With a whopping 15 entries out of 24, Russia is looking at a sweep of all four titles at the Junior Grand Prix Final this week. The other powerhouses of Japan and the United States are represented as well, and they have the best shot at preventing that Russian title sweep from taking place. For those of you who haven’t been following the junior scene, here’s a quick rundown of what to watch for this week in Torino.
Junior Grand Prix Final predictions
Official hashtags: #Torino2019 #JGPFigure
LADIES
GOLD Kamila Valieva RUS
SILVER Alysa Liu USA
BRONZE Kseniia Sinitsyna RUS
4. Haein Lee KOR
5. Viktoria Vasilieva RUS
6. Daria Usacheva RUS
It’s been seven years since more than two different countries qualified skaters for the ladies’ event at the Junior Grand Prix Final. In 2012, it was Russia, Japan, and the United States; in 2019, it’s Russia, the United States, and South Korea. In keeping with the senior level, this year’s JGPF promises to be the most technically-advanced competition ever - quads, triple axels, and the usual bevy of triple-triple combos.
Of the six here, Kamila Valieva is the most complete skater here, with strong fundamentals and a quad toe. She was unstoppable on the JGP earlier in the season, and she will be the favorite here. The two skaters who have the best chances to challenge Valieva are Kseniia Sinitsyna and Alysa Liu. Sinitsyna, who was fourth at Junior Worlds last season, doesn’t have a quad or a triple axel, but executes her elements very well. Liu won both of her JGPs and has a quad lutz and a triple axel in her repertoire. She will need to make sure that the execution of her jumps are strong in order to challenge for gold.
MEN
GOLD Yuma Kagiyama JPN
SILVER Daniil Samsonov RUS
BRONZE Daniel Grassl ITA
4. Petr Gummenik RUS
5. Andrei Mozalev RUS
6. Shun Sato JPN
The men’s event could be a bit of a toss-up this week. The consistency of the junior men has historically not been top-notch, and that could lead to a lot of movement within the standings, especially as they transition from triples-only short programs to more difficult free skates. The Russian junior men have really stepped up their game in the past couple of seasons, with three entries here.
Of the three Russian guys, Daniil Samsonov is the most all-around skater. And his completeness will square off with the completeness of Yuma Kagiyama. The two are very different types of skaters and are very comparable overall, even though each has his own strengths. Kagiyama is just coming off a huge win at the Japan Junior Championships, where he blew away the rest of the field, including fellow JGPF qualifier Shun Sato, by 37+ points. Kagiyama’s momentum from that event could be the difference here. Italian champion Daniel Grassl could be a spoiler here - he’s had success on the senior international circuit this season, and will be competing in his first JGP Final.
DANCE
GOLD Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik USA
SILVER Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy RUS
BRONZE Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya GEO
4. Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov RUS
5. Loicia Demougeot/Theo Le Mercier FRA
6. Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin RUS
Three teams who competed here last year are back and looking for the title. Of those three, Avonley Nguyen/Vadym Kolesnik are the ones who have shown off the biggest improvements since last season. They were fifth last year at JGPF, but they will most certainly be favored for a podium spot - potentially gold. In this very close field, if there’s anywhere they might have the advantage, it would be in the rhythm dance.
The Russian dance team that has stood out this season so far has been Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy - they missed out on qualifying to the Final last year, but they have been skating very well so far this season. They will be battling Nguyen/Kolesnik, Maria Kazakova/Georgy Reviya, and Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov for the podium. Sixth here last year, Kazakova/Reviya could become the first skaters from Georgia to ever win a medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final.
PAIRS
GOLD Apollinariia Panfilova/Dmitry Rylov RUS
SILVER Kseniia Akhanteva/Valerii Kolesov RUS
BRONZE Alina Pepeleva/Roman Pleshkov RUS
4. Diana Mukhametzianova/Ilya Mironov RUS
5. Iuliia Artemeva/Mikhail Nazarychev RUS
6. Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel GER
It’s not really a surprise that Russia basically dominated the pairs field this season on the Junior Grand Prix. Their pairs program is second to none and they invest in growing the pipeline of pair skaters. They were one short of getting a full slate of Russian pairs in the JGPF, but nevertheless, they will be favored to sweep the podium here in Torino.
They’ve gotten silver and bronze at the Final, but it may finally be the year for Apollinariia Panfilova/Dmitry Rylov to win gold. They have been the most impressive of this entire field so far this season. Fourth last year, Kseniia Akhanteva/Valerii Kolesov are looking to get onto the podium. And though Alina Pepeleva/Roman Pleshkov were not spectacular in the Junior Grand Prix earlier in the season, they have made some strides on the senior circuit. They come into the Final on the heels of some of the best skating they’ve done all year.