2025-2026 Challenger Series have been allocated

[YukiNieve]

I think this deserves a new thread.
According to Golden Skate, 2025-2026 Challenger Series are:

August 7-10 2025 Cranberry Cup International (Men & Women) - Norwood, MA, USA
September 2-3 John Nicks Pairs Challenge International (Pairs only) - New York, NY, USA
September 5-7 Kinoshita Group Cup - Osaka, Japan
September 11-14 Lombardia Trophy 2025 - Bergamo, Italy
September 25-27 Nebelhorn Trophy 2025 - Oberstdorf, Germany
September 25-27 33rd Nepela Memorial 2025 - Bratislava, Slovakia
October 1-4 Denis Ten Memorial Challenge - Astana, Kazakhstan
October 8-11 Trialeti Trophy - Tbilisi, Georgia
November 19-23 PGE Warsaw Cup 2025 - Warsaw, Poland
November 24-30 Tallinn Trophy 2025 - Tallinn, Estonia
December 3-6 Golden Spin of Zagreb 2025 - Zagreb, Croatia

https://x.com/goldenskate/status/1920456092967920028/photo/1

ISU Communication No. 2706 (Thanks, @kwanfan1818!): https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...-Challenger-Series-2025-26-1746706485-104.pdf

This is the first time for Japan to hold a CS.
Georgia will also hold a CS.

 

[kwanfan1818]

I can’t get it to open, only show a thumbnail from the Communications page, on my iPad, but here’s the link to the ISU Communication 2706 published today:

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isudamcontainer/CMS/Corporate-Site/Governance/Transparency/ISU-Communications/2706-Challenger-Series-2025-26-1746706485-104.pdf

 

[YukiNieve]

For skaters competing in the qualifying event for the Milan Olympics in China, it might be a good experience to compete in the CS in Japan and then fly to China 7-10 days later if possible, since the time difference is small (one hour) and there are many flights between the two cities.

 

[Karen-W]

For skaters competing in the qualifying event for the Milan Olympics in China, it might be a good experience to compete in the CS in Japan and then fly to China 7-10 days later if possible, since the time difference is small (one hour) and there are many flights between the two cities.

Yes, especially the ice dance teams as the Kinoshita Group Cup is the first CS with ice dance. It's safe to assume ReedAmbru will make their season debut here and probably remain in Japan with her sister for the next 7-10 days to train before heading to Beijing. And it's going to be particularly advantageous for both YoMori and whichever Chinese team gets the nod to compete at the OWQ.

It'll be interesting to see which one the pairs teams choose - John Nicks PCI is a couple days earlier and may be more attractive for the North American-based teams like Nagaoka/Moriguchi and the US teams (including the one selected for the OWQ). Les Kovs and Schaller/Mayr have typically competed at John Nicks to start off their season in the past. I'm guessing we'll see at least a couple of Chinese teams and the North Korean team at Kinoshita Group Cup.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Oh interesting so no more US challenger and no more autumn cup in Canada? But Japan gets one.
John nicks is only for Pairs and there’s not a large turnout.

Hold on let me just re-edit my entire post again lol so cranberry cup becomes an official Challenger now? For North America. And those date dates seem even earlier than normal, first week of August.

And then did Finland do away with theirs, because they have what seems to be a consistent GP event?

 

[Karen-W]

Oh interesting so no more US challenger and no more autumn cup in Canada? But Japan gets one.

Nothing in North America? It should be equally spread out between Asia, Europe, and North America if you’re going to do these.

John nicks is only for Pairs and there’s not a large turnout.

Read the doc again - Cranberry Cup is back as a singles-only Challenger in Norwood MA. For the purposes of the Challenger Series, Cranberry Cup & John Nicks PCI count as one Challenger event.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Read the doc again - Cranberry Cup is back as a singles-only Challenger in Norwood MA. For the purposes of the Challenger Series, Cranberry Cup & John Nicks PCI count as one Challenger event.

LOL I know I was editing and re-editing as I kept reading lol

I am a creature of habit, I want skate American first, and I want the regular challengers back lol

 

[Karen-W]

LOL I know I was editing and re-editing as I kept reading lol

I am a creature of habit, I want skate American first, and I want the regular challengers back lol

LOL - I see this now...

Finland moved the "Finlandia Trophy" name over to their GP last season after they decided it was too much to try and host a Challenger and a GP.

Last year, Cranberry Cup was Aug 8-11, so it's the same 2nd week of August again.

 

[Marta24]

So, Nebelhorn, Nepela and JGP Baku all at one weekend? Great scheduling

 

[Karen-W]

So, Nebelhorn, Nepela and JGP Baku all at one weekend? Great scheduling

What would you have chosen? There would have been a JGP and two major senior events on one of the September weekends regardless of whether Nebelhorn stayed on it's usual 3rd weekend or moved to the 4th weekend. In a world of two equally unpleasant options -

a) Olympic Qualifying Event & Nebelhorn on the same weekend
b) Nebelhorn & Nepela on the same weekend

Pick your poison. The ISU chose option B and it's not that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things.

 

[Jammers]

Whatever happened to the Senior B that the US used to have that was in September? Why does the USFS have a event like the Cranberry Cup so early if it's going to be recognized as a potential Challenger? It's to damn early so skaters won't be in great shape and some skaters might just not want to compete in early August. The US needs to put together another event that's at least in September and includes singles that the ISU will recognize as a potential Challenger.

 

[Karen-W]

Whatever happened to the Senior B that the US used to have that was in September? Why does the USFS have a event like the Cranberry Cup so early if it's going to be recognized as a potential Challenger? It's to damn early so skaters won't be in great shape and some skaters might just not want to compete in early August. The US needs to put together another event that's at least in September and includes singles that the ISU will recognize as a potential Challenger.

I dunno, both Sarah Everhardt and Elyce Lin-Gracey set themselves up for pretty damn successful seasons with their great showings at Cranberry last year.

 

[clairecloutier]

Yeah I'm not a fan of 3 separate U.S. midsummer/early-season events for singles, pairs, and ice dance (Cranberry, John Nicks, LPI).

My 2 cents: Combine them all into one event worth going to, like they did in fall 2021, when LPIDI/Cranberry were both in Boston. (And yes, I know there's a long tradition behind the Lake Placid ice dance event, but still.) I would prefer something like that, or a return of U.S. International Classic.

 

[Karen-W]

Yeah I'm not a fan of 3 separate U.S. midsummer/early-season events for singles, pairs, and ice dance (Cranberry, John Nicks, LPI).

My 2 cents: Combine them all into one event worth going to, like they did in fall 2021, when LPIDI/Cranberry were both in Boston. (And yes, I know there's a long tradition behind the Lake Placid ice dance event, but still.) I would prefer something like that, or a return of U.S. International Classic.

Yeah, I'd prefer one combined event as well, but given that both SCoB and SCoNY are committed to hosting Senior B's - Cranberry and John Nicks respectively - that fall within the calendar window the ISU has set for the Challenger Series events... They're going to happen, no matter what, so why not have them designated as Challengers? At least there's a Challenger event in North America for singles & pairs.

I like the geographic spread of the upcoming season's Challenger Series. From east to west... Japan, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Croatia, Italy, Germany, USA. Similarly, we're seeing the JGP events spanning the globe, and these are great developments for the sport.