2015 World Team Trophy countries announced

[StitchMonkey]

Because Misha has been reading your posts on GS ??

Or ... maybe he is referring to Lilo and Stitch, his favorite Disney movie.

Off topic:
Please do not feel any pressure to comment/answer, but I will admit that I have wondered about the origin of your GS name. Maybe it is a thing, but I just have been living under a rock again ... :confused2:

This cat of mine is named Stitch

He was an abandoned orphan that was found by the brother of a guy i was dating about 10 years ago. Knowing I am a sucker, he called me up "want a cat? it matches your other cats" and me being a sucker took him in and bottle fed him with the intent of finding him a real home. The little brothers named him Stitch and as I wanted to not get attached I did not really care. I don't know if they named him for Lilo and Stitch or not, I never asked, I was failing to not get attached. Considering that growing up I had four cats named Goldy, Gracie (guess who gets refereed to as the cat skater in my family) Whitie and Stripie, and a bird named Beaky, I was just happy to not have three cats named Ginger, or Ginger, Orangie and Redie with my luck.

Anyway, finding homes for kitties you bottle feed does not go well, so I ended up with three unrelated matching cats. Somewhere along the line, it was decided that Stitch was a monkey, so he gets called StitchMonkey or often just Monkey. I am with a different guy now, and neither of us are completely sure when or why Monkey got added to the name, but we just go with it. As Stitch is often taken, I go with StitchMonkey as it is not often taken online. I am not great with coming up with names, (I once accidentally named a video game character a person who tried to kill Andy Warhol - I think StitchMonkey is better) so I tend to go with what works.

I do feel the need to try to get my Stitch cat to paw at Misha's feet like the other one has done for Jason. But he is pretty stubborn about not doing things you want him too. Maybe I'll lay a monitor flat and toss cat nip on it for him.

 

[el henry]

OMG, Stitch, that bundle of red cats; a clowder of cute!

Kind of like the men's entries in the WTT for USA

 

[Skater Boy]

Not really. Japan has only won 1 WTT so far and that was when they had a world class Pairs team in 2012. Otherwise their singles skaters weren't enough in 2009 and 2013 when they had weak Pairs and ice Dancing while the US had more well rounded teams.

Well if it were not for the singles skaters they wouldn't beat teams like France, Italy et al.

 

[Florencito]

Based on the Worlds placements Team United would count on: Fernandez, Ten, Park, Helgesson jr, Marchei/Hotarek and Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen (as Italy has already one entry). They wouldn't win but I'd love it

 

[ice coverage]

Entries by discipline:

http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent00051616.htm​

Men

1 Nam NGUYEN CAN 1
2 Jeremy TEN CAN 1

Liam FIRUS CAN 1 S
Roman SADOVSKY CAN 1 S​

3 Nan SONG CHN 2
4 Han YAN CHN 2

Yi WANG CHN 2 S​

5 Florent AMODIO FRA 3
6 Romain PONSART FRA 3

Chafik BESSEGHIER FRA 3 S​

7 Yuzuru HANYU JPN 4
8 Takahito MURA JPN 4

Takahiko KOZUKA JPN 4 S
Shoma UNO JPN 4 S​

9 Maxim KOVTUN RUS 5
10 Sergei VORONOV RUS 5

Adian PITKEEV RUS 5 S​

11 Max AARON USA 6
12 Jason BROWN USA 6

Adam RIPPON USA 6 S​

Ladies

1 Alaine CHARTRAND CAN 1
2 Gabrielle DALEMAN CAN 1

Veronik MALLET CAN 1 S​

3 Zijun LI CHN 2
4 Ziquan ZHAO CHN 2
5 Laurine LECAVELIER FRA 3
6 Mae Berenice MEITE FRA 3
7 Satoko MIYAHARA JPN 4
8 Kanako MURAKAMI JPN 4

Rika HONGO JPN 4 S
Haruka IMAI JPN 4 S​

9 Elena RADIONOVA RUS 5
10 Elizaveta TUKTAMYSHEVA RUS 5

Alena LEONOVA RUS 5 S
Anna POGORILAYA RUS 5 S​

11 Gracie GOLD USA 6
12 Ashley WAGNER USA 6

Polina EDMUNDS USA 6 S​

... I don't know if they named him for Lilo and Stitch or not, I never asked, I was failing to not get attached...

Thank you for the entirety of your wonderful answer, incl. the photos . Loved the whole backstory :yes: [and I'm not even a cat person :no].

 

[Interspectator]

https://41.media.tumblr.com/58485bceac8517f94ef0420b0d7bd92e/tumblr_nm8g82qZC71tae69fo1_1280.png
Here's a poster from the Japan Website with all the competitors in their National Teams. Some photos are missing though.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Entries by discipline:

Thank you for the entirety of your wonderful answer, incl. the photos . Loved the whole backstory :yes: [and I'm not even a cat person :no].

My better half was not a cat person when we met, now he sleeps with Stitch like a little teddy bear. Stitch really tuned out to be an awesome little cat, totally worth the work of raising him. You know those videos of dogs reunited with this owners after time apart and the dog goes crazy? Stitch did basically that with my better half after he was stuck in the hospital for 2 weeks. Kitty missed his human snuggle buddy.

 

[TontoK]

My, there is too much negativity surrounding this event. I wish it would stop.

While the format isn't my preference, and I particularly do not like the team chants, weird hats, and silliness in the K&C.... this event isn't targeted to me. It's targeted towards a younger generation of fans. And it is a generation that we need if the sport is to regain popularity, particularly outside of Asia.

And, yeah, it's another competition for skaters, but at least they are paid very handsomely for their efforts. Knowing something of Japanese culture, I'm sure they are treated royally while they are there.

So, bring it on. The cow bells, the selfies, the goofiness. All of it. I'll still watch.

 

[skatefan22]

Why no Rika? Did I miss something?

Kanako's current world standing is still higher than Rika. There will be fine and penalty if either of the top 2 of a country doesn't show up in WTT. For Japan, the top 2 now is Satoko and Kanako.

 

[YesWay]

There will be fine and penalty if either of the top 2 of a country doesn't show up in WTT..

Where is this rule written? I'd like to know more about it...

Because on the face of it, they should be handing out many "fines and penalties" for skaters who are:
a) top 1 or 2 in their country according to those standings,
b) not officially retired, and
c) not appearing at WTT.

 

[demarinis5]

Not sure if this has already been posted. Here is IN schedule for WTT, all times eastern.

http://web.icenetwork.com/schedule/2015/04/2015_world_team_trophy

 

[skatefan22]

Where is this rule written? I'd like to know more about it...

Because on the face of it, they should be handing out many "fines and penalties" for skaters who are:
a) top 1 or 2 in their country according to those standings,
b) not officially retired, and
c) not appearing at WTT.

The relevant document can be found here

Some quotes:
"in case that one or more of the best ranked Skaters/Couples (in the ISU World Standings valid after the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015) of a Qualified ISU Member elects not to participate, the ISU reserves the right to exclude such team from the competition and to invite instead the Member/s whose team is ranked next in the ISU World Team Trophy qualification list. "

"Any Skater/Couple from a Qualified ISU Member, who placed within the first ten (10) places at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 and is ranked in the ISU World Standings among the best 2 Lady Single Skaters, best 2 Men Single Skaters, the best Pair Skating couple and the best Ice Dance couple of his/her/their respective Qualified ISU Member, if this Skater/Couple elects in advance of the ISU World Team Trophy not to participate in the ISU World Team Trophy (for whatever reason), he/she/they will not be permitted to participate in any other competitions, shows, and exhibitions from Monday noon (March 30, 2015) after the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015, during the ISU World Team Trophy, and until April 20, 2015. In addition, depending on the circumstances, the concerned Skater/Couple and Members may be subject to sanctions in accordance with Rule 136, paragraph 6 of the General Regulations. "

By the way, who should be participating opts not to in this year?

 

[YesWay]

The relevant document can be found here

Some quotes:
"in case that one or more of the best ranked Skaters/Couples (in the ISU World Standings valid after the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015) of a Qualified ISU Member elects not to participate, the ISU reserves the right to exclude such team from the competition and to invite instead the Member/s whose team is ranked next in the ISU World Team Trophy qualification list. "

"Any Skater/Couple from a Qualified ISU Member, who placed within the first ten (10) places at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 and is ranked in the ISU World Standings among the best 2 Lady Single Skaters, best 2 Men Single Skaters, the best Pair Skating couple and the best Ice Dance couple of his/her/their respective Qualified ISU Member, if this Skater/Couple elects in advance of the ISU World Team Trophy not to participate in the ISU World Team Trophy (for whatever reason), he/she/they will not be permitted to participate in any other competitions, shows, and exhibitions from Monday noon (March 30, 2015) after the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015, during the ISU World Team Trophy, and until April 20, 2015. In addition, depending on the circumstances, the concerned Skater/Couple and Members may be subject to sanctions in accordance with Rule 136, paragraph 6 of the General Regulations. "

By the way, who should be participating opts not to in this year?

Hm. That doesn't really say much...

It says the ISU can opt to exclude the whole team if they don't send their top skaters.
Has that ever happened? Is it really ever likely to happen?

The other paragraph says if a country's top skaters don't go to WTT, those skaters aren't allowed to participate in any other competitions or shows around the same time. Which is not unreasonable.

The only thing of interest is the possibility of additional "sanctions" against individuals in accordance with "Rule 136, Paragraph 6 of the general regulations" - but there's no detail of what those sanctions might be, in para6 of Rule 136...

As for who... looking at the World Standings at the link you gave:

Stolbova & Klimov are ranked higher than Kavguti & Smirnov (so are Volosozhar & Trankov, but I guess injury?)
Lipnitskaia is ranked higher than Radionova.
Patrick Chan, Kevin Reynolds and Eladj Balde are ranked higher than Jeremy Ten
Boyang Jin is ranked higher than Nan Song, but I guess he is still considered a Junior?
4 or 5 Russian Dance teams are ranked higher than Illinyk/Zhiganshin
Chafik Besseghier is ranked higher than Romain Ponsart

Those are ones that stood out for me, there may be more...

 

[skatefan22]

Hm. That doesn't really say much...

It says the ISU can opt to exclude the whole team if they don't send their top skaters.
Has that ever happened? Is it really ever likely to happen?

The other paragraph says if a country's top skaters don't go to WTT, those skaters aren't allowed to participate in any other competitions or shows around the same time. Which is not unreasonable.

The only thing of interest is the possibility of additional "sanctions" against individuals in accordance with "Rule 136, Paragraph 6 of the general regulations" - but there's no detail of what those sanctions might be, in para6 of Rule 136...

As for who... looking at the World Standings at the link you gave:

Stolbova & Klimov are ranked higher than Kavguti & Smirnov (so are Volosozhar & Trankov, but I guess injury?)
Lipnitskaia is ranked higher than Radionova.
Patrick Chan, Kevin Reynolds and Eladj Balde are ranked higher than Jeremy Ten
Boyang Jin is ranked higher than Nan Song, but I guess he is still considered a Junior?
4 or 5 Russian Dance teams are ranked higher than Illinyk/Zhiganshin
Chafik Besseghier is ranked higher than Romain Ponsart

Those are ones that stood out for me, there may be more...

Well, the rules are there. Some opt to follow, some don't. My original post was just to reply why it is Kanako, not Rika.

And just to point out, some of the skaters you list didn't participate in wc2015 so they don't have to go to wtt. See that "Any Skater/Couple from a Qualified ISU Member, who placed within the first ten (10) places at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015 and is ranked in the ISU World Standings among the best 2 Lady Single Skaters..." For example, Lipnitskaia, Patrick Chan, Kevin Reynolds, ...

 

[dorispulaski]

"Any Skater/Couple from a Qualified ISU Member, who placed within the first ten (10) places at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2015

The real ISU unhappiness appears to be for top 10 at Worlds to be missing. A case could be made for Rippon, but Max is the second highest placed in the standings, so I can see the ISU not being unhappy with Max. I&K were the highest placing Russian team and were top 10 at Worlds, as were K&S. Lipnitskaia was not at Worlds, nor was Patrick Chan, and so forth.

 

[Interspectator]

It seems that Denis and Javi are added as special performers at the WTT Gala. https://41.media.tumblr.com/5bfac0e120fda16ca0ea957d4853a0fb/tumblr_nmq5newuIr1rxq1qso1_540.jpg

 

[shiroKJ]

It seems that Denis and Javi are added as special performers at the WTT Gala. https://41.media.tumblr.com/5bfac0e120fda16ca0ea957d4853a0fb/tumblr_nmq5newuIr1rxq1qso1_540.jpg

 

[demarinis5]

It seems that Denis and Javi are added as special performers at the WTT Gala. https://41.media.tumblr.com/5bfac0e120fda16ca0ea957d4853a0fb/tumblr_nmq5newuIr1rxq1qso1_540.jpg

That is super news! I was just thinking to myself earlier that it is a shame that Javi and Denis could not participate at WTT.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Sad that Misha did not score an invite.

 

[ice coverage]

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