Reigning World Junior Silver Medalist Keiji Tanaka of Japan headlines this event. In his first season on the JGP he took home a bronze medal. With a deep field back home with lots of talent, he'll be looking to take home two medals and qualify for the JGP Final this season to set himself up for another podium finish at Junior Worlds. His biggest challenger will be Jason Brown of the United States who finished 7th at Junior Worlds and took home a silver medal from his first JGP assignment last season. He'll also be looking to take home two medals and qualify for his first JGP Final. If both skaters perform their best, this will be a tight race for the top of the podium.
Liam Firus of Canada had a good JGP season, winning a bronze medal, but finished a disappointing 20th at Junior Worlds. Dong-Won Lee of Korea just missed the podium at his first JGP event and finished 30th at Junior Worlds. He is also one of the youngest competitors in this field. These two will likely be battling it out for the final spot on the podium.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Jason Brown
Silver: Keiji Tanaka
Bronze: Dong-Won Lee
Bios of the competitors:
Brendan Kerry, AUS: He finished 18th at Four Continents and 17th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds. He placed 14th at Junior Grand Prix Great Britain and 10th at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 125.64. He is 16 years old.
David Kranjec, AUS: This is his JGP debut. He is 17 years old.
Oliver Porter, AUS: This is his international debut. He is 16 years old.
Liam Firus, CAN: He finished 20th at Junior Worlds. He placed 5th at JGP Romania and won bronze at JGP Great Britain last season. His personal best is 166.38. He is 19 years old.
Chih-I Tsao, TPE: This is his international debut. He is 13 years old.
Marco Zakouril, CZE: He placed 15th at JGP Romania last season. His personal best is 111.75. He is 17 years old.
Bela Papp, FIN: He placed 20th in the preliminary round at Worlds and 22nd at Junior Worlds. He placed 14th at JGP Romania and 16th at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 145.18. He is 17 years old.
Simon Hocquaux, FRA: This is his JGP debut. He is 15 years old.
Christopher Berneck, GER: He finished 15th at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 138.00. He is 19 years old.
Wayne Wing Yin Chung, HKG: This is his international debut. He is 15 years old.
Keiji Tanaka, JPN: He is the reigning World Junior silver medalist. He won bronze at JGP Romania and placed 6th at JGP Great Britain last season. His personal best is 196.98. He is 16 years old.
Yoji Tsuboi, JPN: He finished 7th at JGP Great Britain and 12th at JGP Czech Republic last season. His personal best is 146.65. He is 18 years old.
Ryan Zhi Jwen Yee, MAS: He finished 23rd in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds. He placed 16th at JGP France and 21st at JGP Japan last season. His personal best is 91.10. He is 16 years old.
Michael Christian Martinez, PHI: He placed 17th at JGP Japan last season. His personal best is 118.06. He is 14 years old.
Dong-Won Lee, KOR: He finished 30th at Junior Worlds. He placed 4th at JGP Romania and 11th at JGP Japan last season. His personal best is 165.12. He is 14 years old.
Mikhail Kolyada, RUS: This is his international debut. He is 16 years old.
Suchet Kongchim, THA: He finished 25th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds. He placed 17th at JGP France last season. His personal best is 76.73. He is 17 years old.
Jason Brown, USA: He placed 7th at Junior Worlds. He won silver at JGP France and finished 6th at JGP Japan last season. His personal best is 185.44. He is 16 years old.
Philip Warren, USA: This is his JGP debut. He is 18 years old.
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