This and That

1. Competitors for the 2008 Japan Open have been announced. The event will be a team competition (Japan, North America and Europe) and more skaters may still be added. The event will be held on April 20 at 1 p.m. and the gala will be held at 6 p.m.

Skaters currently scheduled to appear are:
Takeshi Honda
Shizuka Arakawa
Daisuke Takahashi
Miki Ando
Mai Asada
Mao Asada
Todd Eldredge
Alexei Yagudin
Evan Lysacek
Sarah Meier
Mirai Nagasu


2. Tatiana Tarasova will be inducted to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame during this month's World Championships. Robin Cousins, Ulrich Salchow and Gillis Grafström were previously elected to the Hall of Fame and will also be formally inducted.

3. Derrick Delmore announced his retirement from singles skating, but the former World Junior Champion is still open to competing as a pairs skater.

4. Roger Federer defeated Pete Sampras last night at Madison Square Garden. Sampras is the only player to win more majors than Federer. Winning an Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing is among one of Federer's major career goals, but he has also mentioned a desire to win in 2012 on the lawn at Wimbledon.

5. On a sad note, freshman Trish Wilson tore her knee at Friday's meet vs. The University of Georgia. The University of Michigan freshman vows to be back next season. UCLA's Brittani McCullough ruptured her achilles tendon and will also be back for the rest of the season.