JGP Latvia Men's Preview

Jordan Moeller is making his Junior Grand Prix debut here after winning the Junior Men's event at Gardena Trophy last spring.  He scored nearly 200 points there and that puts him at the top of the pack here but he's never competed in front of an ISU panel.  He'll have to manage the pressure of his first major competition and hold off several previous medal winners to make the podium.

Boyang Jin placed 4th at Junior Worlds last season after winning a gold and silver medal on the JGP circuit and qualifying for the JGPF.  He was fairly inconsistent over the season which prevented him from reaching his full potential.  At only 15 years old and with China having just brought up Han Yan to the senior ranks, Jin likely has a few more seasons to prove himself and take the junior scene by storm.

Shoma Uno won a silver medal on the JGP last season and finished 7th at Junior Worlds.  He was only a few points behind Jin at Junior Worlds and could easily challenge him here and make his 2nd podium.

Other contenders include Jin Seo Kim and Roman Sadovsky who took home bronze medals last season.  Adian Pitkeev is also in the mix even though he failed to medal last season.

A skater to watch for is Michael Christian Martinez who split his time last year between the senior and the junior ranks.  He had some good performances and definitely improved throughout the season to finish 5th at Junior Worlds.  He is a very enjoyable skater to watch and when his jumps are on can score very well.  If he can continue the progress he's made he's on track for a breakout season.  Luiz Manella of Brazil has also had an impressive summer, winning 1st place in the senior men's event at the Liberty Summer Competition.  He finished just 15th at Junior Worlds last season and could be making a big jump here.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Boyang Jin
Silver: Jordan Moeller
Bronze: Michael Christian Martinez

Brendan Kerry, AUS: He placed 21st at Four Continents.  His personal best is 144.26.  He is 18 years old.

Pavel Ignatenko, BLR: He placed 14th at Junior Worlds and 13th at Europeans.  He finished 7th at JGP Turkey and 11th at JGP Croatia last season.  His personal best is 171.18.  He is 18 years old.

Luiz Manella, BRA: He placed 15th at Junior Worlds.  His personal best is 162.53.  He is 18 years old.

Ivo Gatovski, BUL: This is his JGP debut.  He is 15 years old.

Roman Sadovsky, CAN: He won bronze at JGP Lake Placid and finished 10th at JGP Slovenia last season.  His personal best is 158.77.  He is 14 years old.

Boyang Jin, CHN: He placed 4th at Junior Worlds.  He won gold at JGP France and silver at JGP Slovenia to qualify for the JGP Final last season where he finished 5th.  His personal best is 194.13.  He is 15 years old. 

Zijing Teng, CHN: This is his international debut.  He is 17 years old.

Samuel Koppel, EST: He placed 32nd at Junior Worlds.  His personal best is 94.11.  He is 18 years old.

Juho Pirinen, FIN: This is his JGP debut.  He is 17 years old.

Simon Hocquaux, FRA: He placed 17th at Junior Worlds.  He finished 10th at JGP France last season.  His personal best is 152.61.  He is 17 years old.

Armen Agaian, GEO: He finished 20th at JGP Turkey and 15th at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 117.21.  He is 17 years old.

Adrien Bannister, ITA: This is his international debut.

Shoma Uno, JPN: He finished 7th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 6th at JGP Slovenia and won silver at JGP Germany last season.  His personal best is 188.48.  He is 15 years old. 

Sota Yamamoto, JPN: This is his international debut.  He is 13 years old.

Glebs Basins, LAT: This is his international debut.

Deniss Vasiljevs, LAT: This is his international debut.  He is 14 years old.

Arturas Ganzela, LTU: His personal best is 87.27.  He is 17 years old.

Sondre Oddvoll Boe, NOR: He finished 26th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 15th at JGP France and 12th at JGP Austria last season.  His personal best is 134.88.  He is 15 years old.

Michael Christian Martinez, PHI: He placed 5th at Junior Worlds and 16th at Four Continents.  He finished 4th at JGP USA and 6th at JGP Croatia last season.  His personal best is 191.64.  He is 16 years old.

Krzysztof Gala, POL: He placed 17th at JGP Slovenia last season.  His personal best is 123.02.  He is 17 years old.

Jin Seo Kim, KOR: He placed 26th at Worlds and 19th at Four Continents.  He won bronze at JGP Austria and placed 4th at JGP Croatia.  His personal best is 176.43.  He is 16 years old.

Daniel Patriche, ROU: He placed 25th at JGP Slovenia last season.  His personal best is 88.20.  He is 15 years old.

Adian Pitkeev, RUS: He placed 6th at JGP USA and 8th at JGP Slovenia last season.  His personal best is 154.97.  He is 15 years old.

Vladislav Tarasenko, RUS: He finished 8th at JGP USA.  His personal best is 161.70.  He is 16 years old.

Giray Senol, TUR: He finished 37th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 16th at JGP Turkey and 23rd at JGP Slovenia last season.  His personal best is 118.66.  He is 16 years old.

Igor Reznichenko, UKR: His personal best is 134.40.  He is 18 years old.

Jimmy Ma, USA: This is his JGP debut.  He is 17 years old.

Jordan Moeller, USA: This is his JGP debut.  He is 18 years old.

JGP Slovenia Men's Preview

The last time Han Yan and Joshua Farris met, they were separated by just the slimmest of margins.  Joshua Farris landed his first quad in competition at Lake Placid giving him the same technical elements as Yan.  It's likely to be close between these two, but Han Yan hasn't competed since Junior Worlds while Farris already has one competition under his belt.  With both of them having quads and consistent triple axels, clean programs and PCS scores are going to make the difference.

Boyang Jin was the surprise gold medal winner at JGP France and has the technical firepower to compete for the podium but he'll likely have trouble keeping up with the top two men here as his personal best is over 20 points less than Farris or Yan.

Jin will have to fight off two Japanese men for the last spot on the podium.  Keiji Tanaka has a silver medal already this season and Shoma Uno won a bronze last season.  The Japanese are well known for their technical abilities and Tanaka didn't live up to his full potential yet this season.  Uno is making his season debut and will be able to show off his improvements since Junior Worlds.

Roman Sadovsky of Canada won the bronze medal in Lake Placid with an impressive performance in his free skate.  If he can put together two clean programs he could challenge for the podium again here.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Joshua Farris
Silver: Han Yan
Bronze: Keiji Tanaka

Bios of the competitors:
David Kranjec, AUS: He placed 12th at JGP Australia and 18th at JGP Austria last season.  His personal best is 128.93.  He is 18 years old.

Manuel Drechsler, AUT: He placed 22nd at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 85.08.  He is 16 years old.

Roman Sadovsky, CAN: He won bronze at JGP USA.  His personal best is 158.77.  He is 13 years old.

Boyang Jin, CHN: He won gold at JGP France.  His personal best is 194.13.  He is 14 years old.

Han Yan, CHN: He is the reigning Junior World Champion.  He won gold at JGP Austria and JGP Italy last season to qualify for the JGPF where he won silver.  His personal best is 222.45.  He is 16 years old.

Jordan Ju, TPE: He placed 20th in the preliminary round at Worlds and 21st at Four Continents.  He finished 15th at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 134.97.  He is 17 years old.

Viktor Romanenkov, EST: He placed 23rd at Europeans.  He finished 10th at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 162.19.  He is 19 years old.

Charles Tetar, FRA: He finished 7th at JGP France.  His personal best is 154.29.  He is 17 years old.

Alexander Schoepke, GER: This is his JGP debut.  He is 18 years old.

Peter James Hallam, GBR: He placed 13th at JGP France.  His personal best is 130.55.  He is 17 years old.

Antonio Panfili, ITA: This is his international debut.

Keiji Tanaka, JPN: He placed 7th at Junior Worlds.  He won silver at JGP USA.  His personal best is 196.98.  He is 17 years old.

Shoma Uno, JPN: He finished 10th at Junior Worlds.  He placed 4th at JGP Poland and won bronze at JGP Estonia last season.  His personal best is 175.92.  He is 14 years old.

Abish Baytkanov, KAZ: He placed 21st at JGP Latvia and 19th at JGP Estonia last season.  His personal best is 77.76.  He is 17 years old.

Julian Zhi Jie Yee, MAS: He finished 20th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  He placed 22nd at JGP Italy and 14th at JGP Estonia last season.  His personal best is 112.90.  He is 15 years old.

Krzysztof Gala, POL: He placed 20th at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 85.93.  He is 15 years old.

Dong-Won Lee, KOR: He placed 5th at JGP Australia and Romania last season.  His personal best is 166.93.  He is 15 years old.

Daniel Patriche, ROU: This is his international debut.  He is 15 years old.

Adian Pitkeev, RUS: He finished 6th at JGP USA.  His personal best is 154.97.  He is 14 years old.

Alexander Samarin, RUS: This is his international debut.

Marco Klepoch, SVK: He placed 16th at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 105.99.  He is 14 years old.

Kristof Brezar, SLO: He placed 20th at JGP Austria.  His personal best is 85.93.  He is 15 years old.

Matej Gregorc, SLO: This is his international debut.

Ondrej Spiegl, SWE: He placed 13th at JGP Romania and 15th at JGP Italy last season.  His personal best is 142.25.  He is 19 years old.

Giray Senol, TUR: He placed 16th at JGP Turkey.  His personal best is 118.66.  He is 15 years old.

Yaroslav Paniot, UKR: He placed 16th at JGP USA.  He placed 9th at the Youth Olympic Games last season.  His personal best is 132.55.  He is 14 years old.

Joshua Farris, USA: He is the reigning Junior World Silver Medalist.  He won gold at JGP USA.  His personal best is 221.97.  He is 17 years old.

Lukas Kaugars, USA: This is his JGP debut.  He is 17 years old.

JGP Lake Placid Men's Free Skate

Bryan Christopher Tan, MAS: 51.29 Total: 80.30
Yaroslav Paniot, UKR: 60.47 Total: 100.48
Harry Hau Yin Lee, HKG: 41.79 Total: 116.37
Viktor Zubik, FIN: 31.72 Total: 112.06
James Schetelich, USA: 86.35 Total: 124.22
Conor Stakelum, IRL: 65.96 Total: 97.48

• Triple toe + double axel sequence a little forward on the landing
• Triple salchow nicely timed with the music
• Nice extension in the arabesque spiral transition
• Good stretch through his sit spin but a little slow
• He seems to be a very lyrical skater and I fear this music is too heavy for his style
• Double flip
• Double axel
• Triple toe a little forward on the landing
• He has great lines and use of his arms but he doesn't use them to their fullest in developing transitions between his elements 
• Tough fight on the landing of that double + double toe
• Nice flexibility through his catchfoot camel spin
• Slow through his footwork and not a lot of upper body changes in levels
• Double loop
• He finishes his final combo spin after the music

Chih-I Tsao, TPE: Total: 125.46

• Triple loop with a low landing but he hangs on
• Single lutz (popped open)
• Triple flip + double toe + single loop
• Not a lot of transition between these elements and lots of telegraphing between the jumps
• Nice speed through his combo spin but I'd like to see him point his toes in the sit spin
• Triple toe + double toe fall out
• Nice spread eagle into a very hesitant double flip
• Triple lutz fall out + double toe
• Not enough speed in the double axel and he he falls
• Another double axel and a step out
• Very slow and a big bobble on the flying sit spin
• He doesn't quite have the power or the expression to handle Requiem just yet and the intensity of the music is making his footwork seem slower than it likely is
• Music ends just as he enters his final camel spin

Jordan Dodds, AUS: 68.42 Total: 108.77

• Triple salchow + double salchow sequence
• Double axel + double toe with nice spring on the second jump
• Triple flip
• Decent positions in his spins but with such long legs I'd love to see him really use them and really stretch through his positions
• Double loop two footed landing and a fall
• I think he could have some really great arm variations in his transitions instead of largely having them out at shoulder height--he has a nice floating quality when he uses them
• Double loop
• Single salchow--very hesitant going into it
• Good speed through his combination spin
• Double flip a little tight but he lands it
• Single axel + double toe
• Music ends before he begins his final spin

Vladislav Tarasenko, RUS: 100.63 Total: 151.33

• He's like a mini Elvis Stojko!
• Nice triple flip + double toe
• Triple flip really holding on to the landing
• Triple lutz
• Good low broken let sit spin with nice speed 
• Nice triple salchow
• He's nailing these jumps but there isn't a lot of transitions and choreography
• Triple loop + double toe + double loop
• Not a great position in the broken leg camel but nice flexibility in the donut
• Some nice choreography into his double loop but he fell
• Double axel + double toe right on the music
• Double axel right on the music again
• He really has a lot going for him and I don't think this program really shows off all he can do choreography wise
• Nice energy through the step sequence
• Awful illusion spins but the rest of the spin is nice including a cool variation with his leg tucked over his head
• Wow he's got a lot of choreography left after his music ends...

Roman Sadovsky, CAN: 107.86 Total: 158.77

• Triple salchow with a beautiful landing position
• Nice triple lutz
• Triple flip + double toe--he's really drilling these landings
• A little slow on his combination spin
• He uses his arms really well in some places but I'd like to see him not be so stiff and others and watch for awkward positions
• Double axel + triple toe with a lot of height on the 2nd jump
• Hand down on the triple loop
• Really nice camel position with a great entry and speed in the donut and nice flexibility through the catch foot
• Nice double axel right on the music
• Fall on the triple flip 
• Nice attack on this step sequence with good variety of movement but he could have more stretch through his free leg and pointed toes to really polish and finish off the look
• Triple salchow + double toe + double toe
• Final combination spin with nice speed
• This kid is something else!

Michael Christian Martinez, PHI: 106.52 Total: 158.40

• Triple axel
• Triple lutz + double toe very tight on the landing and he has to put his free leg down
• Triple lutz
• Great height on the flying entry into his sit spin
• Double flip two footed landing
• Ina Bauer into a triple toe but struggles to land the 2nd jump
• Good flexibility in his camel positions in the combination spin but losing speed
• He has such long limbs that he really commands a presence on the ice and especially with the intensity of this music I wish he would look up more and interact with the audience and the judges
• He's a little bit on top of the ice in his step sequences and not really into his knees
• Triple loop + double toe + double loop really tight on the landing
• Spiral into a triple salchow
• He has great height and spring on his jumps
• Nice flexibility with a beautiful Biellman in his final spin

Jack Newberry, GBR: 87.51 Total: 135.89

• Nice double axel + double toe
• Fall on the triple flip
• Triple loop
• He needs some more flexibility or creativity to find attractive positions in the camel spin
• He seems slow and tentative on his footwork and can't really involve his whole body
• Triple flip + double toe a little wild
• Triple salchow both hands down but not sure if it will count as a full fall
• Triple lutz step out
• Muceh better camel spin position with a labored flying change of foot
• Double salchow
• Double axel
• Good low position in the sit spin but he needs more stretch through his free leg

Martin Rappe, GER: Total 150.16

• Hard fall on the opening triple flip 
• Triple lutz and really has to fight for the landing--it seems like he throws his chin back on the jumps which shifts his center in the spin and pulls him backward
• Nice twisted sit spin position nice and low with good speed
• Double flip + double toe
• Triple loop + double loop nicely done
• Takes a fall and slides across the ice on some transition steps
• Nice position in his camel with a good change of foot and nice speed
• Triple salchow step out double toe + double loop
• Triple toe
• Double axel--nice recovery and he makes these jumps look easy
• Nice edges in his footwork and great fast changes of direction
• Nice stretched let in the sit spin of his combo spin

Taichi Honda, JPN: 102.24 Total: 154.65

• He reminds me of Nathan Chen--so tiny his head barely reaches over the boards
• Triple salchow step out
• Triple lutz hard fall on his hip and it seems like it's taking him a minute to get back into it
• Triple flip + double toe
• He needs more stretch and toe point in his sit spin position
• I like his step sequence but it's lacking in power and charm to match his music and really sell it to the audience
• Double axel + triple toe + double toe
• Double loop two footed on the landing
• Really slow in his camel spin with an awkward flying change to the sit spin
• Triple flip
• Triple toe + double toe
• Double axel
• I think he's got potential he just needs more time to grow and develop and work on fine tuning and finishing his elements

Keiji Tanaka, JPN: 123.87 Total: 182.50

• Triple axel + double toe--nice solid start and that gives him a big technical advantage
• Triple axel with a fall
• Nice solid triple flip
• Hand down on his flying camel spin--not sure if he'll receive credit for it
• Nice level changes, changes of direction and use of his full body in the step sequence and well timed with the music
• Nice triple loop out of choreography
• Triple flip + triple toe--ambitious jump after the halfway mark
• Triple lutz nicely done
• Triple salchow + double toe + double loop
• He has a complete program with nice transitions between the jumps but he just needs to fix some of those little errors to compete with the best
• Catches his foot on the landing of the double axel and falls
• Nice upright spin but lots of traveling and he finishes after the music and off balance

Adian Pitkeev, RUS: 97.57 Total: 154.97

• A lot of attack and spunk from this little guy at the top of his program
• Great spring on his triple salchow
• Popped his lutz and popped his 2nd jump
• Nice triple flip
• Triple salchow + single toe
• He has great speed and good height on his jumps it just seems that he has too much power to control the landing and can't tack on the combos cleanly
• Really slow at the end of his spin
• Triple lutz--as he's getting tired he's landing his jumps with his torso further and further forward
• Triple salchow
• Double axel + double toe + double toe
• Double axel with a bent free leg on the landing
• Out of control flying entry to his camel spin and he really has to fight to save it
• Nice variety in this step sequence but he's not very deep in his edges
• Good speed and position in his camel spin with a flying change of foot to a sit spin

Joshua Farris, USA: 146.49 Total: 218.69

• Triple axel + triple toe
• Quad toe--good for him!  It really is a shame he stayed junior this year but he has a chance to get consistency on the quad in a low pressure environment
• Triple lutz + double toe
• Nice sit spin with low positions
• Good speed and flow across the ice between elements with nice transitional moves
• Flying camel spin with a good catch foot although he could have a bit more flexibility
• Double axel did not seem pulled in tight enough in the air but he held on
• Nice triple lutz
• Beautiful spread eagle with nice use of his arms
• Nice lunge into triple flip + double toe + double loop
• Good triple loop
• Triple salchow
• Nice camel spin position with a great stretched out low sit spin and a nice twisted position 

June Hyoung Lee, KOR: 103.07 Total: 156.45

• Nice triple lutz + double toe
• Triple flip a little tight but he hangs on
• He has great musicality and really uses every note in his transitions
• Triple lutz but he catches an edge and falls on the landing
• Nice entry to his camel spin and a good position with nice speed into the sit variations
• Triple flip with hands down
• Triple loop nice recovery right into a double axel
• Double axel + single toe + single toe with a step out
• Triple salchow
• Nice broken leg sit spin with great low positions and good speed
• He seems like he's running out of stamina in this footwork but there's a lot of potential here for him to work on over the course of this season
• Nice final combo spin including a haircutter

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CH	IN	Ded. -	StN.
1	Joshua FARRIS	USA	146.49	75.49		71.00	7.21	6.82	7.29	7.04	7.14	0.00	#17
2	Keiji TANAKA	JPN	123.87	66.37		59.50	6.18	5.68	6.00	5.96	5.93	2.00	#15
3	Roman SADOVSKY	CAN	107.86	55.56		53.30	5.61	5.04	5.50	5.29	5.21	1.00	#10
4	Michael Christian MARTINEZ	PHI	106.52	56.60		49.92	5.32	4.79	5.07	4.96	4.82	0.00	#11
5	June Hyoung LEE	KOR	103.07	47.87		57.20	5.71	5.54	5.71	5.82	5.82	2.00	#18
6	Taichi HONDA	JPN	102.24	51.76		51.48	5.29	4.89	5.21	5.21	5.14	1.00	#14
7	Vladislav TARASENKO	RUS	100.63	51.35		50.28	5.21	4.86	5.04	5.14	4.89	1.00	#9
8	Adian PITKEEV	RUS	97.57	46.63		50.94	5.36	5.07	5.07	5.11	4.86	0.00	#16
9	Martin RAPPE	GER	95.68	44.96		52.72	5.50	5.11	5.25	5.39	5.11	2.00	#13
10	Jack NEWBERRY	GBR	87.51	44.35		45.16	4.75	4.29	4.61	4.54	4.39	2.00	#12
11	James SCHETELICH	USA	86.35	38.41		47.94	4.75	4.54	4.86	4.82	5.00	0.00	#5
12	Chih-I TSAO	TPE	83.30	38.16		46.14	4.96	4.43	4.64	4.54	4.50	1.00	#7
13	Harry Hau Yin LEE	HKG	77.57	41.79		35.78	3.89	3.39	3.61	3.61	3.39	0.00	#3
14	Viktor ZUBIK	FIN	73.30	31.72		42.58	4.54	4.07	4.07	4.32	4.29	1.00	#4
15	Jordan DODDS	AUS	68.42	30.56		39.86	4.36	3.68	4.14	4.00	3.75	2.00	#8
16	Conor STAKELUM	IRL	65.96	29.04		36.92	3.82	3.54	3.75	3.71	3.64	0.00	#6
17	Yaroslav PANIOT	UKR	60.47	21.31		39.16	4.11	3.79	3.75	4.04	3.89	0.00	#2
18	Bryan Christopher TAN	MAS	51.29	18.71		32.58	3.57	3.11	3.14	3.36	3.11	0.00	#1

Pl.	Name	Nation	Points	SP	FS
1	Joshua FARRIS	USA	218.69	1	1
2	Keiji TANAKA	JPN	182.50	2	2
3	Roman SADOVSKY	CAN	158.77	8	3
4	Michael Christian MARTINEZ	PHI	158.40	7	4
5	June Hyoung LEE	KOR	156.45	5	5
6	Adian PITKEEV	RUS	154.97	3	8
7	Taichi HONDA	JPN	154.65	6	6
8	Vladislav TARASENKO	RUS	151.33	9	7
9	Martin RAPPE	GER	150.16	4	9
10	Jack NEWBERRY	GBR	135.89	10	10
11	Chih-I TSAO	TPE	125.46	11	12
12	James SCHETELICH	USA	124.22	16	11
13	Harry Hau Yin LEE	HKG	116.37	14	13
14	Viktor ZUBIK	FIN	112.06	15	14
15	Jordan DODDS	AUS	108.77	12	15
16	Yaroslav PANIOT	UKR	100.48	13	17
17	Conor STAKELUM	IRL	97.48	17	16
18	Bryan Christopher TAN	MAS	80.30	18	18