Junior Grand Prix Final (December 3-6, Tokyo) | Golden Skate

Junior Grand Prix Final (December 3-6, Tokyo)

Spun Silver

Spun Silver

Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Surprised not to see a thread on this. It's not too early to start our prediptions! ;) Is there a final list of the lineups?

(Mods, please erase this if it's redundant.)
 
The finalists of the ISU Junior Grand Prix are :

MEN

1 Yuzuru Hanyu JPN 30 Pts.
2 Ross Miner USA 28 Pts.
3 Nan Song CHN 28 Pts.
4 Artur Gachinski RUS 28 Pts.
5 Kento Nakamura JPN 24 Pts.
6 Stanislav Kovalev RUS 24 Pts.
7 Richard Dornbush USA 22 Pts.
8 Grant Hochstein USA 22 Pts.

Alternates : Austin Kanallakan (USA), Gordei Gorshkov (RUS), Zhan Bush (RUS).

LADIES

1 Kanako Murakami JPN 30 Pts.
2 Polina Shelepen RUS 30 Pts.
3 Kiri Baga USA 30 Pts.
4 Angela Maxwell USA 26 Pts.
5 Ksenia Makarova RUS 24 Pts.
6 Christina Gao USA 22 Pts.
7 Anna Ovcharova RUS 20 Pts.
8 Ellie Kawamura USA 20 Pts.

Alternates : Yuki Nishino (JPN), Kristine Musademba (USA), Kate Charbonneau (CAN).

PAIRS

1 Sui / Han CHN 30 Pts.
2 Takahashi / Tran JPN 26 Pts.
3 Hole / Johnson CAN 26 Pts.
4 Zhang / Wang CHN 26 Pts.
5 Novik / Kuznetsov RUS 20 Pts.
6 Simpson / Miller USA 20 Pts.
7 Vasilieva / Shevchuk RUS 18 Pts.
8 Stolbova / Klimov RUS 17 Pts.

Alternates : Jones / Gaskell (CAN), Morand / Dorsaz (SUI), Bird / Schultz (CAN).


DANCE :

1 Shibutani / Shibutani USA 30 Pts.
2 Monko / Khaliavin RUS 30 Pts.
3 Ilynikch / Katsalapov RUS 30 Pts.
4 Pushkash / Guerreiro RUS 28 Pts.
5 Ralph / Hill CAN 26 Pts.
6 Alessandrini / Vaturi ITA 24 Pts.
7 Antipova / Kudashev RUS 22 Pts.
8 Cannuscio / Lorello USA 22 Pts.

Alternates : Routhier /SauckeLacelle (CAN), Agafonova / Dun (UKR), Baturintseva / Bolobuiev (RUS).

http://www.isu.org/vsite/vnavsite/page/directory/0,10853,4844-151840-169056-nav-list,00.html

I like that both Junior and Senior Grand Prix Finals are on the same event again. That way we could get HQ videos from the Junior competitions like last year:clap::clap:
 
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With the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, could anyone wonder why the level of motivation would be so high. Top juniors from this season set themselves up well for the next cycle. For now it is push/shove to see who can get to the front of the line, at least for now, and the level of hunger has to be at a relative all time high. Never a Winter Olympics in Russia before.
 
My bet is on the ID title being a showdown between Shibutani/Shibutani and Ilinykh/Katsalapov...but the lack of CD certainly favors the Shibutanis.

Hard to see anyone but Hanyu, Murakami and Cong/Han winning the other disciplines. I think Shelepen & Miner have a shot if the first two falter...
 
I'm most excited to see how Angela Maxwell (aka "Hooker Nails" on Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand) does. That girl is so much fun to watch. Murakami is a beauty.

I don't have strong feelings about the rest of the ladies (yet). Anybody here crazy about Kiri Baga? I'd love to hear reasons.
 
I like her the most out of the American juniors. Great skating skills, good choreography that she interprets very well. Definitely not bland or your typical princessy type. ;) Her SP is excellent.
 
oleada said:
I like her the most out of the American juniors. Great skating skills, good choreography that she interprets very well. Definitely not bland or your typical princessy type. ;) Her SP is excellent.
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Are you talking about Maxwell or Baga? Sounds like the former, but you never know.
 
Spun Silver said:
I don't have strong feelings about the rest of the ladies (yet). Anybody here crazy about Kiri Baga? I'd love to hear reasons.
Click to expand...
Baga fan right here. There's really nothing negative I can really say about her at the moment other then she needs to get her jumps under control in the free skate. She's got good speed, great extension, fast spins, big jumps (when they're landed), nice musicality, and superb skating skills. She sorta reminds me of a mini Sasha..only better at this age :)
 
CARA said:
Shibutani & Shibutani for the OGM in Sochi/2014! :rock:
Click to expand...

Definitely :agree:

Shibutanis again have two excellent programs this season. Too bad only on icenetwork, I have not found any of this year on youtube. Somebody please post!! They earned +3 scores for many elements this year, even footwork. Their twizzles do not look like required elements. They look like beautiful moves to music. When seniors see them skate at final they will think they better stay sharp or look out! While I always follow ladies, Shibutanis opened my heart to ice dance.

Ladies I worry and get my heart broken too much (except maybe with Yuna) with jumps. Brings back all the old stress memories (:unsure: I hated short program :p Murakami has been so impressive. Last year I thought so cute!! this year, I can see in her a senior lady. I love the lightness of her jumps. She grew a lot but also matured a lot. And soo exciting for Baga. Fresh faced surprise. I love it. They did not even give her 2 assignments to begin with! Only a newcomer once. I am sure she will make the most of it. Can't wait for Final.
 
:rock: Maia and Alex are amazing! Can't wait for them to skate senior.

I too wish this season's programs could be on YouTube. Someone please post!!

Binthere I agree there is no question Shibutanis are amazing technicians and very mature performances. Just like Davis/White, Virtue/Moir. Except I don't think D/W and V/M had such good elements and skating when they compete junior. :p I see picture on Korea skating board of upside down spin lift!?!? There skills look more difficult this new year.

I have seen other junior teams on YouTube and while they are talented, they are not as polished, elegant, skillfull as Shibutani. When I watch Shibutanis I see a story. I get closed into them.

I think Shibutanis are ambassadors of ice dance to Asia (where skating is so so so so popular). They are so great for this sport ice dance and so many people follow ice dance now who might not because there is great Asian/American team coming up!
 
Most posts her suggests a cake walk for Shibutanis, but i think it could be a rather close contest between the shibutanis and the russians. the score from the contests are considerably close.

Shibutanis 175.95 (USA) 171.99 (CRO)
Ilynikch / Katsalapov 166.06 (HUN) 171.61 (POL)
Monko / Khaliavin 167.65 (BLR) 173.15 (TUR).

I know score from competition to competitions are hard to compare, especially in ice dancing. But, these two Zhulin pairs seems to better tan some of the russian senior pairs (i like both these pairs, they can definitely knock teams like K/N).
 
Oh Life684, I totally agree. No cake walk for sure. Russians have a very strong and deep team in every discipline this year, and no question the dance teams will make for a very competitive and exciting event at the final. I especially like the top two Russian junior teams from what I have seen. They are impressive and skate with confidence. Their coach Zhulin is teaching them well.

I just find the Shibutanis have something unique about them. Something special that has not been seen before. I agree with people who compare their strong technique to their teammates. They are like a next generation of Davis and White, Virtue and Moir combining strong technique with good sense for music. It is hard to put your finger on what their quality is. Maybe it is that they are just wonderful story tellers. When I watch them skate I lose any sense for time. When their programs are done I think, what? already over? Program ends and it is like waking from a beautiful dream and feeling sad that the program is over. I want to make myself go back to sleep to slip back into the story of the dream. :laugh: I want them to skate another program right away. Which is why I want someone to please post programs from this year to youtube! Icenetwork is so clumsy! :scratch:

I think it will not matter if they win at final. Their positive impact will be no different. Last year when they did not skate well at final when Maia was hurt, they still captured so many hearts all over the world. My skating crazy cousin in China is even thinking of seeing if she can combine a business trip to Tokyo to see them. I am so jealous. If they can keep doing what I think they already do, they will have already won something more important that cannot be worn on a ribbon. And it will mean so much more for years to come. :agree:
 
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I think the Shibutanis have what Dick Button calls the "it" factor. They have outstanding edge quality. Their sound technique and security enable us to enjoy their musicality. I enjoy them because I also sense their joy of skating - something I sensed in Mao Asada when she was young but don't see in her for the last two seasons.

Finally they both are so darn cute!
 
I do love the Shibutanis, but their height difference looks a little jarring sometimes. I hope she catches up in height as she gets older! Still years to grow anyway...
 
If the Shibutanis are going to be senior champions, Maia's going to need to improve the consistency and speed of her twizzles.
 
Hmmm

...I'm quite puzzled as to why you'd say something like that. If any of the younger skaters that we've seen this year are going to be senior champions, of course there will be improvements that need to be made! Kind of a pointless post IMO. Why single out Maia?! :scratch: There are so many talented young skaters who are in dire need of much more than picky things than what people "criticize" the Shibutanis for...(it must be like grasping at straws - height difference and twizzle speed) such as personality, crowd/fan appeal, skating skills, choreography, triple jumps, etc.
For example...If Adam Rippon (who I LOVE) is going to be a senior champion, then he's going to have to improve the consistency of his 3A. If Caroline Zhang is going to become a senior champion, then she'll have to fix her jump technique and skate with more speed. So it goes, with EVERY young skater out there! If my daughter is going to be a senior champion, she's going to have to improve the consistency and the speed of her one foot glide! :rofl:
If I remember correctly, bunches of teams have had twizzle trouble this year. (Some examples: Virtue/Moir (slight bobbles), S/B, H/H, and C/Z...and let's not forget Charlie White at Cup of Russia last year :no: who is supposedly one of the greatest twizzlers the universe has ever seen?! I would put a lot of money on twizzles being a really difficult skill (Not that I've done one - haha I'd be :eek:) and that's why so few teams do them well.
Maia and Alex are amongst the best "twizzlers" in the world. They've gotten +3s on their twizzles this year! I don't really know, but I doubt many teams (junior/senior) get +3s. Just watch their twizzles from the OD/FD at the JGP Lake Placid! They looked really solid to me!
The Shibutanis are really young and I have a feeling that they will only get better. They are so enjoyable to watch. Their technique, mature presentation, "it" factor, etc (previously discussed) make them extraordinary and I am looking forward to being taken along on the journey (and maybe seeing them compete live someday :p).
 
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