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Sandhu could cost Stojko final spot
Possibly at Elvis Stojko's expense.
Sandhu, who exploded on to the national scene last season with a remarkable second-place performance at the Canadian championships, will compete at the NHK Grand Prix event in Sapporo, Japan, starting with the men's short program on Friday.
Sandhu, who finished third at the Lalique Trophy Grand Prix in Paris two weeks ago, would qualify for the lucrative Grand Prix final, March 4-7 in St. Petersburg, Russia, if he wins at Sapporo. A second-place showing also would likely pave his way to St. Petersburg.
Four skaters already have qualified for the Grand Prix final based on the point standings from the five previous events held this year: Alexei Yagudin, Alexei Urmanov and Alexander Abt, all of Russia, and American Michael Weiss. Two spots remain.
Stojko currently is in fifth-place with 14 points from his fourth- and second-place showings at Skate America and Skate Canada.
However, another young Russian star, 16-year-old Evgeny Plushenko, is sixth with 12 points and could double that with a win at NHK. Plushenko is the only skater in the top six who will skate at NHK, the final Grand Prix event of the season.
If Plushenko wins NHK as expected, or finishes in the top four, he will qualify for the final, leaving Stojko teetering in sixth. And if either Sandhu, 18, or German skater Andrejs Vlascenko places second this weekend, they will bump Stojko out of the St. Petersburg picture. If Sandhu finishes third, that would set up a sixth-place tie with Stojko with 14 points each. Stojko would qualify based on his second-place showing at Skate Canada. The first tiebreaker is the higher individual showing at a designated Grand Prix event.
This is all assuming Stojko even wants to compete in the Grand Prix final. The three-time world champion aggravated a groin injury warming up for a show in Hamilton on Saturday and has called a media conference today to discuss his condition. It is expected he will be ready to compete at the Canadians, Jan.27-31.
Qualifying for the Grand Prix would be a major coup for Sandhu, who bombed out at last year's worlds. He could demonstrate to the judges that his showings at the Lalique and last year's Canadians weren't a fluke.