JGP Poland Mens Preview

Three men will be duking it out for spots on the podium in Poland.  Joshua Farris from the United States showed he has iron determination at U.S. nationals, where he broke his ankle during his free skate, but completed the program.  He is the only skater in this field who earned a trip to the JGP Final last season.  He'll be aiming for a return trip and earning a spot on the Junior Worlds team this season.

Ryuichi Kihara of Japan and Artur Dmitriev each have one JGP medal from last season.  Each have been up and down with their placements and their consistency wasn't something that could be counted on last season.  If they skate clean, they should be above the rest of this field.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Joshua Farris
Silver: Artur Dmitriev
Bronze: Ryuichi Kihara

Bios of the competitors:

Manuel Drechsler, AUT: This is his international debut.  He is 15 years old.

Alexei Mialionhkin, BLR

Samuel Angers, CAN

Petr Coufal, CZE: He finished 19th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 8th at JGP Austria and 7th at JGP Czech Republic last season.  His personal best is 156.63.  He is 16 years old.

Matthias Versluis, FIN: He placed 17th at JGP Latvia.  His personal best is 124.74.  He is 17 years old.

Charles Tetar, FRA: He finished 15th in his JGP debut in Latvia.  His personal best is 131.61.  He is 16 years old.

Armen Agaiain, GEO: He finished 26th in the preliminary round at World Juniors.  This is his JGP debut.  He is 15 years old.

Harry Mattick, GBR: He finished 16th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  He placed 11th at JGP France and 9th at JGP Great Britain last season.  His personal best is 127.66.  He is 17 years old.

Filippo Ambrosini, ITA: He finished 12th at JGP France and 17th at JGP Austria last season.  His personal best is 114.46.  He is 18 years old.

Ryuichi Kihara, JPN: He placed 10th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 10th at JGP Austria before winning bronze at JGP Germany.  His personal best is 177.92.  He is 19 years old.

Shoma Uno, JPN

Adil Zharbolov, KAZ

Arturas Ganzela, LTU

Florian Gostelie, NED

Kamil Dymowski, POL: He finished 20th at JGP Great Britain and 26th at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 96.82.  He is 16 years old.

Krysztof Gala, POL

Artur Dmitriev, RUS: He finished 8th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 4th at JGP Germany and won silver at JGP Czech Republic.  He is 19 years old.

Vladislav Tarasenko, RUS: He finished 7th at JGP Romania last season.  Their personal best is 157.76.  He is 14 years old.

Peter Reitmayer, SVK: His personal best is 160.02.  He is 18 years old.

Igor Reznichenko, UKR: His personal best is 120.51.  He is 16 years old.

Joshua Farris, USA: He won silver at JGP Romania and gold at JGP Great Britain last season to qualify for the JGP Final where he finished 6th.  His personal best is 187.74.  He is 16 years old.

David Wang, USA: This is his international debut.  He is 17 years old.