The Sparkassen Cup on Ice in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, is the third of six qualifying events of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The event features five World Champions: 1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya (RUS), reigning Pair World Champions Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov (RUS), as well as current Junior World Champions Stefan Lindemann (GER), Ice Dance couple Natalia Romaniuta/Daniil Barantsev (RUS), and Pair team Aliona Savchenko/Stanislav Morozov (UKR). The competition takes place from Friday November 10 until Sunday November 12 (full list of entries attached).

1999 World Champion Maria Butyrskaya will present her new Free Program in competition, as she chose the Sparkassen Cup to be her first scoring event. Challenging Butyrskaya are Sarah Hughes (USA), who placed second at Skate America two weeks ago, and French Champion Vanessa Gusmeroli, who finished fourth at the Worlds last season. Gusmeroli is also competing in her first Grand Prix event this season and she is skating for points. Ukraine's Elena Liashenko is also aiming for a spot on the podium. Making her comeback on the international scene is 1999 Four Continents Champion, Tatiana Malinina from Uzbekistan, who was hampered by injuries last season.

European Champion Evgeni Plushenko from Russia heads the Men's field in Germany, which will be his first Grand Prix competition of the season. The 18-year old hopes to defend his Sparkassen Cup title, but he faces competition from Timothy Goebel (USA), who beat World Champion Alexei Yagudin at Skate America. 1998 European Bronze Medallist Alexander Abt of Russia and French Champion Stanick Jeannette are also medal contenders. Four Continents Silver Medallist Chengjiang Li (China) is hoping to redeem himself after disappointing performances at Skate Canada. Plushenko will not be skating for points in Germany, whereas Goebel and Jeannette will be looking to score points.

In the Ice Dance event, the seeded couples will encounter each other anew, as at Skate America. Again, World Silver Medallists and winners at Skate America, Barbara Fusar Poli/Maurizio Margaglio (ITA) will face strong competition from World Bronze Medallists Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas (LTU), second in America, and from Canada's Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz, who were third. The Canadians are making their comeback this season after they had been forced out of the World Championships due to Bourne's knee injury. Additionally, not to be counted out as competition, are Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse of Germany, who are also prepared to challenge these teams. The Italians and Canadians will be skating for points for their second time, while the Lithuanian couple chose Sparkassen Cup as their first scoring event.

The Pairs event awaits the first meeting of this season between reigning World and European Champions Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov and World Bronze Medallists Sarah Abitbol/Stephane Bernadis of France. Petrova/Tikhonov finished third at Skate Canada last week, which was their non-scoring event. The French will be skating for points in Gelsenkirchen, which is their season's first Grand Prix event. While Russia's Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin, who collected 7 points at Skate America, will not be competing to earn points this week, the team is aiming to repeat a podium finish nonetheless. The husband and wife team of Kristy and Kris Wirtz (CAN), who withdrew from Skate Canada last week, because he suffered from an inflamed rotator cuff in his right shoulder, hope to be back on form at this event.

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 Sparkassen Cup on Ice is:

November 10:		Compulsory Dance, Pairs, Men and Ladies Short Program 
November 11: 		Pairs, Men and Ladies Free Program, Original Dance
November 12:		Free Dance and Exhibition Gala 


List of Competitors (as of November 9th ) *Seeded Skater	(A) non-scoring event

Ladies	

Nadine Gosselin (CAN)
Vanessa Gusmeroli (FRA)*
Caroline Gülke (GER)
Stephanie v.d. Thüsen (GER)
Yuka Kanazawa (JPN)
Sabina Wojtala (POL)
Maria Butyrskaia (RUS)*
Elena Liashenko (UKR)
Sasha Cohen (USA)
Sarah Hughes (USA)*
Tatyana Malinina (UZB)

Men
	
Ivan Dinev (BUL)
Emanuel Sandhu (CAN)
Chengjiang Li (CHN) *(A)
Stannick Jeannette (FRA)
Andre Kaden (GER)
Stefan Lindemann (GER)
Silvio Smalun (GER)
Yosuke Takeuchi (JPN)
Alexander Abt (RUS)*
Evgeni Plushenko (RUS) *(A)
Timothy Goebel (USA)
Roman Skorniakov (UZB)

Pairs	

Valerie Marcoux/Bruno Marcotte (CAN)
Kristy Sargeant-Wirtz/Kris Wirtz (CAN)
Sarah Abitbol/Stephane Bernadis (FRA)*
Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov (RUS)*
Viktoria Shliakhova/Grigori Petrovski (RUS)
Tatiana Totmianina/Maxim Marinin (RUS) *(A)
Aliona Savchenko/Stanislav Morozov (UKR)
Danielle Hartsell/Steve Hartsell (USA)	

Dance

Shae-Lynn Bourne/Victor Kraatz (CAN)
Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder (FRA)
Magali Sauri/Michail Stifunin (FRA)
Stephanie Rauer/Thomas Rauer (GER)
Kati Winkler/Rene Lohse (GER) *(A)
Gloria Agogliati/Luciano Milo (ITA)
Barbara Fusar Poli/Maurizio Margaglio (ITA)*
Nozomi Watanabe/Akiyuki Kido (JPN)
Margarita Drobiazko/Povilas Vanagas (LTU)*
Agata Blazowska/Marcin Kozubek (POL)
Natalia Romaniuta/Daniil Barantsev (RUS)
Elaine Hugentobler/Daniel Hugentobler (SUI)


For further information please contact:

Grand Prix of Figure Skating & Final		or	Sparkassen Cup on Ice
Aline Bussat Ingwersen, ISU Media Coordinator	        Gerd Heydn, Press Officer
Tel:	+41 21 612 66 66				+49 209 97 66 271
Fax:	+41 21 612 66 77
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch	

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