| 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series | |
|---|---|
| Type: | ISU Challenger Series |
| Date: | September 9 – December 5, 2020 |
| Season: | 2020–21 |
| Previous: 2019–20 ISU Challenger Series | |
| Next: 2021–22 ISU Challenger Series | |
The 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series was scheduled to be held from September 9 to December 5, 2020. It was the seventh season that the ISU Challenger Series, a group of senior-level international figure skating competitions ranked below the ISU Grand Prix, was held. Originally a series of ten events, the 2020–21 Challenger Series featured only two individual events, with six events cancelled and two postponed to an unknown future date due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
The International Skating Union announcement on April 22, 2020 for the 2020–21 ISU Challenger Series issued the following caveat regarding the scheduling of the events:
"The above calendar, same as the calendar of other ISU series, is subject to a timely normalization of the coronavirus situation allowing the safe organization of ice skating events this Autumn. While the Challenger Series events remain the property of the organizing ISU Members who remain the key decision makers for those events, the ISU is closely monitoring the respective developments with the expectation and hope that the situation will be restored to normal as quickly as possible. The ISU will inform ISU Members in case of any development or related ISU recommendations and/or decision."
On May 1, the ISU established a working group, chaired by ISU Vice-President for Figure Skating Alexander Lakernik, to monitor the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Its responsibilities include determining the feasibility of holding events as scheduled, possibly behind closed doors, during the first half of the 2020–21 season and the financial impact of any potential cancellations.
On May 16, the Slovak Figure Skating Association informed the ISU that it had cancelled all upcoming events that it was scheduled to host due to the ongoing pandemic, including the 2020 Nepela Memorial in Bratislava.
As of May 26, the initial event schedule announced for the 2020 Asian Open Trophy has been withdrawn. As of July 21, Skate Canada marked the 2020 Autumn Classic as postponed to an unspecified date.
On July 13, the ISU announced that the 2020–21 Challenger Series events would be regarded as separate individual competitions, rather than as a series; as a result, no Challenger Series ranking will be determined and no prize money will be distributed at the end of the series. However, skaters competing will earn Challenger Series-level points for their World Ranking, as long as the competition meets ISU guidelines to qualify as a Challenger event. The decision was later revised by the ISU council on August 3, announcing that World Standing/Ranking points would not be awarded for the sake of fairness, due to the limited nature of the competitions.
On July 13, the Japan Skating Federation announced that it would not assign any skaters to the Challenger Series, assuming the competitions proceeded as scheduled.
On August 25, the German Ice Skating Union confirmed that 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy would be held as scheduled, but without spectators and would include extensive social distancing guidelines and procedures for the athletes and coaches in attendance.
On August 28, the ISU removed the maximum entry limit per country of three skaters/teams per discipline.
As of November 4, the 2020 Golden Spin of Zagreb was postponed to an unspecified date.
Events
The 2020–21 series will be composed of the following events in autumn 2020.
| Date | Event | Location | Notes | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 23–26 |
 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy
|
Oberstdorf, Germany | Details | |
| October 15–17 |
 2020 CS Budapest Trophy
|
Budapest, Hungary | No pairs | Details |
| TBD |
 2020 CS Asian Open Trophy
|
Beijing, China | No pairs | |
| TBD |
 2020 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
|
Zagreb, Croatia |
Cancelled
| Date | Event | Location | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 16–19 |
 2020 CS Nepela Memorial
|
Bratislava, Slovakia | No pairs | |
| September 17–19 |
 2020 CS Autumn Classic
|
Oakville, Ontario, Canada | ||
| October 8–11 |
 2020 CS Finlandia Trophy
|
Espoo, Finland | ||
| Oct. 29 – Nov. 1 |
 2020 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
|
Almaty, Kazakhstan | ||
| November 12–15 |
 2020 CS Warsaw Cup
|
Warsaw, Poland | Singles only | |
| November 25–28 |
 2020 CS Cup of Tyrol
|
Innsbruck, Austria | Pairs added |
- May 16: The ISU announced that the Slovak Figure Skating Association had cancelled the 2020 Nepela Memorial, scheduled for September 16–19 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
- August 20: The Finnish Figure Skating Association cancelled the 2020 Finlandia Trophy, but mentioned that they were willing to host the competition virtually.
- September 1: The 2020 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge was cancelled.
- November 3: Skate Austria cancelled the 2020 Cup of Tyrol.
- November 6: The ice dance portion of the 2020 Warsaw Cup is cancelled.
- November 10: The Polish Figure Skating Association cancels 2020 Warsaw Cup entirely.
- February 13: The 2020 Autumn Classic, originally listed as postponed and since removed from the official Skate Canada calendar, is referred to as cancelled.
Medal summary
Medalists
Men
| Challenger Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
| 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
 Deniss Vasiļjevs
|
 Gabriele Frangipani
|
 Nikolaj Majorov
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Budapest Trophy |
Daniel Grassl
|
 Burak Demirboğa
|
 Aleksandr Selevko
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Asian Open Trophy |
||||
| 2020 CS Golden Spin |
||||
Ladies
| Challenger Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
| 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
Eva-Lotta Kiibus
|
 Alexia Paganini
|
Jenni Saarinen
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Budapest Trophy |
 Loena Hendrickx
|
Eva-Lotta Kiibus
|
 Alexandra Feigin
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Asian Open Trophy |
||||
| 2020 CS Golden Spin |
||||
Pairs
| Challenger Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
| 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini
|
Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel
|
 Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Golden Spin |
||||
Ice dance
| Challenger Series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Results |
| 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy |
 Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler
|
 Sasha Fear / George Waddell
|
 Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Budapest Trophy |
Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin
|
Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck
|
Sasha Fear / George Waddell
|
Details |
| 2020 CS Asian Open Trophy |
||||
| 2020 CS Golden Spin |
||||
Medal standings
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy |
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Estonia |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Ukraine |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | Belgium |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Czech Republic |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Latvia |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 | Germany |
0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Great Britain |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Switzerland |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Turkey |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 11 | Bulgaria |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Finland |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| France |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Sweden |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (14 entries) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 | |
Challenger Series rankings
Out of fairness to skaters impacted by travel restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ISU Council decided there will be no Challenger Series ranking this season and therefore no ISU prize money for the series will be awarded.
Top scores
Men
Best total score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deniss Vasiļjevs |
Latvia
|
233.08 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Daniel Grassl |
Italy
|
233.04 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Gabriele Frangipani |
Italy
|
231.65 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Nikolaj Majorov |
Sweden
|
218.07 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Maurizio Zandron |
Austria
|
217.65 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Matteo Rizzo |
Italy
|
214.14 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Burak Demirboğa |
Turkey
|
213.39 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 8 | Paul Fentz |
Germany
|
212.25 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 9 | Aleksandr Selevko |
Estonia
|
211.48 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 10 | Lukas Britschgi |
Switzerland
|
210.16 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
Best short program score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Grassl |
Italy
|
82.27 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Paul Fentz |
Germany
|
81.86 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Gabriele Frangipani |
Italy
|
79.13 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Matteo Rizzo |
Italy
|
77.15 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Maurizio Zandron |
Austria
|
74.61 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Deniss Vasiļjevs |
Latvia
|
73.25 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Nikolaj Majorov |
Sweden
|
72.54 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Mihhail Selevko |
Estonia
|
71.59 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 9 | Aleksandr Selevko |
Estonia
|
71.55 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 10 | Burak Demirboğa |
Turkey
|
70.89 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
Best free skating score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deniss Vasiļjevs |
Latvia
|
159.83 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Gabriele Frangipani |
Italy
|
152.52 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Daniel Grassl |
Italy
|
150.77 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 4 | Nikolaj Majorov |
Sweden
|
145.53 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Lukas Britschgi |
Switzerland
|
143.53 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Maurizio Zandron |
Austria
|
143.04 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Burak Demirboğa |
Turkey
|
142.50 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 8 | Aleksandr Selevko |
Estonia
|
141.56 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 9 | Ivan Shmuratko |
Ukraine
|
140.60 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 10 | Matteo Rizzo |
Italy
|
136.99 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
Ladies
Best total score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx |
Belgium
|
198.87 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus |
Estonia
|
184.27 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Alexandra Feigin |
Bulgaria
|
172.68 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 4 | Alexia Paganini |
Switzerland
|
168.85 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Júlia Láng |
Hungary
|
166.55 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 6 | Jenni Saarinen |
Finland
|
163.87 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Nicole Schott |
Germany
|
156.27 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Daša Grm |
 Slovenia
|
152.07 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 9 | Josefin Taljegård |
Sweden
|
151.54 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 10 | Ivett Tóth |
Hungary
|
146.66 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
Best short program score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx |
Belgium
|
72.18 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus |
Estonia
|
65.37 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Alexia Paganini |
Switzerland
|
63.60 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Nicole Schott |
Germany
|
61.21 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Alexandra Feigin |
Bulgaria
|
60.90 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 6 | Júlia Láng |
Hungary
|
58.20 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 7 | Jenni Saarinen |
Finland
|
57.25 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Josefin Taljegård |
Sweden
|
56.19 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 9 | Daša Grm |
Slovenia
|
53.75 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 10 | Eliška Březinová |
Czech Republic
|
51.98 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
Best free skating score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loena Hendrickx |
Belgium
|
126.69 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Eva-Lotta Kiibus |
Estonia
|
118.90 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Alexandra Feigin |
Bulgaria
|
111.78 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 4 | Júlia Láng |
Hungary
|
108.35 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 5 | Jenni Saarinen |
Finland
|
106.62 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Alexia Paganini |
Switzerland
|
105.25 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Kristina Škuleta-Gromova |
Estonia
|
99.20 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 8 | Daša Grm |
Slovenia
|
98.32 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 9 | Ivett Tóth |
Hungary
|
97.83 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 10 | Emilea Zingas |
 Cyprus
|
97.75 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
Pairs
Best total score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini |
Italy
|
154.61 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel |
Germany
|
154.26 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin |
France
|
144.06 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař |
Czech Republic
|
143.03 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre |
France
|
130.27 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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Best short program score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nolan Seegert |
Germany
|
63.97 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel |
Germany
|
60.55 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini |
Italy
|
58.32 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin |
France
|
51.27 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař |
Czech Republic
|
51.20 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre |
France
|
42.01 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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Best free skating score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rebecca Ghilardi / Filippo Ambrosini |
Italy
|
96.29 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 2 | Annika Hocke / Robert Kunkel |
Germany
|
93.71 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Cléo Hamon / Denys Strekalin |
France
|
92.79 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Elizaveta Zhuk / Martin Bidař |
Czech Republic
|
91.83 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Coline Keriven / Noël-Antoine Pierre |
France
|
88.26 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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Ice dance
Best total score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin |
Ukraine
|
178.97 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck |
Germany
|
164.99 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler |
Czech Republic
|
163.62 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell |
Great Britain
|
152.34 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov |
Ukraine
|
148.60 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Natacha Lagouge / Arnaud Caffa |
France
|
143.29 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Arianna Wróblewska / Stéphane Walker |
Switzerland
|
134.18 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Hanna Jakucs / Alessio Galli |
 Netherlands
|
124.98 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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Best rhythm dance score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin |
Ukraine
|
71.75 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler |
Czech Republic
|
64.28 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 3 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell |
Great Britain
|
62.69 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 4 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck |
Germany
|
62.23 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov |
Ukraine
|
61.55 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Natacha Lagouge / Arnaud Caffa |
France
|
57.85 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Arianna Wróblewska / Stéphane Walker |
Switzerland
|
53.88 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Hanna Jakucs / Alessio Galli |
Netherlands
|
47.07 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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Best free dance score
| Rank | Name | Nation | Score | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin |
Ukraine
|
107.22 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 2 | Katharina Müller / Tim Dieck |
Germany
|
102.76 | 2020 Budapest Trophy |
| 3 | Natálie Taschlerová / Filip Taschler |
Czech Republic
|
99.34 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 4 | Sasha Fear / George Waddell |
Great Britain
|
93.29 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 5 | Darya Popova / Volodymyr Byelikov |
Ukraine
|
87.05 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 6 | Natacha Lagouge / Arnaud Caffa |
France
|
85.44 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 7 | Arianna Wróblewska / Stéphane Walker |
Switzerland
|
80.30 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
| 8 | Hanna Jakucs / Alessio Galli |
Netherlands
|
77.91 | 2020 Nebelhorn Trophy |
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External links
| Seasons | |
|---|---|
| Active events | |
| Former events | |
