Lessons Learned for Canadian NextGen Skaters at Bangkok Junior Grand Prix

Bangkok, THA (September 14, 2024) – It was a week of learning for Canada’s NextGen figure skaters at the third stop on the ISU Junior Grand Prix Circuit in Bangkok, Thailand with Chloe Nguyen and Brendan Giang’s fourth-place finish in the ice dance competition as the top result for Canada.

Nguyen and Giang, both from Burnaby, B.C., had an uncharacteristic fall in their rhythm dance performance on Friday after Nguyen caught an edge, but they bounced back with a strong free dance Saturday to finish just off the podium with a total score of 146.78.

“I think that went pretty good for the most part. There were some little slip ups, but I think we’re overall pretty happy,” said Giang, who together with Nguyen finished sixth at last season’s Junior World Championships. “Our next competition is the Junior Grand Prix in China and I think we’re going to work on making things a lot bigger for the next competition to make our programs feel more full.”

Rachel Martins of Barrie, Ont., and Juel Kowalczyk of Toronto, Ont., made their Junior Grand Prix debut and finished eighth overall with a total score of 127.09. Noemi Mari Tali and Noah Lafornara of Italy won their second gold of the season after claiming top spot two weeks ago in Latvia (169.47). Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin of the USA took silver (160.12), and Elliana and Ethan Peal of the USA took bronze (152.55).

Fan favourite Grayson Long of Oakville, Ont., finished seventh overall in the men’s competition with a total score of 177.75.

“I’m quite tired, but I had quite a decent long program, so I’m happy with that. And really, after the short program, I was quite disappointed, and so coming into the long it kind of felt like I had nothing left to lose, which kind of really helped my mindset and allowed me to focus a little more for the program,” said Long who will compete next at the Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia.

Yanhao Li of New Zealand took home the gold with a total score of 230.09. Last year’s Junior Grand Prix final champion Rio Nakata of Japan took silver (218.71), while Tonghe Tian of China took bronze (210.39).

The women’s competition saw new senior national team member Hetty Shi of Northville, Michigan, USA take to the ice for the first time internationally this season. The senior women’s bronze medallist at last year’s Canadian National Championships had a tough time with falls in both programs and finished 10th overall.

“(This week) didn’t go as planned, it was very disappointing for me. I think I was a little too nervous. I felt the nerves take control of my body and then it wasn’t good from there. I’m going to do a lot more mental training before the next competition,” said Shi.

Yihan Wang of China dominated the women’s competition, taking home gold with a total score of 194.71. Yo Takagi of Japan took silver (188.54), while Mei Okada of Japan edged out last year’s World Junior Championships silver medallist Jia Shin of Korea for the bronze (175.96).

The fourth Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place next week in Ankara, Turkey from September 18-21, 2024 and will feature Canadian men’s, women’s pair, and ice dance teams. For full results please click here.