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2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge

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2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
Logo of the 2025 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
Type:ISU Challenger Series
Date:1 – 4 October 2025
Season:2025–26
Location:Almaty, Kazakhstan
Host:Denis Ten Foundation
& Kazakhstan Skating Union
Venue:Halyk Arena
Champions
Men's singles:
Kazakhstan Mikhail Shaidorov
Women's singles:
South Korea Lee Hae-in
Ice dance:
Georgia (country) Diana Davis
and Gleb Smolkin
Navigation
Previous:
2024 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge
Previous CS:
2025 CS Nepela Memorial
Next CS:
2025 CS Trialeti Trophy

The 2025 CS Denis Ten Memorial Challenge is a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), organized and hosted by the Denis Ten Foundation and the Kazakhstan Skating Union, and the seventh event of the 2025–26 ISU Challenger Series. It was held at the Halyk Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 1 to 4 October 2025.[1] Medals were awarded in men's singles, women's singles, and ice dance, and skaters earned ISU World Standing points based on their results. Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan won the men's event, Lee Hae-in of South Korea won the women's event, and Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Georgia won the ice dance event.

Background

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The Denis Ten Memorial Challenge is named in honor of Denis Ten, a former figure skater who competed internationally for Kazakhstan.[2] He was the 2014 Winter Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World Championship medalist (silver in 2013; bronze in 2015), the 2015 Four Continents champion, and a nine-time Kazakh national champion.[3] Ten was murdered on 19 July 2018 in Almaty by carjackers.[4]

The ISU Challenger Series was introduced in 2014. It is a series of international figure skating competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) and organized by ISU member nations. The objective was to ensure consistent organization and structure within a series of international competitions linked together, providing opportunities for senior-level skaters to compete at the international level and also earn ISU World Standing points.[5] The 2025–26 Challenger Series consisted of eleven events, of which the Denis Ten Memorial Challenge was the seventh.

Changes in preliminary assignments

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The International Skating Union published the initial list of entrants on 27 September 2025.[6]

Date Discipline Withdrew Added Ref.
26 September Women
  • Kazakhstan
 [7]
30 September — [8]
Ice dance
—
1 October Men — [9]

Required performance elements

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Single skating

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Men and women competing in single skating first performed their short programs on Thursday, 2 October.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 40 seconds,[10] the short program had to include the following elements:

For men: one double or triple Axel; one triple or quadruple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, two triple jumps, or a quadruple jump and a double jump or triple jump; one flying spin; one camel spin or sit spin with a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and a step sequence using the full ice surface.[11]

For women: one double or triple Axel; one triple jump; one jump combination consisting of a double jump and a triple jump, or two triple jumps; one flying spin; one layback spin, sideways leaning spin, camel spin, or sit spin without a change of foot; one spin combination with a change of foot; and one step sequence using the full ice surface.[11]

Women performed their free skates on Friday, 3 October,[1] while men performed theirs on Saturday, 4 October.[1] The free skate performance for both men and women could last no more than 4 minutes,[10] and had to include the following: seven jump elements, of which one had to be an Axel-type jump; three spins, of which one had to be a spin combination, one had to be a flying spin, and one had to be a spin with only one position; a step sequence; and a choreographic sequence.[12]

Ice dance

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See also: Competition elements in ice dance

Couples competing in ice dance performed their rhythm dances on Friday, 3 October.[1] Lasting no more than 2 minutes 50 seconds,[10] the theme of the rhythm dance this season was "music, dance styles, and feeling of the 1990s". Examples of applicable dance styles and music included, but were not limited to: pop, Latin, house, techno, hip-hop, and grunge.[13] The rhythm dance had to include the following elements: one pattern dance step sequence, one choreographic rhythm sequence, one dance lift, one set of sequential twizzles, and one step sequence.[13]

Couples then performed their free dances on Saturday, 4 October.[1] The free dance performance could last no longer than 4 minutes,[10] and had to include the following: three dance lifts, one dance spin, one set of synchronized twizzles, one step sequence in hold, one step sequence while on one skate and not touching, and three choreographic elements.[13]

Judging

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See also: ISU Judging System

For the 2025–26 season, all of the technical elements in any figure skating performance – such as jumps and spins – were assigned a predetermined base point value and were then scored by a panel of seven or nine judges on a scale from -5 to 5 based on their quality of execution.[14] The judging panel's Grade of Execution (GOE) was determined by calculating the trimmed mean (that is, an average after deleting the highest and lowest scores), and this GOE was added to the base value to come up with the final score for each element. The panel's scores for all elements were added together to generate a total element score.[15] At the same time, judges evaluated each performance based on three program components – skating skills, presentation, and composition – and assigned a score from .25 to 10 in .25 point increments.[16] The judging panel's final score for each program component was also determined by calculating the trimmed mean. Those scores were then multiplied by the factor shown on the following chart; the results were added together to generate a total program component score.[17]

Program component factoring[18]
Discipline Short program
or Rhythm dance 		Free skate
or Free dance
Men 1.67 3.33
Women 1.33 2.67
Ice dance 1.33 2.00

Deductions were applied for certain violations like time infractions, stops and restarts, or falls.[19] The total element score and total program component score were added together, minus any deductions, to generate a final performance score for each skater or team.[20]

Medal summary

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Mikhail Shaidorov at the 2024 World Championships
Lee Hae-in at the 2024 World Championships
Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin at the 2024 World Championships
The 2025 Denis Ten Memorial champions: Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan (men's singles); Lee Hae-in of South Korea (women's singles); and Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin of Georgia (ice dance)
Medalists[21]
Discipline Gold Silver Bronze
Men Kazakhstan Mikhail Shaidorov Georgia (country) Nika Egadze United States Jason Brown
Women South Korea Lee Hae-in South Korea Yun Ah-sun Canada Madeline Schizas
Ice dance

Results

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Men's singles

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Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, who had won the gold medal at the 2024 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge, repeated that victory again this year, defeating his nearest competitor by a margin of over 15 points.[22] Shaidorov credits Denis Ten as a personal hero and continues Ten's efforts to promote figure skating in Kazakhstan.[23] He opened his free skate with a triple Axel-Euler-quadruple Salchow jump combination and then followed that with a quadruple Lutz and quadruple flip. Nika Egadze of Georgia finished in second place, while Jason Brown of the United States finished in third place.[22]

Men's results[24]
Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mikhail Shaidorov  Kazakhstan 282.22 1 95.01 1 187.21
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nika Egadze  Georgia 266.90 2 87.58 2 179.32
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jason Brown  United States 257.81 3 86.61 3 171.20
4 Lee Si-hyeong  South Korea 242.52 4 78.81 4 163.71
5 Chen Yudong  China 237.70 8 76.41 5 161.29
6 Vladimir Litvintsev  Azerbaijan 223.47 5 78.52 6 144.95
7 Matthew Newnham  Canada 219.53 6 77.16 7 142.37
8 Cha Young-hyun  South Korea 218.48 9 76.37 8 142.11
9 Taira Shinohara  United States 213.90 11 74.20 9 139.70
10 Semen Daniliants  Armenia 209.38 10 74.43 11 134.55
11 Dias Jirenbayev  Kazakhstan 208.68 7 77.14 12 131.54
12 Andreas Nordebäck  Sweden 205.66 14 70.11 10 135.55
13 Zhao Qihan  China 194.62 15 68.79 13 125.83
14 John Kim  Canada 188.70 12 73.62 15 115.08
15 Nikita Krivosheyev  Kazakhstan 178.83 16 59.33 14 119.50
16 Oleg Melnikov  Kazakhstan 160.20 17 54.19 16 106.01
WD Cha Jun-hwan  South Korea Withdrew 13 70.78 Withdrew from competition

Women's singles

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Lee Hae-in of South Korea easily won the women's event with a 22-point lead over her nearest competitor. Lee's free skate featured a triple loop and a triple Lutz-triple toe loop. Competition for second and third place was more fierce, with the four skaters after Lee scored within a margin of three points following the short program. Yun Ah-sun of South Korea won the silver medal, while Madeline Schizas of Canada won the bronze medal.[25]

Women's results[26]
Rank Skater Nation Total points SP FS
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lee Hae-in  South Korea 196.84 1 64.78 1 132.06
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yun Ah-sun  South Korea 174.37 4 53.43 2 120.94
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Madeline Schizas  Canada 164.39 2 55.55 3 108.84
4 Josephine Lee  United States 160.92 3 54.15 5 106.77
5 Zhu Yi  China 160.83 5 52.75 4 108.08
6 Amira Irmatova  Kazakhstan 137.15 6 47.22 6 89.93
7 Nuriya Suleimen  Kazakhstan 124.40 7 44.95 7 79.45
8 Olesja Leonova  Estonia 118.09 8 43.20 8 74.89
9 Sofiya Farafonova  Kazakhstan 104.50 9 42.47 9 62.03
10 Veronika Kovalenko  Kazakhstan 86.12 10 39.57 10 46.55
11 Russalina Shakrova  Kazakhstan 74.71 11 30.59 11 44.12

Ice dance

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Ice dance results[27]
Rank Skater Nation Total points RD FD
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Georgia 193.14 1 77.94 1 115.20
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  United States 178.86 2 73.91 4 104.95
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Sweden 177.25 3 69.22 2 108.03
4  Canada 173.34 4 67.84 3 105.50
5  United States 169.60 5 67.80 5 101.80
6  Spain 165.61 6 66.09 6 99.52
7  Germany 162.77 7 65.39 7 97.38
8  Spain 137.68 8 54.50 8 83.18
9  Kazakhstan 131.59 9 50.56 9 81.03
10  Armenia 123.13 10 48.65 10 74.48

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "6th Denis Ten Memorial Challenge" (PDF). International Skating Union. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  2. ^ Birbayeva, Ayana (15 September 2025). "Almaty to Host Denis Ten Memorial Figure Skating Tournament in October". The Astana Times. Archived from the original on 6 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  3. ^ "Competition Results – Denis Ten". International Skating Union. 25 June 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  4. ^ Mather, Victor (19 July 2018). "Denis Ten, 25, Olympic Skating Medalist, Dies After Stabbing". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Challenger Series". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 March 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
  6. ^ "ISU Figure Skating Challenger Series Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 2025". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 20 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  7. ^ @AnythingGOE (26 September 2025). "🇰🇿 Sofia Samodelkina has withdrawn from Denis Ten Memorial Challenge due to an injury" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ @AnythingGOE (1 October 2025). "🇫🇮 Janna Jyrkinen, 🇮🇹 Denisa Cimlova / Stefano Frasca, and 🇮🇹 Giulia Isabella Paolino / Andrea Tuba have withdrawn from Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 🇩🇪 Charise Matthaei / Max Liebers have been added" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ @AnythingGOE (1 October 2025). "🇫🇮 Valtter Virtanen has withdrawn from Denis Ten Memorial Challenge 🇰🇿 Russalina Shakrova replaces Sofia Samodelkina" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ a b c d International Skating Union 2024, p. 82.
  11. ^ a b International Skating Union 2024, p. 106.
  12. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 110–111.
  13. ^ a b c "Communication No. 2704: Ice Dance Requirements for Technical Rules, Season 2025/26" (PDF). International Skating Union. U.S. Figure Skating. 8 August 2025. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2025. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  14. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 83–84.
  15. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 15–16.
  16. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 84–85.
  17. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 16–17.
  18. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 17.
  19. ^ International Skating Union 2024, pp. 18–19.
  20. ^ International Skating Union 2024, p. 20.
  21. ^ "2025 Denis Ten Memorial". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  22. ^ a b Smirnova, Lena (4 October 2025). "ISU CS Denis Ten Memorial 2025: Mikhail Shaidorov defends title with dominant margin". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  23. ^ Smirnova, Lena (13 June 2025). "Mikhail Shaidorov takes Kazakh figure skating into flight 10 years after late hero Denis Ten". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  24. ^ "2025 Denis Ten Memorial – Mens Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  25. ^ Bregman, Scott (3 October 2025). "ISU CS Denis Ten Memorial 2025: Lee Haein eases to women's title". Olympics.com. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
  26. ^ "2025 Denis Ten Memorial – Womens Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.
  27. ^ "2025 Denis Ten Memorial – Ice Dance Final Results". Skating Scores. Archived from the original on 11 October 2025. Retrieved 4 October 2025.

Works cited

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