competition of the season. The 18-year old hopes to defend his 1999 Sparkassen Cup title, but he faces strong competition from Timothy Goebel (USA) who beat World Champion Alexei Yagudin at Skate America. 1998 European Bronze Medalist Alexander Abt of Russia and French Champion Stanick Jeannette are also medal contenders. Four Continents Silver Medalist Chengjiang Li (China) is hoping to redeem himself after disappointing performances at Skate Canada. Plushenko will not be skating for points here, whereas this is a point scoring event for Goebel and Jeannette.
In the Ice Dance event, the seeded couples will encounter each other again, having competed against each other at Skate America. World Silver Medalists and winners at Skate America, Barbara Fusar Poli & Maurizio Margaglio (ITA) will face strong competition from World Bronze Medalists Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas (LTU), second at Skate America, and from Shae-Lynn Bourne & Victor Kraatz (CAN), who were third at Skate America. The Canadians are making their comeback this season after they had been forced out of the World Championships due to Bourne's knee injury. Additionally, not to be ignored are Kati Winkler & Rene Lohse of Germany, who are also prepared to challenge these teams. The Italians and Canadians will be skating for points for their second time, while the Lithuanian couple chose Sparkassen Cup as their first scoring event.
The Pairs event awaits the first meeting of this season between reigning World and European Champions Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov and World Bronze Medalists Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bemadis of France. Petrova & Tikhonov finished third at Skate Canada last week, which was a non-scoring event for them. The French will be skating for points in Gelsenkirchen, which is their season's first Grand Prix event. While Russia's Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim Marinin, who collected 7 points at Skate America, will not be competing to earn points this week, the team is aiming to repeat a podium finish nonetheless. The husband and wife team of Kristy & Kris Wirtz (CAN), who withdrew from Skate Canada last week because he suffered from an inflamed rotator cuff in his right shoulder, hope to be back on form at this event.
In each discipline, $30,000 will be awarded for first place, $18,000 for second place and $10,000 for third place. Skaters placed 4th and 5th, will also be awarded $5 000 and $3,000 respectively. Additionally, Skaters in the Men's, Ladies and Dance events collect up to 12 points for first place, scoring down to 1 point for those coming in 8th. Pairs will be awarded up to12 points for the winners, ranging down to 3 points for 6th place.
November 10: Compulsory Dance, Pairs, Men and Ladies Short Program
November 11: Pairs, Men and Ladies Free Program, Original Dance
November 12: Free Dance and Exhibition Gala
* seeded skater
(A) non-scoring
Nadine Gosselin (CAN) Vanessa Gusmeroli (FRA)* Caroline Guelke (GER) Stephanie v.d. Thuesen (GER) Yuka Kanazawa (JPN) Sabina Wojtala (POL) Maria Butyrskaya (RUS)* Elena Liashenko (UKR) Sasha Cohen (USA) Sarah Hughes (USA)* Tatyana Malinina (UZB)
Ivan Dinev (BUL) Emanuel Sandhu (CAN) Chengjiang Li (CHN) *(A) Stannick Jeannette (FRA) Andre Kaden (GER) Stefan Lindemann (GER) Silvio Smalun (GER) Yosuke Takeuchi (JPN) Alexander Abt (RUS)* Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) *(A) Timothy Goebel (USA) Roman Skomiakov (UZB)
Valerie Marcoux & Bruno Marcotte (CAN) Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz & Kris Wirtz (CAN) Sarah Abitbol & Stephane Bemadis (FRA)* Maria Petrova & Alexei Tikhonov (RUS)* Viktoria Shliakhova & Grigori Petrovski (RUS) Tatiana Totmianina & Maxim nsrinin (RUS)*(A) Aliona Savchenko & Stanislav Morozov (UKR) Danielle Hartsell & Steve Hartsell (USA)
Shae-Lynn Bourne & Nictor Kraatz (CAN) Isabelle Delobel & Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA) Magali Sauri & Michail Stifunin (FRA) Stephanie Rauer & Thomas Rauer (GER) Kati Winkler & Rene Lohse (GER) *(A) Gloria Agogliati & Luciano Mile (ITA) Barbara Fusar Poli & Maurizio Margaglio (ITA)* Nozomi Watanabe & Akiyuki Kido (JPN) Margarita Drobiazko & Povilas Vanagas (LTU)* Agata Blazowska & Marcin Kozubek (POL) Natalia Romaniuta & Daniil Barantsev (RUS) Elaine Hugentobler & Daniel Hugentobler (SUI)