Junior Grand Prix Catch-Up

Winning performances over the last few weekends on the Junior Grand Prix:

Junior Grand Prix Romania:







Junior Grand Prix Austria:









Junior Grand Prix Italy:

Recent Winners

The Junior Grand Prix Final keeps ticking. Take a look at the winners over the past two weekends below:

Junior Grand Prix Australia:

Junior Grand Prix Poland

JGP Australia

Check the Results from JGP Australia:

Winning!

Here's a look at the winning Free's from JGP Latvia!

Full set of results can be seen here.

JGP Latvia Results

Results from Junior Grand Latvia are starting to trickle in...click the link below!

Summer Drought is Over!

All right kids...it's high time I get back to blogging! The summer figure skating drought is nearing it's conclusion and I'm ready to get clicking on the keyboard again.

So what's new? Today is the last day you can submit a logo for me...so if you have a cool logo to design...get it in!

I booked my airfare to L.A. for Skate America...I will definitely be attending the event! I'm also going to be attending the Grand Prix Final in Quebec City!

Finally, the Junior Grand Prix get's started this week in Latvia. A pretty spiffy group of Junior skaters are competing. Keep an eye on them...you never know who will surprise you later in the season (i.e. Ricky Dornbush did last season)...

So what's new with all of you?

End of the Junior Grand Prix

The last two weekends brought about the end of the Junior Grand Prix. The last two stops were in Dresden, Germany and nearby Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The big winners included:
Pairs - Sui & Han of China (GER) and Yu & Jin also of China (CZE)
Men - Richard Dornbush of the United States (GER) and Han Yan of China (CZE)
Dance - Kosigina & Moroshkin of Russia (GER) and Pushkash and Guerreiro also of Russia (CZE)
Ladies - Elizaveta Tuktamisheva of Russia (GER) and Vanessa Lam of the United States (CZE)

Other American Medalists at the events included a silver for Christina Gao in Germany, a bronze for Lichthman and Copely in Germany, and a silver for Cain and Reagan in the Czech Republic.

Results for Junior Grand Prix Germany can be seen here and Junior Grand Prix Czech Republic here.

The final field is set for the Junior Grand Prix Final which will take place in Beijing December 9th-12th. Competitors include:

Ice Dance
1.Monko and Khaliavin (RUS)
2.Stepanova and Bukin (RUS)
3.Pushkash and Guerreiro (RUS)
4.Lichtman and Copely (USA)
5.Kosigina and Moroshkin (RUS)
6.Sinitsina and Zhiganshin (RUS)
7.Galyeta and Shumski (UKR)
8.Antipova and Kudashev (RUS)

Men
1.Andrei Rogozine (CAN)
2.Han Yan (CHN)
3.Joshua Farris (USA)
4.Keegan Messing (USA)
5.Richard Dornbush (USA)
6.Max Aaron (USA)
7.Zhan Bush (RUS)
8.Gordei Gorshkov (RUS)

Ladies
1.Adelina Sotnikova (RUS)
2.Elizaveta Tuktamisheva (RUS)
3.Risa Shoki (JPN)
4.Polina Shelepen (RUS)
5.Christina Gao (USA)
6.Yasmin Siraj (USA)
7.Kristiene Gong (USA)
8.Kiri Baga (USA)

Pairs
1.Stolbova and Klimov (RUS)
2.Sui and Han (CHN)
3.Yu and Jin (CHN)
4.Takahashi and Tran (JPN)
5.Purich and Schultz (CAN)
6.Silaeva and Minchuk (RUS)
7.Cain and Reagan (USA)
8.Steele and Schultz (CAN)

Russia came up WAY big in Ice Dance qualifying 3/4 of the field! US was the big winners amongst the men and the women with the most entries (but not the top qualifiers) and a smattering of countries qualified in pairs. Should be interesting.

JGP Japan/Nebelhorn

Oddly, Blogger wouldn't let me update or post over the past several days so my blog went quiet there for a bit. But Blogger has addressed the issue and blogging can commence.

I won't do a full rundown of the medalists from Junior Grand Prix Japan but the winners were:

Men - Andrei Rogozine (CAN), Dance - Stepanova and Bukin (RUS), Women - Risa Shoji (JPN)

The U.S. picked up two silvers with Kiri Baga and Max Aaron hitting the podium in the men and women's division. You can see all the results here.

Nebelhorn Trophy took place at the same time as JGP Japan and gave us a look at the deepest senior field to compete so far this season. Some familiar faces as well as some fresh face comprised the podiums.

In Dance, veterans Pechalat and Bourzat of France took the title after a rough start in the short dance. Italians Cappellini and Lanotte finished second while Russians Rizanova and Tkachenko took the bronze. Americans Maia and Alex Shibutani, while only fifth overall, were ranked second in the free dance so a solid accomplishment for them.

Amongst the men, Japanese upstart Tatsuki Machida took the title (and he did so skating to one of my music faves, Legends of the Fall). Russia's Konstantin Menshov took the silver and Peter Liebers managed the bronze at home in Germany. American Armin Mahbanoozadeh, while only fourth, had the third best rated free skate and finished higher than both Kevin van der Perren (5th) and Michal Brezina (7th), both of whom were heavily favored in this competition.

For the women, Finland's Kiira Korpi skated to an easy victory (as expected). Not expected was the silver snatched up by Sweden's Viktoria Helgesson or the bronze nabbed by American Melissa Bulanhagui. Outside of Korpi, there was great volatility in the standings between the short and free skates with lots of movement in the standings. The point spread between 3rd and 5th was very close with Viktoria sister Joshi placing 4th and Brit Jenna McCorkell finishing 5th.

In Pairs, top honors went to, also as expected, Russians Bazarova and Larionov. Italians Berton and Hotarek placed second as many predicted. Coming third was the brand (brand!) new Canadian team of Duhamel and Radford. Just this past season Megan Duhamel ended her three year partnership with Craig Buntin after failing to make the 2010 Olympic Team. American youngsters Donlan and Speroff finished an impressive fourth.

Nebelhorn results can be seen here. Below are some notable performances from the event courtesy YouTube user pianomaya65:

Junior Grand Prix Austria Rewind

The Junior Grand Prix kept moving forward this past weekend. Pairs made it's debut in Austria (Pairs is only competed at 4 of the events). Mixed results for Team USA, we managed two medals, a Gold in Ice Dance and a Silver amongst the Women.

Women:
Gold: Adelina Sotnikova RUS
Silver: Christina Gao USA
Bronze: Zijun Li CHN

Pairs:
Gold: Stolbova and Klimov RUS
Silver: Sui and Han CHN
Bronze: Yu and Jin CHN

Men:
Gold: Han Yan CHN
Silver: Artem Grigoriev RUS
Bronze: Zhan Bush RUS

Dance:
Gold: Lichtman and Copely USA
Silver: Sinitsina and Zhiganshin RUS
Bronze: Papadakis and Cizeron FRA

Full Results can be seen here. Next stop on the Junior Grand Prix is Japan.

JGP Romania Wrap-Up

Sorry for my blogging tardiness this week but work reared its ugly head this week.

But this past week another Junior Grand Prix Event finished in Romania. The next Junior Grand Prix event in Austria is already underway. My fellow bloggers have done a great job of blogging and tweeting about the event so I'll just recap the results if you haven't seen them. The U.S. had a good showing, especially solid amongst the men where we went 1-2.

Women:
Gold: Elizaveta Tuktamisheva RUS
Silver: Kristiene Gong USA
Bronze: Shion Kokubun JPN

Dance:
Gold: Monko and Khaliavin RUS
Silver: Galyeta and Shumski UKR
Bronze: Bonacorsi and Mager USA

Men:
Gold: Keegan Messing USA
Silver: Joshua Farris USA
Bronze: Keiji Tanaka JPN

If you don't mind the shakiness of the videos, YouTube user divan0 has uploaded lots of the performances from the event. Full results can be seen here.

Junior Grand Prix: France

The first Junior Grand Prix event wrapped in France this past weekend.

As expected, Russia's Polina Shelepen took the women's title and did so by a healthy margin despite being in second after the short program. Canada's Andrei Rogozine took the men's title. Russia added another gold in Ice Dance with Stepanova and Bukin taking the top spot.

Team USA had a fairly successful event. While there was no Gold to be had in France, U.S. Junior National Champ Jason Brown won the men's free skate in an attempt to chase down Canada's Rogozine, coming up just short and settling with the silver. Jason (see video below) had a tremendous performance in his Junior Grand Prix Debut. His Teammate, Max Aaron, pulled in for the bronze medal. In the ladies field Yasmin Siraj had a comeback performance to go from 6th to 2nd and take the silver medal. American Cannuscio and McManus took the silver after some volatility in the placements coming out of the new 'Short Dance.' Teams I think are still working it out. Incidentally, Cannuscio and McManus became the very first team to compete the dance in ISU competition.

In short, it was a great weekend for Russia and the United States.

Medalists are listed below and full results can be seen here. Next Junior Grand Prix stop will be Brasov, Romania.

Women:
Gold: Polina Shelepen RUS
Silver: Yasmin Siraj USA
Bronze: Rosa Sheveleva RUS

Men:
Gold: Andrei Rogozine CAN
Silver: Jason Brown USA
Bronze: Max Aaron USA

Dance:
Gold: Stepanova and Bukin RUS
Silver: Cannuscio and McManus USA
Bronze: Kosigina and Moroshkin RUS

Pics of the Week

It is finally here, the beginning of the Junior Grand Prix. I sent some some good luck tweets off and the skaters are hitting the practice ice as I type this.

Two very promising stars are competing in Courchevel. Polina Shelepen of Russia, who won both her Junior Grand Prix events and finished second at the Junior Grand Prix Final last season and American Jason Brown, the reigning U.S. Junior Champion.

Polina Shelepen is one of Russia's most promising up and coming skaters and this girl has a plan! Last month she spoke with Golden Skate's Tatjana Flade about her Junior debut last season and her goals. "I guess I can say that I fulfilled my plan to 50 percent. At the beginning of the season, I more or less did everything, then I wasn't in top shape towards the end. I think I have grown again and needed some time to adjust. But I really like being at the big competitions and enjoyed the Junior Grand Prix."

At just 15, she would have liked to have made her senior debut this season but will again compete in the Junior Ranks. Her coach Eteri Tutberidze explained, "We would have liked to move up to seniors in order to save time. Polina's job isn't so much to achieve certain placements, but to improve her overall skating. It is a process. The placements now aren't so important. It is important where we will finish in figure skating in ten or more years."

Olympic Champion in Sochi? Who knows...

Back on home soil Jason Brown is quickly moving up the ranks and he is doing so with some flair. I've had my eye on this guy since 2007 when he won at the U.S. Junior Championships (Juvenile Title) and he has steadily improved since. He medaled as an intermediate, as a novice, and won last season as a Junior. Also, I have to support the local skaters...chalk one up for Illinois! I remember watching his Short Program to "Hey Pachuco" at Nationals and thinking 'look at this kid go!' Then he did a complete 180 in the Free Skate performing to the "Pas de Deux" from The Nutcracker showing his versatility. I was impressed.

He makes his Junior Grand Prix this week in France and I have a feeling he is going to do well. He succeeds at everything he does and is an all around amazing guy. If you look at his Ice Network profile you see this huge list of amazing things he does including volunteering with the City Skate Outreach Program in Chicago and supporting Chicago Cares. He even turned his Bar Mitzvah into a charity project. That's awesome. And like Polina...he's only 15.

And I have to give Jason final props on his favorite show..."Glee". He's my kind of people!

Grand Prix Final Afterthoughs

I must say there were plenty of surprises at the Grand Prix Final. I think I'm just going to be done predicting this season...I'm getting nowhere with it!

Ice Dance was close at the top. Davis and White squeaked ahead in the Original Dance while Virtue and Moir slimly won the free skate. When the dust settled Meryl Davis and Charlie White held on by the skin of their teeth to take the win (and become the first American Team to do so!). In the Free Dance, Davis and White had the highest component score where Virtue and Moir had the highest technical score. In any case, it's tight between these two teams. Pechalat and Bourzat meandered their way to a bronze after a free dance that seemed less interesting than the last time I saw it. Interestingly, Crone and Poirier and Cappellini and Lanotte had the same exact score in the Free Dance...84.30.

The ladies event was a continuation of what we've seen all season...less than exciting. Leonova and Rochette coming completely undone was just sad to watch. The lone exciting moment in the ladies event was Akiko Suzuki's free skate. She lit up that room like a Christmas Tree! I was so excited for her. While her bronze does not guarantee her a spot on the Olympic Team, it should help her case. Also doesn't hurt that she had the highest technical score of all the women. Miki Ando had a golden opportunity to landing a major upset but she let it slip away from her. Her Cleopatra program, which is still severely lacking in interesting choreography, wasn't clean enough to get past Kim Yu-Na. Perhaps she was just trying to do her best to stay ahead of Akiko. Her silver did clench her the first berth on the Japanese Olympic Team. It was rather shocking to see that Kim Yu-Na's component score was barely higher than Miki's. Even on an off day, Kim Yu-Na's components are way better than Ando's. Kim Yu-Na, while she won, didn't land that blow to the field that would have set her up as the commanding favorite in Vancouver. Now, the buzz amongst the skating world is that she CAN be beat. Suddenly, the Rachel Flatt's and Mao Asada's don't seem so out of the equation.

The pairs event gave me my second wow moment of the season. Shen and Zhao blew me away with their free skate. Every moment in that program was brilliantly timed to the music...it was just amazing. They've made the case for themselves...they are the ones to beat. Pang and Tong did a nice job of keeping their head's together and not letting the pressure of competing against their teammates for the first time in a while get to them. They, too, had a lovely performance. Savchenko and Szolkowy ran into a few problems at the top of their free skate. Once they settled down it was fine but those early problems were enough to keep them out of the hunt for Gold and stuck them with the bronze. Mukhortova and Trankov were solid in placing fourth. Less than four points separated 2nd thru 4th so it was very close.

The men, by far, were the most exciting here. Even without Lambiel, Plushenko, Chan, and Joubert...these guys put on an epic showdown! Weir, Oda, Lysacek, and Takahashi were stunning in their short programs. In the free skate, Abbott had to dig himself out of a hole after mistakes in the short, and did so with a fine effort that saw only one fall on the quad. Important to note that his score was less than a point away from winning the free skate and got him to fourth place overall. Johnny Weir kept it together to skate a solid (slightly tentative) free skate and pull himself up to the bronze medal for the second consecutive season. Nobunari Oda also skate well despite two silly popped axels and managed the silver after charming the crowd with his Charlie Chaplin free skate. Reigning World Champ Evan Lysacek showed he is a force to be contended with this season after a solid free skate (another silly popped axel) that not only won him the gold medal, but nabbed him the highest men's score of the season...and he did it without a quad (food for thought for Plushenko?). Takahashi, who had the lead after a brilliant short, went to pieces in the free falling all the way to fifth. Some would argue that the men's scores were somewhat inflated here...I'm not sure myself. In general I have a hard time understanding and relating scores from one competition to another so I'll leave that argument to the pundits.

A very talented group of Juniors took the ice this weekend as well. Congrats to Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu and Kanako Murakami for winning the Junior singles titles, China's Sui and Han for taking the Pairs competition, and Russia's Monko and Khaliavin for taking the Dance title. Maia and Alex Shibutani, Christina Gao, and Ross Miner all won bronze medals for the United States.

Full set of results for both the Senior and Junior events can be seen here.

Pic of the Week

With most of the attention going to the Senior skaters at the Grand Prix Final, it's easy to forget that there is a very talented group of Juniors competing this week in Tokyo as well.

Ross Miner is certainly in the mix to medal, if not win, this weeks' men's event at the Grand Prix Final. Ross qualified to the Final right behind Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu on the strength of a win at JGP Lake Placid and a silver medal at JGP Croatia.

Miner is just one of several American Juniors competing this week that also includes Simpson and Miller, Kiri Baga, Angela Maxwell, Christina Gao, Ellie Kawamura, Maia and Alex Shibutani, Cannuscio and Lorello, Richard Dornbush and Grant Hochstein.

The U.S. is in fact the best represented nation at this season's Grand Prix Final (amongst both the Junior and Seniors!), no small feat to say the least.

Good luck to all the Junior competitors competing this week in Japan!

Number Crunch!

One of the most exciting aspects of the final event in the Grand Prix series is the race to the Grand Prix Final. At this point many have already sewn up births while others are desprately trying to get in. Here's the breakdown:

The Men
Three men have already qualified for the Grand Prix Final: Nobunari Oda, Evan Lysacek, and Brian Joubert. Johnny Weir looks very solid to make the final. The only way he doesn't make it is if the stars misalign and the crazy off chance he would loose a two (or three)way tie breaker...it ain't gonna happen so I say he's as good as in. Weir was totally helped by three things: Plushenko only did one event, Chan is only doing one event, and the Japanese meltdown at NHK. So basically two spots are up for grabs and five guys have a shot yet...it's unlikely that Kozuka or Verner could hang on to those spots. For Kevin Van der Perren and Jeremy Abbott, a win and a win only will get them to the final. Daisuke Takahashi and Samuel Contesti can qualify with a win...they can qualify with silve rmedals too, bronze medals only work if certain skaters are ahead of you (i.e. skaters that can't make the final!). Finally, Michal Brezina has the easiest route...a medal of any color will guarauntee him a spot, anything less and he needs help from other skaters. While Patrick Chan cannot make the final, his placement will be a huge determining factor on who does and does not make it.

The Pairs
Like the men, three teams have qualified for the final: Shen and Zhao, Pang and Tong, and Kavaguti and Smirnov. The remaining three spots are up for grabs. Currently Zhang and Zhang sit on the bubble with Volosozhar and Morozov and McLaughlin and Brubaker rounding out the top six. Hard to see the bottom two teams staying there. Four teams competing at Skate Canada have an opportunity to make the final. Denney and Barrett could make it with a win. A silver would only work if all the top teams competing in the event finished behind them. Savchenko and Szolkowy can clinch a spot in the final with a gold, a silver medal puts them into a tie breaking situation and they have to hope that their combined scores hold up. If they only get a bronze, everyone eligible for the Grand Prix Final would have to finish behind them in order for them to qualify. Third team with a shot is Dube and Davison who would qualify with a gold or silver. Bronze puts them into that tie breaker (no team wants to be there). Fourth means they need help from the other teams. The team with the easiest path is Mukhortova and Trankov. Any medal gets them to the final and even fourth place gives them a shot if they win a tiebreaker.

Isn't this fun...I love crunching these numbers!

The Ladies
Three women have locked spots in Tokyo: Kim Yu-Na, Miki Ando, and Alena Leonova. Unlike the other disciplines I've looked at so far, the skaters currently sitting 4th and 5th in the standings are as much in this as those competing. Both Ashley Wagner and Rachael Flatt will keep a close eye on Skate Canada even though they aren't competing. Would take a miracle for Mao Asada to qualify, she's currently 6th in the standings. Six women competing at Skate Canada have a chance to make the final. Laura Lepisto and Mirai Nagasu would need a gold medal coupled with some disastrous performances from some of the skaters with more points than them. While they mathematically have a chance, seems unlikely they'd get that much help. Alissa Czisny and Caroline Zhang are in a similar situation. Realistically they need gold medals and then need Suzuki to struggle. Silvers put them in that dreaded tie breaker and even then don't guarantee them a spot even if they win the tiebreaker depending on how others skate. Bronze medals just will not cut it. Joannie Rochette has more wiggle room than she probably anticipated after Cup of China. Gold gets it done. Silver gets it done unless Czisny or Zhang win, then she would need a little help from Suzuki and win a tie breaker (this all seems a bit unlikely as well). Another bronze medal would be scary and put her right on the bubble, she'd need for certain skaters to be behind her and she'd qualify 6th. If I was Joannie Rochette, I'd avoid 3rd place. It's simple for Akiko Suzuki...finish in the top four. Her win in China trumps the tie breaker in that case. Even in 5th she could squeak through but then it isn't guaraunteed.

Ice Dance
In Ice Dance three teams have locked spots for the Grand Prix Final: Davis and White, Belbin and Agosto, and Cappellini and Lanotte. For Kerr and Kerr, it's like Johnny Weir, crazy crazy things would need to happen for them not to qualify so I say they are in too. That leaves only two spots available (all of this made less complicated with the withdrawal of Faiella and Scali). I have a hard time envisioning a scenario where either Khoklova and Novitski (who botched their chances with a 4th place finish in Lake Placid) and Crone and Poirier qualify or the remaining two spots don't go to Virtue and Moir (who currently have 15 points) and Pechalat and Bourzat (who have 13). The only other teams even with a mathematical shot are Bobrova and Soloviev and Samuelson and Bates who would basically have to win (which would be crazy!) in order to make it. If they even managed to get a silver (slim possibility for Samuelson and Bates) then it would take one of those celestial alignments for it to work out. Basically, what I'm saying here is, this one is in the bag with Virtue and Moir and Pechalat and Bourzat getting in.

So who do you think will make the final when the dust settles? Also, the Junior Grand Prix will take place at the same time and the list of competitors for that event has been chosen already.