Taipei City / Chinese Taipei
Alina Zagitova (RUS) skates to gold

Alina Zagitova of Russia skated to the gold medal. Japan’s Marin Honda earned the silver medal and Kaori Sakamoto of Japan claimed the bronze. All three Ladies set a new personal best score in the Free Skating.

Performing to “Don Quixote”, Zagitova reeled off seven triples including a triple Lutz-triple loop combination, a double Axel-triple toe as well as level-four spins and footwork. The ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Champion earned 138.02 points and racked up 208.60 points to take the title in her debut at the World Junior Championships. “Of course, it was very hard to skate right after Marin. I realized I could not make any mistake. If I make one mistake I won’t be first anymore, therefore I was nervous. But when I got into my opening pose all doubts disappeared”, the 14-year-old noted.

Honda’s performance to “Romeo and Juliet” featured a triple flip-triple toe as well as five more triples as well as level-four spins and footwork. The 2016 World Junior Champion picked up 133.26 points and accumulated 201.61 points overall. “I believe I performed this year better compared to last year. However, I am still disappointed with the result and with the performance”, the 15-year-old said.

Sakamoto completed seven triples and excellent spins and footwork as well in her routine to “The Color Purple” to score 127.76 points. Overall her score added up to 195.54 points. “Two years ago I could have won with this kind of performance. This year, the whole level of the competition is higher. So I couldn’t make any mistakes. I am quite happy with my performance and that I didn’t make any mistakes”, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist explained.

Eunsoo Lim (KOR) finished fourth at 180.81 points followed by Yuna Shiraiwa (JPN) at 174.38 points and Stanislava Konstantinova (RUS) with 162.84 points.

The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2017 conclude Sunday with the Exhibition Gala.