Figure skatingStiff competition expected at Paris skating event

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The top six competitors in each of the disciplines get the chance to skate for the gold medal and a prize of $25,000 US at the ISU Grand Prix Final being held in a suburb of Seoul, Korea in December.

Stiff competition in ice dance

This week keep your eyes on Canadian ice dancers Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier. They exploded onto the international senior scene at the HomeSense Skate Canada International with a silver medal finish. Although they are no match for the defending world champions from France, Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder they should be able to hold their own against the rest of the field. Their biggest competition should come from the Italian team of Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali and the veteran brother and sister team of Sinead and John Kerr from Great Britain who are currently ranked fifth and eighth in the world respectively.

The results here will be a strong indicator of where Crone and Poirier belong in the world rankings.

Elegance on ice

In the women's competition, the defending world champion from Japan, Mao Asada, will make her ISU Grand Prix debut.

Canada’s champion and recent gold medallist at Skate Canada, Joannie Rochette, needs to finish no lower than second to qualify for the Grand Prix Final. This season, she is skating with renewed confidence and determination as seen in her personal best performances in both the short and free programs at Skate Canada. That said, it will still be a struggle against Asada who displays the same qualities of elegance and strength coupled with amazing technical elements like the triple Axel.

The pairs event comes down to the same two teams who went head to head at Skate America. The defending world champions from Germany, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, and their rivals from Russia, Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov.

Savchenko and Szolkowy took home the gold, but only after a strong showing in their free program. Mukhortova and Trankov dominated the short program at Skate America but lost their lead with a shaky free program and settled for bronze.

Comeback couple

Both of these teams are beatable this season. The Germans will really need to set the bar in their short program quite a bit higher if they want to stay on top this season. The spoiler here could be the Canadian team of Meagan Duhamel and Craig Buntin who are still on the comeback trail after Buntin's shoulder surgery at the end of last season.

Brian Joubert of France lost his world title in 2008 and is determined to reclaim it. With his maturity and technical ability it would be a huge surprise to not see him capture the gold in Paris.

Keep and eye on the competition for silver between Canada’s Patrick Chan, gold medallist from Skate Canada and one of Japan’s big jumpers, Takahiko Kozuka, who took the gold at Skate America. For both of these skaters the silver will go a long way to securing their spot at the Grand Prix Final. Also in the mix is American Ryan Bradley whose personal-best performances at Skate Canada helped to put him on the international map this year.

Watch live coverage of the free programs at Trophee Eric Bompard on CBCSports.ca beginning Saturday at 7:30 a.m. ET.

Pj’s Picks:

Ice dance: Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA)
Men: Brian Joubert (FRA)
Ladies: Mao Asada (JPN)
Pairs: Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (GER)

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