(11 December 2014)  The Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Spain, started on Thursday, December 11, with the short programs and the short dance of the Juniors. In each category six competitors or couples are qualified. Skaters from Russia won 12 of the 24 junior spots this year, those from Japan five, from Canada four, from China and South Korea one each and from the USA also only one. Some years ago the USA had gained around half of the spots, but no longer.

The competition is being held in the Barcelona International Convention Center, located on the shore of the Mediterranean Seam.  The ice surface is a temporary installation with seating that is also temporary and accommodates 5500 spectators.  The unofficial count for spectators for the four Junior segments in the after noon is 1800.  The segments were held in the order, Ladies, Dance, Men and Pairs.

Junior Ladies

The Junior Ladies Short Program had a high level, with five nearly clean programs and one of Miyu Nakashio in which a step between the two jumps of the combination was the only mistake. All six girls performed a triple-triple combination and a triple Lutz (a double one would be allowed as well).

Evgenia Medvedeva, who trains in Moscow with Eteri Tutberidze and Sergei Dudakov, won with 67.09 points, just one point ahead of her compatriot. Skating to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” by Michel Legrand, the 15-year-old skater began with an excellent spin combination with level 4 and a good step sequence which also got a rare level 4. Her jump combination of triple flip and triple toe loop in which she put her arm above her head on the triple flip was clean. The triple Lutz and the double axel (also with an arm above) were good as well. The layback spin at the end excellent, therefore three of the nine judges gave a +3 and six a +2. She commented: “In this season I have moved three jumping elements into the second half. I think I am upping the ante. I think I did very well today.”

Serafima Sakhanovich sits on second place with 66.05 points. She is also coached by Eteri Tutberidze and also by Alena Pisarenko and skated to the Russian waltz “My Sweet and Tender Beast” by Evgeni Doga. The 14-year-old performed the same elements as Medvedeva, but had one hand above her head during both jumps of her combination (11.74 points). Her Lutz was landed a bit deep, but she gave the impression of doing it intentionally. Her style is a bit more expressive, therefore she had a bit higher components. Tutberidze is very busy in Barcelona because she not only coaches the two top junior ladies, but also the two senior skaters, Julia Lipnitskaia and Sergei Voronov.

She said: “I am basically pleased, just the spin was a level 3. I don’t know which position I did not hold long enough. My goal is as always to be on the highest step of the podium and to skate clean both programs. I already fulfilled half of that.”

Yuka Nagai from Japan finished third with 62.99 points. Her program to the soundtrack of East of Eden was excellent as well, but her combination of two triple toe loops certainly is easier. But all nine judges awarded a +2, therefore she got 9.60 points for her combination. “I am very surprised how well I skated”, she said. “In training I was nervous and could not do my best, but today I did almost my very best and I have been improving.”

The third Russian skater Maria Sotskova is fourth with 62.28 points. Her best element was the layback spin at the end. Wakaba Higuchi from Japan ended up fifth, earning 60.37 points. She got an edge call for the triple flip. The third Japanese skater Miyu Nakashio is sixth with 51.74 points. Besides her mistake on the combination, her take off on the triple Lutz was from the wrong edge.

Junior Dance

The required rhythm for the Junior Short Dance in this season is the Samba, combined with another Latin dance like cha cha or rhumba (which most couples use). There was a Russian sweep in the short dance, with skaters from this country taking the first three places. Anna Yanovskaia & Sergej Mozgov from the Moscow school of Svetlana Alexeeva & Elena Kustarova won the short dance with 59.12 points, more than five points ahead of the rest of the field. The +2 of the judges dominated for their elements, but their levels were mixed: a usual level 4 for the lift, but Level 2 and 3 for the samba parts and only level 2 for the non-touch circular step sequence. Mozgov said: “It probably wasn’t our best today. Maybe we were tight, and the whole set-up is new, but obviously this sounds a bit funny.” Yanovskaia added: “I fell in the warm-up. It was totally unexpected, my blade got stuck in a hole in the ice. Maybe this threw us off a little.”

Alla Loboda & Pavel Drozd sit second with 53.72 points. Their elements were mainly rewarded with a +1and they had the same level as winners, including a level 3 for the twizzle sequence. But the presentation of the students of Ksenia Rumiantseva was weaker and their program reached an average of 7.0 instead of 7.7 for the winners. Vlasenko commented: “There were a few small flaws but we are pretty happy overall. I am speechless with happiness that we are second today. This was an amazing unexpected success for us.”

Betina Popova & Yuri Vlasenko are third, earning 50.52 points. Their rotational lift was excellent, but their levels otherwise low. “We are not too happy with our levels, but the scores are the scores and we have to work harder. Everything was scored well in our other Grand prix assignments, so there was no reason to change it. We don’t really know what happened here today.”

Mackenzie Bent & Garrett MacKeen from the Scarborough dance school of Carol Lane and Juris Razguliajevs finished fourth with 49.28 points after he stumbled on the twizzles which cost them at least four points. MacKeen said about his mistake: “I guess I got a little distracted. I think we were a little ahead of the music and I looped the twizzle. So instead of doing a three I did a roller-coaster loop.”

Madeline Edwards and Zhao Kai Pang from the Vancouver school of Meagan Ewing and Aaron Lowe are fifth with 47.60 points and Daria Morozova & Mikhail Zhirnov are sixth with 46.99 points.

Junior Men

Sota Yamamoto from Japan won the Junior Men’s Short Program with 76.14 points. Skating to Sergei Rakhmaninov’s piano concerto, his first element was a good triple axel. His combination of triple flip and triple toe loop and his triple Lutz out of steps were clean as well. Two of his three spins were excellent. He commented: “I feel very satisfied and happy because I landed the triple Axel. I’ve been practising it since last season and today’s the first time I succeeded (in competition). I’ll be doing it again tomorrow in the long program. I chose my music myself because it was Mao Asada’s music from last season and I loved it. Mao Asada is one of the skaters I most admire as well as Yuzuru Hanyu.”

Boyang Jin from China sits on second position with 75.30 points. He performed the same elements as the winner, but had some plus points less. On the other hand his presentation was a bit better. “I am quite happy with today’s performance,” he said. “My three jump elements were good, but my spins could have been better. The footwork was okay. Tomorrow want to try three quads in the long program. There is no quad in the (junior) short program and I still need to improve the performance aspect of my program.”

Japanese skater Shoma Uno is third with only nine hundredth points less than Jin. He stepped out of the triple axel and the Lutz was not landed completely backwards. His three spins were excellent. He is the most musical skater and got the highest components, but the difference to the other skaters should have been bigger. He was not rewarded enough for his ability to interpret each beat of the music like an ice dancer.

Alexander Petrov from St. Petersburg, Russia, is currently fourth with 70.07 points. The student of Alexei Mishin started his program with a very good triple axel (one judge even gave a +3) and a good combination of triple flip and triple toe loop, but he fell on the triple Lutz. June Hyoung Lee from South Korea is fifth with 57.42 points after missing the triple axel and Canadian Roman Sadovsky sits sixth with 56.98 points after falling twice. “I feel very honored and lucky to be here and it’s a great opportunity to see the best junior skaters. I decided to try the triple Axel because I started landing it a few months ago and it felt pretty good. So I figured I had nothing to lose and just tried it.”

Junior Pairs

Julianne Séguin (18) & Charlie Bilodeau (21) from Canada were the most successful pair in the Junior Grand Prix. So it was not surprise that they won the pairs short program with 59.22 points. The students of Josée Picard train in Chambly near Montreal. Their required side-by-side double Lutz was in perfect harmony. Their step sequence had a level 4, like four other elements. They were the only pair who performed in a more entertaining way and used the nostalgic soundtrack of “Grand Budapest Hotel”. Séguin said: “We did what we were doing at home, so we are feeling really good.” Bilodeau added: “I grew the moustache for this program because the character in the film has one. Tomorrow the moustache is gone.”

Lina Fedorova & Maxim Miroshkin from Russia currently sit on second place, only 18 hundredth behind the winners. The students of Vladislav Zhovnirsky performed to vocal music, in their case to Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good”. Their triple twist was huge and by far the best in the field. Five of the nine judges awarded it with a +3. Their unique element is a side-by side spin combination which included a Biellmann spin of both skaters. They are the only pair in the world which can do this element and his spin was even better than hers. Miroshkin commented: “We have worked very hard on our twist. We think this is the most difficult and the most important element.”

Maria Vigalova & Egor Zakroev from Russia are third with 57.41 points. Their triple twist was very good, her double Lutz a bit shaky, but four other elements got level 4.

Daria Beklemisheva & Maxim Bobrov are fourth with 48.61 points, their countrymen Kamilla Gainetdinova & Sergei Alexeev fifth with 46.59 points.

Chelsea Liu (14) & Brian Johnson (19) from Jenni Meno’s and Todd Sand’s pair skating school in Aliso Viejo, Southern California, are sixth with only 39.05 points. She went down on the triple throw loop as well as on the double Lutz and he showed only a single Lutz. With the new rules this season, the Lutz earned no points since it did not meet minimum requirements (a double).  Their lift got only a basic level. It also received a two points of deduction for an illegal movement because the lift travelled fro more than the maximum 3 1/2 rotations premitted.  With thee two falls they received a total of four points in deductions.. Johnson said, “It’s not what we were expecting. Bad days happen and you just have to move on.”