Ryuju Hino of Japan already has a bronze medal on the JGP this season from France and was just 1 point shy of his personal best at that event. With a gold medal here, he would give himself a good shot at the Final. He should also be able to improve on his personal best score here.
Jay Yostanto finished 5th in Italy last season with a consistent triple axel under his belt. He finished just 7th at U.S. nationals as a junior after some jump issues but with a strong performance he has the chance to claim his first medal.
Viktor Romanenkov has competed in 10 Junior Grand Prix events since 2007 but has failed to reach the medal stand. His best finish was 6th place in front of his home crowd last season. He has been steadily improving and with his experience, he could finally reach the medal stand among this crowd of newcomers.
Nathan Chen is making his Junior Grand Prix debut at just 13 years old but this formidable competitor already has two U.S. novice titles and the U.S. junior title under his belt. He has huge jumps and even bigger personality on the ice. He has remarkable consistency as well and can be counted on to nail his free skate. He didn't have the triple axel yet last season but has been working on it and if he lands it here, he could have an impressive debut. He own his only international assignment, the Gardena Spring Trophy as a novice last season.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Ryuju Hino
Silver: Nathan Chen
Bronze: Jay Yostanto
Bios of the competitors:
Manuel Drechsler, AUT: He placed 21st at JGP Poland and 22nd at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 85.08. He is 16 years old.
Simon-Gabriel Ionian, AUT: This is his JGP debut. He is 17 years old.
Johannes Maierhofer, AUT: This is his international debut. He is 14 years old.
Pavel Strakach, BLR: This is his international debut.
Mitchell Gordon, CAN: He placed 7th at JGP Estonia last year. His personal best is 145.04. He is 16 years old.
Jordan Ju, TPE: He placed 20th in the preliminary round at Worlds and 21st at Four Continents. His personal best is 134.97. He is 17 years old.
Petr Coufal, CZE: He placed 17th at Junior Worlds. He finished 8th at JGP Poland and 13th at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 161.10. He is 17 years old.
Viktor Romanenkov, EST: He placed 23rd at Europeans. He finished 9th at JGP Latvia and 6th at JGP Estonia last season. His personal best is 162.19. He is 18 years old.
Matthias Versluis, FIN: He placed 21st at Junior Worlds. He finished 17th at JGP Latvia and 9th at JGP Poland last season. His personal best is 143.20. He is 18 years old.
Niko Ulankovsky, GER: He placed 9th at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 158.47. He is 15 years old.
Giorgio Settembrini, ITA: This is his international debut.
Ryuju Hino, JPN: He placed 9th at Junior Worlds. He won bronze at JGP France. His personal best is 182.71. He is 17 years old.
Sei Kawahara, JPN: He placed 6th at JGP Latvia and 10th at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 160.49. He is 16 years old.
Sondre Oddvoll Boe, NOR: He placed 15th at JGP France. His personal best is 114.49. He is 14 years old.
Jin Seo Kim, KOR: This is his international debut. He is 15 years old.
Feodosiy Efremenkov, RUS: He placed 11th at JGP Latvia last season. His personal best is 163.46. He is 16 years old.
Andrei Lazukin, RUS: This is his international debut.
Marco Klepoch, SVK: He placed 20th at JGP Austria last season. His personal best is 93.10. He is 14 years old.
Kristof Brezar, SLO: This is his JGP debut. He is 15 years old.
Nicola Todeschini, SUI: This is his JGP debut. His personal best is 128.98. He is 15 years old.
Suchet Kongchim, THA: He finished 18th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds. He finished 18th at JGP Australia and 25th at JGP Italy last season. His personal best is 88.61. He is 18 years old.
Nathan Chen, USA: This is his JGP debut. He is 13 years old.
Jay Yostanto, USA: He finished 5th at JGP Italy last season. His personal best is 164.27. He is 18 years old.
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