Olympic medalist and defending champion Denis Ten has withdrawn due to injury from the Four Continents figure skating championships in Taipei this week, organizers said yesterday.
The skater from Kazakhstan, who took an Olympic bronze at Sochi in 2014 and won his first Four Continents title in Seoul last year, is believed to be suffering from a knee injury.
“Denis Ten has withdrawn from the men’s event of the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2016, citing injury,” the International Skating Union (ISU) said in a statement.
Photo: EPA
Ten was also hampered by injury in October last year’s Skate America, where he finished ninth.
With Ten missing, current ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist Shoma Uno of Japan and three-time World champion Patrick Chan of Canada are the favorites for the men’s title. They will face challenges from last year’s Skate America champion Max Aaron of the US, defending Four Continents bronze medalist Yan Han of China and 2014 Four Continents champion Takahito Mura of Japan.
The women’s event is also wide open after defending champion Polina Edmunds of the US withdrew due to injury.
Last year’s runner-up Satoko Miyahara of Japan — a reigning world silver medalist — will headline the field.
“It’s my third time competing at the Four Continents. I have two silver medals so I want the first place. I practice very hard so I want to do my best at this competition,” she said.
Miyahara will face fellow Japanese skater Rika Hongo and 2014 Four Continents champion Kanako Murakami, as well as ISU Grand Prix finalist Gracie Gold of the US.
In the pairs, reigning world and Four Continents champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford of Canada are defending their title. Among the medal contenders are world silver medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China, and American champions Tarah Kayne and Daniel O’Shea.
North Korea is represented for the first time at the Four Continents with pairs skaters Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik.
In the ice dance event, defending champions Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje of Canada are eyeing their third title and come in confident after winning the ISU Grand Prix final earlier this season.
Other top competitors include newly crowned US champions Maia Shibutani and Alex Shibutani, and last year’s world and Four Continents silver medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates, also from the US.
More than 90 skaters representing 15 ISU members from around the world are competing at the event, which runs from today through Sunday at the Taipei Arena.
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