Breakout Junior star of the 2025-26 JGP season?

[Bluediamonds09]

Which junior from a non-big-3 skating country (meaning, not from Japan, USA, or South Korea) will have an amazing junior season come August? And may even win a medal at one of the events?
I'm going to start with the junior girls, since this discipline is the one I focus on the most. But feel free to include all 4 disciplines in this thread.
I think these girls have a chance to medal at a junior grand prix event:
Hana Bath
Elina Goidina
Sofia Titova
Anastasia Brandenburg

 

[dorispulaski]

I expect Stefania Gladki of France to be back on the JGP, and I expect her to shine again. Does she qualify since she already broke out last season?

In pairs. I expect
Xuanqi ZHANG / Wenqiang FENG CHN
to rise to the top!

Genrikh GARTUNG GER will still be eligible in Junior men's.

In dance, so many of the JGP teams are aging out. I hope
Sofiia BEZNOSIKOVA / Max LELEU BEL will do well.

 

[4everchan]

From Canada, pairs

and maybe the new Canadian junior woman Viktoria B (who just switched from Russia)

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

This is going to sound so much like I am promoting a skater that I have adopted, but I genuinely believe she is going to surprise a lot of people when she makes her Junior GP debut.

Vasilisa Bogomolova (CYP)

CaroLiza_fan

 

[elbkup]

Hoping Yihan Wang of China does well ..

 

[Arin]

Imo, Shuxian Jin can be a really big star at JGP this season.

Also I can't wait for Lilou Remyesen's junior debut, she's such a great performer. And Ksenia Krouzkevitch, great talent too.

 

[TallyT]

Fingers crossed for Hana, I like her a lot.

Is Minsol Kwan able to compete for Canada yet?

 

[saine]

Is Minsol Kwan able to compete for Canada yet?

I don't know if she's requested release since that was the only comment Skate Canada had about her. She isn't on the Korean JGP selection competition entries and she isn't on the start orders for NextGen this week. If she is switching to represent Canada this season, she'll be on the Ontario Sectional Qualifying Declaration to compete in qualifying competitions (November Sectional Championships/Challenge/Nationals.)

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Hoping Yihan Wang of China does well ..

How could I forget Yihan wang?! Yeah, I hope she does really well and makes the Final again!

 

[lariko]

I am not sure if Genrikh Gartung stays in juniors, but I will be rooting for Team Germany, for him and Annika (?). Absolutely rooting for
Hana Bath, Elina Goidina, Sofia Titova, Anastasia Brandenburg, Gladki, Kalugina, Von Felten. Interested to see what will happen to the partners in the former Slovakian dance team and if Ovsyanikova will be back with a new partnership. Also curious to see if Barakhtina secures a spot in JGP from Canada given she had a good outing just now. Any fresh faces too.

 

[4everchan]

I am not sure if Genrikh Gartung stays in juniors, but I will be rooting for Team Germany, for him and Annika (?). Absolutely rooting for
Hana Bath, Elina Goidina, Sofia Titova, Anastasia Brandenburg, Gladki, Kalugina, Von Felten. Interested to see what will happen to the partners in the former Slovakian dance team and if Ovsyanikova will be back with a new partnership. Also curious to see if Barakhtina secures a spot in JGP from Canada given she had a good outing just now. Any fresh faces too.

Victoria is the only skater who is age eligible who managed the required scores at the Next Gen competition. If Skate Canada doesn't give her a JGP it would be a travesty .

 

[lariko]

Victoria is the only skater who is age eligible who managed the required scores at the Next Gen competition. If Skate Canada doesn't give her a JGP it would be a travesty .

Well, you never know. There are other 3 skaters they preferred in the past, so who knows. They might ignore the results. If she gets her 2 stages, I will be super-pumped to cheer for her. If not, I wouldn't be particularly surprised.

 

[TallyT]

Thank @saine for the info on Minsol

I also rather love Habin Choi from Korea, so have my fingers crossed for him this session.

 

[4everchan]

Well, you never know. There are other 3 skaters they preferred in the past, so who knows. They might ignore the results. If she gets her 2 stages, I will be super-pumped to cheer for her. If not, I wouldn't be particularly surprised.

with only 5 spots, getting 2 spots would mean full support and trust from Skate Canada and very great and steady performances from her all summer...

they have, in the past, with few spots, shared the "wealth" ... and I expect them to do so again this year. But, indeed, if Victoria were to skate as well as she did this weekend at a JGP, she could be close to the top and earn a second spot. So I'd say, what would matter is getting an early assignment and as far as I can tell, she's the only one who is ready for the first or second JGP.

I know we have talked a lot about Uliana, but I believe Victoria is much better. Time will tell if that was one competition or if she will be consistently good.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

If she is doing another junior season (born in 2009 so I think so) I would say Leandra Tzimpoukakis for Switzerland. Also Kira Baranovska for Latvia.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

How could I forget about Noelle Streuli?!?!

 

[elbkup]

Interested in following Sofia Bezkorovainaya of USA further this year; she captured hearts skating in honor of her coach and friends at Legacy on Ice. In that performance she wore Everly Livingston’s dress and skated to her music “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and has kept this music as her SP this season.

Also looking forward to Sophie Jolene of SCOB maximizing potential this season, fingers crossed.
Also, SO many young men! Will be an exciting year for juniors

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Oh, I have some picks for breakout Junior stars from smaller feds (though which feds count as small feds is very dependent on the discipline, imo), but I'm afraid to jinx them.

Generally speaking, Ice Dance will very likely have some big surprises and chances this season. Chinese pairs and women have been impressive in domestic competitions and certainly hope to carry that into the JGP series. I'm also interested in seeing how the new Ukrainian pairs team of Herrera/Khobta looks. And the men's and women's disciplines are always stacked with surprising (and well-known) talents.

 

[Skating91]

Brandenberg really regressed last season leaving Eteri didn't help her. She showed some promise but the development kind of halted . I think she has reached her physical limit, but I like her as a skater. Her free skate was fun.

Bath really lives and dies by the 3A so if she's consistent she is a threat otherwise there is little hope she really lacks in other areas especially spins. It seems like the move to the Japanese coach worked, maybe she has improved in those other areas the off season. Yes, she might be one to watch. No reason she can't be consistent with the 3A.

I like Goidina as a skater but there's no potential for ultra c. I think she'll be consistent, and in a weak country so can take a spot in seniors for sure. She will be around for a long time.

Titova was underrotating her jumps a couple years ago in Russia, the only real hope to continue her career was to go to a weak fed where there is no competition. I think she will struggle and there's little prospect for a rotated quad. She had grown a lot since she jumped quads, and they were never rotated back then.

I think Inga will continue to improve. At World's she really unleashed her potential. She's always been underscored for reasons I won't get into , but I think it has made her stronger. Kind of backfired on the sport.

Arina Kalugina will definitely be the breakout star. She showed her potential in that free skate at World's where they really held her back and Ted wasn't exactly a fan he was strangely negative , but she is definitely one to watch. If she starts landing those jumps clean only Shimada will beat her.

 

[Mathematician]

Brandenberg really regressed last season leaving Eteri didn't help her. She showed some promise but the development kind of halted . I think she has reached her physical limit, but I like her as a skater. Her free skate was fun.

Bath really lives and dies by the 3A so if she's consistent she is a threat otherwise there is little hope she really lacks in other areas especially spins. It seems like the move to the Japanese coach worked, maybe she has improved in those other areas the off season. Yes, she might be one to watch. No reason she can't be consistent with the 3A.

I like Goidina as a skater but there's no potential for ultra c. I think she'll be consistent, and in a weak country so can take a spot in seniors for sure. She will be around for a long time.

Titova was underrotating her jumps a couple years ago in Russia, the only real hope to continue her career was to go to a weak fed where there is no competition. I think she will struggle and there's little prospect for a rotated quad. She had grown a lot since she jumped quads, and they were never rotated back then.

I think Inga will continue to improve. At World's she really unleashed her potential. She's always been underscored for reasons I won't get into , but I think it has made her stronger. Kind of backfired on the sport.

Arina Kalugina will definitely be the breakout star. She showed her potential in that free skate at World's where they really held her back and Ted wasn't exactly a fan he was strangely negative , but she is definitely one to watch. If she starts landing those jumps clean only Shimada will beat her.

I think Bath is great I really liked her last year at GPF it was the first time I saw the current international juniors. I was impressed by a lot of them. You're a little harsh on Titova I think she always had potential to be a great non-ultra-c skater with really high artistry like Sinitsyna or Frolova. Her quads did struggle though. Her music/program selection is diabolical too. Coach's fault. Kalugina is great too of course some of her jumps were bewildering last season.