Junior Grand Prix Final Dance Preview

These competitors range in age from 15 to 21.  Three of these teams are returning to the Junior Grand Prix Final and two medaled last season.  They won 6 gold medals, 3 silvers and 3 bronzes on the circuit this season.  The Russians swept the podium at this event last season, and two of the medal winners are returning along with a new Russian team looking to make their mark.

Sinitisina and Zhiganshin captured their first JGP gold medal in Poland and followed it up in Austria.  Despite winning the silver medal at the Final last season, they failed to qualify for the Russian Junior Worlds team and will be looking for a little redemption here.  They have the 2nd best short dance, best free dance and best total score of the season. 


Stepanova and Bukin have won every JGP event they have entered including Romania and Italy this season.  They also medaled at the JGPF last season but failed to make the Junior Worlds team.  They have the best short dance, 2nd best free dance and total score of the season.


Yankovskaia and Mozgov won the bronze medal in their JGP debut in Poland and followed it up with a gold medal in Estonia.  They have the 3rd best short dance, free dance and total scores of the season.


Nosulia and Kholoniuk won their first JGP medal, a gold, in Latvia.  They finished 19th at Junior Worlds but stepped up with a new personal best, 15 points above their previous score.  They have the 5th best short dance, 9th best free dance and 7th best total score of the season.


Galyeta and Shumski claimed two silver medals in two weeks to earn their second trip to the Final.  They have the 9th best short dance score of the season.


Aldridge and Eaton won their first JGP medal, a bronze in Latvia with an increase in their personal best of 8 points.  They improved to silver at their second event.  Their Riverdance free dance is really their strength, and they can gain ground in this segment if they set themselves up with their short dance.  They have the 4th best short dance, free dance and total scores of the season.


My podium predictions:
Gold: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin
Silver: Stepanova/Bukin
Bronze: Yankovskaia/Mozgov

Bios of the competitors in qualification order:

Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS: They won gold at JGP Poland and JGP Austria.  They qualified for the JGPF last season and won silver.  Their personal best is 151.10.  She is 16 and he is 19.

Stepanova/Bukin, RUS: They won gold at JGP Romania and Italy.  They qualified for the JGPF last season and won bronze.  Their personal best is 134.29.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Yankovskaia/Mozgov, RUS: They won bronze in their international debut in Poland and gold at JGP Estonia.  Their personal best is 142.72.  She is 15 and he is 16.

Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR: They finished 19^th at Junior Worlds.  They won gold at JGP Latvia and bronze at JGP Austria.  Their personal best is 128.34.  She is 18 and he is 21.  

Galyeta/Shumski, UKR: They finished 13th at Junior Worlds.  They won silver at JGP Poland and JGP Romania.  They qualified for the JGPF last season and finished 7th.  Their personal best is 124.65.  She is 19 and he is 21.

Aldridge/Eaton, USA: They won bronze at JGP Latvia and silver at JGP Austria.  Their personal best is 136.85.  She is 17 and he is 19.

JGP Romania Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	77.14	35.86		42.28	7.07	6.82	7.21	7.18	7.11	1.00	#13
2	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	70.90	35.07		36.83	6.18	5.93	6.18	6.36	6.18	1.00	#10
3	Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN	CAN	69.82	36.84		32.98	5.57	5.36	5.64	5.50	5.50	0.00	#12
4	Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Michael BRAMANTE	USA	66.12	34.29		32.83	5.57	5.29	5.54	5.64	5.43	1.00	#11
5	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	61.49	27.37		34.12	5.82	5.36	5.82	5.71	5.93	0.00	#7
6	Maria SIMONOVA / Dmitri DRAGUN	RUS	59.65	30.14		31.51	5.32	5.14	5.32	5.29	5.25	2.00	#6
7	Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	59.44	30.79		28.65	4.86	4.61	4.68	4.93	4.89	0.00	#4
8	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	58.27	27.35		32.92	5.54	5.43	5.39	5.64	5.46	2.00	#5
9	Jessica FLEMIN / Jeremy FLEMIN	FRA	56.77	31.50		25.27	4.21	4.11	4.25	4.32	4.25	0.00	#2
10	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	53.71	21.35		33.36	5.64	5.32	5.61	5.75	5.64	1.00	#9
11	Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Yoan BRETON	CAN	51.27	25.01		28.26	4.64	4.61	4.64	4.89	4.86	2.00	#8
12	Kathrin HAEUSER / Sevan LERCHE	GER	49.01	23.42		26.59	4.54	4.25	4.32	4.61	4.54	1.00	#3
13	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	45.40	25.21		20.19	3.57	3.21	3.36	3.43	3.32	0.00	#1

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	134.29	1	1
2	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	121.35	3	2
3	Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN	CAN	120.69	2	3
4	Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Michael BRAMANTE	USA	115.12	5	4
5	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	109.05	8	5
6	Maria SIMONOVA / Dmitri DRAGUN	RUS	107.45	7	6
7	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	107.23	6	8
8	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	103.73	4	10
9	Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	98.87	10	7
10	Jessica FLEMIN / Jeremy FLEMIN	FRA	92.11	11	9
11	Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Yoan BRETON	CAN	91.54	9	11
12	Kathrin HAEUSER / Sevan LERCHE	GER	83.27	12	12
13	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	76.05	13	13
WD	Elektra HETMAN / Benjamin ALLAIN	FRA

JGP Romania Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN	RUS	57.15	30.29		26.86	6.82	6.50	6.79	6.86	6.61	0.00	#1
2	Mackenzie BENT / Garrett MACKEEN	CAN	50.87	30.21		20.66	5.32	4.96	5.11	5.21	5.18	0.00	#14
3	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	50.45	25.87		24.58	6.11	5.93	6.14	6.32	6.18	0.00	#4
4	Anna NAGORNYUK / Viktor KOVALENKO	UZB	50.02	28.93		21.09	5.29	5.14	5.18	5.39	5.32	0.00	#11
5	Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Michael BRAMANTE	USA	49.00	28.36		20.64	5.25	5.00	5.14	5.25	5.14	0.00	#9
6	Irina SHTORK / Taavi RAND	EST	48.96	27.00		22.96	5.82	5.61	5.61	5.86	5.75	1.00	#3
7	Maria SIMONOVA / Dmitri DRAGUN	RUS	47.80	28.21		20.59	5.25	4.93	5.18	5.25	5.11	1.00	#6
8	Sofia SFORZA / Francesco FIORETTI	ITA	47.56	24.43		23.13	5.79	5.57	5.89	5.82	5.82	0.00	#7
9	Laurence FOURNIER BEAUDRY / Yoan BRETON	CAN	40.27	22.64		17.63	4.50	4.21	4.46	4.50	4.36	0.00	#13
10	Ekaterina BUGROV / Vasili ROGOV	ISR	39.43	20.29		19.14	4.89	4.64	4.68	4.89	4.79	0.00	#10
11	Jessica FLEMIN / Jeremy FLEMIN	FRA	35.34	19.16		16.18	4.29	4.00	4.25	4.07	3.71	0.00	#5
12	Kathrin HAEUSER / Sevan LERCHE	GER	34.26	16.56		17.70	4.43	4.21	4.50	4.54	4.43	0.00	#12
13	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	30.65	17.85		12.80	3.36	3.11	3.14	3.36	3.04	0.00	#2
WD	Elektra HETMAN / Benjamin ALLAIN	FRA											#8

JGP Romania Dance Preview

This should be a good event as Stepanova and Bukin of Russia face off against Galyeta and Shumski of Ukraine.  Stepanova and Bukin took home two gold medals this season, and with so many talented Russian teams, nothing less than gold will do.  Galyeta and Shumski had a great season last year and started off this season with a silver medal at JGP Poland.  They finished below their personal best and will need to step up their game if they want to return to the JGPF, where there are two less slots then less season.

Shtork and Rand of Estonia have a great shot at winning their first medal here.  They finished 8th and 6th last season and finished in the top 10 at Junior Worlds.  Against the young field here, they have one of their best shots at climbing into the upper ranks at the junior level.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Stepanova/Bukin
Silver: Galyeta/Shumski
Bronze: Shtork/Rand

Bios of the competitors:

Shostak/Kisliakov, BLR:

Bent/MacKeen, CAN:

Fournier Beaudry/Breton, CAN:

Konickova/Lang, CZE: They finished 13th at JGP Romania last season.  Their personal best is 59.59.  She is 15 and he is 16.

Shtork/Rand, EST: They finished 21st at Europeans and 10th at Junior Worlds.  They finished 8th at JGP Austria and 6th at JGP Great Britain last season.  Their personal best is 117.50.  She is 18 and he is 19.

Flemin/Flemin, FRA:

Hetman/Allain, FRA:

Hauser/Lerche, GER: They finished 19th at JGP Germany last season.  Their personal best is 69.44.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Bugrov/Rogov, ISR: They finished 15^th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  They placed 15^th at JGP Latvia.  Their personal best is 85.37.  She is 15 and he is 19. 

Sforza/Fioretti, ITA: They finished 20th at Junior Worlds.  They placed 6th at JGP Romania and 8th at JGP Germany last season.  Their personal best is 104.46.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Simonova/Dragun, RUS: This is their international debut.  She is 15 and he is 17.

Stepanova/Bukin, RUS: They won gold at JGP France and Japan last season to qualify for the JGP Final where they won bronze.  Their personal best is 130.08.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Galyeta/Shumski, UKR: They finished 13th at Junior Worlds.  They won silver at JGP Poland.  They won silver at JGP Romania and bronze at JGP Czech Republic last season to qualify for the JGPF where they finished 7th.  Their personal best is 124.65.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Hawayek/Bramante, USA:

Nagornyuk/Kovalenko, UZB:

JGP Poland Free Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	83.48	43.00		41.48	6.89	6.64	7.00	7.04	7.21	1.00	#19
2	Noa BRUSER / Timothy LUM	CAN	70.67	37.71		32.96	5.54	5.36	5.54	5.57	5.54	0.00	#16
3	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	70.51	34.07		36.44	6.07	5.89	6.07	6.18	6.29	0.00	#21
4	Anna YANOVSKAIA / Sergei MOZGOV	RUS	69.66	33.00		36.66	6.14	5.89	6.14	6.21	6.32	0.00	#17
5	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	FRA	68.69	32.15		36.54	6.07	5.89	6.21	6.18	6.25	0.00	#20
6	Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA	CAN	67.76	33.64		34.12	5.79	5.54	5.71	5.86	5.61	0.00	#18
7	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	65.52	35.71		29.81	4.86	4.82	5.04	5.11	5.14	0.00	#13
8	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	65.41	34.65		31.76	5.43	5.07	5.32	5.32	5.46	1.00	#14
9	Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS	USA	64.94	33.70		31.24	5.39	5.04	5.18	5.25	5.25	0.00	#9
10	Jessica MANCINI / Tyler BROOKS	USA	59.32	27.80		31.52	5.36	5.00	5.32	5.36	5.39	0.00	#15
11	Baily CARROLL / Peter GERBER	POL	55.19	28.01		28.18	4.75	4.50	4.82	4.68	4.86	1.00	#11
12	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	54.30	28.07		26.23	4.43	4.21	4.54	4.39	4.39	0.00	#10
13	Stephanie BAADSGAARD SNIDER / Stepan DUBROVSKI	DEN	53.26	26.99		26.27	4.39	4.18	4.46	4.50	4.50	0.00	#6
14	Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	52.77	24.81		27.96	4.68	4.43	4.68	4.75	4.93	0.00	#5
15	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	51.91	29.57		22.34	3.89	3.50	3.71	3.82	3.82	0.00	#4
16	Valentina RUDCHENKO / Artur REGGIANI	FRA	50.62	23.36		27.26	4.61	4.39	4.50	4.71	4.61	0.00	#12
17	Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO	ITA	50.49	26.13		24.36	3.96	3.86	4.11	4.25	4.29	0.00	#7
18	Sophie JONES / Richard SHARPE	GBR	49.85	23.66		26.19	4.43	4.11	4.50	4.46	4.50	0.00	#8
19	Joanna ZAJAC / Damian BINKOWSKI	POL	46.03	24.14		21.89	3.61	3.46	3.64	3.68	4.00	0.00	#3
20	Ilona BIRGELAITE / Aivaras STRAVINSKAS	LTU	45.45	26.49		18.96	3.25	2.96	3.25	3.29	3.18	0.00	#2
21	Viktoria-Laura LOHMUS / Andrei DAVODOV	EST	42.80	24.00		18.80	3.25	2.89	3.29	3.25	3.14	0.00	#1

FPl.	Name	Nation	Points	SD	FD
1	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	140.31	1	1
2	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	122.90	2	3
3	Anna YANOVSKAIA / Sergei MOZGOV	RUS	121.72	4	4
4	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	FRA	120.82	3	5
5	Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA	CAN	118.45	5	6
6	Noa BRUSER / Timothy LUM	CAN	115.56	8	2
7	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	113.24	6	8
8	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	111.34	7	7
9	Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS	USA	107.97	10	9
10	Jessica MANCINI / Tyler BROOKS	USA	103.49	9	10
11	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	96.27	11	12
12	Baily CARROLL / Peter GERBER	POL	95.26	13	11
13	Stephanie BAADSGAARD SNIDER / Stepan DUBROVSKI	DEN	91.95	14	13
14	Valentina RUDCHENKO / Artur REGGIANI	FRA	91.71	12	16
15	Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	89.41	17	14
16	Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO	ITA	88.95	15	17
17	Sophie JONES / Richard SHARPE	GBR	87.56	16	18
18	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	80.48	19	15
19	Joanna ZAJAC / Damian BINKOWSKI	POL	78.87	18	19
20	Viktoria-Laura LOHMUS / Andrei DAVODOV	EST	69.70	20	21
21	Ilona BIRGELAITE / Aivaras STRAVINSKAS	LTU	68.78	21	20

JGP Poland Short Dance Results

Pl.	Name	Nation	TSS =	TES +		PCS +	SS	TR	PE	CC	IT	Ded. -	StN.
1	Victoria SINITSINA / Ruslan ZHIGANSHIN	RUS	56.83	30.64		26.19	6.50	6.29	6.50	6.61	6.75	0.00	#15
2	Anastasia GALYETA / Alexei SHUMSKI	UKR	52.39	29.65		22.74	5.64	5.43	5.71	5.71	5.86	0.00	#21
3	Gabriella PAPADAKIS / Guillaume CIZERON	FRA	52.13	27.93		24.20	6.04	5.82	6.04	6.07	6.21	0.00	#14
4	Anna YANOVSKAIA / Sergei MOZGOV	RUS	52.06	28.15		23.91	5.93	5.71	6.04	6.04	6.11	0.00	#7
5	Victoria HASEGAWA / Connor HASEGAWA	CAN	50.69	30.43		20.26	5.14	4.89	5.07	5.14	5.07	0.00	#2
6	Ksenia PECHERKINA / Aleksandrs JAKUSHIN	LAT	47.83	28.29		19.54	4.96	4.64	5.00	5.00	4.82	0.00	#3
7	Viktoria KAVALIOVA / Yurii BIELIAIEV	BLR	45.82	27.36		18.46	4.57	4.36	4.61	4.71	4.75	0.00	#13
8	Noa BRUSER / Timothy LUM	CAN	44.89	26.43		19.46	4.93	4.64	4.82	4.96	4.93	1.00	#9
9	Jessica MANCINI / Tyler BROOKS	USA	44.17	23.87		20.30	5.32	4.93	5.14	5.07	4.93	0.00	#18
10	Rachel PARSONS / Michael PARSONS	USA	43.03	22.22		20.81	5.29	5.04	5.21	5.14	5.29	0.00	#12
11	Natalia KALISZEK / Michal KALISZEK	POL	41.97	26.14		15.83	4.14	3.86	4.04	3.96	3.82	0.00	#8
12	Valentina RUDCHENKO / Artur REGGIANI	FRA	41.09	23.00		18.09	4.54	4.25	4.54	4.57	4.64	0.00	#17
13	Baily CARROLL / Peter GERBER	POL	40.07	22.35		17.72	4.46	4.21	4.43	4.50	4.50	0.00	#19
14	Stephanie BAADSGAARD SNIDER / Stepan DUBROVSKI	DEN	38.69	23.22		15.47	4.11	3.82	3.86	4.14	3.50	0.00	#11
15	Jasmine TESSARI / Stefano COLAFATO	ITA	38.46	24.00		14.46	3.54	3.36	3.54	3.68	3.86	0.00	#6
16	Sophie JONES / Richard SHARPE	GBR	37.71	20.16		17.55	4.50	4.11	4.46	4.36	4.46	0.00	#20
17	Karina UZUROVA / Ilias ALI	KAZ	36.64	18.93		17.71	4.57	4.21	4.46	4.61	4.29	0.00	#1
18	Joanna ZAJAC / Damian BINKOWSKI	POL	32.84	17.29		15.55	3.93	3.68	3.86	3.96	3.96	0.00	#10
19	Katerina KONICKOVA / Matej LANG	CZE	28.57	16.94		12.63	3.32	3.07	3.29	3.29	2.89	1.00	#5
20	Viktoria-Laura LOHMUS / Andrei DAVODOV	EST	26.90	15.14		11.76	3.04	2.75	3.00	3.14	2.79	0.00	#4
21	Ilona BIRGELAITE / Aivaras STRAVINSKAS	LTU	23.33	12.14		12.19	3.11	2.89	2.96	3.18	3.07	1.00	#16

JGP Poland Dance Preview

The Russians dominated the dance event in the junior ranks last season, taking 6 out of the 8 spots in the Junior Grand Prix Final.  Despite winning silver at both their assignments and the Final, Sinitsina and Zhiganshin were left off the Junior Worlds team after their poor performance at nationals.  They'll be looking for redemption here and to position themselves as the top team in the junior ranks.  

One of only two non Russian teams in the Final was Galyeta/Shumski of Ukraine who also took home two medals from their assignments.  They'll be looking for a return to the Final and to move up the ranks at Junior Worlds.

Papadakis and Cizeron of France are another strong team in this field, winning a medal at one of their events last season and just missing the podium in the other.  They'll be hoping for two medals this season and the tough task of breaking into a pared down Final.  

Uzurova and Ali of Kazakhstan will likely not be making a run at the podium here, but they are a team to watch.  They are a fairly young team and have done very well in their assignments and made strides already this season. 

Two other young teams to watch are Parsons/Parsons and Mancini/Brooks from the United States.  They are the national novice gold and silver medalists and are making a jump to the junior ranks and international competition.  While the Russians dominated at the Junior level last season, North American teams at the senior level ran away from the competition.  These young teams are the next generation of American ice dance and will be hoping to find their place.   The Parsons paired up last season and looked remarkably polished for only having one season together and their young age (she is 13 and he is 15).  Mancini and Brooks had a height difference that made some of their holds look awkward, but this should be less of an issue outside of the compulsory dances and as she grows.

My podium predictions:

Gold: Sinitsina/Zhiganshin

Silver: Galyeta/Shumski

Bronze: Papadakis/Cizeron

Bios of the competitors:

Kavaliova/Bieliaiev, BLR: They placed 23rd at Junior Worlds.  They finished 9th at JGP Romania and 11th at JGP Czech Republic last season.  Their personal best is 91.94.  She is 17 and he is 18.

Bruser/Lum, CAN: This is their international debut.  She is 13 and he is 16.

Hasegawa/Hasegawa, CAN: They finished 10th at JGP Japan last season.  Their personal best is 95.14.  She is 17 and he is 19.

Konickova/Lang, CZE: They finished 13th at JGP Romania last season.  Their personal best is 59.59.  She is 15 and he is 16.

Baadsgaard Snider/Dubrovski, DEN: This is their first season competing together and their international debut.  She is 19 and he is 21.

Lohmus/Davodov, EST: This is their JGP debut.  She is 14 and he is 17.

Papadakis/Cizeron, FRA: They finished 12th at Junior Worlds.  They placed 4th at JGP France before winning bronze at JGP Austria last season.  Their personal best is 115.56.  She is 16 and he is 16.

Rudchenko/Reggiani, FRA: This is their JGP debut.  She is 16 and he is 20.

Jones/Sharpe, GBR: They finished 12th at JGP Romania and Great Britain last season.  Their personal best is 84.42.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Tessari/Colafato, ITA

Uzurova/Ali, KAZ: They finished 17th at Junior Worlds.  They placed 7th at JGP Latvia.  Their personal best is 101.98.  She is 14 and he is 16.

Pecherkina/Jakushin, LAT: They finished 17th in the preliminary round at Junior Worlds.  They placed 8th at JGP Latvia.  Their personal best is 97.64.  She is 18 and he is 20.

Birgelaite/Starvinskas, LTU

Carroll/Gerber, POL: They finished 22nd at Junior Worlds.  They placed 12th at JGP Latvia.  Their personal best is 90.74.  She is 17 and he is 19.

Kaliszek/Kaliszek, POL: She is 15 and he is 20.

Zajac/Binkowski, POL: They finished 16th at JGP Great Britain and 13th at JGP Czech Republic last season.  Their personal best is 83.25.  She is 15 and he is 15.

Sinitsina/Zhiganshin, RUS: They won silver at JGP Austria and Great Britain last season to qualify for the JGPF where they also won silver.  Their personal best is 134.62.  She is 16 and he is 18.

Yankovskaia/Mozgov, RUS

Galyeta/Shumski, UKR: They finished 13th at Junior Worlds.  They won silver at JGP Romania and bronze at JGP Czech Republic last season to qualify for the JGPF where they finished 7th.

Mancini/Brooks, USA: This is their international debut.  She is 15 and he is 17.

Parsons/Parsons, USA: This is their international debut.  She is 13 and he is 15.

Junior World Championships: Dance Preview

Monko and Khaliavin by far have the best scores of the season and easily won the Junior Grand Prix Final.  They are the only returning medalist from last season's Junior Worlds and they should easily win gold here.  I think they'll win by a comfortable margin that will set them up for a jump to the senior level and a tough Russian field.

Pushkash and Guerreiro from Russia have consistently scored behind their teammates but put up a big score at Russian nationals to make the team.  They have a great opportunity to set themselves apart from the other Junior teams by claiming a medal here.

Lichtman and Copely are the top U.S. team here.  They are coached by Zoueva and Shpilband, arguably one of the best coaching teams in the world.  I don't think this team looks as polished yet as some of the other teams they coach, but they've had a breakout season this year.  The U.S. Dance field is especially deep and they'll need a medal here to stay competitive as they move to the senior ranks next season.  I think the bronze is well within their grasp, but they tend to make small errors and if they can have two clean programs, they could definitely move up the podium.

Kosignia and Moroshkin will be looking to make this a Russian sweep, but there scores have been at both ends of the spectrum during the season.  If they perform like they did at Russian Nationals, they could be very competitive for a medal.

Orford and Williams of Canada and Galyeta and Shumski of Ukraine will also be in the hunt and should be able to pull together a top 10 finish if not better.  The Ukrainians were really consistent in their two JGP assignments but their score dropped considerably at the Final.  If they can take care of these problems, they may be looking at a possible medal.

My podium predictions:
Gold: Monko/Khaliavin
Silver: Pushkash/Bukin
Bronze: Lichtman/Copely

Russia's dance field is so deep that they are leaving behind three of the world's best junior teams, including two Junior Grand Prix Final medalists.  Stepanova and Bukin won two gold medals on the JGP and qualifed for the JGPF where they won bronze; Sinitsina and Zhiganshin won two silver medals on the JGP and qualified for the JGPF where they won silver; Antipova and Kudashev won a silver medal on the JGP and qualified for the JGPF.

The teams (a D indicates a direct entry)

Hew-Low/Hemmert, AUS:

Kavaleav/Bieliaiev, BLR: They finished 9th at JGP Romania and 11th at JGP Czech Republic.

Tremasova/Lichev, BUL: They finished 15th in the preliminary round at Europeans.  They placed 13th and 16th at their two JGP assignments this season.  They finished 32nd at the World Junior Championships last season.

Oliveira/Hockley, CAN (D): They finished 5th at JGP Japan and 6th at JGP Germany.

Orford/Wiliams, CAN (D): They won bronze at JGP Great Britain and finished 5th at JGP Czech Republic.

Zhang/Wu, CHN: They finished 6th at JGP Japan.  They placed 25th at World Juniors last season.

Prochazkova/Ceska, CZE (D): They finished 9th at JGP Germany and 6th at JGP Czech Republic.

Shtork/Rand, EST: They finished 23rd at the Olympics.  They placed 21st at Europeans.  They finished 8th and 6th at their two JGP assignments this season.  They placed 28th at Junior Worlds last season.

Karmi/Lindholm, FIN: They finished 14th at JGP Great Britain.

Papadakis/Cizeron, FRA: They finished 4th at JGP France and won bronze at JGP Austria.  They placed 22nd at World Juniors last season.

Zahorski/Miart, FRA (D):  They finished 4th at JGP Romania and won silver at JGP Czech Republic.

Dieck/Zenkner, GER (D): They finished 8th at JGP Japan and 14th at JGP Germany.

Aiken/Whidborne, GBR (D): They finished 9th at JGP Great Britain and 11th at JGP Germany.  They placed 15th at World Juniors last season.

Bugrov/Rogov, ISR:

Rizzo/Manenti, ITA: They finished 17th at JGP Czech Republic.

Sforza/Fioretti, ITA (D): They finished 6th at JGP Romania and 8th at JGP Germany.  They placed 31st at Junior Worlds last season.

Komatsubara/Mizutani, JPN: They finished 11th at JGP Japan and 15th at JGP Germany.

Uzurova/Ali, KAZ:

Pecherkina/Jakushin, LAT: They finished 13th at JGP Austria and 17th at JGP Germany.

Vellrath/Pirogov, LTU: They finished 14th at JGP Austria and 12th at JGP Czech Republic.

Yitig/Speden, NZL: They finished 20th at JGP Germany and 13th at JGP Japan.  They placed 34th at Junior Worlds last year.

Carroll/Gerber, POL:

Kosignina/Moroshkin, RUS (D):  They won bronze at Courcheval and gold at Pokal der Blauen to qualify for the JGPF where they finished 6th.

Monko/Khaliavin, RUS (D): They are the reigning World Junior bronze medalists.  They won gold at Brasov Cup and J. Curry Memorial to qualify for the JGPF where they won gold for the second year in a row. 

Pushkash/Guerreiro, RUS (D): They won silver at SBC Cup and gold at Czech Skate to qualify for the JGPF where they placed 4th.  They finished 6th at the World Junior Championships last season.

Visnova/Csolley, SVK:  They finished 9th in the preliminary round at Europeans.  They placed 10th and 7th at their two JGP assignments this season.  They placed 19th at World Juniors last season.

Hurtado/Diaz, ESP:  They finished 15th at Europeans.  They placed 10th and 5th at their two JGP assignments this season. They finished 16th at Junior Worlds last season.

Elsener/Roost, SUI: They finished 19th at Europeans.  They finished 7th and 13th at their two JGP assignments.  They placed 27th at the World Junior Championships last season.

Demirsal/Akalin, TUR: They are the reigning national champions.

Galyeta/Shumski, UKR (D): They won silver at Brasov Cup and bronze at Czech Skate where they finished 7th.  They finished 8th at the World Junior Championships last season. 
Nosulia/Kholoniuk, UKR: They finished 5th at JGP Austria and 10th at JGP Germany.

Bonacorsi/Mager, USA (D): They won bronze at JGP Romania and finished 5th at Great Britain.

Cannuscio/McManus, USA (D): They won silver at JGP France and finished 4th at JGP Japan.

Lichtman/Copely, USA (D): They won gold at JGP Austria and bronze at Germany to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final where they finished 5th.