I'm still not sure what this competition is all about. It's seems a little anticlimactic, actually a lot anticlimactic, after Worlds but hey, anytime skaters can get more international exposure and more money, I'm all for it. Here are some tidbits in a nutshell (mmm...sounds like a topping for a sundae):
- This is the very first ISU World Team Trophy competition and it is being in held in Tokyo, Japan. The event runs from April 16 to April 19.
- The six countries competing are the United States, Canada, Japan, Russia, France and China. Each country sends two men, two ladies, one pair and one ice dance team. Each performs two programs and instead of totaling the judges' scores, they earn 12 points, 11 points, etc. for winning the short program, free skate, original dance, you get the idea. The points are then tallied to determine the winning country/team.
- The total prize money awarded is $1 million, which is the highest prize money offered in ISU history.
- Daily schedule is as follows: Thursday is the original dance and the men's and ladies short programs. Friday is the pairs short program, free dance and men's free skate. Saturday is the pairs and ladies free skate.
- Representing the United States: Evan Lysacek, Jeremy Abbott, Rachael Flatt, Caroline Zhang, Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett and Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto.
- Representing Canada: Patrick Chan, Vaughn Chipeur, Joannie Rochette, Cynthia Phaneuf, Jessica Dube and Bryce Davison, and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
- Representing Japan: Takahiko Kozuka, Nobunair Oda, Mao Asada, Miki Ando, Narumi Takahashi and Mervin Tran, and Cathy Reed and Chris Reed.
- Representing Russia: Konstantin Menshov, Sergei Voronov, Alena Leonova, Katarina Gerboldt, Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, and Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski.
- Representing France: Brian Joubert, Florent Amodio, Candice Didier, Gwendoline Didier, Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur, and Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat.
- Representing China: Jialiang Wu, Chao Yang, Yan Liu, Binshu Xu, Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, and Xintong Huang and Xun Zheng.
Team USA took the lead on the first day with 48 points ahead of the Japanese (43 points) and the Canadian (39 points) teams. Team France ranks fourth (32 points) ahead of Russia (29 points) and China (22 points). See complete results here.
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