Chelyabinsk, Russia

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Russia dominated the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event in Chelyabinsk on home ice, taking all four gold medals and 11 out of 12 medals in total. Pairs Champions Ksenia Akhanteva/Valerii Kolesov, Ice Dance Champions Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy (RUS) and Ladies Champion Kamila Valieva (RUS) are the first skaters to qualify for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Torino (ITA).

Exciting Valieva (RUS) cruises to gold

Kamila Valieva RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1174631390

Kamila Valieva (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Kamila Valieva (RUS) cruised to her second ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating gold medal. Teammates Kseniia Sinitsyna and Viktoria Vaslieva completed another podium sweep for Russia in Chelyabinsk.

Valieva had won the Short Program with an exquisite performance of her program “Girl on the Ball”, inspired by Pablo Picasso’s painting. Performing to “Exogenesis Symphony Part 3” by Muse, the 13-year-old skater nailed a quadruple-double toeloop combination and six triple jumps including a triple Lutz-triple toe and triple flip-Euler-triple Salchow combination. The Courchevel Champion accumulated 221.95 points to score her second victory this season.

Kseniia Sinitsyna RUS Kamila Valieva RUS Viktoria Vasilieva RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 Itnernational Skating Union ISU 1174641753

Kseniia Sinitsyna (RUS), Kamila Valieva (RUS) and Viktoria Vasilieva (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Sinitsyna impressed as well in her Short Program and in her Free Skating to Indian music, landing six triple jumps. However, she fell on an underrotated triple loop and remained in second place at 204.25 points. Vasilieva delivered two clean performances to pick up the bronze at 198.79 points.

“Overall I am happy with my performance, but the second toeloop could have been better. I went into it with too much power and not as calmly as I should have,” Valieva explained. “I am very happy to have qualified for the Grand Prix Final and my plan is to skate a clean program with two quads.”

A total of 30 Junior Ladies competed in the event.

ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ladies

Gumennik leads Russian junior men to podium sweep

Petr Gumennik RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1174235235

Petr Gumennik (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

 

Petr Gumennik led his teammates Artur Danielian and Ilya Yablokov to a Russian sweep of the junior men’s podium. The reigning ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final silver medalist ranked second in the Short Program, trailing leader Danielian by almost nine points after he had to reduce his combination to a triple Lutz-double toeloop and overall did not look as sharp. In the Free Skating to “The Phantom of the Opera” Gumennik pulled off seven clean triples and went for a quad Lutz, however he stumbled out of it. Nevertheless, the skater from St. Petersburg moved up to first place to claim his third ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating gold medal at 222.14 points.

Artur Danielian RUS Petr Gumennik RUS Ilya Yablokov RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1174642681

Artur Danielian (RUS), Petr Gumennik (RUS) and Ilya Yablokov (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Danielian skated especially well in the Short Program to “Don Juan”. The 2018 ISU World Junior Figure Skating silver medalist did not attempt a quadruple jump in his routine to the “Gladiator” soundtrack, but landed seven triples some of which were shaky. He scored 221.93 points and slipped to second. This silver is Danielian’s first medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit. Yablokov celebrated a successful debut on the series with the bronze medal and two solid performances (207.68 points).

“I feel relieved, because my program is very hard with new elements. I was very nervous how the (quad) Lutz will go and how I’ll go on after that,” Gumennik said. “There were thoughts (not to do a quad), because at past events you could easily win without a quad, but my main goal is not to win Junior Grand Prix events but to strive for more, for the serious, adult competitions and for that you need to make the program harder and in order to gain experience I decided to go for the (quad) Lutz,” the 17-year-old added.

22 competitors participated in the event.

ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Men.

Akhanteva/Kolesov (RUS) first skaters to book ticket to Torino

Kseniia Akhanteva and Valerii Kolesov RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1174426780

Kseniia Akhanteva and Valerii Kolesov (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

The Russian pairs dominated once again. Finishing first in Chelyabinsk, Ksenia Akhanteva/Valeri Kolesov became the first skaters this season to secure their spot in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The silver medalists from Lake Placid took the lead with a confident Short Program to the „Interstellar“ soundtrack. The team from St. Petersburg followed up with a strong long program to „Shine On You Crazy Diamond“ that was highlighted by their throws and lifts. The collected 185.05 points and won their second ISU Junior Grand Prix gold medal of their career.

Iuliia Artemeva Mikhail Nazarychev RUS Kseniia Akhanteva Valerii Kolesov RUS Diana Mukhametzianova Ilya Mironov RUS JGP ISU 1174642716

Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev (RUS), Kseniia Akhanteva and Valerii Kolesov (RUS) and Diana Mukhametzianova and Ilya Mironov (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

The silver and bronze medals went to two newcomers: Iuliia Artemeva/Mikhail Nazarychev from Perm were second in the Short Program with a clean performance. In the Free Skating to a Queen Medley, Artemeva/Nazarychev completed a side by side double Axel-triple Salchow, but she fell on the throw triple flip and loop (178.31 points). Diana Mukhametzianova/Ilya Mironov produced even a side by side triple Lutz and triple flip in their Free Skating to the musical „Chess“. The Muscovites scored 171.88 points.

„We didn‘t feel any extra pressure (to qualify for the Final). We just wanted to show a good performance. Actually we wanted to go out on the ice again after the short program to do the free, because the audience was so great,“ Kolesov noted. „I am not afraid of any elements, I like to do all of them – the throws, the jumps, the twist,“ Akhanteva commented.

22 competitors participated in the event. ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Men.

Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy (RUS) take second gold and ticket to Torino

Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy RUS JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1167507692

Elizaveta Shanaeva and Devid Naryzhnyy (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Elizaveta Shanaeva/Devid Naryzhnyy (RUS) danced confidently to their second consecutive ISU Junior Grand Prix gold medal and straight into their first ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. The Courchevel Champions earned the lead in the Rhythm Dance to “Bonnie and Clyde” and built on it in their dynamic Free Dance to “River” by Bishop Briggs that featured level-four twizzles, a level-four spin and combination lift. The team from Moscow set a new personal best score and totaled 171.07 points.

 

Their teammates Diana Davis/Gleb Smolkin ranked second in the Rhythm Dance and wanted to attack in their Free Dance to “Always Watching You” and “Love Is Gone” by Peter Cincotti. They collected a level four for the lifts and a level three and four for the twizzles, but they struggled with the combination spin that received only the base level. The Muscovites ranked third in the Free Dance and overall remained in second place at 158.27 points. They will have to wait and see if their two silver medals from the circuit are enough to get them into the Final.

Diana Davis Gleb Smolkin RUS Elizaveta Shanaeva Devid Naryzhnyy RUS Nadiia Bashynska Peter Beaumon CAN JGP RUS 2019 ISU 1174642657

Iuliia Artemeva and Mikhail Nazarychev (RUS), Kseniia Akhanteva and Valerii Kolesov (RUS) and Diana Mukhametzianova and Ilya Mironov (RUS) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

Nadiia Bashynska/Peter Beaumont (CAN) earned their first ISU Junior Grand Prix medal, the bronze, with two good performances and a total score of 149.05 points.

“To make the final was our goal set for this season, because last season not everything went smoothly,” Naryzhnyy noted. “It was easier for us to skate here, because Courchevel was our first event and also because here we skated at home. The audience was so supportive that we didn’t feel any tiredness,” he continued. “We’ve worked a lot. We took the whole program, not just some elements, and worked on everything (since Courchevel)”, Shanaeva added.

Overall, 18 Ice Dance couples competed in Chelyabinsk.

ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Standings Ice Dance

The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series continues next week in Gdansk (POL) with the fifth of seven events. 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?

Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen USA JGPFS RUS 2019 International Skating Union ISU 1167507682

Katarina Wolfkostin and Jeffrey Chen (USA) at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (RUS) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)

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