Tag Archive for: ISU Challenger Series

Lauriault and Le Gac Take Home Ice Dance Silver from Budapest Trophy

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Budapest, Hungary (October 15, 2023) – The Canadian ice dance team of Marie-Jade Lauriault and Romain Le Gac of Laval, Que., captured a silver medal at the Budapest Trophy ISU Challenger Series competition which wrapped up Sunday in Budapest, Hungary.  

Lauriault and Le Gac, bronze medallists at the 2023 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, laid down two solid performances to finish the competition with a total score of 188.32 to add a silver medal to their competitive resumé which includes winning gold at the 2022-2023 Skate Canada Challenge. 

“We started in April to put together the choreography, to think about the costumes, and to be able to do it today is like an accomplishment of all this work that we put in,” said Le Gac. “We are really proud of our first two performances this season and now it’s back to work!” 

The other Canadian team of Emmy Bronsard of Montreal, Que., and Jacob Richmond of Toronto, Ont., finished 11th with a total score of 150.51. Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Georgia won the gold medal with a total score of 191.84 while Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier took the bronze with a total score of 179.68. 

Next up for Canadian skaters is the kick off of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series which begins next week with Skate America taking place in Allen, Texas, USA from October 20-22.  

For full results, please click here. 

Madeline Schizas Brings Home Bronze from Nepela Memorial

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Bratislava, Slovakia (October 1, 2023) – Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., the reigning Canadian Champion in women’s figure skating, captured a bronze medal at the Nepela Memorial ISU Challenger Cup Series event that wrapped up Saturday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

“I’m really happy with my skates here this week. Not perfect, but a big step-up from where we started last season, so I’m overall pretty happy with that, and I’m happy to have won my first early-season Challenger Cup medal,” said Schizas who finished this competition with a total score of 188.88.

Chaeyon Kim of Korea dominated the women’s competition, winning gold with a total score of 202.26, while her teammate Haein Lee took silver with a score of 191.10.

Conrad Orzel of Oakville, Ont., finished 9th overall in the men’s competition with a total score of 213.52. Gabriele Frangipani of Italy won gold (243.91), while Nika Egadze of Georgia took silver (243.31), and Mark Gorodnitsky of Israel took bronze (236.30).

In ice dance, Marjorie Lajoie of Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha of Saint-Hubert, Que., finished fifth with a total score of 179.18, while Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ont., competing in their first senior Challenger event, finished seventh with a total score of 164.81.

“The overall experience was I think more than I expected from my first Challenger event. It was way more satisfying than I thought it was going to be which makes me really happy that we did so well,” said Bashynska who together with Beaumont were bronze medallists at the 2023 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships. “We’re learning, and this was the first year of many years ahead of us, and I think we can both agree that this is the first step towards a long process.”

The ISU Challenger Series moves to Finland next week for the Finlandia Trophy which takes place from October 4-8, 2023 in Espoo and which will feature eight Canadian skaters.

For full results, please click here.

Canadian skaters gain valuable international experience at Warsaw Cup

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WARSAW – Canadian teams in pairs and ice dancing launched their international careers at the Warsaw Cup, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series figure skating circuit, which continued on Saturday.
In ice dancing, Emmy Bronsard of Montreal and Jacob Richmond of St-Lambert, Que., took seventh overall. They ranked seventh for their rhythm dance on Friday and sixth for their free skate, performed to a Pink Floyd medley, on Saturday.

They were less than two points from a top-five finish. Bronsard was ninth at the 2020 world juniors with another partner but this was her first international assignment with Richmond.
Loicia Demougeot and Theo le Mercier of France, who posted two fourth place finishes this season on the Grand Prix circuit, won the gold medal.

In pairs, Tilda Alteryd and Gabriel Farand of Oakville, Ont., placed ninth. The event was won by world junior silver medallists Anastasia Golubeva and Hektor Giotopoulos Moore of Australia.
The Challenger Series provides opportunities for senior skaters to compete at an international level and earn world ranking points.

The next competition is December 7-10 in Zagreb.

Full results: https://page.pfsa.com.pl/results/2223/CSPOL2022/

Lajoie and Lagha earn second gold this season on ISU Challenger Series

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BUDAPEST – Canadian ice dancers Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha connected for gold for the second time this season on Sunday with a victory at the sixth stop on the ISU Challenger Series figure skating circuit.

The 2019 world junior champions cracked the 200-point barrier for the first time on international ice totaling 202.40 points placing first in both the rhythm dance and free dance.

It bettered the 193.35 score they earned in their victory two weeks ago at a Challenger Series event in Czechia. It’s also the third straight Challenger Series event Canada has won gold. Last week in Finland, Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Nikolaj Soerensen of Montreal were first.

As was the case in their previous win Lajoie, from Boucherville, Que., and Lagha, from St-Hubert, Que., weren’t totally satisfied.

‘’The free dance was a little bit too safe,’’ said Lagha, who’ll compete with his partner at Skate Canada International in two weeks. ‘’But it’s OK. Now we go home, work and get the job done again.’’

Evgeniia Lopareva and Geoffrey Brissaud of France were second at 192.85 and Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen of the U.S. were third at 180.46.

Alicia Fabbri of Terrebonne, Que., and Paul Ayer of Calgary took fourth spot with 168.85 in their international season debut. There were 15 entries.

‘’We put out a really strong performance in the rhythm dance and connected with the crowd,’’ said Ayer. ‘’We had an unfortunate mistake in our free dance but before and after that it was solid.’’

The two ice dance teams were the only Canadian entries at the competition.

The Challenger Series provides opportunities for senior skaters to compete at an international level and earn world ranking points.

Full results: http://hunskate.hu/external/mukorcsolya/2022_2023/BPTrophy/index.htm

Two Canadian Ice Dance Teams to Compete at 2022 Budapest Trophy

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OTTAWA, ON (October 5, 2022) – Two Canadian ice dance teams will be competing at the 2022 Budapest Trophy, taking place from October 13-16, 2022 in Budapest, Hungary. This competition will give skaters a chance to compete internationally prior to the start of the Senior Grand Prix season, which kicks off with Skate America on October 21-23. 

Olympians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha will be competing for the second time this season after finishing first at the 2022 Ondrej Nepela Memorial last week. The pair placed 13th at the Beijing Olympic Games and claimed bronze at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships earlier this year.  

They will be joined by Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer, who captured gold at the 2022 Skate Canada Challenge and placed 7th at the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. The next event for both teams will be Skate Canada International, set to take place from October 28-30 in Mississauga, Ontario. 

Competitions start on Friday, October 14th with the rhythm dance, followed by the free dance on Sunday, October 16th. For more information about the event, please click here. 

Team Canada 
Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location 

Ice Dance
Alicia Fabbri | 19 | Terrebonne, Que. & Paul Ayer | 24 | Brossard, Que. | Marie-France Dubreuil & Patrice Lauzon | Terrebonne, Que.  
Marjorie Lajoie | 21 | Boucherville, Que. & Zachary Lagha | 23 | Saint-Hubert, Que. | Romain Haguenauer | Montreal, Que. 

Team Leader – Mike Slipchuk 
Official – Leslie Keen 

Canadian Skaters Win Four Medals at 2022 Nebelhorn Trophy

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OBERTSDORF, Germany (September 24, 2022) – Canada’s Keegan Messing launched his 2022-23 season with a gold medal in men’s competition at the Nebelhorn Trophy, a stop on the ISU Challenger Series circuit, which concluded on Saturday. Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., added another victory as Canadians marched four times to the podium. Canada also won the Fritz Geiger Memorial Trophy as the top country at the competition ahead of Ukraine and Germany.

Messing was third after the short program but roared to top spot on Friday with the best free skate to finish with 245.74 points. Sihyeong Lee of South Korea took the silver with 235.71 and Roman Sadovsky of Vaughan, Ont., won the bronze with 222.74.

‘’Tensions were high this week,’’ said Messing, a two-time Olympian. ‘’It was a constant battle to overcome the nerves. In the short program, the nerves won. In the free skate I was able to conquer them and put out a solid performance.’’

Sadovksy, 23, was first after the short program.

‘’I struggled with the short last season, so it was nice to start off with a really strong short,’’ he said. ‘’The long wasn’t quite what I wanted but I think I just need a little more mileage and, hopefully as the season progresses, it will improve.’’

In pairs, Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps, moved from second after the short program to win the gold with the top free skate totalling 192.74. Alisa Efimova and Ruben Blommaert of Germany were second at 186.17 and their compatriots Annika Hocke and Robert Kunkel third at 184.47.

‘’It wasn’t perfect, but we stayed together,’’ said Stellato-Dudek. ‘’We came here really prepared and we think we put out two really solid performances to start the season.’’

The fourth medal for Canada was won on Saturday by Carolane Soucisse of Chateauguay, Que., and Shane Firus of North Vancouver, B.C., with the bronze in ice dancing. They totalled 73.23 points with Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain earning the gold with 85.80 and Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius of Lithuania the silver at 78.98.

‘’It’s nice to be back on the podium and it’s where I think we should be,’’ said Soucisse. ‘’We skated with confidence and attacked.’’

Molly Lanaghan and Dmitre Razgulajevs of Scarborough, Ont., were fourth. World championship silver medallist Loena Hendrickx of Germany won the women’s event with Canadian champion Madeline Schizas of Oakville, Ont., placing fifth.

The Challenger Series provides opportunities for senior skaters to compete at an international level and earn world ranking points. Full results can be found here.

Montreal to Host the 2016 Autumn Classic International

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada has announced that it will host the 2016 Autumn Classic International in Montreal, Quebec from September 28 –  October 1, 2016 at the Sportsplexe Pierrefonds.

After a one-year hiatus, the senior international figure skating competition is once again a part of the International Skating Union’s (ISU) Challenger Series. Senior events in men’s, ladies, pair and ice dance will feature some of the top skaters in the world. A junior men’s and ladies competition will also take place, that will not be included in the Challenger Series.

“Skate Canada is pleased to be back in the ISU Challenger Series and we are excited to be heading to Montreal. This is a great opportunity for skaters to collect valuable world standing points,” said Dan Thompson, CEO, Skate Canada.

The 2016 Autumn Classic International is one of 10 competitions that will form the ISU Challenger Series. Athletes at the senior level have the opportunity to earn world standing points. Competitors are eligible to participate in up to three Challenger Series events.

Barrie, Ontario hosted the event from 2014-2015, with last year featuring 52 entries from 21 countries.

Tickets for the event will only be available at the door and specific athlete entries will be identified throughout late summer and fall of 2016.