Emanuel Sandhu pulls out of skating nationals

Emanuel Sandhu pulls out of skating nationals: "'Emanuel has taken this year away from competitive skating to assess his goals moving forward,' Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada's high performance director, said in a news release. 'He has not ruled out resuming competitive training for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and we support his decision.'

Sandhu had already withdrawn his name from Skate Canada's list of athletes eligible for international assignments this season as he pursued singing and acting opportunities. Still, the Toronto native had a bye to the Canadian championships because of his third-place finish last year in Halifax.

Pulling out of this year's nationals could spell the end of Sandhu's career because this year's results will determine who gets international assignments next season.

Sandhu's career has been in a downward spiral since the 2006 Olympics in Turin, where he imploded during his freeskate, falling on his first two jumps en route to a disastrous 13th-place finish. He followed that with his third-place showing behind Jeff Buttle and Christopher Mabee at the 2007 nationals before a series of spills led to the 16th-place debacle at the worlds in Tokyo."