The 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series was scheduled to be held from September 9 to December 5, 2020. It was the seventh season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions, was held. Originally meant to be a series of ten events, the 2020–21 Challenger Series ended up featuring only two individual events, when eight events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series | |
|---|---|
| Type: | ISU Challenger Series |
| Date: | September 9 – December 5, 2020 |
| Season: | 2020–21 |
| Previous: 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series | |
| Next: 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series | |
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
editThe International Skating Union announcement on April 22, 2020 for the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series issued the following caveat regarding the scheduling of the events:
"The above calendar, same as the calendar of other ISU series, is subject to a timely normalization of the coronavirus situation allowing the safe organization of ice skating events this Autumn. While the Challenger Series events remain the property of the organizing ISU Members who remain the key decision makers for those events, the ISU is closely monitoring the respective developments with the expectation and hope that the situation will be restored to normal as quickly as possible. The ISU will inform ISU Members in case of any development or related ISU recommendations and/or decision."[1]
On May 1, 2020, the International Skating Union established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-president for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its responsibilities included determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the season, and the financial impact of any potential cancellations.[2] The ISU announced that a host federation must make a decision regarding potential cancellation of their event at least twelve weeks prior to the event.[3]
On May 16, the Slovak Figure Skating Association informed the ISU that it had cancelled all upcoming events that it was scheduled to host due to the ongoing pandemic, including the 2020 Nepela Memorial in Bratislava.[4]
On July 13, the ISU announced that the 2020–21 Challenger Series events would be regarded as separate individual competitions, rather than as a series; as a result, no Challenger Series ranking would be determined and no prize money would be distributed at the end of the series. However, skaters competing would still earn Challenger Series-level points for their world rankings, as long as the competition met ISU guidelines to qualify as a Challenger event.[5] The decision was later revised by the ISU council on August 3, announcing that world standing and ranking points would not be awarded for the sake of fairness due to the limited nature of the competitions.[6]
On July 13, the Japan Skating Federation announced that it would not assign any skaters to the Challenger Series, assuming the competitions proceeded as scheduled.[7]
On August 25, the German Ice Skating Union confirmed that 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy would be held as scheduled, but without spectators and would include extensive social distancing guidelines and procedures for the athletes and coaches in attendance.[8]
On August 28, the ISU removed the maximum entry limit of skaters or teams per country.[9]
Competitions
editThe series was intended to include the following events this season.[1] However, all but two competitions were ultimately cancelled.
On May 16, the ISU announced that the Slovak Figure Skating Association had cancelled the 2020 Nepela Memorial.[4] As of May 26, the event schedule announced for the 2020 Asian Open Trophy had been withdrawn.[10] On August 20, the Finnish Figure Skating Association cancelled the 2020 Finlandia Trophy.[11] On September 1, the 2020 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge was cancelled.[12] On November 3, Skate Austria cancelled the 2020 Cup of Tyrol.[13] On November 6, the ice dance portion of the 2020 Warsaw Cup was cancelled,[14] and on November 10, the Polish Figure Skating Association cancelled the Warsaw Cup entirely.[15] On February 13, the 2020 Autumn Classic International, originally described as having been "postponed", was removed from the official Skate Canada calendar.[16][17]
| Date | Event | Location | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 9–13 |  2020 Asian Open Trophy
|
Cancelled | [10] | |
| September 16–19 |  2020 Nepela Memorial
|
[4] | ||
| September 17–19 |  2020 Autumn Classic International
|
[17] | ||
| September 23–26 |  2020 Nebelhorn Trophy
|
Oberstdorf, Germany | Details | |
| October 8–11 |  2020 Finlandia Trophy
|
Cancelled | [11] | |
| October 15–17 |  2020 Budapest Trophy
|
Budapest, Hungary | No pairs | Details |
| October 29 – November 1 |  2020 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
|
Cancelled | [12] | |
| November 12–15 |  2020 Warsaw Cup
|
[15] | ||
| November 25–28 |  2020 Cup of Tyrol
|
[18][13] | ||
| December 2–5 |  2020 Golden Spin of Zagreb
|
[19] | ||
Medal summary
editMen's singles
edit| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebelhorn Trophy
|
 Deniss Vasiļjevs |
 Gabriele Frangipani |
 Nikolaj Majorov |
Details |
| Budapest Trophy
|
Daniel Grassl |
 Burak Demirboğa |
 Aleksandr Selevko |
Details |
Ladies’ singles
edit| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebelhorn Trophy
|
Eva-Lotta Kiibus |
 Alexia Paganini |
Jenni Saarinen |
Details |
| Budapest Trophy
|
 Loena Hendrickx |
Eva-Lotta Kiibus |
 Alexandra Feigin |
Details |
Pairs
edit| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebelhorn Trophy
|
Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini |
Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel |
 Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin |
Details |
Ice dance
edit| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nebelhorn Trophy
|
 Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler |
 Sasha Fear / George Waddell |
 Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov |
Details |
| Budapest Trophy
|
Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin |
Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck |
Sasha Fear / George Waddell |
Details |
Medal standings
edit| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Estonia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Latvia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 |  Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Turkey | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 11 | Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Finland | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| France | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sweden | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (14 entries) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | |
Challenger Series rankings
editOut of fairness to skaters impacted by travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISU Council decided there would be no Challenger Series ranking this season.[10]
Top scores
editMen's singles
edit| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deniss Vasiļjevs | Latvia
|
233.08 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Daniel Grassl | Italy
|
233.04 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Gabriele Frangipani | 231.65 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy | |
| 4 | Nikolaj Majorov | Sweden
|
218.07 | |
| 5 | Maurizio Zandron | Austria
|
217.65 |
| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Grassl | Italy
|
82.27 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Paul Fentz | Germany
|
81.86 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Gabriele Frangipani | Italy
|
79.13 | |
| 4 | Matteo Rizzo | 77.15 | ||
| 5 | Maurizio Zandron | Austria
|
74.61 |
| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deniss Vasiļjevs | Latvia
|
159.83 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Gabriele Frangipani | Italy
|
152.52 | |
| 3 | Daniel Grassl | 150.77 | 2020 Budapest Trophy | |
| 4 | Nikolaj Majorov | Sweden
|
145.53 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Lukas Britschgi | Switzerland
|
143.53 |
Ladies' singles
edit| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx | Belgium
|
198.87 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus | Estonia
|
184.27 | |
| 3 | Alexandra Feigin | Bulgaria
|
172.68 | |
| 4 | Alexia Paganini | Switzerland
|
168.85 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Júlia Láng | Hungary
|
166.55 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx | Belgium
|
72.18 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus | Estonia
|
65.37 | |
| 3 | Alexia Paganini | Switzerland
|
63.60 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Nicole Schott | Germany
|
61.21 | |
| 5 | Alexandra Feigin | Bulgaria
|
60.90 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| No. | Skater | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx | Belgium
|
126.69 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus | Estonia
|
118.90 | |
| 3 | Alexandra Feigin | Bulgaria
|
111.78 | |
| 4 | Júlia Láng | Hungary
|
108.35 | |
| 5 | Jenni Saarinen | Finland
|
106.62 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
Pairs
edit| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini | Italy
|
154.61 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel | Germany
|
154.26 | |
| 3 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin | France
|
144.06 | |
| 4 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař | Czech Republic
|
143.03 | |
| 5 | Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre | France
|
130.27 |
| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert | Germany
|
63.97 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel | 60.55 | ||
| 3 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini | Italy
|
58.32 | |
| 4 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin | France
|
51.27 | |
| 5 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař | Czech Republic
|
51.20 |
| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini | Italy
|
96.29 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel | Germany
|
93.71 | |
| 3 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin | France
|
92.79 | |
| 4 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař | Czech Republic
|
91.83 | |
| 5 | Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre | France
|
88.26 |
Ice dance
edit| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin | Ukraine
|
178.97 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck | Germany
|
164.99 | |
| 3 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler | Czech Republic
|
163.62 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell | Great Britain
|
152.34 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov | Ukraine
|
148.60 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin | Ukraine
|
71.75 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler | Czech Republic
|
64.28 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell | Great Britain
|
62.69 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 4 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck | Germany
|
62.23 | |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov | Ukraine
|
61.55 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| No. | Team | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin | Ukraine
|
107.22 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck | Germany
|
102.76 | |
| 3 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler | Czech Republic
|
99.34 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell | Great Britain
|
93.29 | |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov | Ukraine
|
87.05 |
References
edit- ^ a b "Figure Skating Challenger Series events season 2020/21 – Decisions of the ISU Council". International Skating Union. April 22, 2020.
- ^ Morgan, Liam (May 1, 2020). "ISU creates COVID-19 working group for figure skating". Inside the Games.
- ^ "Communication No. 2320: Decisions of the Council". International Skating Union. April 30, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Cancellation ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating, Kosice (SVK) and Challenger Series Nepela Memorial 2020, Bratislava (SVK)". International Skating Union. May 16, 2020.
- ^ "Communication No. 2335: Decisions of the Council". International Skating Union. July 13, 2020.
- ^ "Communication No. 2339: Decisions of the Council". International Skating Union. August 3, 2020.
- ^ Japan Skating Federation [@skatingjapan] (July 13, 2020). "新型コロナウイルス感染症の情勢を考慮し、フィギュアスケートのISU ジュニアグランプリ大会およびチャレンジャーシリーズ大会への派遣中止を決定いたしました。" [Considering the new coronavirus infectious disease situation, we have decided to stop dispatching figure skaters to ISU Junior Grand Prix competition and Challenger Series competition.] (Tweet) (in Japanese) – via Twitter.
- ^ "52nd Nebelhorn Trophy 2020 – Oberstdorf: Information Guideline" (PDF). German Ice Skating Union. August 25, 2020.
- ^ "Communication No. 2345: Decisions of the Council". International Skating Union. August 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Challenger Series General Announcement 2020/21". International Skating Union. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ a b "Finlandia Trophy Espoo is canceled; The Finnish Figure Skating Association wants to organize the competition virtually". Finnish Figure Skating Association. August 20, 2020. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
- ^ a b "Denis Ten Memorial Challenge". International Skating Union. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
- ^ a b Skate Austria (November 3, 2020). "‼️Cup of Tyrol 2020 & 25. Eiscup cancelled ⛸🏆❌" (Instagram). Archived from the original on 2021-12-24.
- ^ "ISU CS Warsaw Cup 2020: Ice Dance (cancelled as of Nov. 6, 2020)". November 6, 2020.
- ^ a b "ISU Challenger Series Warsaw Cup 2020: CANCELLED". Polish Figure Skating Association. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ "Event Schedule: Hosted Events". Skate Canada. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
- ^ a b Gallagher, Jack (February 13, 2021). "[ICE TIME] Exclusive: Legendary Choreographer David Wilson Calls for New Leadership at Skate Canada". Japan Forward.
Following the cancellation of last year's world championships in Montreal...Skate Canada proceeded to cancel the Junior Grand Prix in British Columbia in August, the Autumn Classic International in Oakville, Ontario, in September, and Skate Canada International in Ottawa in October, before pulling the plug on the nationals.
- ^ "Cup of Tyrol". International Skating Union. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "53rd Golden Spin of Zagreb". International Skating Union. Retrieved November 4, 2020.