Japan’s Shun Sato stormed to the Junior Men’s gold medal at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino (ITA) Saturday. Andrei Mozalev and Daniil Samsonov of Russia claimed the silver and bronze medal. All three Junior Men competed in their first Junior Final.
Shun Sato of Japan 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Skating to “Romeo and Juliet” by Nino Rota, Sato pulled off a quadruple Lutz, quadruple toe-triple toe combination, another quad toe as well as two triple Axels and three more triples. The JGP Lake Placid Champion posted a personal best of 177.08 points and racked up 255.11 points to move up from third to first place.
“I was very surprised at the points, I was not expecting such high points, but the reason was probably because of the quad Lutz, and because I was able to do all spins and steps 100 per cent, as I wanted, so I think that added to the high score,” Sato told the press.
Andrei Mozalev of Russia 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Mozalev landed two quadruple toeloops, a triple Axel-triple toe as well as four more triple jumps in his performance to the “Step Up” soundtrack and “In This Shirt” The only error came, when the skater from St. Petersburg missed his second triple Axel. The JGP Zagreb Champion scored 159.03 points and slipped from first to second at 241.48 points overall.
“I felt good after my skate, there were some errors but I have drawn conclusions from them and we will carry on working on them. I’m happy with the silver, and I’m already very satisfied with getting here at all, it’s given me huge experience,” the 16-year-old noted.
Daniil Samsonov of Russia 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Samsonov produced a quadruple Lutz, triple Axel and five more triples, but he stumbled on the second triple Axel. The 14-year-old ranked fourth in the Free Skating with 152.44 points but held on to third place at 230.19 points.
“Not everything worked out today, there’s still things to work on and I need to improve and try to skate better, but I’m very happy to be here considering these are the best six skaters in the world, and in my first year in the junior Grand Prix I got to the Final and won the bronze,” the JGP Gdansk Champion said.
Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) pulled up from sixth to fourth with a solid performance (227.09 points). 2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist Petr Gumennik (RUS) came fifth on 212.62 points and 2019 World Junior bronze medalist Daniel Grassl (ITA), who had to skate in new boots after his old ones broke, placed sixth (195.66 points).
Schedule of the event
Sunday, December 8: Exhibition Gala
Where to watch and follow the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019?
Viewers will be able to watch the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final on ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube Channel or for viewers in Japan on TV Asahi and viewers in Korean on SBS.
English commentary will be included on the live stream.
Subscribe to the ISU Newsletter to receive the latest information and you can also subscribe to the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating YouTube Channel l to receive notifications when live streams start or new videos are published.
Highlights, clips, interviews, behind the scenes:
YouTube: ISU Junior Grand Prix
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Twitter: @ISU_Figure
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ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2019
Courchevel, France - August 22 to 24
Lake Placid, USA - August 29 to August 31
Riga, Latvia – September 5 to 7
Chelyabinsk, Russia - September 12 to 14
Gdansk, Poland - September 19 to 21
Zagreb, Croatia – September 26 to 28
ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – Torino, Italy - December 5 to 8
