JGP Romania Mens Preview

Ryuju Hino of Japan led off the season with an impressive gold medal finish at JGP Latvia.  He increased his personal best by 30 points to take home his first JGP medal.  If he can replicate his score from Latvia, he should easily take home his second gold and qualify for the JGPF.

Dong-Wong Lee of Korea is another skater who has made great strides this season.  He finished 30th at Junior Worlds, but pulled up to 5th at JGP Australia.  If he continues to improve, he has a great shot at his first medal here.

Harrison Choate of the United States is making his JGP debut after winning his first international assignment (Gardena Trophy) last season.  He outpaced the field there by 12 points and put up scores that will be competitive in this field.  Nam Nguyen of Canada had a disappointing debut in Latvia, finishing 12th.  He is one of the youngest skaters at this event and every event will help boost his experience and confidence.  He has all the skills to make the podium and I expect him to climb the rankings here.

The men have been having a stellar start to the season with multiple skaters having 20 point or more increases in their personal bests at the first two events.  This event could be anyone's game if they make the same strides.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Ryuju Hino
Silver: Dong-Won Lee
Bronze: Harrison Choate

Bios of the competitors:

Slavik Hayrapetyan, ARM: He finished 21st in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  He placed 18th at JGP Latvia.  His personal best is 125.77.  He is 15 years old.

Dmitri Kagirov, BLR: He finished 16th at JGP Austria last season.  His personal best is 125.85.  He is 18 years old.

Nam Nguyen, CAN: He finished 12^th in his JGP debut in Latvia.  His personal best is 148.95.  He is 13 years old.

Peter O Brien, CAN

Tomas Kupka, CZE:  He finished 10th at JGP Czech Republic last season.  His personal best is 112.75.  He is 16 years old.

Thomas Sosniak, FRA

Paul Fentz, GER: He finished 18th at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 130.52.  He is 19 years old.

Ryuju Hino, JPN: He won gold at JGP Latvia.  His personal best is 182.71.  He is 16 years old.

Jun Suzuki, JPN

Clint Maverik Eguia, PHI

Dong-Won Lee, KOR: He finished 30th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 5th at JGP Australia.  His personal best is 166.47.  He is 14 years old.

Catalin Dimitrescu, ROU

Vlad Ionescu, ROU: He finished 18th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  He placed 18th at JGP Romania and 12th at JGP Great Britain last season.  His personal best is 118.59.  He is 17 years old.

Zsolt Kosz, ROU: He finished 15th at JGP France and 17th at JGP Romania last season.  His personal best is 103.59.  He is 19 years old.

Maxim Kovtun, RUS: This is his JGP debut.  He is 16 years old.

Ondrej Spiegl, SWE: He finished 27th at Junior Worlds.  He finished 9th at JGP Romania and 10th at JGP Great Britain.  His personal best is 142.25.  He is 18 years old.

Tomi Pulkkinen, SUI: He finished 25th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 15th at JGP Japan and 14th at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 143.73.  He is 19 years old.

Sinthawachiwa Phiriyiphon, THA

Engin Ali Artan, TUR: He finished 24th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  He placed 16th at JGP Romania and 23rd at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 110.94.  He is 19 years old.

Yakov Godorozha, UKR: He finished 12th at JGP Romania last season.  His personal best is 128.04.  He is 18 years old.

Harrison Choate, USA: This is his JGP debut.  He is 17 years old.

Shotaro Omori, USA: This is his JGP debut.  He is 15 years old.