JGP Austria 2012 Ladies Preview

[dorispulaski]

There are 32 ladies competing at JGP Linz. It's a huge field comprising skaters with a wide range of abilities. Elena Radionova should easily win this competition, but it's difficult to know who should win the silver or the bronze.

There are four ladies who have done really well in summer competitions, but who have either had injuries to recover from or are relatively unknown. Samantha Cesario USA appears to have recovered from her injuries and won the Libery Open in summer competition. Hannah Miller USA skated really really well at Skate Detroit. Maria Stavitskaia RUS did a really good job at the Russian Cup Test Skate earlier this month. Hinano Isobe JPN recently won the bronze at the Asian Figure Skating Trophy. And then there's Hae Jin Kim KOR who skated well last season, beating So Youn Park, who skated so well at Lake Placid JGP. Kim can do all five of the standard ladies' triples, and has done triple toe triple toe and tripleflip triple toe. I would predict that she would take the silver if it were not that she did not compete in the 2012 Asian Trophy.. Now I see her duelling with Hannah Miller for the silver, and if she perhaps is not her best shape, losing the bronze to Cesario in the Long Program.

Risa Shoji JPN could be a dark horse here, too. I would be more enthusiastic about her chances if she had not bombed so badly last year at World Juniors.

Elena Radionova RUS
SP The Fifth Element (soundtrack) by Eric Serra
LP And Finally I Love You soundtrack by D. Malikov; Country of Deaf soundtrack by A. Aygi
Her coach is Inna Goncharenko. Her Choreographers are Irina Tagaeva, Elena Maslennikova, & Ilia Averbukh
Elena scored 177.79 when she won JGP Courchevel 2012. That was her personal best score, since it was her very first ISU competition.
She is 13. She won the bronze medal at Russian Junior Nationals.
Her SP from Courchevel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRsU6MTPK6Y
Her LP from Courchevel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpQrgiMV3eM


Maria Stavitskaia RUS
Maria just turned 15.
Maria's ISU biography has not been updated.
She won the Cup of Nice in Juniors last year.
She finished sixth at the Tallinn JGP with her personal best international score of 130.92.
She finished tenth at the Russian Junior Championships with a score of 146.80.
She did very well this month at the Russian Cup Test Skate in St. Petersburg, winning the short program in Juniors.
Her LP from Russian Championships last December, where she finished eighteenth & last in Seniors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZNMdojY7Sw

Samantha Cesario USA
SP Carmen Fantasie by David Garrett
LP Black Swan soundtrack by Clint Mansell
Her coach is Mary Lynn Geldermann & her Choreographer is Inese Buciveca. She is just turned 19, and lost a great deal of last season due to injuries.
Her ISU personal best of 153.84 was achieved at Baltic Cup 2011, where she finished third. She also finished third at JGP Tallinn last year.
HerSenior LP from Liberty Summer competition 2012. She won the LP with a score of 103.68 She won the SP with a score of 54.55 (total 158.23)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDbuqAJbSPc

Hannah Miller USA
SP Tango Tanguera by Sexteto Mayor
LP The Storm by Balázs Havasi (modern piano & orchestra piece) . Hannah is 15.
Her coach is Kirsten Miller-Zisholz. Her choreographers are Daniil Barantsev & Tanith Belbin
Her ISU personal best score of 146.74 was scored at 2011 Trofeo W. Lombardi, where she finished third.
Hannah's SP from Skate Detroit 2012 (she scored 56.72)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2z9YAXdJ0U
Her LP from Skate Detroit, which she won with a score of 111.77.. (At Skate Detroit, her total score would be 168.49)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEtTRXugMDs

Hae Jin Kim KOR
SP La Boheme
LP Sleeping Beauty by P. Tchaikovsky
Her coach is Hea Sook Shin. She is 15.
Her personal best of 149.71 was earned at last year's World Junior Championships, where she placed eighth. She won the bronze medal at JGP Brasov last season.
Here is her LP from Korean Nationals, which she won in the Senior division. Her score was 167.73. She has won the Korean Senior Ladies event three seasons running. So Youn Park placed second there last year with 144.59. She won the Asian Trophy in Juniors last summer, but did compete in it this summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiYToPsbrVg

Risa Shoji JPN
SP Winter from Four Seasons by A. Vivaldi
LP The Notebook (soundtrack)
Risa is 16. Her coach is Naoki Shigematsu. Her choreographers are Kenji Miyamoto, & David Wilson
Risa's personal best score was 157.83 from last year's JGP Tallin, where she placed second. She placed third at Japanese Nationals in Juniors
Her LP from Junior Worlds, where she place twentieth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0zG9A0eIrI


Hinano Isobe JPN
SP Epilogue (from "Shaolin" soundtrack) by Nicolas Errera
LP Golliwog's Cakewalk by Claude Debussy
Her coaches are Mie Hamada, Yamato Tamura, & Yoko Niino. Her choreographer is Tom Dickson. She is 15.
She finished seventh at the last Japanese Championships in Juniors. She won the bronze medal in Juniors at the 2011 Asian Trophy.
Her score at Japanese sectionals was 147.26.
I do not have any skating videos of hers.

Natalia Popova UKR
SP Pourquoi Me Reveiller by J. Massenet
LP La Bayadere by L. Minkus
Her coaches are Galina Zmievskaia & Viktor Petrenko. Her Choreographer is Nina Petrenko. She is 19.
Natalie is the Senior Champion of Ukraine. She achieved her personal best score of 138.60 at the 2012 European Championships, where she placed twelfth. She placed seventeenth at SeniorWorlds
Here is her SP from Europeans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8lDfv7JPXI




Sophie Almassy AUT
Sophie is a skater who was an advanced novice last year. She is 15 years old.
She scored 93.03 when she won the junior championship of Austria, scoring 93.03 .
Here's her SP from Nov. 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3A69-Jdqp0


Levana Wu TPE
Levana is the Taipei silver medallist. Her score in that competition was 67.29
She finished second in the LP and third in the SP at Troy Summer Skate 2011 competition in Juniors. (Her total score: 91.31).
She finished fourteenth at the recent Asian Figure Skating Trophy with a score of 72.63.
Here's a video of Levana performing her LP in 2011.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zXV2HoJh8c



Jasmine Alexandra Costa EST
Jasmine has not updated her programs for 2012-2013 season.
Here coach is Anna Levandi , and her choreographers are Anna Levandi & Maria McLean. She is 18.
She placed fourth in Seniors at her national championships.
Her personal best score of 120.56 was earned at JGP Minsk 2009.
Here's a video of Jasmine's SP at the Volvo Cup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Bl_TTgapaQ


Agnese Garlisi ITA
Agnese has not updated her ISU biography. She is 18.
Her personal best score of 100.32 was achieved at JGP Austria last year.
She finished fourth at Triglav Trophy this spring.
Her SP from last year's Lombardia Trophy
She placed ninth at last year's Italian championships.
Here's her SP from the 2011 Lombardia Trophy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHgkRjkarEg

Yuka Nagai JPN
SP Liebestraum
LP Polovtsian Dances by Borodin
Last year, Yuka was the bronze medallist in novices in Japan.
She won the bronze medal at Asian Trophy last month with a score of 132.90
Her SP from last month's Asian Trophy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzYIOvoPtYc
Her LP from Asian Trophy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvoQncZJuM8




Patricia Gleščič SLO
Her ISU bio has not yet been updated this year.
Coach: Gordana Smrekar Choreographer: Tina Svajger
She is 18 years old.
She was the 2011 Slovenian champion.
Last season she was fifth at the Merano Cup.
She achieved her personal best of 125.46 at the 2010 Cup of Austria.
Her SP from last year's World Junior Championships, where she finished twentieth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vABLAfKwXe8

Nina Larissa Wolfslast AUT
SP Illumination
LP Memories by Edvin Marton; Secret Garden
Her coach is Coach: Evelyn Rossoukhi-Schneider Choreographer: Inese Bucevica, Chika Maruta
She is 18.
Her personal best of 96.26 occurred at the Youth Olympic Games, where she finished 13.
She finished nineteenth at the Bavarian Open.
Her SP from the NRW Trophy this past spring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tErO-SEfNWQ

Kristina Isabel Yntema AUT
SP Ratatouille by Michael Giacchino
LP Spartacus by Aram Khatchaturian
Coach: Yulia Lavrenchuk Choreographer: Oksana Gorbatchev
She is 13.
Her SP from JGP Courchevel 2012, where she scored her personal best of 93.03, and finished seventeenth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbuqDTCHdiE


Anais Claes BEL
SP Any Other World by Mika
LP Black Swan (soundtrack) by Clint Mansell
Her coach and choreographer is Vera Vandercaveye. She is seventeen.
She placed second at Belgian junior nationals. She placed thirty first last year at World Juniors.
Her SP from Trofeo W. Lombardi in 2011, where she achieved her personal best of 82.03 and finished twenty seventh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ912_shZyw


Ziquan Zhao CHN
SP Moonlight Sonata by Henry Mancini
LP Black Swan by Clint Mansel
She is 16. She trains in Harbin with her coaches : Mingzhu Li, Chengjiang Li, & Li Bao. Her choreographers are Hailan Jiang, & Elvin Huang
She earned her personal best of 143.92 at last year's World Junior Championships, where she finished in eleventh place. She finished in fourth place last year at the Senior Chinese National Championships.
She placed tenth at Courchevel JGP 2012.
Here is her SP from Courchevel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beyKiIzigHQ


Valentina Mikac CRO
SP Two Guitars by Paul Mauriat
LP La Bayadere (The Temple Dancer) by Leon Minkus
Valentina is 15. She trains in Bratislava with her coaches Ivana Jakupcevic & Irakli Japaridze. Her choreographers are Diana Kuneva Franjkovic,& Ivana Jakupcevic.
She is the Croatian Junior champion. She finished thirteenth at Triglav Trophy 2012. Her total score there was 83.95.
Here is her LP from Skate Helena 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANL8EOXquaI


Eliska Brezinova CZE
SP El Dia Que Me Queiras (Tango) performed by Richard Clayderman
LP Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (soundtrack); Geisha
Eliska is the Czech Senior champion. She trains at Oberstdorf with K. Fajfr, I. Zvachtova, P. Starec, & R. Brezina. Her choreographer is Frank Dehne.
She earned her personal best of 101.70 at JGP Czech Skate 2010. She finished eighteenth at last year's Europeans in the Preliminary Round, and so did not qualify for the final round of competition.
She is the younger sister of Michal Brezina. She is 16.
Here's her LP from the Three Nations National Championships 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCudmcaE0ZA

Seidi Rantanen FIN
SP Bohemian Rhapsody by Freddy Mercury
LP Water for the Tribe by Keiko Matsui
Seidi is 17. Her coaches are Virpi Horttana, Henna Hietala & Elina Ikonen. Her choreographers are Maria McLean & Sari Hakola
She placed fourth last year in Seniors at Finnish Nationals. She won last season's Nordics in Juniors. This is her JGP debut.
Here's her winning free program from the Nordics. She scored 77.82 for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qujKxHoMf9w



Nathalie Weinzierl GER
SP Exodus performed by Maksim Mrvica Music
LP Havana by Dave Grusin
She is 18.
Her score at 2012 Europeans is her ISU personal best score. It was 115.89
Nathalie won the Bavarian Open 2012. She placed sixth in Seniors at German Championships.
Here's Nathalie's LP from the NRW Trophy, where she scored a total of 134.6, competing in Seniors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ol2yurGdps

Vala Rún B. Magnúsdóttir ISL
SP Sous Le Ciel Du Paris by Paul Mauriat; Pdam Pdam by Paul Mauriat
LP Waterland by Roberto Cacciapaglia; Times by Roberto Cacciapaglia
Her coaches are Diddier Paillares & Asids Ros Clark. Her choreographers are S. Ahkmerova, G. Didier (SP), & A. Heinonen (FS). She is 15.
This event is her JGP debut.
She finished eighteenth in Juniors at Coupe de Printemps of Luxembourg this past spring.
Here is her performance at Nordics 2012.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKkXVVGhlwk

Kristine Gaile LAT
SP Concerto No. 1 by P. I. Tchaikovski
LP Flying by John Powell
Kristine has not filed a full ISU biography. This competition is her JGP debut. She is 15.
She is just up from novices. Here is her Advanced Noviee program from Tukuma Cup 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McBdcyOIKCs

Inge Januleviciute LTUSP Danse Bacchanale from "Samson and Delilah" by Camille Saint-Saens
LP Somewhere Over the Rainbow from "The Sounds of Music"
Coach: Dmitri Kozlov Choreographer: Ingrida Snieskiene, Rasa Birbaliene
She is 17
Her personal best total score is 94.29 at JGP Tallinn 2011.
She placed second in seniors at the last Lithuanian Championships.
Her LP from JGP Tallinn 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBuMEAEzjQk

Mila Morellissen NED
SP Soong Sisters
LP Far and Away
Mila's coach and choreographer is Susan Kraan-Akkerman.
She placed second in Juniors in the Netherlands National Championship.
Her free skate from the Challenge Cup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czrZMRo0tAo


Camilla Gjersem NOR
SP Come Together by The Beatles
LP Butterfly Lovers by Vanessa Mae
Coach: Berit Steigendal Choreographer: Kaja Hanevold
She is 18. She is the Norwegian Senior Ladies Champion for 2012.
Her twin sister Anne-Line is also a figure skater.
Her SP from 2012 JGP Courchevel, where she obtained her personal best score of 105.32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGjW5MqWl04


Monika Simancikova SVK
SP Tango de Amor (from The Addams Family soundtrack by Andrew Lippa)
LP Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saens
Monika's Coach: is Vladimir Dvojnikov, and her Choreographer is Raffaella Cazzaniga. She is 16
She finished fifteenth at last year's World Junior Championships. She is the Senior Slovak Champion.
Her personal best was earned at Europeans 2012. It was 136.79.
Monika's SP at Europeans 2012, where she finished fourteenth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSceoXrE5io


Simonn Erwee RSA
SP Out of Africa (soundtrack) by John Barry
LP Sleeping Beauty by P. I. Tchaikovsky
Simonn is 13. Her coach is Heather Ashley. This is her JGP Debut.
Here's Simonn winning Juveniles in 2007:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJEeObF90SM


Gabriella Josefsson SWE
SP Waltz No. 2
LP Circus
Her coaches are : Andrea Dohany & Askana Jolkin. Her choreographers are : Andrea Dohany & Tamara Kuchiki. Gabriella is 17.
This year Gabriella Josefsson advanced to the junior level. For the second time she represented Sweden in the Nordic Championships, where she placed tentth.. She placed fourth in juniors in Norway this year. She will make her first JGP appearance here at Linz.
Her free skate from Nordics 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vdr1BDnA6XU


Laure Nicodet SUI
SP Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso
LP Smile - Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin soundtrack); The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin soundtrack); The Loving Mandolin (Charlie Chaplin soundtrack); Titine - Modenr Times (Charlie Chaplin soundtrack)
Laure trains with coaches Myriam Loriol-Oberwiler & Philippe Pelissier. Her choreographer is Stephanie Ferrer-Pelissier.
Her LP from The Challenge Cup last March, where she finished fourteenth. She will make her first JGP appearance at Linz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiQnYp87tz4


Promsan Rattanadilok Na Phuket THA
SP Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
LP La Strada (soundtrack) by Nino Rota
Promsan is 13. Her coach is Sun Bun Park.
She recently placed twelfth at the Asian Figure Skating Trophy. This is her first appearance on the JGP.
I do not have a video of her.

 

[AlexRus]

Elena Radionova RUS
(...)
Elena scored 177.79 when she won JGP Courchevel 2012. That was her personal best score.
She is 14. (...)

177.79 - it is her only score, because she had only one competition for ISU personal bests (atTriglav Trophy she skated as novice, so results are not treated as for Personal Best, as for ISU Ratings).
Her Best Score at National Level competitions (season 2011-12) is 184.61 Senior and 178.94 Junior.

She is 13. She was born at 06 January 1999.

Maria Stavitskaia RUS
(...)
Her LP from Russian Junior Championships last December, where she finished eighteenth & last in Seniors.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZNMdojY7Sw

It was Russian Senior Championship, not Junior.

Russian Senior and Junior Championships are different events.
Senior - at last December, because it is qualifying for Euro (also Worlds, but Euro, which starts at January 23 or so, limits the date).
Junior - at beginning of February, it is qualifying for Junior Worlds, which starts at 27 Feb or so.

Euro always starts before Four Continents, so Nationals of european countries are performed earlier than USA Nationals.


Samantha Cesario USA - she just turned 19.
Hannah Miller USA is 10 month elder than Maria Stavitskaia RUS

 

[dorispulaski]

AlexRus, thank you for the corrections, especially about ladies, whom I really do not follow very closely. It's a big help.
I used "just turned" of Maria to indicate that she is newly 15, which I thought was relevant, to indicate that other 15 year olds in the competition are quite a bit older.

I fixed Elena's age, and added the fact that her score was from her very first ISU competition.

I did not add the national scores, since now there is a recent ISU score to look at. I don't have a lot of trust in National & club scores here in the USA, and that attitude tends to extend to national & club scores from other countries. Do you feel that Russian national & qualifier scores are higher, lower or the same as ISU scores for the same skate? (It certainly isn't true of US scores). When the skater has had an injury, or has never had an ISU competition, I list those scores. (For example, Hannah Miller or Samantha Cesario's summer competitions: Hannah is relatively unknown and Samantha has been injured. However, I would not consider either as a good predictor of ISU scores.)

I also fixed the label on Maria's LP video.

Again Thank You.

 

[AlexRus]

I did not add the national scores, since now there is a recent ISU score to look at. I don't have a lot of trust in National & club scores here in the USA

Yes. We also use scores of nationals or local competitions only if there is a lack of information from internationals.

I wrote this about Radionova only for information, her international results are close enough to in-russians and reflect her level.

Thank you very much for you preview, Doris!

 

[AlexRus]

Maria Stavitskaia only once at past season jumped 3F (underrotation and fall) in her first in past season competition - Cup of Russia I.
After that she did not jump 2F or 3F in competitions.
How did she solve this problem at test skating of this season - we do not know. I believe she solved, otherwise she would not replace Agafonova.

 

[dorispulaski]

You'd think so. I'm hoping the Russian Federation's decisions make more sense than USFS's decisions.

However, I wonder how Ashley Cain gets two spots for the US and Polina Edmunds gets none.

Sometimes the reasoning of federations is completely opaque to me.

 

[AlexRus]

You'd think so. I'm hoping the Russian Federation's decisions make more sense than USFS's decisions.

However, I wonder how Ashley Cain gets two spots for the US and Polina Edmunds gets none.

Sometimes the reasoning of federations is completely opaque to me.

To send only one girl to Lake Plecid and to loss the place for girl good enough for JGP event, but haveing no chance because of a lot of girls who are better (there are 3 or 4 girls of this kind in Russia) - it is not a "more sense".

I do not see second place for Cain nor at ISU site neither at http://www.usfsa.org/Athletes.asp?id=216

 

[sky_fly20]

I see a Radionova, Cesario, Miller or Radionova, Cesario, Stavitskaia podium ( Stavitskaia is the same league with Titushkina imo )
Shoji is a wildcard, we dont know how she will do this season, she struggled last season , she is on the same problem with Agafonova
Nagai and Kim likely podium outside shot contenders

 

[FSGMT]

Thank for that wonderful list of the ladies entries! :agree: It will be such a tough competition (as always in junior ladies this season, probably), we'll see who can gain a medal (except Radionova who, I think, is obviously the favourite for the Gold), the names you wrote are all possible medalists, and I think Staviskaia could be a skater to watch, like Titushkina: no-one knew her a year ago, and now she is a JGP medalist!

 

[hanca]

What happened to Agafonova that she has been replaced? Is she injured?

 

[ericpkh98]

Nope. Fans say that she performed very poorly in the test skate in St.Petersburg.

 

[dorispulaski]

Welcome to Golden Skate, ericpkh98!

Yes, I heard her test skate was not as good as that of the girl who has replaced her here, Maria Stavitskaia.

 

[FSGMT]

Nope. Fans say that she performed very poorly in the test skate in St.Petersburg.

What a sad thing: she was really talented, and she had quite good results last season but, maybe, the puberty monster hit her, too... And, if the Russian Federation chose Staviskaya, it means that she has really improved from last season: she came last at Nationals and (watching her performances) she was far behind Agafonova...

 

[AlexRus]

What a sad thing: she was really talented, and she had quite good results last season but, maybe, the puberty monster hit her, too... And, if the Russian Federation chose Staviskaya, it means that she has really improved from last season: she came last at Nationals and (watching her performances) she was far behind Agafonova...

It may be a tempopary problem. Agafonova's start at 2009/10 and 2010/11 was not good - results much lower than at previous season and than at second half of season.

For example:
15 - 19 Sept 2010 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Graz, Austria - 7th place, score 124.24.
12 - 19 Feb 2011 10th European Youth Olympic Winter Festival - 1st place, score 164.05.

 

[FSGMT]

It may be a tempopary problem. Agafonova's start at 2009/10 and 2010/11 was not good - results much lower than at previous season and than at second half of season.

For example:
15 - 19 Sept 2010 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Graz, Austria - 7th place, score 124.24.
12 - 19 Feb 2011 10th European Youth Olympic Winter Festival - 1st place, score 164.05.

Yes, that's true, but last season she began with two bronze medals in the JGP, won the Senior Coupe de Nice and then she performed quite good at Nationals (she was 3rd in the SP at the Junior Competition, ahead of Radionova), so I was hoping to see her qualifying for the GPF this year...

 

[silverlake22]

Agafonova usually always skates bad at the beginning of the season then gets better as it goes on. I remember in past seasons on the JGP, she was not getting her jumps around, lots of 2.5 double footed jumps. Then by spring she was landing 3-3s without problems. Hope she gets to go to another event though!