Icenetwork.com releases initial world figure skating rankings of 2009-10 season

Colorado Springs, Colo. (Aug. 27, 2009) - All four of the No. 1-ranked skaters and/or teams at the end of last season return to the top spot in the initial icenetwork.com World Figure Skater Rankings for 2009-10.

World champion Yu-Na Kim (ladies), World silver medalist Patrick Chan (men), Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy (pairs), and Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin (ice dancing) sit atop their respective disciplines at the outset of the 2009-10 campaign. The highest-ranked U.S. skaters in each discipline are Rachael Flatt (No. 7, ladies), World champion Evan Lysacek (No. 3, men), Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker (No. 9, pairs), and Meryl Davis and Charlie White (No. 3, ice dancing.

Ladies

Kim has a commanding lead of almost 1,000 points over second-ranked Mao Asada of Japan. World silver medalist Joannie Rochette of Canada is third, while Carolina Kostner of Italy and Laura Lepisto of Finland round out the top five. Three of the next four skaters in the rankings are Japanese, with reigning World bronze medalist Miki Ando in sixth, Yukari Nakano eighth and Fumie Suguri ninth, giving Japan four of the top nine ladies skaters in the world. Other Americans in the rankings include Caroline Zhang (10^th), Alissa Czisny (11^th), Kimmie Meissner (17^th) and Ashley Wagner (18^th).

Men

Though not as dominant as Kim, Chan claims the No. 1 position on account of his consistency, as he finished either first or second at five of his six competitions in 2008-09. World bronze medalist Brian Joubert of France is second, just ahead of Lysacek. Reigning Grand Prix Final and U.S. champion Jeremy Abbott sits fourth, while Japan's Takahiko Kozuka ranks fifth. The United States has six men's skaters in all in the rankings, including Johnny Weir (No. 7), Adam Rippon (14^th), Brandon Mroz (16^th) and Stephen Carriere (20^th). After announcing his return to competition, Olympic silver medalist and two-time World champion Stéphane Lambiel of Switzerland enters the rankings at No. 17. 

Pairs

Savchenko and Szolkowy are the unquestioned No. 1 pairs team in the world, as indicated by their almost 1,100-point lead over No. 2-ranked Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China. Just behind Pang and Tong is the Chinese team of Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, who won their third World silver medal last season. A gap of more than 1,000 points separates them from fourth-ranked Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov of Russia, the 2009 World bronze medalists. Canada's Jessica Dubé and Bryce Davison are fifth. The only other U.S. team in the rankings besides McLaughlin and Brubaker are Rena Inoue and John Baldwin, who slot in at No. 11.

Ice Dancing

Domnina and Shabalin hold a slim lead of about 120 points over second-ranked Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder of France, who did not compete at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships. Davis and White experienced a breakout season in 2008-09, winning gold at the AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships and Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. They find themselves just ahead of European champions Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski of Russia. Italy's Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali rank fifth, while Americans Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto are sixth. The No. 7 ranking of Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, medalists at each of the last two World Championships, speaks to the great depth in the discipline. Four other U.S. teams reside in the top 20: Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates (No. 10), Madison Chock and Greg Zuerlein (No. 11), Kim Navarro and Brent Bommentre (No. 16) and Madison Hubbell and Keiffer Hubbell (No. 19).

The criteria for the icenetwork.com World Skaters Rankings has been modified this season. For more information about the rankings, go to icenetwork.com and click on "Rankings" at the top of the page.

Rankings as of Aug. 24, 2009:

Ladies                                                                                   

Rank 8/24	Final 2008-09 Rank	Name	Country	Points
1	1	Yu-Na Kim	Korea	4256.00
2	2	Mao Asada	Japan	3383.80
3	3	Joannie Rochette	Canada	2707.90
4	4	Carolina Kostner	Italy	2309.00
5	5	Laura Lepisto	Finland	1549.70
6	6	Miki Ando	Japan	1402.90
7	8	Rachael Flatt	USA	1244.90
8	7	Yukari Nakano	Japan	1150.90
9	12	Fumie Suguri	Japan	1105.20
10	9	Caroline Zhang	USA	1098.80
11	14	Alissa Czisny	USA	855.48
12	11	Sarah Meier	Switzerland	795.90
13	15	Susanna Poykio	Finland	762.95
14	13	Alena Leonova	Russia	728.92
15	20	Akiko Suzuki	Japan	721.70
16	18	Kiira Korpi	Finland	689.58
17	10	Kimmie Meissner	USA	667.80
18	17	Ashley Wagner	USA	665.70
19	19	Cynthia Phaneuf	Canada	651.22
20	NR	Julia Sebestyen	Hungary	638.78

 

MEN

Rank 8/24	Final 2008-09 Rank	Name	Country	Points
1	1	Patrick Chan	Canada	2949.40
2	2	Brian Joubert	France	2364.32
3	3	Evan Lysacek	USA	2323.30
4	4	Jeremy Abbott	USA	2067.14
5	5	Takahiko Kozuka	Japan	1992.70
6	8	Tomas Verner	Czech Republic	1710.38
7	7	Johnny Weir	USA	1446.50
8	11	Nobunari Oda	Japan	1241.66
9	6	Daisuke Takahashi	Japan	1078.50
10	14	Samuel Contesti	Italy	1067.20
11	10	Kevin van der Perren	Belgium	1031.04
12	15	Yannick Ponsero	France	982.12
13	12	Alban Preaubert	France	972.16
14	9	Adam Rippon	USA	957.84
15	13	Sergei Voronov	Russia	830.34
16	16	Brandon Mroz	USA	821.94
17	NR	Stéphane Lambiel	Switzerland	820.28
18	17	Michal Brezina	Czech Republic	787.76
19	NR	Kristoffer Berntsson	Sweden	645.80
20	17	Stephen Carriere	USA	641.52

 

PAIRS

Rank 8/24	Final 2008-09 Rank	Name	Country	Points
1	1	Aliona Savchenko/Robin Szolkowy	Germany	4354.00
2	2	Qing Pang/Jian Tong	China	3258.00
3	3	Dan Zhang/Hao Zhang	China	3207.60
4	4	Yuko Kavaguti/Alexander Smirnov	Russia	2140.60
5	5	Jessica Dubé/Bryce Davison	Canada	1839.20
6	6	Maria Mukhortova/Maxim Trankov	Russia	1629.00
7	7	Tatiana Volosozhar/Stanislav Morozov	Ukraine	1308.94
8	8	Lubov Iliushechkina/Nodari Maisuradze	Russia	1204.62
9	9	Keauna McLaughlin/Rockne Brubaker	USA	1194.82
10	10	Meagan Duhamel/Craig Buntin	Canada	943.46
11	11	Rena Inoue/John Baldwin	USA	729.68
12	12	Stacey Kemp/David King	Great Britain	678.08
13	15	Mylène Brodeur/John Mattatall	Canada	655.36
14	13	Ksenia Krasilnikova/Konstantin Bezmaternikh	Russia	627.90
15	16	Yue Zhang/Lei Wang	China	622.80
16	14	Adeline Canac/Maximin Coia	France	613.88
17	17	Huibo Dong/Yiming Wu	China	611.96
18	18	Maria Sergejeva/Ilja Glebov	Estonia	496.64
19	NR	Anastasia Martiusheva/Alexei Rogonov	Russia	477.40
20	NR	Nicole della Monica/Yannick Kocon	Italy	450.18

 

ICE DANCING

Rank 8/24	Final 2008-09 Rank	Name	Country	Points
1	1	Oksana Domnina/Maxim Shabalin	Russia	3026.00
2	2	Isabelle Delobel/Olivier Schoenfelder	France	2907.30
3	4	Meryl Davis/Charlie White	USA	2382.10
4	5	Jana Khokhlova/Sergei Novitski	Russia	2340.70
5	7	Federica Faiella/Massimo Scali	Italy	1957.34
6	3	Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto	USA	1911.00
7	6	Tessa Virtue/Scott Moir	Canada	1894.50
8	8	Nathalie Pechalat/Fabian Bourzat	France	1588.44
9	9	Sinead Kerr/John Kerr	Great Britain	1301.12
10	10	Emily Samuelson/Evan Bates	USA	1241.70
11	11	Madison Chock/Greg Zuerlein	USA	1066.80
12	12	Vanessa Crone/Paul Poirier	Canada	1004.30
13	13	Anna Cappellini/Luca Lanotte	Italy	951.68
14	15	Alexandra Zaretski/Roman Zaretski	Israel	886.04
15	17	Anna Zadorozhniuk/Sergei Verbillo	Ukraine	699.40
16	16	Kim Navarro/Brent Bommentre	USA	674.60
17	20	Kristina Gorshkova/Vitali Butikov	Russia	637.66
18	19	Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje	Canada	622.08
19	NR	Madison Hubbell/Keiffer Hubbell	USA	612.30
20	18	Ekaterina Rubleva/Ivan Shefer	Russia	594.84

 

- U.S. Figure Skating -

U.S. Figure Skating is the national governing body for the sport of figure skating in the United States as recognized by the United States Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating is comprised of more than 700 member clubs, collegiate clubs, and school-affiliated clubs and over 900 registered Basic Skills skating schools representing approximately 170,000 members. U.S. Figure Skating is charged with the development of the sport on all levels within the United States  including athletes, officials, sanctioning of events and exhibitions, and establishing the rules and guidelines by which the sport is governed.