Home Ladies Sweep Highlights Junior Grand Prix Yokohama
By Isobel Moody
Korean man sets junior free skate record in JGP debut; Japanese ladies sweep topped by surprise winner; another top American team dominates ice dance.
The skating craze in Japan started last decade, and it’s still going strong. Most Junior Grand Prix events are skated in largely empty arenas, but not in Japan. The arena in Yokohama was a small one, but it was still good to see it packed and loud this week. Their Japanese skaters got the loudest cheers, of course, but everyone benefited from the support. It made it a pity this was only a three-discipline event.
Men
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 10: (L-RjSilver medalist Vincent Zhou of United States and Gold medalist Jun Hwan Cha of Korea and Bronze medalist Alexey Erokhov of Russia pose for photographs after the men’s free program during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Yokohama on September 10, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama – ISU/ISU via Getty Images)
Since Yu-Na Kim’s retirement, no Korean skater have shown themselves as able to come anywhere near her level of success. Now, at last, it looks like there’s one who just might. Jun Hwan Cha made his JGP debut here off a 7th place finish at Junior Worlds, and after the short program he was only a point behind American favorite Vincent Zhou. Both skated shorts that were clean and beautiful, though Zhou’s was slightly more technically difficult, and a bit more expressive in its dramaticism. In terms of technical and artistic ability, they easily distanced the rest of the field.
They both skated frees worthy of gold, landing triple axels solo and in combination, going for quadruple salchows, and wowing the crowd with their musicality. Ultimately, however, his free skate has skyrocketed Cha to the very top of the junior scene. His quad was exquisite, outside one underrotation the rest of his program wasn’t far off from that, and the way he expressed the Il Postino soundtrack truly moved the heart. He did so well he even broke the record for a junior man’s free skate with his score of 160.13. Zhou had a few issues, underrotating the quad and another jump and suffering a couple more glitches. Still he landed an impressive triple axel-triple toe loop combination and entertained the crowd considerably, and took a very worthy silver, the third such one he’s won.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 10: Kazuki Tomono of Japan competes in the men’s free program during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Yokohama on September 10, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama – ISU/ISU via Getty Images)
Cha and Zhou were two of only three men to land a clean triple axel in the short. The third was Alexey Erokhov. He and fellow Russian Artem Kovalev went 3-4 after the short with good, clean shorts. Young Kovalev is not yet trying the triple axel. They were ahead of Canadian Roman Sadovsky, who had singled his axel, and Japanese skater Kazuki Tomono, who had stumbles both on his axel and in his combination. In the free, Erokhov struggled a little more. He landed the triple axel-triple toe, but went only for the quad toe, and slipped and fell. Then fell again on his solo axel. He got through the rest of the program without difficulty, but even then he struggled to connect with the classical musical the way he had rocked out his more contemporary short.
In fact, both Tomono and Sadovsky edged him out in the segment. Tomono landed the quad salchow with a turnout, and though the rest of his jumps weren’t always pretty they were all clean. Sadovsky’s quad salcow was the only successful quad besides Cha’s, but he underrorated and fell on his axel. That wasn’t his only technical penalty, and his clean jumps weren’t always pretty either. Tomono squeaked ahead of Sadovsky as they moved up to fourth and fifth. But neither of them could make up Erokhov’s short program lead, and the Russian held on for the bronze. Kovalev skated another good, clean program, but his lack of technical content still dropped him just behind them to sixth.
Ladies
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 11: (L-R) Silver medalist Marin Honda of Japan and Gols medalist Gold medalist Kaori Sakamoto of Japan and Bronze medalist Mako Yamashita of Japan pose for photographs on the podium after the medal ceremony during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Yokohama on September 11, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama – ISU/ISU via Getty Images)
Sweeps are rare on the JGP circuit outside of pairs, if only because only the home country is allowed to have three entries in the other disciplines. Here in Japan, however, all three ladies were capable, and they were led by the reigning Junior World Champion. Marin Honda, however, got off to a bad start, losing her combination in the short to a stumble, and letting it get to a couple of her other elements, although they were technically clean. It left her down in fifth after the short, ten points back of leader Kaori Sakamoto. The other two Japanese girls went 1-2 in the segment, within a point of each other. Sakamoto and international debutante Mako Yamashita both skated flawless shorts with difficult triple-triple combinations, spurred on by the roars of the crowd.
Honda did far better in the free skate, showing the ethereal skating and jumping, along with a triple flip-triple toe, that won her that world title. When she singled a double axel close to the end, there was initially disappointment simply because she’d been so close to perfect. It may have also ultimately cost her the gold. Sakamoto too skated a program mostly smooth throughout, struggling only on an underrotated loop. She didn’t have Honda’s dazzling artistry, but she did equal her in the beauty of her triple flip-triple toe, and even a few of her other jumps. When the numbers crunched together, Sakamoto’s lead held for gold. Yamashita saw the second jump in her triple lutz-triple toe downgraded to a double and was slightly weaker at the start of her free in general, but she quickly pulled it together to hold on to bronze.
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 11: Marin Honda of Japan competes in the junior women’s free program during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Yokohama on September 11, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama – ISU/ISU via Getty Images)
She was fourth in the segment, however, behind Sofia Samodurova. She and her fellow Russian Alisa Fedichkina were the main threats to the sweep, but they both came up short. They were in fourth and third respectively after shorts that were clean but not crisp. They both landed triple lutz-triple toe combinations, but Samodurova’s lutz takeoff was severely on the wrong edge of her skate blade, for which she suffered. In her international debut, Samodurova showed herself to very much be developing. She avoided the edge penalty on her triple lutz-triple toe in the free, a close to clean effort and also improved in her connection to the music, which was present but limited in both programs.
In her second season on the circuit, former JGP Finalist Fedichkina has a more mature style than she did, though she relied heavily on sometimes silly miming in her free skate. In the free she also singled a lutz, and did only a triple flip-double toe. She did pull off her difficult triple lutz-loop-triple salchow combination, albeit a little shakily. She slipped to sixth, a fraction of a point behind the cleaner-skating Korean Ye Lim Kim. Kim lost her combination to a fall in the short, but in the free landed the hardest combination of the competition, a triple lutz-triple toe-double loop, though with a more minor edge issue. (She also attempted a triple flip-triple toe, but underrotated it).
Ice Dance
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN – SEPTEMBER 11: (L-R)Silver medalists Anastasia Shpilevaya and Grigory Smirnov of Russia and Gold medalists Rachel Parsons and Michael Parsons of United States and Bronze medalists Angelique Abachkina and Louis Thauron of France pose for photographs on the podium after the junior ice dance free dance during the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating – Yokohama on September 11, 2016 in Yokohama, Japan. (Photo by Koki Nagahama – ISU/ISU via Getty Images)
Last week, the reigning Junior World Champions dominated their opening JGP event. This week, it was their closest competition’s turn. Like their fellow Americans, Rachel & Michael Parsons went unchallenged, even when he went awry in his twizzles during the free dance. It helped that they had straight level 4s in the short. Also that their free program that was a magnificent creation choreographically, and they performed it with a maturity of emotion unseen in the competition otherwise. This is their third JGP gold.
Below them, but above the rest of the field, silver was a much closer battle. After the short, Russians
& Grigory Smirnov were only two tenths a point over French team Angelique Abachkina & Louis Thauron, making up for a weak blues pattern and resulting lower technical tariff with strength on their other elements. In the free dance, however, they ended up with the slightly higher tariff. It was an advantage their marks from the judges also extended. This may have been because of an energy imbalance from Abachkina & Thauron. They were too manic early on, and lost energy late in their program. Ultimately, Shpilevaya & Smirnov took silver by close to three points, leaving the French with bronze. It was their second JGP medal, and the third for the French.
View full results here.
Next: Ice Dancing: News on Sinitsinia & Katsalapov, Hubbell & Donohue
Series Standings
With three events complete, nine competitors have skated both their events, and five remain in the running of the Junior Grand Prix Finale, at which the top six in each discipline will compete. Technically there are no locks yet. However, it would take an almost unthinkable series of events for Kaori Sakamoto not to qualify. Like Roman Savosin last week, Angelique Abachkina & Louis Thauron have also in all probability qualified. Ye Lim Kim, on the other hand, would need an equally shocking series of events to make it in, although she is not out yet. Both individual and national standings are available here.