World pairs champs Stellato-Dudek and Deschamps withdraw from Grand Prix Final due to his illness

By The Associated Press

GRENOBLE, France (AP) — World pairs champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada withdrew from the prestigious Grand Prix Final because Deschamps is recovering from an illness and unable to compete. Rebecca Ghilardi and Filippo Ambrosini of Italy will replace them. The select competition begins Thursday in Grenoble, France, with the pairs short program, and the medals will be decided after the pairs free skate on Friday night. The Grand Prix Final is traditionally a preview of the world championship, which takes place in March in Boston.