This is a relatively young field as 11 of the skaters are making their debut on the Junior Grand Prix. None of the skaters here medaled last season on the JGP. The big contendors will be Jiaxing Liu of China, Stanislav Pertsov of Ukraine and Viktor Romanenkov of Estonia. Liu has competed in 4 JGP events and his best finish was 4th place. Romanenkov has competed in 8 JGP events and his best finish was 8th place. Pertsov has competed in 6 JGP events and his best finish was 6th place. This experience should help them against the youngsters to earn their first medals.
Two new skaters to the JGP circuit could pull off the upset here. Canada's Nam Nguyen and Emmanuel Savary of the USA are both 13 and newly eligible to compete on the Grand Prix. Both competed as juniors nationally last season and have impressed with their skills at their young age. Savary has one international event under his belt which he won in the novice division. Nguyen has gained a lot of national fame which could cause him to rise to the occasion or feel the pressure. If either of them skate clean, they could find themselves in medal contention.
Medal Predictions:
Gold: Jiaxing Liu, CHN
Silver: Stanislav Pertsov, UKR
Bronze: Viktor Romanenkov, EST
Bios of the competitors can be found below.
Slavik Hayrapetyan, ARM: He finished 21st in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds. He finished 17th at JGP Czech Republic last season. His personal best is 125.77. He is 15 years old.
Pavel Ignatenko, BLR: He finished 21st at the JGP Dresden last season. His personal best is 111.18. He is 16 years old.
Nam Nguyen, CAN: This is his international debut. He is the reigning national junior champion. He is 13 years old.
Jiaxing Liu, CHN: He finished 16th at the World Junior Championships. He placed 10th at JGP Germany and 5th at JGP Czech Republic last season. His personal best is 168.65. He is 18 years old.
He Zhang, CHN: He finished 10th at JGP Japan and 9th at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 161.01. He is 14 years old.
Viktor Romanenkov, EST: He finished 18th at the World Junior Championships. He placed 8th at JGP Romania and 11th at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 150.06. He is 17 years old.
Matthias Versluis, FIN: He placed 11th at JGP Great Britain last season. His personal best is 122.09. He is 17 years old.
Charles Tetar, FRA: This is his JGP debut. He is 16 years old.
Martin Rappe, GER: He finished 13th at JGP Germany and 9th at JGP Czech Republic last season. His personal best is 145.95. He is 18 years old.
Ryuju Hino, JPN: He placed 6th at JGP France and 12th at JGP Japan last season. His personal best is 153.55. He is 16 years old.
Sei Kawahara, JPN: He placed 10th at JGP Romania last season. His personal best is 135.51. He is 15 years old.
Abish Baytkanov, KAZ: This is his JGP debut. He is 16 years old.
Maksims Kirilovs, LAT: This is his international debut. He is 16 years old.
Devidas Kizala, LTU: This is his international debut. He is 13 years old.
June-Hyung Lee, KOR: This is his international debut. He is 14 years old.
Feodosiy Efremenkov, RUS: This is his international debut. He is 15 years old.
Ilia Petrov, RUS: This is his international debut. He is 15 years old.
Carlo Rothlisberger, SUI: This is his JGP debut. He is 17 years old.
Osman Akgun, TUR: This is his JGP debut. 15 years old.
Stanislav Pertsov, UKR: He finished 15th at World Juniors. He placed 13th at JGP Austria and 6th at JGP Czech Republic. His personal best is 161.92. He is 18 years old.
Timothy Dolensky, USA: This is his international debut. He is 19 years old.
Emmanuel Savary, USA: This is his JGP debut. He is 13 years old.
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