JGP Croatia 2012 Men's Preview | Golden Skate

JGP Croatia 2012 Men's Preview

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I think I have to say that Nathan Chen USA is the favorite to win this competition, especially so if he lands his triple axels as well as he did at JGP Austria. However, there are other great competitors here, but some with question marks after their names. Han Yan is the reigning World Junior Champion, but he appears to have some issues, which have been gone over one way or the other on Twitter. In any case, he did not medal at JGP Sencila-Bled last week, finishing fifth. Whatever issues he has had, probably will be still there this week. If he can skate at his best, he should win. Maxim Kovtun RUS finished fourth last year at the Junior Grand Prix Final. He has a quad, too. However, he changed coaches this summer amidst a cloud of rumor, and it is not at all clear what condition he is in. If he has returned to decent shape, he should surely medal. Alexander Samarin won the bronze at JGP Sencila-Bled. He is still listed to be here, but is now listed as competing at JGP Chemnitz where the competition is weaker. He is still listed on JGP Croatia's entries as well. If he really were here, he might medal. Jin Seo Kim KOR will definitely be here. He is a fine skater who won the bronze at his JGP debut at JGP Austria. He may well medal here, depending on who shows up and what shape they are in. I would favor him over Samarin, for example. Petr Coufal CZE, Harrison Choate USA, and Michael Christian Martinez BRA, will all be trying to improve on their fourth place finishes in their respective events this season. Any dark horse efforts here should be expected from those three. So JGP Croatia should be an interesting event. It's interesting even before the event, wondering who will be there. I would expect changes, and will update this preview when I hear anything different.


Nathan Chen USA
SP "Prelude and Allegro" by Franz Kreisler
LP Three Musketeers soundtrack
His coaches are Rafael Arutyunyan, Nadia Kanaeva, & Vera Arutyunyan. His choreographers are Rafael Arutyunyan, Nadia Kanaeva (SP), S& tephanee Grosscup (FS)
Nathan is 13 years old. He won the Gardena Spring Trophy last sprint. JGP Linz is his JGP debut.
This summer he scored 69.32 in his SP at Golden West.
Nathan won US Junior Nationals last year. Here's his LP. He was 12 at the time., and scored 193.20.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJB_fUtT1tU
and he has been entertaining audiences for quite a while. Here he is at 11, after winning US Novice Nationals, skating a cowboy exhibition:
He has been trying to add a triple axel to his programs this summer, with mixed results. He hit it at JGP Linz, which he won with his personal best score of 222.00.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjgDk1eg8Sw
His long program at JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec_qXlKwDDA&feature=plcp
His short program at JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TjYCF8iAfs&feature=plcp


The rumor is that Alexander Samarin, who finished third at JGP Sencila-Bled by scoring 183.03, will be replaced by Andrei Zuber, who finished fifth at JGP Bosphorus with a score of 165.47..
Andrei Zuber RUS
SP Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell
LP Mister X by Emmerich Kalman
Andrei is coached by Tatiana Mishina &Oleg Tataurov. His choreographer is Irina Manuilova. He is almost 15.
Andreif finished fifth at JGP Bosphorus with a score of 165.47, his first JGP, so that is his personal best.
His LP from JGP Bosphorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IyhXC6mZvk
His SP form JGP Bosphorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPXNAa6hvxs

Photos http://www.fskate.ru/photos/image12268.jpg http://www.fskate.ru/photos/image10185.jpg
http://www.fskate.ru/skaters/1029/photo/ - many photos.
Here he is in an exhibition labelled "International figure skating school of Alexei Mishin.Estonia.Tartu.2011.July 9"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oZXWBZOYEM
Thanks to AlexRus for most of this information, and the links to photographs.
His LP at JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dtWVO1SnpU&feature=plcp
His SP at JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTW1d4yjEs&feature=plcp

Alexander Samarin RUS
SP Mahogany Suite (orchestral version of the movie soundtrack)
LP Soundtrack from the Russian movie, "The Admiral"
Alexander does not yet have an ISU biography.. He is 14.
His coach is Inna Goncharenko (who is also coach of Elena Radionova).
He won the NRW Trophy in the Novice division in 2010..
Last season, he won the bronze medal in two of the Cup of Russia series Junior events.
His highest score, nationally, was 193.90..
He plans a seven triple program with two triple triple combinations included.
He has been a member of the Russian National team since the 2010-2011 season, but he had to withdraw from the most recent Russian Junior championship. He had finished twelfth in juniors in the previous season.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXMDlrCE4_I - fragment of Vesti-Sports news TV program about "Klin Skate" May 2012.
The only info about this competition (which is in calendar ofr Federation of Figure Skating of Russia, so of high state).
Samarin was first in the Senior Men's division.
Photos
http://www.fskate.ru/photos/image7606.jpg (Samarin, Kolyada, Efremenkov).
http://www.fskate.ru/skaters/445/photo/ (many photos)
His SP from last November
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux3LLmfu5-E
His LP from a competition in Russia last March
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmZvH-HnNuE
His LP from JGP Sencila-Bled
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a04vri1KJCY&feature=plcp:
His SP from JGP Sencila-Bled
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRgOp68gtAk&feature=plcp


Jin Seo Kim KOR
SP La Boheme- Paco de Lucia by Almoraima
LP Pralion and Varekai from Cirque Du Soleil
His coach is Hyung Kyung Choi. He is 15.
Jin Seo Kim made his JGP debut at JGP Austria, where he finished third with a score of 175.87, which is now his personal best.
His exhibition from this summer's All That Skate show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paMM4h7ISnI
A Korean TV special on Jin, as a promo for All That Skate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGsufcCNgZg
His SP from the Korean National championships.in 2012, which won in Seniors, with a score of 186.44..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEzu5LWS1gU
His LP from Korean Nationals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azWA3f8Ltws
His LP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiGmIFm3bj0&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0jEng4EXd8&feature=plcp

Petr Coufal CZE
SP The Last of the Mohicans (soundtrack) by Trevor Jones, Randy Edelman
LP Black Beauty (soundtrack) by Danny Elfman
Petr's coach is Ivana Tokosova, and his choreographer is Alexei Vasilievski. He is 17.
He is the current Czech Junior Champion. He placed seventeenth at the Junior World Championships last year with a score of 161.10, his personal best score at that time.
From his ISU biography, Coufal's sister Jana (two years younger) is a competitive figure skater as well. His mother Alena (nee Drevjana) was an Olympian and world competitor in gymnastics.
His SP from Junior Worlds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PUXW6exbPc
Petr finished fourth at JGP Austria, with a score of 175.72, which is his new personal best.
His LP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0LQglhC6T4&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRlx4MZiaPI&feature=plcp

Harrison Choate USA
SP Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White by Perez Prado; Mambo Jambo by Perez Prado
LP Slaughter on 10th Avenue by Richard Rodgers
Harrison is coached in Boston by Mark Mitchell, & Peter Johansson. His Choreographers are : Jamie Isley & Tom Dickson
His highest international score is 166.38 at JGP Brasov 2011, where he finished 6th. He finished 4th at US Nationals in juniors.
Harrison at JGP Brasov LP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZK_iYMLag4
Harrison at Evening With Champions this week. He skated there, and left immediately for JGP Croatia. He skates here to Mambo Italiano:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di23KMhqHmw
Harrison has had a strong summer season. His fourth place finish at US nationals is a little misleading. He bombed the SP but finished strong in the LP.
He recently competed at JGP Courchevel, where he finished fourth with a score of 169.70, which is his new personal best.
His LP at JGP Courchevel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhblwjI2OU8&feature=plcp
His SP at JGP Courchevel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X92oElShJuo&feature=plcp

Michael Christian Martinez PHI
SP Night in Paris by Josh Vietti
LP King Arthur (soundtrack) by Hans Zimmer
Michael is coached by Ilia Kulik & John Nicks. His choreographer is Phillip Mills.
His personal best is 165.10, achieved at the 2012 World Junior Championships. He finished 15th
His SP from the Glacier Falls Summer Competition
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NQ0bTXr1BQ
Golden Skate did an interview and article about Michael in September:
http://www.goldenskate.com/2012/09/martinez-puts-the-philippines-on-the-map-for-figure-skating/
More recently, he finished fourth at JGP Lake Placid, with a score of 158.40.
His LP from Lake Placid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-77owtbZL-c&feature=plcp
His SP from Lake Placid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OffZuAZvY-g&feature=plcp

Han Yan CHN
SP Jealous
LP Masquerade
His coach is Shuguang Jia, and his Choreographer is Helen Zhang Wei. He placed third in seniors at this year's Chinese National Championships.
Han Yan is the reigning World Junior Champion, the first Chinese man to win that title. He won World Juniors with his best ever score of 222.45. He is 16.
He also won the Youth Olympic Games last year.
His winning Junior Worlds LP, which contained both a quad toe, and a triple axel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdhStS3mSYY&playnext=1&list=PL0948EFA409765A88&feature=results_video
Han Yan recently competed at JGP Sencila-Bled and finished a disappointing fifth with a score of 180.69. There are rumors that he either was ill or has some injury. He has not at this time been removed from the entry list.
His SP from JGP Sencila-Bled
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBinI_ZGrAM&feature=plcp
His LP from JGP Sencila-Bled
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO7-qVX7XYo&feature=plcp

Maxim Kovtun RUS
SP Lawrence of Arabia
LP Casablanca
His ISU biography has not been updated, but his programs are known from test skates in Russia.
His current coach is Elena Buianova (Vodorezova). He left his former coach Nikolai Morosov this last summer, and rumor has it that Nikolai fired him.
Maxim is 17. He achieved his personal best score of 193.76 at last year's Junior Grand Prix Final in Quebec City, where he finished fourth. He also represented Russia at the World Team Trophy this last spring, where he finished twelfth. Maxim has a quad, but sometimes falters on his other jumps.
His SP from the 2011 JGPF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpmVqh0bgFU
His LP from the 2011 JGPF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmlNWVsFo04


Sei Kawahara JPN
SP Sing Sing Sing by Louis Prima
LP The Last Samurai (soundtrack)
His coaches are Miwa Ishihara & Kensuke Nakaniwa. His choreographer is Kenji Miyamoto He is 16.
Sei placed fourth in Juniors at Japanese Nationals.
His personal best used to be 160.49 which he received at the JGP Volvo Cup last year, where he placed sixth.
His LP from Volvo Cup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YumHcC_cVlg
Sei finished fifth at JGP Austria with a score of 170.41, a new personal best.
His LP from JGP Austria:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG7X9ceOwkI&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGoDCwM-1hI&feature=plcp


Pavel Ignatenko BLR
SP Crazy
LP Malaguena by E. Lecuona (a modern arrangement)
His coach is Marina Selitskaia, and his choreographer is Mikhail Pochitalin. He is 17. His hobbies are music editing, and being a Disk Jockey, so clearly he is interested in the music he skates to.
He placed fourth in seniors at his national championships, and won the silver medal in junior men's at Ice Star Minsk recently.
Pavel recently finished seventh at JGP Bosphorus, with a total score of 155.08, which is a personal best score for him.
His LP at JGP Bosphorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJjPMUfh-No&feature=plcp
His SP at JGP Bosphorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6jA7WCSXpE&feature=plcp

Mitchell Gordon CAN
SP Music Short Program / Short Dance as of season2012/2013 The Untouchables (soundtrack) by Ennio Morricone
LP Ochestral medley of Neil Diamond songs, including Song Sung Blue, Play Me, Caroline, and Forever in Blue Jeans
His coaches are: Keegan and Eileen Murphy. His choreographer is Mark Pillay
His former personal best score of 145.04 was earned at JGP Tallinn last year, where he placed seventh. He is the current Canadian Junior Men's Champion.
His FS from the YT/BC SummerSkate, which Mitchell won with a total of 160.15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri9pJYS9P2A
Mitchell recently finished eighth at JGP Austria with a score of 162.62, his new personal best.
His SP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsvtggdUhWQ&feature=plcp
His LP from JGP Austria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL3qK8D5wfQ&feature=plcp


Luiz Manella BRA
His coach is Andrei Kriukov. His choreographer isNatlia Timoshenko. He is 17.
His ISU biography has not been updated this season.
Luiz earned his best ever score of 162.53 at the World Junior Championships last year, where he finished sixteenth. He finished twenty second at Four Continents, and recently placed tenth at the US International Senior B in Salt Lake.
His SP from 4CC's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90GWPNwWyRg

Iassen Petkov BUL
SP Peppy and George (from "The Artist" soundtrack) by Ludovic Bource
LP Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla; Preparense by Astor Piazzolla
His coaches are Michelle Leigh and Doug Leigh. His choreographers are Kelly Johnson (FS) and Tyler Myles (SP). He is 18.
Iassen placed fourth in juniors at his national championships in 2012-but that was Canadian Junior Nationals. Iassen he had moved to Canada when he was 5 years old,so he had competed at the National level in Canada, before switching to representing Bulgaria.
He finished eleventh recently at JGP Bosphorus with a score of 136.61.
His LP from JGP Bosphorus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo9yqb-qqSo&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Bosphorus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QGG-9tCWXY&feature=plcp

Pangiotis Polizoakis GER
SP Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla
LP Nutcracker by P. I. Tchaikovsky, modern arrangement by Trans Siberian Orchestra
His coach is Coach: Michael Huth, and his Choreographer is Rostislav Sinitzin. He is 17.
He placed second in the Merano Cup in juniors in 2011, where he scored 137.01.
He was third in juniors at German Nationals.
Here is his LP from NRW Trophy last December
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEaMGKA4v4I
And an exhibition of his from Oberstdorf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MUSgGhLlds
He recently placed eleventh at JGP Courchevel with a score of 135.58, which is his personal best.
His LP from JGP Courchevel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvt7bgsNL9w&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Courchevel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nkd2f6IiZKM&feature=plcp:


Chi-I Tsao TPE
SP Otchi Tchor Ni Ya, Sing, Sing, Sing
LP Dark Angel; Secret ; Requiem For a Tower
His coaches are Shih-Hao Lu, & Gui-Fang Zhu. His choreographer is Shih-Hao Liu. He will have his fifteenth birthday during this event.
He earned his personal best score of 133.24 at JGP Brisbane 2011, where he finished 11th. He was 23rd at the World Junior Championships, and was second in Juniors at the Asian FS Trophy 2012 Taipei City. This was earlier in August. He earned a total score of 148.68 there.
Here is his LP from that competition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mmq80Jk_OY
He also competes in in-line skating.
He recently finished eleventh at JGP Lake Placid with a score of 125.46.
His LP from Lake Placid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYW61HIp6ZI&feature=plcp
His SP from Lake Placid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsqRoC_busI&feature=plcp


David Kranjec AUS
SP Mission Impossible by Lalo Shifrin
LP Walk This Way by Aerosmith; Live and Let Die by The Wings
David moved from Slovenia to Australia. His coaches are Irina Stavrovskaia & Valentin Kadzevitch. His choreographer is Irina Stavrovskaia. He is 18. He placed second in juniors at the last Australian championship. His former best score was 128.93, achieved at JGP Brisbane in 2011.
His short program from JGP Austria 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOUuph1QBOw
David recently finished twelfth at JGP Sencila-Bled with a score of 138.41, which is his new personal best. He finished eighth in the SP there, so if he can improve his LP performance, he may be even higher here.
His SP at JGP Sencila-Bled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zws_oVp-OyY&feature=plcp
His LP at JGP Sencila-Bled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8aXlfbR5Fg&feature=plcp


Slavik Hayrapetyan ARM
Slavik's ISU biography has not been updated, so his program information is not available.
His coach is Samvel Hayrapetyan, and his choreographer is Alla Famichova. He is 16.
He earned his personal best score of 128.97 at JGP Brasov 2011, where he finished fourteenth. He finished seventh in juniors at Nordics. He is the Armenian senior national champion. He competed at world juniors and finished twenty sixth. He was twenty-eigth at Europeans, and did not survive out of the preliminary rounds at Worlds.
Slavik hails from a skating family. He is coached by his father and his brother Sarkis (four years older) is also a competitive figure skater and competed at the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
His LP from JGP Brasov:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfn1-fPL7nc

Osman Akgün TUR
SP You and I by Toshiko Sahashi (information 2011/2012 season)
LP Once Upon a Time in Mexico by Robert Rodriguez (information 2011/2012 season)
His coach is Tayfun Anar, and his choreographer is Alexandre Ievleva . He is 16, and plays the guitar as a hobby, but is a serious musician, studying flute at the conservatory.
He placed second in juniors in his most recent national championships. He competed at World Juniors last year, but did not make it out of the qualifying round
He finished second at Challenge Cup in the Netherlands this last spring..
He recently finished thirteenth at JGP Bosphorus with a score of 127.47, with technical scores high enough that they qualify him to attend Junior Worlds this year.
His Exhibition number from the recent JGP Bosphorus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiyJzV_HSAw
His LP from JGP Bosphorus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41bsEvkgYfE&feature=plcp
His SP from JGP Bosphorus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHP7UAJZRNk&feature=plcp

Tino Olenius FIN
SP Santo Domingo by Rodrigo y Gabriela
LP Flame by Mika Toiyanen performed by Linda Lampenius; Who Wants to Live Forever by Brian May performed by David Garett; Flame by Mika Toiyanen performed by Linda Lampenius
Tino is 16. His coaches are Susanna Haarala & Maaret Siromaa, and his choreographer is Elina Ikonen.
He earned his personal best score of 127.12 at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games, finishing eleventh. He won the Nordics in Juniors this spring.
His winning free skate from Nordics 2012:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irsqHPGOapY
A Finnish news report & interview about the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LfTRRYub2Y

Carol Vittorio Palermo ITA
Carlo is 15. His best personal score was from the Youth Olympics 2012, where he scored 125.55, and finished. twelfth. He finished fourth in the Merano Cup. He is the junior champion of Italy.
His long program from the 2011-2012 Italian Junior Championships: This is his first JGP appearance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZH0fqoUw30
His Novice SP from the Gardena Spring Trophy 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYMEEtVv5ag


Kristor Forgo HUN
SP Exogenesis Symphony Part 3 by Muse
LP Winners by Nuttin' But Stringz; Crystallize by Lindsey Stirling
His coaches are Zsofia Kulcsar & Zoltan Toth His choreographer is Zoltan Toth. He is 20. His older sister Fanni has also competed for Hungary internationally.
He finished second in seniors in his most recent national championships.
His personal best score is 98.55, earned in last year's Croatian Cup.
He finished second in juniors in the most recent Santa Claus Cup.
Here is his LP from the 2011 Hungarian Nationals:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_WB7ZxN1g

Nicky Obreykov SWE
His coach is Tanja Magnusson. His Choreographer is Katja Magnusson. He is still 16, and plays the cello.
He has not competed on the JGP before.
Nicky is the Junior Champion of Sweden, and placed fourth at Nordics in 2009 in Novices.
He finished second at the 2011 Stockholm Trophy in Juniors with a score of 116.65.
His LP from the 2011 Elitseriefinal :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qLcQzQHiKo

Lap Kan Yuen HKG
SP Pirates of the Caribbean
LP Victory from "Seven Swords" (soundtrack) by Kenji Kawai
His coach is Ying Zhao, and his choreographer is Jia Qi .
His personal best of 84.93 was obtained at JGP Sheffield 2010.
He placed twelfth this summer at the Asian Figure Skating Trophy.
His SP from 2011 Trofeo W. Lombardi, his best ever SP:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVHq7VCvTZI


Mislav Blagojevic CRO
His coach is Sanja Mikulec, he trains in Zagreb, and he is 17. His older brother has also competed for Croatia. He was the sole competitor in Juniors at the most recent Croatian championships, so of course, he won. At this time he has no ISU biography. Mislav won the Golden Bear competition in Juniors in 2011 in Zagreb with a score of 74.78. This is his first JGP appearance
He also competes in pairs with Lana Petranović, although not at this competition.
Here is a video of Mislav and his partner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXt3LywKpn4

Steven Spencer Baker CRO
Steven placed second in the Golden Bear of Zagreb competition in 2011 in Advanced Novices, so he is quite new to the junior division.
This event is his JGP debut. He has no ISU biography at this time.

Petar Cetinic CRO
Petar finished third in the Tivoli Cup in Springs in 2010, and won the Mladost Trophy in Chicks in 2010.
He finished second in Basic Novice B boys at Golden Bear of Zagreb in 2011 (the most recent competition).
This would seem to be his very first event in Juniors anywhere.
 
Last edited:

sky_fly20

Match Penalty
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
thanks Doris :)

Alexander Samarin is now on Germany JGP list and is indeed official he was shuffled
but I am sorry for the misinformation his replacement is Andrei Zuber Not Lazukin
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Thanks, AlexRus! I'll fix the preview.
ETA, done.

BTW, it looks like Zuber is the better choice in any case.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Country
Russia
Some extra info about Maxim KOVTUN.

Now he is in hands of two "iron ladies" - Elena Buianova (Vodorezova) and Tatiana Tarasova.
Tarasova told:
I was pleased very much by Maxim Kovtun to whom I help. To me imposes that this athlete has a core on which all the rest can be strung.
http://www.team-russia2014.ru/article/4926.html (Russian)

Maxim is not very stable.
His skating at OpenMoscow (6-7 Sept this year) was not good, test skatng about a week after was much better.
He is included to last Events of JGP because he was not ready.

He in treated as No 1 of russian Junior Men at JGP this season.
 
Top