JGP #4 Osaka JPN, Sept. 13-16, 2023

[Sylvia]

ISU's event page: https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...grand-prix-of-figure-skating?templateParam=11

Time & Practice Schedule (Osaka is 13 hours ahead of Eastern time): https://results.isu.org/schedules/jgpjpn2023_ColouredTimeSchedule.pdf

Entries as of Sept. 12, 2023: https://results.isu.org/events/fsevent00117402.htm

Junior Men
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Kryshtof PRADEAUX AUS 1
2 Anthony PARADIS CAN 2
3 David SHTEYNGART CAN 2
4 Zhiao JIANG CHN 3
5 Matias LINDFORS FIN 4
6 Francois PITOT FRA 5 [silver in THA]
7 Tao MACRAE GBR 6
8 Chiu Hei CHEUNG HKG 7
9 Simar BAJAJ IND 8
10 Nikita SHEIKO ISR 9
11 Masaya MISHIMA JPN 10 [int'l debut]
12 Shunsuke NAKAMURA JPN 10 [int'l season debut; 4th at JGP Final last year]
13 Seigo TAUCHI JPN 10
14 Oleg MELNIKOV KAZ 11
15 Jaekeun LEE KOR 12 [int'l season debut]
16 Juheon LIM KOR 12 [int'l season debut; 1st of 2 JGPs]
17 Ze Zeng FANG MAS 13
18 Yanhao LI NZL 14 [bronze in THA]
19 Brandon James BALDOZ PHI 15
20 Noah BODENSTEIN SUI 16 [int'l season debut]
21 Casper JOHANSSON SWE 17
22 Yu-Hsiang LI TPE 18
23 Vadym NOVIKOV UKR 19
24 Daniel MARTYNOV USA 20 [int'l season debut]
25 Michael XIE USA 20 [6th in THA]

Junior Women
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Cecilia DONOHUE ARG 1
2 Hana BATH AUS 2
3 Elena Catherine MILLS BRA 3
4 Rose THEROUX CAN 4
5 Ruotang LI CHN 5
6 Ruichen TONG CHN 5
7 Stefania YAKOVLEVA CYP 6
8 Michaela VRASTAKOVA CZE 7
9 Elizabeth NOU EST 8
10 Petra LAHTI FIN 9
11 Milana MOZEIKO FRA 10
12 Tsz Ching CHAN HKG 11
13 Michelle Edgina AXILLE INA 12
14 Gabriella GRINBERG ISR 13
15 Ikura KUSHIDA JPN 14 [int'l season debut]
16 Mao SHIMADA JPN 14 [int'l season debut; Jr. World champ]
17 Yo TAKAGI JPN 14 [4th in THA]
18 Sofiya FARAFONOVA KAZ 15
19 Heesue HAN KOR 16 [bronze in THA]
20 Jeongyul HWANG KOR 16
21 Sueanne Sze Ern LAM MAS 17
22 Regina GARCIA DE LEON SAAB MEX 18
23 Misheel OTGONBAATAR MGL 19
24 Julia VAN DIJK NED 20
25 Cara TANG NZL 21
26 Hayden Isabel BALUCATING PHI 22
27 Vianna Shen-Rou LINKE SGP 23
28 Olivia BACSA SUI 24
29 Eugenia SEKULOVSKI SUI 24
30 Josefin BROVALL SWE 25
31 Phattaratida KANESHIGE THA 26
32 Yu-Feng TSAI TPE 27
33 Elisa WESTERHOF UAE 28
34 Mia KALIN USA 29
35 Huong Dieu LE VIE 30

Junior Ice Dance
Entries
No. Name Nation
1 Renee YUEN / Oliver MA AUS 1
2 Catharina GUEDES TIBAU / Cayden Oliver DAWSON BRA 2
3 Chloe NGUYEN / Brendan GIANG CAN 3 [new; silver in AUT]
4 Layla VEILLON / Alexander BRANDYS CAN 3 [4th in THA]
5 Xuantong LI / Xinkang WANG CHN 4
6 Eva BERNARD / Amedeo BONETTO FRA 5 [new; int'l debut]
7 Celina FRADJI / Jean-Hans FOURNEAUX FRA 5 [silver in THA; 6th at Jr. Worlds & JGP Final last year]
8 Elizabeth TKACHENKO / Alexei KILIAKOV ISR 6 [1st JGP this season; 11th at Jr. Worlds last year]
9 Sara KISHIMOTO / Atsuhiko TAMURA JPN 7
10 Jinny KIM / Namu LEE KOR 8 [bronze in THA]
11 Caroline MULLEN / Brendan MULLEN USA 9
12 Leah NESET / Artem MARKELOV USA 9 [gold in THA]

Livestreams are up for each event: https://www.youtube.com/@isujuniorgrandprix/streams

 

[Sylvia]

Skate Canada's press release (Sept. 6 - I've noticed these are being published a full week ahead of time this year):

Seven Canadian Athletes to Compete at Junior Grand Prix #4 in Osaka, Japan

OTTAWA, ON (September 6, 2023) – Seven NextGen skaters will be competing at the fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix in Osaka, Japan from September 13-16, 2023, including one woman, two men and two ice dance teams. In the women’s event, Canada will be represented by Rose Théroux, the 2023 junior...

skatecanada.ca

USFS' press release (Sept. 12):

Team USA Heads to Junior Grand Prix in Japan - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Seven U.S. athletes will take the ice at the fourth stop of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series in Osaka, Japan, Sept. 13-16.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Skating Japan's Instagram post features (L to R): Ikura Kushida, Shunsuke Nakamura, Mao Shimada: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxGBYxopKWR/

 

[Sylvia]

Results page: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season2324/jgpjpn2023/index.htm

Rhythm Dance starting order was drawn at 11:00 in Osaka (24 mins. ago) and is online:
Warm-up Group 1
1 Chloe NGUYEN / Brendan GIANG CAN
2 Leah NESET / Artem MARKELOV USA
3 Layla VEILLON / Alexander BRANDYS CAN
4 Renee YUEN / Oliver MA AUS
Warm-up Group 2
5 Xuantong LI / Xinkang WANG CHN
6 Celina FRADJI / Jean-Hans FOURNEAUX FRA
7 Catharina GUEDES TIBAU / Cayden Oliver DAWSON BRA
8 Caroline MULLEN / Brendan MULLEN USA
Ice Resurfacing
Warm-up Group 3
9 Elizabeth TKACHENKO / Alexei KILIAKOV ISR
10 Sara KISHIMOTO / Atsuhiko TAMURA JPN
11 Eva BERNARD / Amedeo BONETTO FRA
12 Jinny KIM / Namu LEE KOR

Women's SP draw is scheduled to take place at 13:30 local (before their practice) and the Men's SP draw is at 14:15 (after their practice).

@Karen-W would you lijke to create the 3 separate threads by discipline again?

 

[Sylvia]

Links to the PBP threads by discipline (thanks @Karen-W!):

Junior Ice Dance (RD is Thursday 16:00-17:50 local/3:00-4:50 am Eastern time): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/jgp-4-osaka-ice-dance-rd-fd.110976/

Junior Men (SP is Thursday 18:20-21:53 local/5:20-8:53 am Eastern time): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/jgp-4-osaka-men-sp-fs.110978/

Junior Women (SP is Friday 14:15-18:44 local/1:15-5:44 am Eastern time): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/jgp-4-osaka-women-sp-fs.110977/

Satoko Miyahara advises anyone attending the competition to dress warmly! https://www.instagram.com/reel/CxH91osONg8/

Video messages from Team Japan are posted on the event website: https://juniorgp2023.jp/

It's a beautiful day outside Kanku Ice Arena: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxIgZWpJ6qf/?hl=en

Coach Karine Arribert is enjoying a side trip to Kyoto: https://www.instagram.com/p/CxIQvy8JJar/

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting japanice's link from GSD re. Team Japan's official practice on Wednesday: https://featured.japan-forward.com/sportslook/mao-shimada-set-for-jgp-season-debut-in-osaka/
Excerpts:

World junior champion Mao Shimada worked on her free skate during the Osaka Junior Grand Prix official practice at Kanku Ice Arena on Wednesday afternoon, September 13. It was just ahead of the women's short program on Friday where the young star will make her JGP season debut.
The 14-year-old ran through her routine to "Benedictus" during the 35-minute session and landed all her jumps with the exception of her quadruple toe loop. She fell several times during the practice while trying to land the difficult jump, but cleanly hit her triple axel repeatedly.

For Japan, the Osaka JGP will be the first time it has hosted a Junior Grand Prix since 2016, when it was held in Yokohama. [...]
"I have a feeling that I want to stand at the top of the podium in front of everyone in Japan," Shimada commented. "If you think it will be easy (because you know the rink), your performance will become hard. So I want to enjoy and skate freely."

"Practice is different from competition, but I will do my best," the 15-year-old [Yo] Takagi remarked. "I hope to improve on my performance in Thailand."
[Ikura] Kushida, who regularly practices at this rink as a member of the Kinoshita Academy, said she expects the environment will be different than what she is used to.
"There will definitely be tension as the rink will be full of people, unlike when we normally train," Kushida, also 15, stated.
[...]
Two-time world champion Miki Ando was on hand Wednesday to watch the 15-year-old [Seigo] Tauchi, who is one of her students, go through his paces.

 

[Sylvia]

Jack Gallagher's competition recap articles (in reverse chronological order):

Mao Shimada and Yo Takagi Finish 1-2 at the Osaka JGP | SportsLook

During her free skate, Mao Shimada was nearly flawless as she landed eight clean triple jumps and executed the choreography of her program with precision.

featured.japan-forward.com

Mao Shimada Leads Japan Sweep of the Women's Short Program at Osaka JGP | SportsLook

Skating to 'Americano' and 'Composition,' Mao Shimada was nearly flawless from start to finish. Yo Takagi and Ikura Kushida were second and third.

featured.japan-forward.com

Juheon Lim Leads After Short Program at Osaka Junior Grand Prix; Shunsuke Nakamura is 2nd | SportsLook

Lim and Nakamura both got off to good starts in their short program routines in the Junior Grand Prix event at Kanku Ice Arena.

featured.japan-forward.com

Kudos to JSF for posting so many post-skate interview clips of the non-Japanese skaters on their Instagram account (it must have been very exciting for many of them to be asked to do this ): https://www.instagram.com/skatingjapan/reels/

Getty Images (600 action, podium, kiss & cry photos)

Fun 3-minute Osaka backstage moments video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2vtdaf3Siw

USFS' team recap:

Team USA Earns Two Medals in Japan - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Team USA had another successful weekend at the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series in Osaka, Japan, with Leah Neset and Artem Markelov winning gold and

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Skate Canada's team recap:

Canadian Skaters Gain Valuable Experience at Junior Grand Prix in Japan

Osaka, Japan (September 16, 2023) – The fourth ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition wrapped up Saturday in Osaka, Japan with lots of lessons learned and experience gained for the seven Canadian athletes that competed. Chloe Nguyen, 18, of Vancouver and Brendan Giang, 19, of...

skatecanada.ca

JGP Final standings/qualification is being discussed in the JGP thread in GSD, starting with ice dance here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-24-isu-junior-grand-prix.110722/page-7#post-6469669

ETA:

ISU's recap article (Sept. 19): https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...-s-gold-on-home-ice-in-osaka?templateParam=15

 

[Sylvia]

Polina Edmunds recaps "the top 6 women, top 3 men, and all USA skaters at the 2023 Junior Grand Prix in Osaka Japan" (Sept. 19):

The Iron Butterfly: 2023 JGP Osaka Analysis

bleav.com

 

[Frau Muller]

The funniest and most complete review of all…HIGH on Hana Bath & her “girth jump” (yeah!) and, for Dance, praised non-US medalists, such as the Israelis (Tkachenko/Kiliakov) and -for the CS in Canada, Olivia’s crazy silver RD pants are mentioned:

“These Are the Blaaaaades of our Lives”…”Like it is Draaaama for Our Mommaaaa”!

JGP Osaka, 2023 Autumn Classic International And 2023 Russian Test Skate – Recap

2023-2024 Figure Skating SeasonSenior World Figure Skating Championships Junior World Figure Skating Championships Four Continents Figure Skating Championshi...

www.youtube.com

Lots of hilarious comments on the Russian skates, too.