The ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating has reached the sixth and last event of the series. The NHK Trophy that will be held in Kumamoto, Japan, on November 29 until December 2, is the last opportunity for Skaters to earn points in view of qualifying for the Grand Prix Final that will be staged in Kitchener, Canada in December.

2000 World Champions Marina Anissina/Gwendal Peizerat of France are heading the Ice Dance competition. The French have 12 points after winning the Trophée Lalique in Paris and now they need more points to proceed to the Final. The challenge will come from 2000 World bronze medallists Margarita Drobiazko/ Povilas Vanagas (LTU) and Ukraine's Elena Grushina/Rusland Goncharov, bronze medallists at the Cup of Russia last week. While the Ukrainians hope to earn more points to secure their spot in the Final, the Lithuanians chose the NHK Trophy as their non-scoring event. Entering into the mix are Albena Denkova/Maxim Staviski (BUL), fourth at the Trophée Lalique, and the silver medallists from the Sparkassen Cup in Germany, Marie-France Dubreuil/Patrice Lauzon of Canada.

The Pairs event features reigning World bronze medallists Xue Shen/Hongbo Zhao (CHN) and 2000 World Champions Maria Petrova/Alexei Tikhonov of Russia. Both teams need to score again in order to make the Final. Annabelle Langlois/Patrice Archetto (CAN) and Dorota Zagorska/Mariusz Siudek (POL) are also aiming at a podium finish. Both pairs still have a shot at qualifying for the Final, as the Canadians took the bronze at Skate Canada and the Polish husband-and-wife team finished fourth at Cup of Russia.

2001 Four Continents silver medallist Takeshi Honda of Japan leads the Men's field in Kumamoto. He faces challenges from Bulgaria's Ivan Dinev, who won the bronze medal at the Cup of Russia and from Min Zhang of China, who was fourth at the Trophée Lalique. Honda, Dinev and Zhang could still qualify for the Final, if they collect enough points in Japan. Anthony Liu of Australia is also hoping to medal in Japan.

In the Ladies' event, Four Continents Champion Fumie Suguri and Four Continents bronze medallist Yoshie Onda, both from Japan, each have a chance to qualify for the Final. Competition will come from Angela Nikodinov (USA), who has already won two bronze medals on the circuit this year, although she is not skating for points in Japan. In the battle for the podium, they will also be joined by 1999 Grand Prix Champion Tatiana Malinina (UZB) and 2001 World Junior silver medallist Ann-Patrice McDonough (USA).

The schedule for the NHK Trophy is as follows:

29 November:		Compulsory Dance, Pairs Short Program 
30 November: 		Original Dance, Ladies' Short Program, Pairs' Free Program
1 December:		Men's Short Program, Free Dance, Ladies' Free Program
2 December:		Men's Free Program and Exhibition Gala


For further information please contact:

Aline Bussat Ingwersen, 
ISU Media Coordinator 
Tel: +41 21 612 66 66   
Fax: +41 21 612 66 77
E-mail: bussat@isu.ch	

or

NHK Trophy
Mr. Hiroshi Kobayashi, 
Press Officer
Tel: +81 96 212 6901 

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