After being sidelined with a stress fracture this summer, Minnesota's Kiri Baga came back in a big way this weekend at the Junior Grand Prix event in Japan.
Perhaps more impressive than her silver-medal finish is how consistent her triple jumps have become. Baga landed a triple Lutz-double toe loop combination for the first time in her career in the short program, and followed that up by landing 2 triple Lutzes (and a triple flip) in her free skate -- another milestone for the 15-year old American.
Her performances weren't perfect, though. She had trouble with the double Axel in both programs, falling on it in the free skate and receiving negative Grades of Execution on some of her other jump elements as well. What's important, however, is the fact that she had such a strong showing (including a 6-triple free skate) after such limited training time this season. Baga will skate in again at the final JGP event in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in three weeks. She'll need a podium finish once again to ensure herself of another trip to the Junior Grand Prix Final in December.
Baga appears to be turning into a rare breed of skater: one that shines in the face of adversity and has more grit and determination in her entire body than many of us do in our pinky finger.
Watch out for her this season -- she could very well be a top 8 finisher come Nationals in January.
Christina Gao of the United States and Russia's Adelina Sotnikova.
Christina Gao isn't resting on her laurels this season.
The 16-year old, who placed 5th in the senior division at the U.S. Championships last season, won three bronze medals on the Junior Grand Prix circuit last season, including one at the Junior Grand Prix Final. She's upped her game considerably this season in hopes of reaching the top step of the podium.
Gao is now armed with a stellar triple flip-triple toe loop combination, one so breathtaking it draws comparisons to the triple-triple combinations of Olympic champ Yu-Na Kim, Gao's former training partner. With a base value of 9.30 points, the combination, if hit cleanly, could very well catapult the young American to the top of the standings this week at the Junior Grand Prix event in Graz, Austria.
She won't go unchallenged, though. Enter Adelina Sotnikova, the 13-year old Russian "wonderbaby" who makes her international debut this week. Sotnikova won the Russian National Championship in 2009 at the tender age of 11, but has struggled with growth spurts and harnessing the pressure of competition since. However, if she goes clean in both programs, she will be hard to beat; her spins, spirals and skating skills are among the best in the junior ranks.
It will be interesting to see which girl comes out on top Saturday afternoon. I suspect both will score higher than the other junior skaters have so far this season, and I think both are early favorites for the Junior Grand Prix Final and Junior Worlds.
Whatever the case may be, the Gao vs. Sotnikova rivalry looks to be one of the most interesting of the young season.
Gao's new free skate:
Sotnikova's free skate from the 2010 Russian Championships:
With the first two Junior Grand Prix events of the 2010-11 season in the books, here's a quick recap of what went down on the ice:
Event #1: Courchevel, France
The American men opened the series with a strong showing in France, claiming both the silver and bronze medals behind Canadian Andrei Rogozine. Max Aaron of Colorado Springs was second after the short program, but fell to third in the free skate and third overall. Reigning U.S. junior champion Jason Brown, in third place after the short program, laid down a 7-triple free skate to win that portion and climb to second overall. Both American men have been assigned to a second event, the JGP in Japan next weekend, and both look poised to qualify for the Junior Grand Prix Final.
Russia continued it's dominance in junior ice dance with the team of Alexandra Stepanova & Andrei Bukin winning the gold medal by nearly 10 points over Americans Anastasia Cannuscio & Colin McManus. Another Russian team, Evgenia Kosigina & Nikolai Moroshkin, took bronze in their international debut. Cannuscio/McManus have been assigned a second JGP event in Japan, along with U.S. teammates Joylyn Yang & Jean-Luc Baker.
There was a lot of movement between the short and long programs in the ladies event. Reigning Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist Polina Shelepen of Russia came from behind to win the gold medal by nearly 11 points over American junior silver medalist Yasmin Siraj. Shelepen's jumps are solid as a rock, but the rest of her skating leaves much to be desired. Siraj climbed from sixth to second with a strong, expressive, 5-triple free skate. Roza Sheveleva of Russia was third, France's Yretha Silete was fourth and 13-year old American Nina Jiang rounded out the top five. Siraj will compete at the JGP event in Great Britain in hopes of medalling again and qualifying for the Final for the first time in her career.
Shelepen's free skate:
Siraj's free skate:
Event #2: Brasov, Romania
The U.S. men saw continued success at the second event in Romania last weekend. Keegan Messing fell on a quadruple toe loop attempt in his free skate, but his strong jumps and fast spins were more than enough to give him the victory over teammate Joshua Farris. Farris hit a beautiful triple Axel in his short program to win that segment of the competition, but three falls in the free skate relegated him to second overall. Japan's Keiji Tanaka was third.
In ice dance, Russians Ksenia Monko & Kiril Khaliavin posted the highest score of the season thus far en route to the gold medal. Ukraine's Anastasia Galyeta & Alexei Shumski were second, and Americans Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager won their second career JGP bronze medal, rebounding nicely after a 5th place finish in the short dance.
The U.S. ladies were up against a strong threat in Russia's triple Axel-wielding Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. Tuktamysheva was expected to win by a huge margin, but numerous mistakes in both programs only gave her a 2.22 point victory over American Kristiene Gong. Japan's Shion Kokubun was third, and Samantha Cesario, the other U.S. entry, was fourth. Both American girls got hammered by the technical panel with downgraded triples, but Gong has been assigned a second event, the JGP in Great Britain at the end of September.
