Tag Archive for: 2023-2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix

Desrochers & Thrasher Capture Pairs Bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Turkey

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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.

NextGen Skaters Shine at First Junior Grand Prix of the Season in Thailand

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BANGKOK, THA (August 26, 2023) – The first Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating event of the season wrapped up Saturday at the IWIS International Training Center in Bangkok, Thailand with strong results for the seven NextGen athletes making their debut for the season. 

The ice dance team of Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys of London, Ont., had the top finish of the competition finishing just off the podium in fourth with a total score of 139.17. The team from Korea of Jinny Kim and Namu Lee just edged them for bronze with a total score of 139.32. Leah Neset and Artem Markelow of the USA won gold with a score of 168.47 while Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux of France captured the silver with a score of 150.98. 

“Our performance felt really into the ice,” said Veillon following the free dance where they placed third with a personal best score of 86.80. “It was definitely one of our stronger performances of the season, and we’re excited to keep exploring and building on the program as the season goes on.” 

Victoria and Andrei Carandiuc of Saint-Constant, Que., were competing in their first Junior Grand Prix and finished 10th overall with a score of 112.12.  

“At first I was a bit scared because I know that there are a lot of good skaters out there in juniors and I was scared to be less good than the other skaters, but in the end, it was a really good experience and we’re going to keep getting better and better,” said Andrei. 

Hetty Shi of Northville, Michigan, the 2023 Canadian Junior Champion, had a strong performance in the junior women’s competition finishing seventh overall with a total score of 156.70. Ami Nakai of Japan won gold with a score of 190.65. Yuscong Kim of Korea took silver with a score of 189.92 while Heesue Han, also of Korea, took bronze with a score of 173.99. 

“I feel relieved that it’s over,” said Shi who set new personal best scores in her second international competition. “I’m not happy about my score (in the free skate) but it’s similar to what I’ve been doing in training, so there’s not much I can expect. I’m going to keep working on the consistency of my jumps and focus on my spin levels moving forward.” 

Canada had two competitors in the junior men’s competition with Grayson Long of Mississauga, Ont. and Rio Morita of Thornhill, Ont. finishing 9th (172.94) and 11th (171.89) overall respectively. Rio Nakata of Japan won gold with a total score of 217.65, with François Pitot of France just behind in silver with a score of 217.50. Yanhao Li of New Zealand took the bronze with a score of 210.08. 

“I think this competition was an amazing experience, especially because it was the first junior grand prix in Southeast Asia, and the crowd here is amazing and so it felt really fun to be on the ice, and although I made some mistakes at the end of my long, I was really happy to be out there,” said Long following his free skate.  

Morita, who recently won the 2023 NextGen competition, rebounded strongly from his 14th place in the short program to place 7th in the free skate.  

“I feel great,” said Morita following his free skate. “I wanted to go home with a better performance and feeling better after my short program and I think the free was going in the right direction. I need to keep working on everything, but I think the way I’m training right now with Tracy (Wilson) and all the other coaches is really good for me and so I think I’m going to continue working with them and the execution of my jumps and the consistency of my spins.” 

The second Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Linz, Austria from August 30 to September 2, 2023 and will feature eight NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, one man, one pair team, and two ice dance teams. 

For full results please visit www.isu.org.  

Seven NextGen Skaters to Compete in the First ISU Junior Grand Prix of the 2023-2024 Season

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OTTAWA, ON (August 16, 2023) – Seven NextGen athletes will kick off the season at the first ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which is set to take place in Bangkok, Thailand from August 23-26, 2023. One woman, two men and two ice dance teams will be representing Canada throughout the week. 

2023 Canadian junior champion Hetty Shi will be competing in the women’s event, while 2023 Canadian junior silver medalist Grayson Long and Rio Morita, who recently won the 2023 NextGen Competition, will be highlighting the men’s event.  

In ice dance, 2023 Novice Canadian Championships silver medallists Victoria Carandiuc and Andrei Carandiuc will make their international competition debut after being named to the NextGen Team . They will be joined by 2022-2023 Skate Canada Challenge junior bronze medalists Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys.  

Team Canada 

Name | Age | Hometown | Coach | Training Location   

WOMEN

Hetty Shi | 14 | Northville, Michigan | Andrew Evans & Paul Parkinson | Mississauga, Ont. 

MEN

Grayson Long | 15 | Oakville, Ont. | Brian Orser | Toronto, Ont.
Rio Morita | 18 | Thornhill, Ont. | Tracy Wilson | Toronto, Ont. 

ICE DANCE

Victoria Carandiuc | 15 | Saint-Constant, Que. & Andrei Carandiuc | 16 | Saint-Constant, Que. | Mylène Girard | Chambly, Que.
Layla Veillon | 17 | London, Ont. & Alexander Brandys | 18 | London, Ont. | Scott Moir | London, Ont. 

Team Leaders – Laura Baker & Shae Zukiwsky 
Officials – Karen Butcher & Andrea Derby
Medical Team – Susan Massitti 

For the full competition schedule, entries and results, please visit www.isu.org.