We now know who will be competing in the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final starting December 8, barring any withdrawals. Here is a rundown of the competitors, in qualification order. The GPF is taking place in Quebec City, Canada.
Ice Dancing
1) Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA)
2) Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Canada)
3) Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani (USA)
4) Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev (Russia)
5) Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France)
6) Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (Canada)
Quick Thoughts: Obviously this is all about how Virtue and Moir and Davis and White match up. I'm also interested in seeing how the Shibutanis shake out this time against the rest of the field.
Men
1) Patrick Chan (Canada)
2) Daisuke Takahashi (Japan)
3) Jeremy Abbott (USA)
4) Michal Brezina (Czech Republic)
5) Javier Fernandez (Spain)
6) Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)
Quick Thoughts: It's going to be difficult for anyone to turn this into a competition against Chan. But how about this lineup? A bunch of new faces and the shocking absence of names like Takahiko Kozuka and Nobunari Oda.
Pairs
1) Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov (Russia)
2) Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany)
3) Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov (Russia)
4) Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao (China)
5) Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran (Japan)
6) Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (Canada)
Quick Thoughts: I am interested in the matchup between Volosozhar and Trankov and Savchenko and Szolkowy. They have similarly gigantic moves and I think on a good day, they both will beat Kavaguti and Smirnov.
Ladies
1) Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (Russia)
2) Mao Asada (Japan)
3) Carolina Kostner (Italy)
4) Akiko Suzuki (Japan)
5) Alissa Czisny (USA)
6) Alena Leonova (Russia)
Quick Thoughts: Well, Miss Mao Asada is back in the Grand Prix Final for the first time in years. But is anyone a match for the technical prowess of Elizaveta Tuktamisheva?
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