Two medal winners from this season are competing for spots in the Final at this event. Nathan Chen won gold at his first assignment this season and although he didn't put out the triple axel, he holds the highest short program, free skate and total scores this season on the junior circuit. He has an extremely backloaded free skate with the bulk of his jumps coming in the 2nd half. He was still shy of his personal best and can put even more space between him and the other competitors. He needs a medal of any color to qualify for the Final while a 4th place finish would keep him in the running.
Ryuju Hino won the silver at JGP Mexico behind Nathan Chen but was nearly 20 points behind. He does have a triple axel but a lot of the other elements of his programs are inconsistent. He did set a personal best in Mexico and could do so again. He needs a gold medal to qualify for the Final while a silver or bronze will keep him in the running.
Alexander Samarin is making his season debut after taking home two bronze medals from the JGP last season. His scores were very consistent last season but he'll need a big improvement in his personal best to contend for the top of the podium.
Also in the mix are June Hyong Lee who finished 6th at JGP Mexico and Chih-I Tsao who finished 7th las week in Poland.
My podium predictions:
Gold: Nathan Chen
Silver: Ryuju Hino
Bronze: Alexander Samarin
Bios of the competitors:
Anton Kapruk, BLR: He finished 17th at JGP Slovakia. His personal best is 130.74. He is 16 years old.
Ivan Prokopovich, BLR: This is his international debut.
Artsiom Tseluiko, BLR: This is his international debut. He is 13 years old.
Roman Sadovsky, CAN: He placed 14th at JGP Latvia. His personal best is 158.77. He is 14 years old.
Chih-I Tsao, TPE: He placed 23rd at Junior Worlds. He finished 7th at JGP Poland. His personal best is 165.70. He is 15 years old.
Matthias Versluis, FIN: He placed 19th at Junior Worlds. He finished 13th at JGP Austria and 11th at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 149.66. He is 19 years old.
Charles Tetar, FRA: He placed 8th at JGP Mexico. His personal best is 160.00. He is 18 years old.
Alexander Betke, GER: This is his JGP debut. He is 18 years old.
Anton Kempf, GER: This is his JGP debut. He is 17 years old.
Peter James Hallam, GBR: He finished 13th at JGP France and 19th at JGP Slovenia last season. His personal best is 130.55. He is 18 years old.
Mattia Dalla Torre, ITA: This is his JGP debut. He is 16 years old.
Ryuju Hino, JPN: He placed 10th at Junior Worlds. He won silver at JGP Mexico. His personal best is 199.64. He is 18 years old.
Taichi Honda, JPN: He finished 7th at JGP USA and 10th at JGP Turkey last season. His personal best is 154.65. He is 15 years old.
June Hyoung Lee, KOR: He finished 17th at Four Continents and 13th at Junior Worlds. He placed 6th at JGP Mexico. His personal best is 176.48. He is 16 years old.
Murad Kurbanov, RUS: This is his international debut. He is 16 years old.
Alexander Samarin, RUS: He finished 8th at Junior Worlds. He won bronze at JGP Slovenia and at JGP Germany last season. His personal best is 186.96. He is 15 years old.
Kristof Brezar, SLO: He finished 20th at JGP Austria and 28th at JGP Slovenia last season. His personal best is 85.93. He is 16 years old.
Marcus Bjork, SWE: He finished 16th at JGP France 19th at JGP Turkey last seaon. His personal best is 123.33. He is 19 years old.
Osman Akgun, TUR: He finished 13th at JGP Turkey and 13th at JGP Croatia last season. His personal best is 138.24. He is 17 years old.
Yaroslav Paniot, UKR: He placed 16th at JGP USA and 18th at JGP Slovenia. His personal best is 132.55. He is 15 years old.
Nathan Chen, USA: He won gold at JGP Mexico. His personal best is 222.00. He is 14 years old.
Spencer Howe, USA: This is his international debut. He is 17 years old.
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