China will not host any ISU event during 2018-19 season, CSA says | Xinhua News
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BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) – The Chinese Skating Association (CSA) confirmed on Wednesday that China will not host any International Skating Union (ISU) event during the 2018-19 season.
A source from the CSA confirmed that five ISU events during the 2018-19 season in China will not be hosted as planned, including the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating, the Shanghai Trophy, the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, the ISU World Cup Speed Skating and the ISU Short Track World Cup.
“There are two reasons for our quitting hosting events temporarily,” a source with the CSA said. “First of all, every national team in ice sports needs to ‘go out’ more and better integrate themselves into international training and competition systems,” the source said.
“Secondly, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is coming up. A lot of venues will be renovated and cannot be used to host events in the planned time. We tried our best but can’t make it in the end,” the source added.
According to the source, quitting hosting events will give them enough time to be well-prepared for hosting events more effectively in the future.
The Junior Grand Prix event in Harbin has been moved to Vancouver, Canada. Shanghai Trophy has been cancelled, and the location of the senior Grand Prix that will take the place of Cup of China has yet to be determined. (ISU)