The second of six qualifying events of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating, MasterCard Skate Canada International, takes place in Missisauga, Ontario starting on Thursday November 2 until Sunday November 5, 2000 (full list of entries attached).

Three time World Champion Alexei Yagudin (RUS) who was defeated last week at Skate America, will compete in his first scoring even of this season's Grand Prix series. In Canada, the 20-year old Russian will encounter once again World champion Todd Eldredge who claimed the bronze medal at Skate America. Also aiming for a spot on the podium are China's Chengjiang Li, 5th at 2000 World Championships in Nice, and 1999 Four Continents Champion Takeshi Honda (JPN).

Three-time World Champion Michelle Kwan (USA) leads the Ladies' field at Skate Canada which is her second scoring event. Kwan will meet World Silver Medallist Irina Slutskaya (Russia) who will be competing in her first Grand Prix event this season, although she will not be skating for points. Canadian Champion Jennifer Robinson, who won the bronze medal at Skate Canada last year, is also aiming to stand on the podium this time around, while current World Junior Silver Medallist, Deanna Stellato (USA) will be making her debut in the senior Grand Prix.

Skate Canada will be a scoring event for each of the seeded entries in the Ice Dance competition. World Champions and top medal contenders, Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat of France, will be the last of the three 2000 World medallists to unveil their new routines for this season. Equally counted in the hunt for medals are Israel's Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski, Four Continents silver medallists Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN), as well as Ukrainian husband and wife team, Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov, who were silver medallists at Skate Canada last season.

The Pairs event features reigning World Champions Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov and two-time World Champions, Elena Berezhnaya/ Anton Sikhuralidze. Both Russian teams face strong competition from Canada's Jamie Sale/David Pelletier who just took the gold at Skate America, as well as from European silver medallists Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek (POL).

In each discipline, US$ 30 000 will be awarded for first place, $ 18 000 for second place and $ 10 000 for third place. Skaters placed 4th and 5th, will also be awarded $ 5 000 and $ 3000 respectively. Additionally, Skaters in Men, Ladies and Dance collect up to 12 points for first place, scoring down to 1 point for those coming in 8th. Pairs will also be awarded up to 12 points for the winners ranging down to 3 points for 6th place.

The schedule for Sun Life Skate Canada International is:

2 November:		Compulsory Dance, Pairs and Men Short Program 
3 November: 		Original Dance, Ladies Short and Pairs Free Program
4 November:		Ladies and Men Free Program
5 November:		Free Dance and Exhibition Gala 


List of Competitors (as of November 1st )

Ladies	

Annie Bellemare (CAN)
Jennifer Robinson (CAN)
Laetitia Hubert (FRA)
Diana Poth (HUN)
Yoshie Onda (JPN)
Fumie Suguri (JPN)
Irina Slutskaja (RUS) (A)*
Galina Maniachenko (UKR)
Michelle Kwan (USA)*
Deanna Stellato (USA)	

Men

Fedor Andreev (CAN)
Ben Ferreira (CAN)	
Jeff Langdon (CAN)	
Chenjiang Li (CHN)*
Gabriel Monnier (FRA)
Andrejs Vlascenko (GER)
Matthew Davies (GBR)
Szabolcs Vidrai (HUN)
Takeshi Honda (JPN)
Alexei Yagudin (RUS)*
Todd Eldredge (USA)
Matthew Savoie (USA)

Pairs	

Jacinthe Lariviere/Lenny Faustino (CAN)
Kristy Wirtz/Kris Wirtz (CAN)
Jamie Sale/David Pelletier (CAN)*
Qing Pang/Jian Tong (CHN)
Sabrina Lefrancois/Jerome Blanchard (FRA)
Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek (POL)*
Elena Berezhnaya/Anton Sikhuralidze (RUS
)Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov (RUS) (A)* 
Aliona Savchenko/Stanislav Morozov (UKR)
Laura Handy/Jonothan Hunt (USA)	

Dance

Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon (CAN)
Chantal Lefebvre/Justin Lannings (CAN)
Megan Wing/Aaron Lowe (CAN)
Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat (FRA)*
Marika Humphreys/Vitali Baranov (GBR)
Galit Chait/Sergei Sakhnovski (ISR)*
Rie Arikawa/Kenji Miyamoto (JPN)
Alexandra Kauc/Filip Bernadowski (POL)
Svetlana Kulikova/Arseni Markov (RUS)
Elena Grushina/Ruslan Goncharov (UKR)
Beata Handra/Charles Sinek (USA)

(A)	Designated non-scoring event	*	Seeded Skaters 


For further information please contact:

Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final				Master Card Skate Canada Internationa
Aline Bussat, ISU Media Coordinator				Laurie Chatigny, Press Officer 
Tel:	+41 21 612 66 66					+1 905 502 93 60 (press room)
Fax:	+41 21 612 66 77					+1 416 230 78 38 (mobile) 
E-mail:	 bussat@isu.ch	

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