2015 World Team Trophy: Info & streaming
SYWTW FS
The 2015 World Team Trophy is the last competition of the 2014-15 skating season. As always, it will take place in Tokyo, Japan from April 16-19.
Live results, starting orders
Entries & overview
Website
SCHEDULE
All times in Japan Standard Time (UTC+9); convert to your own.
Apr. 16: Short dance 15:15; Ladies’ SP 16:35; Men’s SP 18:40
Apr. 17: Pairs’ SP 16:00; Free dance 17:25; Men’s FS 19:00
Apr. 18: Pairs’ FS 15:15; Ladies’ FS 16:50
Apr. 19: Gala 14:00
INFO
The World Team Trophy (WTT) is a team event composed of the top 6 ranked countries after the rest of the major competitions of the season are done. This year, the countries in order of qualification are: Russia, USA, Japan, Canada, France and China. Each country sends two men, two ladies, one pair and one dance team to the competition. Skaters earn points for their team based on their placement in their segment of the competition, and the country with the greatest number of points in the end wins. WTT has been held three times so far, in 2009, 2012, and 2013. (For more information regarding the qualification process and other rules, see the ISU website.)
WTT is generally regarded as an informal competition with a fun and relaxed atmosphere; skaters are encouraged to cheer for their team from the K&C and compete for a Team Spirit Award. However, scores recorded at WTT do count towards skaters’ personal/season’s bests, and there is a total of $1 million prize money at stake, distributed among all 6 teams.
HOW TO WATCH
ISU: The ISU stream will show the entire competition live, including the gala. This stream is blocked in Japan, S. Korea and USA since other parties have bought the broadcasting rights in those countries. You may need to use a VPN to unblock it. The stream should work everywhere else in the world.
Icenetwork: Icenetwork will stream the entire competition live for subscribers in the US. (I don’t recommend buying a subscription now, since the season is almost over and you would still have to pay the full price.)
TV Asahi: TV Asahi will air the singles competitions in slightly delayed broadcasts the day of the events, and the entire competition will be aired on TV Asahi ch.2 on May 2-3. I do not know of any reliable online streams at this time.
Youtube: If you can’t watch live, videos from the competition will be uploaded to Youtube and/or Dailymotion pretty quickly, so you can always catch up later.