2014 ISU Challenger Series: An Overview
SYWTW FS
Short overview for the new Challenger Series and list of events.
The Challenger Series is new for the 2014-2015 season. It brings together several former Senior B competitions into a series similar to the Grand Prix, except without a final. Some of the competitions, such as the Nebelhorn Trophy and Finlandia Trophy, have been around for a long time. Others, such as the Skate Canada Autumn Classic, have only recently gained international status. The Challenger Series runs from September to December. Besides opportunities to gain technical minimum scores and ranking points, the Challenger competitions give out more prize money than regular B competitions. Scores recorded at Challenger events count towards a skater’s Season/Personal Best, unlike at regular B events.
A Challenger event must have at least 3 disciplines and a minimum number of countries represented in each discipline in order to be official. If a discipline does not have enough entries/countries, skaters will not be able to gain ranking points by competing there.
Top skaters usually use B competitions as warm-ups or extra practice before their main events, so we can expect to see some interesting entries in these lists. Skaters are allowed to enter a maximum of 3 Challenger competitions. (Note that entries may change, and as of the making of this post not all entries have been announced yet. Some websites may be outdated.)
US INTERNATIONAL SKATING CLASSIC (Salt Lake City, USA)
Sept. 10-14
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes, but only on Icenetwork with subscription
LOMBARDIA TROPHY (Sesto San Giovanni/Milano, Italy)
Sept. 18-21
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes
NEBELHORN TROPHY (Oberstdorf, Germany)
Sept. 25-27
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes
ONDREJ NEPELA TROPHY (Bratislava, Slovakia)
Oct. 1-5
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes
FINLANDIA TROPHY (Espoo, Finland)
Oct. 9-12
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes, but not free
SKATE CANADA AUTUMN CLASSIC (Barrie, Ontario, Canada)
Oct. 14-17
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes
25TH VOLVO OPEN CUP (Riga, Latvia)
Nov. 5-9
Entries/overview
Stream: Yes
ICE CHALLENGE (Graz, Austria)
Nov. 11-16
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: Yes
WARSAW CUP (Warsaw, Poland)
Nov. 20-23
Entries/overview
Stream: Yes
GOLDEN SPIN OF ZAGREB (Zagreb, Croatia)
Dec. 4-7
Entries/overview
Website
Stream: No