The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2016 continued in Debrecen, Hungary, on Thursday with the Junior Short Dance and Junior Pairs Free Skating.
Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (USA) dance to lead
Rachel Parsons/Michael Parsons (USA) danced to the lead in the Short Dance, edging out their teammates Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter. France’s Marie-Jade Lauriault/Romain Le Gac placed third.
Dancing to “Cinderella” by Sergei Prokofiev, Parsons/Parsons earned a level four for the lift, second Starlight Waltz pattern, the side by side footwork and the twizzles. The brother-and-sister team set a new personal best score with 67.88 points. “I think Michael and I are really happy with how the short dance went. We went out there and tried to really show how much progress we’ve made over the last year and I think we were able to do that. We had a really good time”, Rachel Parsons said. “In our free dance we’ve really gone through and picked through all the tiny details that really can make a program stand out. I think we’ve worked a lot more on the personality that we put into it. I think you’ll be able to see that come Saturday”, she added.
McNamara/Carpenter’s dance to Waltz and March from “Peer Gynt” by Edvard Grieg featured three level-four elements and two level-three elements. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions earned 66.25 points, matching exactly their personal best. “We both feel that the short dance is unique and stands out. That’s something we always aspire to do with our skating. Because of that we really, really love this program and of course want to do the best we can and on top of that we just really want to enjoy having fun with it one last time and I think we did that”, Carpenter commented.
Lauriault/Le Gac put out a smooth dance to “And the Waltz Goes On” and the Polka “Susie” with a level-four rotational lift and level-four twizzles. However, their second Starlight Waltz pattern was rated a level one. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Finalists scored 59.65 points. “We’re really pleased with the performance we did. We’re proud of the progress we’ve made throughout the year. We tried to do something different in the short dance to really push ourselves to the maximum of our abilities. I think we’re proud of what we put out and it was our best”, Lauriault told the press.
The following couples remained close to the podium. Youth Olympic Games Champions Anastasia Shpilevaya/Grigory Smirnov (RUS) are currently ranked fourth at 59.15 points. Elliana Pogrebinsky/Alex Benoit (USA) came fifth (59.05 points) and ISU Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalists Alla Loboda/Pavel Drozd (RUS) finished sixth after she fell at the end of the side by side footwork (58.93 points).
Anna Duskova/Martin Bidar (CZE) skate off with Junior Pairs gold
Anna Duskova/Martin Bidar of the Czech Republic skated off with the Junior Pairs gold, winning the very first World Junior title for their country. Anastasia Mishina/Vladislav Mirzoev of Russia claimed the silver medal and their teammates Ekaterina Borisova/Dmitry Sopot earned the bronze. The two Russian teams had debuted at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Duskova/Bidar delivered a solid performance to „La Leyenda del Beso“ that featured a side by side triple toe, triple twist, throw triple Salchow and Lutz as well as a level-four lift and two level-four spins. The Youth Olympic Games silver medalists scored 117.11 points, a new personal best, and totaled 181.82 points to take the gold. “We really tried to do everything we can do and we did it. I have no words right now and I’m overwhelmed by emotions”, Duskova commented. “For next season we want to try the seniors. It will be very hard, because there are three lifts in the free skating and we have to improve”, Bidar added.
Mishina/Mirzoev completed a triple twist, throw triple loop and Salchow as well as a side by side triple Salchow and two level-four lifts in their routine set to “Attention Mesdames et Messieurs” and “La Vie en Rose”. They Russian Junior Champions picked up a personal best with 113.10 points as well and accumulated 172.60 points. “We didn’t skate as clean as we wanted. We did one mistake, but the other elements were good. We did our job”, Mirzoev explained. “We would like to learn the quad twist and maybe a quad throw, the quad throw Salchow”, he continued.
Borisova/Sopot’s performance to “Lawrence of Arabia” was highlighted by a triple twist, side by side double Axel, throw triple loop and Salchow as well as level-four lifts and spins. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champions picked up 110.44 points and pulled up from fourth to third at 169.00 points total. “We’re to 90 percent satisfied with our performance. The missing ten percent we lost in the short program when we made the error on the jump. We still have three junior seasons ahead of ourselves and hopefully next season we’ll win all gold medals”, Borisova said.
Renata Oganesian/Mark Bardei (UKR) slipped from third to fourth at 155.08 points. Chelsea Liu/Brian Johnson (USA) remained in fifth (147.73 points) and Bianca Manacordia/Niccolo Macii (ITA) finished sixth (141.76 points). Hope McLean/Trennt Michaud (CAN) withdrew due to injury. They stood in 13th place following the Short Program.