Figure skatingVeteran pair make season debut at Skate America

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Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, seen at the world championships last season, will make their Grand Prix debut this weekend at Skate America. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)

The fourth of six stops on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series takes place this weekend in Portland, Ore.

The chance to compete at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Beijing in December is still on the line. Skaters are awarded points according to their placements in each of their two Grand Prixs and the top six finishers in each discipline qualify.

The majority of the "players" have already begun their respective seasons. But at Skate America, in the pairs' event, we will finally get a chance to see two-time world and three-time European champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany.

Savchenko and Szolkowy faltered last season taking the bronze at the Olympics and the silver at both worlds and Europeans.  Their goal in this first Grand Prix event is to re-establish the dominance in the pairs in the way they did for the two seasons prior to the Olympics.

Challenging the Germans are Grand Prix of China silver medallists and defending junior world champions from China, Wenjing Sui and Cong Han, whose throw quad Salchow could really rack up the points if she can land on one foot.  The Canadian team of Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch - on the strength of a Skate Canada silver medal - is poised for a podium finish.

Challenging ice dance field

In ice dance, half of the field has already won medals at a Grand Prix event, making this a very strong competition.

This will be Meryl Davis and Charlie White's event to lose as the highest ranked and most senior team.

The American world and Olympic silver medallists will be challenged by Canadians Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirier who are fresh from their win at Skate Canada with outstanding short and free dance programs. 

Also in the hunt for ice dance medals are defending Four Continents champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada, who recently won the silver medal at the NHK Trophy in Nagoya, and Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani, who took bronze at the same event.

The women's event features a rematch of the podium finishers from the first Grand Prix event of the season.

Despite the inconsistencies in performance of three-time and defending European champion Carolina Kostner, her overall maturity, experience and superior programs should give her the edge in Portland as it did at NHK.  Her biggest challenge comes from American champion Rachael Flatt who won the free program in Japan, but had to settle for silver on account of her third-place finish in the short.

Flatt will be determined to not give anyone an advantage here.  Kanako Murakami, the junior world champion from Japan, was impressive with a bronze medal in her first Grand Prix and will be looking to add to her collection at Skate America.

The men's event should be a no-brainer for the defending world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Daisuke Takahashi.  His biggest test should come from Japanese teammate Nobunari Oda who has already won silver this season at Skate Canada and seems ready to get back on top after a disastrous 28th place finish at worlds in 2010.

The other man to watch out for is the two-time junior world champion and Skate Canada bronze medallist Adam Rippon of the U.S.  Rippon's performance was less than ideal in his first Grand Prix, but his material is superb and if skated well could be a real threat.

Pj's podium picks:

Pairs:  Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (Germany)
Ice dance: Meryl Davis and Charlie White (United States)
Ladies: Carolina Kostner (Italy)
Men: Daisuke Takahashi (Japan)

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