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Team Japan at the ISU World Team Trophy 2017©International Skating Union (ISU)

The sixth edition of the ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating will take place April 11 to 14 in Fukuoka, Japan. Russia tops the list of the six ISU Members that have qualified for the biennal ISU World Team Trophy in Figure Skating event.

Team Russia at the ISU World Team Trophy 2017©International Skating Union (ISU) 

Overview over the teams
Russia collected 9038 points towards the qualification followed by the USA (7752 points) and Japan with 6991 points. The other qualified ISU Members are France (5541 points), Italy (4344 points) and Canada (4217 points).

Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (RUS) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Freshly minted World Ice Dance silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov lead the Russian team and Katsalapov is the team captain. 2019 World Pairs bronze medalists Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert, 2018 ISU Grand Prix Final bronze medalist Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, 2019 European Champion Sofia Samodurova, 2019 European silver medalist Alexander Samarin and Andrei Lazukin complete the Russian line-up. Russia has never won the World Team Trophy before.

Nathan Chen (USA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Two-time and reigning World Champion Nathan Chen headlines team USA. He is joined by 2019 World bronze medalist Vincent Zhou, 2019 World Ice Dance bronze medalists Madison Hubbell/ Zachary Donohue, Mariah Bell, Bradie Tennell and Pair skaters Ashley Cain/Timothy LeDuc. Madison Hubbell is the team captain.

Rika Kihira (JPN) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Team Japan relies on ISU Grand Prix Final Champion Rika Kihira, Japanese Champion Kaori Sakamoto, 2019 Four Continents Champion Shoma Uno as well as on Keiji Tanaka, Ice Dancers Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto and the Pair Riku Miura/Shoya Ichihashi. Misato Komatsubara has taken the role as team captain.

Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres (FRA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

2019 World Ice Dance Champions Gabriella Papadakis/Guillaume Cizeron and European Pairs Champions Vanessa James/Morgan Cipres lead Team France. Cipres is the team captain.

Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (ITA) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Team Italy has European bronze medalist Matteo Rizzo, World Junior bronze medalist Daniel Grassl and European Ice Dance bronze medalists Charlene Guignard/Marco Fabbri on board. Fabbri acts as team captain.

Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje (CAN) at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Team Canada is headlined by multiple World Ice Dance medalists Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje and 2019 Four Continents silver medalists Kirsten Moore-Towers/Michael Marinaro. Poje is the team captain.

Team USA has won the Team Trophy three times in 2015, 2013 and 2009 while Team Japan struck gold in 2012 and in 2017.

Team Russia, Team Jalpan, Team USA at the ISU World Team Trophy 2017©International Skating Union (ISU) 

Prize Money
The teams will compete for a total prize money of 1,000,000 US$, made available by the organizing ISU Member, Japan Skating Federation (and secured through ISU agreements):
1^st placed team: US$ 200’000
2^nd placed team: US$ 170’000
3^rd placed team: US$ 160’000
4^th placed team: US$ 150’000
5^th placed team: US$ 140’000
6^th placed team: US$ 130’000

Team USA at the ISU World Team Trophy 2017©International Skating Union (ISU)

Competition Format and Qualifying
The ISU World Team Trophy format is based on a competition consisting of the six best national teams from ISU Members with a special provision for the host ISU Member to be included. Each team is composed of two Men, two Ladies, one Pair Skating couple and one Ice Dance couple, i.e. a total of eight skaters per team.

The team event consists of two phases of competition, the Short Program/Rhythm Dance and the Free Skating/Free Dance. Teams are awarded 12 to 1 team points (12 points for first place, 1 point for 12^th place) for Men and Ladies and respectively 12 to 7 points for Pairs and Ice Dance couples in the Short Program/Rhythm Dance and in the Free Skating/Free Dance. The standings are calculated according to the sum of the team points achieved in each phase of the event. Several tie breakers are in place.

The teams qualified based on a scoring scale used for the ISU World Standing points scored by their best skaters primarily at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events and Final of the 2018/19 season and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2019 plus possibly the ISU European Figure Skating Championships/ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2019, the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2019 and ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in the 2018/19 season.

ISU World Team Trophy Opening Ceremony 2017©International Skating Union (ISU)

Schedule and where to watch:
The schedule of the ISU World Team Trophy is as follows:
Thursday, April 11: Rhythm Dance, Ladies and Men's Short Programs
Friday, April 12: Pairs Short Program, Free Dance, Men's Free Skating
Saturday, April 13: Pairs and Ladies Free Skating
Sunday, April 14: Exhibition Gala

Figure Skating viewers have the possibility of watching the event on the following Channels:
NBC Gold in the USA
TV Asahi in Japan
Channel One in Russia
ISU Skating Channel for the rest of the world

For more information, full entry lists and results please see the ISU event website and TV Asahi’s official website. Follow the discussion on social media by using the hashtags #FigureSkating and #WTTFigure.