Desrochers & Thrasher Capture Pairs Bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Turkey
Istanbul, Turkey (September 9, 2023) – Jazmine Desrochers of Mississauga, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., highlighted the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition that wrapped up Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, capturing a bronze medal in the pair competition.
Desrochers and Thrasher, a newly formed team that were competing in their first Junior Grand Prix competition, finished with a total score of 146.34 after sitting in second following the short program.
“There was definitely a lot of learning curves this week,” said Desrochers following their free skate. “We were really happy with how our scores ended up in the short program so going into the long there was a bit more pressure, but I’m happy we still got to do it together and to get through it with some ease.”
Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia won gold with a total score of 181.31, while Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA captured silver with a total score of 154.52.
Uliana Shiryaeva of Coquitlam, B.C., made her international debut for Canada in the women’s competition and finished 9th overall with a total score of 147.27. Ami Nakal of Japan won gold (194.65), while Rena Uezono of Japan took silver (187.71), and Yujae Kim of Korea took bronze (183.65).
“For me, my first junior grand prix, I was so excited to be here. I prepared a lot for this competition, and it was a little bit hard for me to be 100% but I tried my best to do everything,” said Shiryaeva who was a bronze medallist at the most recent NextGen competition in Canada.
Canada had two teams in the ice dance event with Dana Sabatini-Speciale of Springwater, Ont., and Nicholas Buelow of Barrie, Ont., finishing 8th overall with a total score of 125.62 and Emma Goodstadt of Oakville, Ont., and Christian Bennett of Charlotte, North Carolina finishing 14th overall with a total score of 117.45.
Mariia Pinchuk and Mykyta Pogorielov of Ukraine won gold (148.82), Yahli Pedersen and Jeffrey Chen of the USA silver (146.37), and Gina Zehnder and Beda Leon Sieber of Switzerland the bronze (143.65).
“Our first practice wasn’t where we would want it to be, but I feel like we fought back and had some good practices after that,” said Buelow who together with Sabatini-Speciale will compete next at the Junior Grand Prix event in Hungary in two weeks. “Rhythm dance wasn’t our best, but we fought back in the free dance and I think we’re both happy with it.”
Canada also had two skaters competing in the men’s event, with David Bondar of Richmond Hill, Ont., finishing 12th (163.23) and Terry Jin of Surrey, B.C., finishing 15th (159.88).
Minkyu Seo of Korea dominated the men’s competition winning gold with a total score of 231.30. Rio Nakata of Japan took silver (222.35), while Daiya Evihara, also of Japan, took bronze (207.17).
The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Osaka, Japan from September 13-16, 2023 and will feature seven NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, two men, and two ice dance teams.
For full results, please click here.
Congratulations to Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher on their bronze medal win! Can you provide some insights into how they prepared for their first Junior Grand Prix competition and how their partnership came about?