Sofia / Bulgaria

Nam Nguyen (CAN) strikes Junior Men’s gold
Canada’s Nam Ngyuen struck gold in the Junior Men’s event. Adian Pitkeev of Russia surged from seventh
to capture the silver medal and Nathan Chen (USA) rose from sixth to claim the bronze. Pitkeev and Chen debuted at the Junior World Championships.

Performing to “Air on a G String” and “Fantasia and Fugue” by Johann Sebastian Bach, Nguyen produced a triple Axel-double toe, another triple Axel as well as six more triples including a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination. The 15-year-old collected a level four for the footwork and the three spins and with 144.19 points improved his seasons best by almost eight points. Overall the Canadian racked up 217.06 points.
“This is the best that I’ve ever skated in competition. It is also the first time that I’ve done two triple Axels in one program”, Nguyen said. “There are a lot of opportunities that will open up for me after this competition.
I am excited to see these opportunities”, he added.

Pitkeev’s program to “Art on Ice” featured a triple Axel-triple toe combination, a triple Axel, six more triple jumps as well as three level four spins. The Russian Junior Champion scored 143.75 points and moved up five spots with a total of 212.51 points. “I think I gave a good performance in the free skating, but not in the short program, especially the loop (he popped), my favorite jump. I did not expect that I would move up as much as I did”, the 15-year-old commented.

Chen landed seven clean triples in his program to “Chatanooga Choo Choo” and “Summertime” by George Gershwin, but he stepped out of his opening triple Axel. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist scored 142.38 points in the Free Skating which added up to 212.03 points overall. “This is honestly a really cool experience. It’s my first junior worlds. It’s cool to be here”, the 14-year-old said.

Alexander Petrov (RUS) moved up from fifth to fourth with a solid performance (210.03 points). Shoma Uno (JPN) dropped from third to fifth (206.50 points) and Boyang Jin (CHN), who stood in second place following the Short Program, finished sixth after several errors (203.64 points).