2023 World Junior Figure Skating Championships
Calgary, Canada
Text by Klaus-Reinhold Kany
The 2023 ISU World Junior Championships took place in the
Winsport Arena in Calgary which has around 3,000 seats and is
situated about eight miles west of downtown. Calgary is
Alberta’s biggest and a fast growing city of almost 1.5 million
people and is the center of the Canadian oil industry.
The Arena is situated in a huge multisport center which was
built in 2011-2013 near the ski jump venue in the Olympic park
which were used during the Calgary Olympic Games of 1988. The
whole area is called Olympic Park.
There are four ice rinks in this building. Like during the
whole season, skaters competing for Russia were banned, but a
number of Russians or former Russians took part who competed for
other countries.
The number of spectators was disappointing: During the week
about 200 per day and on the weekend around 500, thought the
women's final drew nearly 700. There were also a large
number of credentialed persons in the audience, for perhaps and
additional 100 spectators, with athletes from many teams
cheering on their conpatriots.
Japan won two gold medals, the USA and the Czech Republic one
each.
Men
The men’s event at Junior
Worlds 2023 in Calgary had a good, but not outstanding level. 42
young men competed. 17-year-old Kao Miura from Japan trains in
Yokohama near Tokyo and won the event with 264.74 points and a
huge distance of 44 points to the rest of the field. He had been
fifth at the Grand Prix Final in December and won the Four
Continents Championship in February. In Calgary, he opened the
short program to two tangos by Astor Piazzolla with an excellent
triple loop, followed by an impressive triple Axel. In his
combination, the triple toe loop after the triple flip was a bit
shaky. Quads are not allowed in a junior’s short program. The
three level 4 spins were good, the step sequence very good and
the components around 8.1. He commented: “All season long
I've been skating the programs with the senior program
requirements and because of the junior requirements being
different, I was nervous for all the elements. But somehow I
managed it and so I'm really happy about that.”
His free program to the soundtrack of “The Beauty and the
Beast” got 38 more points than the second best free program. His
first element was an outstanding combination of triple Axel,
Euler and triple Salchow, followed by a deeply landed quad toe
loop and a very good quad Salchow. The second triple Axel and
the second quad toe loop (with a triple toe loop) were
excellent, a triple flip as well, he only stepped out of the
triple loop near the end. His spins and step sequences
were good and his components had an average of 8.4. He said:
“Today I was able to get a pretty good performance. Especially
in the second half of the program I was able to land the
combination of the quad & triple. I would like to be able to
participate next season in the Senior World Championships and
really bring up the level of my performances. Having become the
Four Continents champion added a lot of pressure for me coming
into this competition.”
The silver medal for
16-year-old Naoki Rossi from Switzerland, winning 220.68 points,
was a big surprise. He has Japanese and Swiss parents and trains
now in Egna, Northern Italy, in the school of Lorenzo Magri.
Several Swiss skaters have improved much this season because
they could take profit from the pandemy. All Swiss rinks had
been closed for the public and for hobby skaters for months. But
skaters of the national team were allowed to train and had much
more training time than before. Rossi performed his short
program to three flamenco-style music pieces by Ikuko Kawai.
After a good triple Axel, his triple loop was O.K. and his
combination of triple Lutz and triple toe loop a bit wobbly. His
spins and his step sequence were excellent, his components were
around 7.3. He explained: “I'm really glad with my program.
Never ever in a million years have I ever thought that I was
going to be third. Last year I missed a (jump) combo and lost
lots of points and I was really devastated after the short
program. I especially worked on condition training.”
He opened his free program to three pieces of “Eternal
Eclipse” with a good combination of triple Axel and double toe
loop, followed by a second triple Axel. Four other clean triples
came later and the loop was double. He only got an edge call on
the triple flip. Two of the three spins were excellent and he
really interpreted the music very well and had components of
7.6. Later he stated: “I'm actually really speechless right now.
I never expected to be on the podium. I'm very glad about my
performance today. Well I could have maybe done it a little
better since I popped a loop today, but I still focused on the
next jump and never gave up until the end of the program. When I
realized I was on the podium in the kiss and cry I got a bit
emotional.”
The second Japanese Nozomu Yoshioka won bronze with 217.79
points after being seventh in a clean short program with
excellent triple Axel, good triple loop, very good combination
of triple Lutz and triple toe loop, but less convincing spins
and not much interpretation. In his free program to “Pirates of
the Caribbean”, his combination of quad toe loop and triple toe
loop was almost clean, but he stepped out of the second quad toe
loop. Four other triples were clean and the flip got an edge
call. He explained: “Today in my performance I was able to get
very tight rotations on all of my jumps until the end. But I did
make many small and costly mistakes so that was a little bit
disappointing. But this result at such a very big competition is
very satisfying to me.”
Italian skater Nikolaj
Memola finished on fourth position with 216.44 points. His
triple Axel and his triple loop in the Rakhmaninov short program
were very good, but in his combination he almost fell on the
triple toe loop after performing the triple Lutz. In his free
program, four triples were good, but he doubled the first Axel
which was planned triple, fell on the second triple Axel and the
last three triples were technically not perfect. He is Italian
alternate for Senior Worlds and the World Team Trophy, therefore
he has to stay in shape.
Wesley Chiu from Canada came
fifth with 213.88 points. His triple loop, triple Axel and spins
in the short program were excellent, but he touched down on the
triple Lutz in his combination. In the free program, he dropped
from second to fifth place because he popped the two planned
quad toe loops and stepped out of the triple Axel. Hyungyeom Kim
from South Korea placed sixth with 213.56 points. In the short
program, the triple Axel and the combination of triple Lutz and
triple toe loop were good, but the loop got a q. In the free
program, only three triples were good, but four other either had
a q or were stepped out.
U.S. skater Lucas Broussard
of Seattle finished seventh with 209.47 points. In the short
program to a piano version of the Tango Adios Nonino, he stepped
out of the triple Axel and touched down, the other elements were
very good. In the free program, he went down on the quad toe
loop and the triple Axel. His camel spin got no points, but five
triples were good, the choreo steps even outstanding. Yudong
Chen from China is eighth with 205.12 points. His triple Axel in
the short program was good, but he fell on the triple Lutz and
therefore had no combination. He began his free program with a
very good quad Salchow, but missed the quad toe loop and the
triple Salchow of his combination with a triple flip and an
Euler.
Arlet Levandi from Estonia came ninth with 204.73 points. He
has no triple Axel, but his double Axel in the short program was
excellent. He stepped out of the triple loop, but because of his
excellent choreography he had the third highest components and
in the free even the second highest components of around 7.7.
The second American Daniel Martynov of Coral Springs, Florida,
came tenth with 204.67 points. His short program was faultless
with a good triple Axel and he had also two good triple Axels in
his free program, but the other triples were not as good. The
third U.S. skater Michael Xie of Oakland, California did not
reach the final. Instead, he ended up only 34th with 53.46
points after falling on the triple Axel, again on the triple
loop and stepping out of the triple Lutz in his combination.
Dance
The ice dance competition of Junior Worlds in Calgary,
Alberta, had a good level although nobody was outstanding. 30
couples competed, 20 of whom reached the free dance. There were
only two falls in the Rhythm Dance and one in the free dance.
The gold medal winners Katerina Mrazkova (16) & Daniel Mrazek
(19) made history because they were the first Czech ice dance
team ever to win a medal at an ISU championships. They collected
177.36 points and had taken a narrow lead in their dynamic
Rhythm Dance to the Tango “A Evaristo Carriego” and to the Paso
Doble “Espana Cani”. They were the only team to meet all eight
key points in the two Tango sections. The rotational lift was
excellent and had a level 4 and in their good twizzle sequence
she had level 3 and he level 4. In their midline step sequence,
she had level 3 and he level 2. Their components were around
7.9. Mrazek commented, “There were some mistakes but it was
still great performance so we're happy.”
In their free dance to the soundtrack of “The Man In the Iron
Mask”, the brother-and-sister team excelled again by their high
speed and expansive steps. All eight elements of the students of
young Italian coach Matteo Zanni, who works with them mainly in
Bolzano in Northern Italy, were excellent and had mainly GOEs of
+3 and +4. Three level elements had a 4 for both dancers, the
three others a 3 for both and their components were around 8.3,
with one first 9.0 in their career for skating skills. They are
ice dancers only for two and a half years and rose very quickly
to a top team.
Mrazek had competed at two Junior Grand Prix in singles in
2018 and commented, “The rhythm dance for us was not so great
because we were nervous, we scared to do a mistake. So we tried
to be more chill in the free dance and I think we did it better
today. We started single skating when we were young - our coach
was our mom. We were no really good jumpers, but our mother
taught us how to skate very well. I had an injury and realized
that I would not be the best in single skating anymore. So I
decided to start an ice dance career. I asked my sister if she
wanted to skate with me and she said yes.” When he said that
everybody in the press conference room around laughed because it
sounded as if he had asked her to marry him. Mrazkova added, “We
always wanted to have a gold medal from Junior Worlds -- it was
one of our goals. We plan to move up to seniors.”
Canadians Hannah Lim & Ye Quan, skating for South Korea, the
former home country of their parents, won silver with 174.39
points and are the first South Korean ice dancers to win a medal
at an ISU championships. They train in the Ice Academy in
Montreal. In their Rhythm Dance to the Milonga “Primavera
Portena”, they had a level 4 for four elements and a level 2 for
the first tango section. Their components were around 7.8. Lim
explained, “We were able to achieve our goals that we set. We
connected really well and we performed to the audience, which is
really fun for a tango program.”
In their free dance to the classical “Danse Macabre” by
Camille Saint-Saens, most elements were excellent and had GOEs
of mainly +3. The one foot turn sequence was good and their
components around 8.0. Lim said, “I'm really proud that we were
able to work super hard the whole season and at the end, when we
were able to get a medal, it was just a celebration. I'm really
glad that we were able to get our first medal for Korea. My
parents are both Korean and when they first asked me if I wanted
to represent Korea I wanted to as a thank you present for them
because of all the support that they put into skating and it was
not easy. We're a bit nervous to go to seniors because we have a
lot of amazing senior skaters in our school, but we have to
move. We can look up to them - they're always pushing us.”
Nadiia Bashynska & Peter Beaumont from the school of Carol
Lane in Scarborough near Toronto, Canada, took bronze with
169.13 points. In the Rhythm Dance to the Spanish Waltz “Espana”
and the “Tango Grande” from the film “The Great Gatsby”, three
elements had a level 4 and the two Argentine Tango sections
levels 1 and 2. The twizzles and the rotational lift were
excellent, the other elements good and the components had an
average of 7.8. In their free dance to “The Red Violin” and to
“Oh Sweet Springtime From Long Ago” by Jules Massenet, they
moved up from fourth to third place with very good elements and
components of around 7.8. A highlight was their outstanding
combination lift for which they earnt 13.78 points. They will
age out of Juniors and Beaumont said, “I am getting old, but I'm
looking forward to a bit of Samba and '80s music next year.”
Phebe Bekker & James Hernandez from Britain train with Penny
Coomes and Nicholas Buckland in Aston, Pennsylvania. They
finished fourth with 169.07 points, just .06 points behind the
bronze medal. In the Rhythm Dance to two Flamencos and one
Tango, they had high levels and met seven of the eight key
points of the two Tango sections. Their components were around
7.6. In their free dance to Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, they had
good levels again. But the excellent lift combination was more
than 12 seconds long and cost them bronze because one point has
to be deducted for an extended lift. Their luggage with their
skates had not arrived with them. Therefore they missed some
practice. They will also move up to seniors.
Leah Neset & Artem Markelov
of Colorado Springs are the best U.S. team placing fifth with
162.59 points. The students of Elena Dostatni had mixed levels
and performed five good elements in the Rhythm Dance to
Flamenco, Tango and Paso Doble. In their free dance to the
soundtrack of “Pirates of the Caribbean”, they moved up from
seventh to fifth place, performing very good elements. Their
highlights were the choreo sliding movement and the choreo
character step sequence. Celine Fradji & Jean-Hans Fourneaux
from France came sixth with 156.92 points. Their Rhythm Dance
had outstanding twizzles, but in the free dance, their levels
were lower.
Sandrine Gauthier & Quentin Thieren from Canada and the
academy of Montreal placed seventh with 156.65 points after
performing eight good elements in the free dance. Canada may
send three teams to next year’s Junior Worlds again.
The second U.S. team of Jenna Hauer & Benjamin Starr of
Simsbury, Connecticut, came eighth with 154.12 points and helped
to allow the USA to send three dance teams to Junior Worlds 2024
in Taipeh. The third U.S. team of Helena Carhart & Volodymyr
Horovyi of Marina Zueva’s school in Estero, Florida, finished on
ninth position with 149.87 points, ahead of Angelina
Kudriavtseva & Ilia Karankevich who skate for Cyprus, left
Russia in December and now train in Italy.
Darya Grimm & Michail Savitskiy from Germany performed a very
good Rhythm Dance and finished there on sixth place. But the
next day Grimm had a stomach virus with fever and they had to
withdraw.
Sofiia Beznosikova & Max Archadi Brunovitch Leleu, who
compete for Belgium, had big travel problems because Beznosikova
is Russian and got a visa for Canada only in the last minute.
She arrived from Israel in Calgary after four flights and just
three hours before the Rhythm Dance. But they did not qualify
for the free dance.
Women
(4 March 2023)
The women’s event of the 2023 Junior Worlds had a high level,
even without Russian competitors. All six top skaters come from
East Asia, the best European woman was seventh and the best
North America eighth. 47 skaters competed.
14-year-old Mao Shimada from the school of Mie Hamada in Kyoto,
Japan, celebrated a run-away victory with 224.54 points, 18 years
after her idol Mao Asada, whom her parents named her after, had
won Junior Worlds also in Canada, in Kitchener, Ontario. In a
close decision with a distance to .59 points to the second
placed South Korean skater Jia Shin, Shimada won the short
program. She skated to the soundtrack of “Lion King” and fought
like a lioness. Triple Axels and quads are not allowed in junior
ladies short programs. Therefore Shimada’s and all top skaters’
most difficult element was a combination of triple Lutz and
triple toe loop, in Shimada’s case very good, like her required
triple loop and the double Axel. The layback spin was
outstanding (eight GOEs of +4) and the stellar change foot
combination spins had even six GOEs of +5. The remaining two
elements were excellent and her components 7.8.
She
commented, “In practice my jumps were not going well, but today
during the warm up I felt my body was moving well. I really
worked hard on the elements, other than the jumps, to be able to
do them more beautifully. I’m trying hard, so people can see the
lioness in me. I’ve worked on my expression and to maximize each
element. As this is my last time performing this SP I wanted to
give it my all and I think I did that! My favorite scene of the
“Lion King” is when Rafiki holds up Simba. I hope people see me
as a lioness as I try to represent it in my program.”
Performing to “Passepied” by Jean-Michel Blais and to “Wild
Swans Suite” by Daniel Hope, she opened her spectacular free
program with an excellent triple Axel, followed by the only quad
toe loop of the day which got a q for being nearly
under-rotated. Seven other very good triples and outstanding
spins followed, plus an impressive choreographic step sequence. Her
components were around 8.5. She said, “This medal is full of
emotions, I felt a lot of happiness after landing the triple
Axel and quad toe, but I told myself there was a lot of
difficulties still to come and I had to concentrate. There were
many competitions where I couldn’t land these jumps in the past
and that scared me. But it was never an option for me not to do
it.” Because of the new age rules, she is not allowed to move to
seniors until after the next Olympic Games.
Jia Shin from South
Korea won the silver medal with 201.90 points. Her short program
to “The Giving” by Michael Smith with the same excellent
elements as Shimada was flawless as well. Her GOEs were just a
little bit lower, but her components even a bit higher. She
explained, “I was nervous today, but I tried to pull out my confidence and
to do my best so I feel very happy it went well. After Nationals
I had a small ankle injury and I was off the ice for a week.
What I most like are the jumps because the feeling of
achievement when I succeed each jump makes me very happy.” In
her free routine to the “Trees of Life” suite by Roberto Cacciapaglia, she had seven triples, mostly very good, but no
triple Axel and no quad. Her only mistakes was a small fall on a
step right after the choreographic sequence. Her components were around 7.7.
She said, “I’m
happy to win another medal at Junior Worlds.
I felt David Wilson's
choreography style fits my skating and my choreography ability,
therefore I worked with him. My most memorable competition was
the Junior Grand Prix Final -- I was able to deliver two clean
programs. For next season I want to conquer my weaknesses.”
Ami Nakai from Chiba in Japan won the bronze medal with 197.40
points. Skating the same short program elements as the top two
skaters, her GOEs were mainly +2 and +3 and she made no mistake
either. She interpreted “I Got Rhythm” by George Gershwin. She
said, “I did a
clean short program, and so I’m very happy with my performance.
I worked to get my jumps consistent and to have more flow in my
skating. What I really
enjoy the most is performing freely in front of a lot of people.
My strength would be giving a lot of expression
in my steps.” In her free program to
“Miss Saigon” by Claude-Michel Schoenberg, she fell on the
triple Axel, but all seven other triple jumps were impressive,
her spins and chore step sequence as well. She commented, “I
was happy to get a medal on this big stage. When I was
attempting my triple Axel I was able to tighten my arms and I
thought I was doing it exactly the same as usual, but somehow I
missed the landing.”
Yujae Kim from South Korea placed fourth with 193.62 points. In
her short program, she performed the same elements as the top
three skaters, but a bit less strong. Her triple loop got a q
and her components were around 7.0. She opened her free program
to a strange soundtrack of “Aida” by Elton John with an
excellent triple Axel, followed by five good other triples and a
triple loop which was a bit under-rotated. The spins were good,
the choreo steps excellent. Minsol Kwon, also from South Korea,
finished on fifth position with 191.06 points. Her triple flip
in the short program got a q, everything else was very good. In
her free program, six triples were good, only the triple Lutz
got an edge call. Xianhyi An from China is sixth with 183.94
points. Her short program with a combination of two triple toe
loops was faultless, but in her free program four triples were
not clean. She said that her initial goal was to reach to top
24, so this result is beyond her imagination. She also practices
gymnastics.
Kimmy Repond from Switzerland, who had been third at Europeans
in January, is seventh with 180.32 points after being tenth in
the short program. There, three jumps were more or less
under-rotated, because she had been a bit sick before. But in
the free program, six of her triple jumps were at least good,
only the triple Lutz got an edge call. She rotates extremely
quickly.
The best U.S. skater was Clare Seo of Colorado Springs who came
eighth with 172.62 points. The student of Tammy Gambill skated a
double Lutz instead of a planned triple one as first part of her
combination and almost fell on the triple toe loop. The other
elements were good. Four
triple jumps in her free program were good, but both triple
flips were not and she explained, “I
have a few regrets about the program, but I am happy I didn’t
fall.” Inga Gurgenidze from Georgia is ninth with 172.50 points
after landing two triple Axels in the free and moving up from 19th
place. Kaya Ruiter from Canada finished tenth with 169.65
points.
The two other U.S. skaters did not have good days. Soho Lee of
Anaheim, California is 15th with 149.16 points after
falling on the loop in the short program and under-rotating two
more jumps. In her free program she made five mistakes.
Josephine Lee of Lakewood, California, ended up 19th
with 138.22 points. In her short program she fell on the triple
flip and therefore had no combination. In her free, six of the
seven jump elements went wrong.
Pairs
(3 March 2023) 14
pairs competed at Junior Worlds 2023 in Calgary. The general
level was mixed. Only two pairs had more than 170 points
and five more than 150.
During the championships the ISU
organized a small pair coach meeting to discuss the age problem
which three pairs at Junior Worlds (the winners from the USA,
the Japanese and one German pair) will have next season, and
potentially a few others.
This problem occurred becausethe ISU
raised the required minimum age of girls for seniors at the
ISU congress 2022, decided mainly because of the Valieva case.
This new rule said that from the 2023/24 season on girls may
skate in seniors only if they have their 16th birthday before
July 1, 2023 and in the season 2024/25 only if they have their
17th birthday before July 1 2024. But the maximum age for junior
men in pairs is 21 at these dates. If the men are older, they
are no longer allowed to skate in juniors and the girls are too
young to skate in seniors This would mean the pairs
with conflicting dates cannot skate internationally at all.
But the ISU needs more pairs. Therefore
some federations could ask the ISU council, which meets
almost every month, to allow those pairs who have done
international junior competitions this season to continue
provisionally in juniors next season even if the man is too old,
and the next congress in 2024 could be asked to decide to
raise the age limit for junior men in pairs from 21 to 23 years
and for women in pairs from 19 to 21 years.
In the meantime, the resolution for the affected teams is yet
to be decided.
New
Junior World Champions with 184.47 points is the U.S. team of
Sofia Baram & Daniel Tioumentsov from the school of Jenni Meno
and Todd Sand in Irvine, California. They had been second in the
Junior Final in December and fourth at U.S. senior Nationals.
They had to skate their free program under difficult
circumstances because in the night between the short and the
free program coach Todd Sand had a heart attack in his hotel
room and had to be transported to a hospital in Calgary around 5
a.m. Sofia Baram’s mother had traveled with the pair. She and
the U.S. team leader cared about the pair in the morning
practice and the free program.
In
their faultless short program to “Bla Bla Bla, Cha Cha Cha” by
the Japanese women duo Petty and Booka (which is often used in
ice dance), their triple twist, their reverse lasso loop lift
and their step sequence (all with level 4) were excellent. The
double Axel and the triple throw toe loop were very good, the
required backward inside death spiral and the side by side spin
good. Their components were around 7.0 and they had 66.95
points, six more than the French pair on second place. “We're so
proud we've accomplished the throw triple toe loop in our
program for the first time, especially in competition,”
Tioumentsev said.
In
their free program to “Pilgrims On a Long Journey” by Coeur de
Pirate and to “Primavera“ by Ludovico Einaudi, their best
element was the twist again which had six GOEs of +3 and three
of +2. Lifts and step sequence were very good, but Baram stepped
out of the triple throw loop and her triple toe loop was a bit
shaky. Her difficult jump combination of triple Salchow, double
Axel and another double Axel as well as a double throw Lutz were
good and their components around 7.2.
Tioumentsov said, “We found out this
morning (about Todd Sand being hospitalized). It was a definite
down-turn for me and Sophia. We skated for Todd and for everyone
that has helped us through the season. It was very hard and we
tried to remember what Todd told us – to stay in the moment. And
we tried to remember what kind of corrections he gave us. We've
been skating together for just over two years now and definitely
the gold medal is a huge achievement for us. Even if the age
rules don’t change, we plan to stay together and compete
nationally.” Baram added, “It is such a good feeling to win. We
are sending a lot of prayers to Todd. We love you, Todd.”
Anastasia Golubeva & Hector Giotopoulos
Moore from Australia won the silver medal with 170.36 points
after winning the Junior Final in December. In their short
program to “Architect of the Mind” by Kerry Muzzey, the triple
throw toe loop was excellent, five other elements at least good,
but they missed the death spiral after he could not skate a
correct entrance. He explained, “I feel my heel hit an edge and
I slipped off my the edge and couldn't hold it.” In their free
program to “Sing, Sing, Sing” by Louis Prima and to “Summertime”
by Ella Fitzgerald, the two triple throws and the lifts were
excellent, five other elements, including a triple Salchow, good
and their twist a bit shaky. But Giotopoulos Moore fell on the
third part of their jump combination which was planned a triple
toe loop, another triple toe loop (which he singled) and a
double toe loop. Giotopoulos Moore said, “This is amazing, we
couldn’t be happier. I’m still shocked a bit. This is a huge
achievement for us and we are very happy. Our next goal is going
to Senior Worlds. I think we belong there.”
The Ukrainians Violetta Sierova & Ivan
Khobta, who had been ninth at the European (senior)
Championships in January, won bronze with 159.39 points. Lift
and triple twist were excellent, the other elements good,
including the double loop and the double throw Lutz. In their
free program, the twist was excellent, most other elements good,
only in their jump combination they were a bit out of sync.
Khobta commented, “We are excited to represent Ukraine. We feel
all the support of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada and that
gave us strength.” Sierova added, “I am so happy we did two
clean programs.” After the beginning of the war last year they
had fled with their coach from their country to Germany and will
train for Senior Worlds there. In the last two weeks they had
prepared for Junior Worlds with Bruno Marcotte in Oakville,
Ontario.
Haruna
Murakami & Sumitada Moriguchi from Japan mainly train with Bruno
Marcotte in Canada and finished fourth with 154.71 points. Their
spin and steps in the short program were outstanding, four other
elements good and the death spiral only got the basic level. In
their free program they made several small mistakes. Olympic
Champion Bruno Massot’s French pair of Oxana Vouillamoz &
Flavien Giniaux were second after a very good short program with
a triple throw flip and an excellent reverse lasso lift. For the
first time they had more than 60 points. But in the free they
dropped to fifth place with 153.59 points after making three big
mistakes on the triple throw and the jump combination. But they
nevertheless made huge progress since last year when they had
finished last at Junior Worlds with 103.92 points.
Ava
Kemp & Yonathan Elizarov from Canada placed sixth with 149.03
points. They made no real mistake in the short program, but Kemp
fell on the triple throw Salchow in the free and the individual
jumps were a bit shaky. The second U.S. pair of Naomi Williams &
Lachlan Lewer of Colorado Springs, coached by Drew Meekins and
Natalia Mishkutienok, is on seventh position with 145.05 points.
They got the necessary minimum points for Junior Worlds at their
very first international competition, the Bavarian Open in early
February, where they won the junior event. In Calgary, their
short program was without big mistakes, but Williams went down
on the triple toe loop in the free and some other elements were
a bit shaky. The second Canadian pair of Chloe Panetta & Kieran
Thrasher finished eighth with 135.73 points, ahead of the Czech
team of Barbora Kucianova & Lukas Vochozka (132.15 points) and
the Chinese team of Yixi Yang & Shunyang Deng (131.97 points).
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