Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS), Daniel Grassl (ITA), Petr Gumennik (RUS) and ice dancers Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov (RUS) grabbed the last available spots for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final as this season‘s Junior Grand Prix series concluded in Egna/Neumarkt (ITA) this weekend. The nine medals went to four ISU members.
Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS) dominates in Egna
Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS) cruised to her first Junior Grand Prix gold medal with almost 40 points to spare. The 15-year-old skated to a confident lead in the Short Program with an excellent performance. Skating last in the last event of the ISU Junior Grand Prix series the Muscovite ended on a very high note with a flawless performance to Indian music that was highlighted by seven triples and difficult spins and footwork. Sinitsyna totaled 215.58 points. With her gold from Egna and the silver from Chelyabinsk, she qualified for her first Junior Final.
Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (ITA) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Anna Frolova (RUS) claimed the silver medal to follow up on her bronze from Zagreb the week before. However, the 14-year-old, who trains together with Sinitsyna, missed a triple Lutz in her routine to “Notre Dame de Paris”.
Alessia Tornaghi (ITA), who ranked seventh in the Short Program, pulled up to third with a strong performance that included seven triples. The bronze is her first medal on the circuit.
“Of course, I am pleased with the competition in Italy, because I fulfilled my task – to skate both programs clean,” Sinitsyna said. “I am very happy to make the Final. This is a step forward in my career. I will put the emphasis on my programs, making the jump content harder and I’ll work on the speed in the spins and the quality of my steps in the footwork. I continue to work on jumps with multiple rotations,” she added.
A total of 32 Junior Ladies competed in the event.
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ladies
Daniel Grassl (ITA) golden on home ice
To the delight of the home crowd, Daniel Grassl, who lives and trains in Egna, skated off with the gold medal. Petr Gumennik (RUS) earned the silver and the bronze went to < (UKR). Grassl and Gumennik booked their ticket to Torino for the Final.
Grassl skated to a narrow lead over Gumennik in the Short Program with both turning in a clean performance. The Italian then landed a quadruple Lutz and seven clean triples in his Free Skating to “Single Man” and “Nocturnal Animals”. The 2019 World Junior bronze medalist only wobbled on the triple Axel and almost fell on his quad loop. Grassl racked up a personal best total score of 241.53 points to win his first Junior Grand Prix gold medal.
Skating to “The Phantom of the Opera”, Gumennik struggled with his quad Lutz and Salchow that both were underrotated and he fell on the Salchow. The 2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist recovered to hit six clean triples (232.39 points). Shmuratko delivered two solid performances without a quad attempt to earn his first JGP medal on 221.44 points.
Daniel Grassl (ITA) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (ITA) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
“I am very pleased to be able to win for the first time in the rink where I am training every day. I am happy that so many people came to watch, ” Grassl commented. “I am satisfied with the short program. As for the free skating, I need to practice the quad loop more, but overall I am satisfied with it. Next I‘ll skate in two Challenger events in Minsk and in China and then I‘m looking forward to the Final in my home country” he added.
25 competitors participated in the event.
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Men.
Khudaiberdieva/Filatov (RUS) continue instant success
The new ice dance couple Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva/Andrey Filatov continued their instant success by winning their second Junior Grand Prix event and qualifying for the Junior Final. A year ago, Khudaiberdieva competed in the Final with her former partner Nikita Nazarov (and won the bronze medal). The couple from Moscow won the Rhythm Dance with a confident performance to “La La Land” and a new personal best score. The Riga Cup Champions built on their lead in the Free Dance to “Sign of the Times” by Harry Styles, completing level-four twizzles and a level four and three combination lift. However, the combination spin and the circular footwork merited a level two only. Khudaiberdieva/Filatov scored 164.92 points.
Natalie D‘Alessandro/Bruce Waddell (CAN) looked solid in both programs and picked up the silver medal, their first medal on the circuit, with 152.76 points. The bronze went to Angelina Lazareva/Maksim Prokofiev, who competed in their first Junior Grand Prix event (148.71 points).
“We‘re very happy that we were able to qualify for the (Junior) Grand Prix Final. Actually we didn‘t expect such a good result, but we‘re working hard” Khudaiberdieva commented. “For us it is important to show each time what we are capable of. So we‘re a little disappointed that we were not able to show a good technical result, we lost some levels. That means we‘ll just work harder” she continued.
Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva & Andrey Filatov (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (ITA) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Overall, 18 Ice Dance couples competed in Egna/Neumarkt.
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ice Dance
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series concluded in Egna (ITA) with the seventh and last event. The top six skaters/couples of the Junior series in each discipline will proceed to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Torino (ITA) December 5-8. Full entry lists, results, the General Announcement of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series are available on isu.org.
Where to watch and follow the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019?
Live stream: ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel
Video on Demand: ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel
Subscribe to the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel to receive alerts when the live streams start and when new videos are posted.
Highlights, clips, interviews, behind the scenes:
YouTube: ISU Junior Grand Prix
Facebook: @ISU Figure Skating
Twitter: @ISU_Figure
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