ISU JGP Riga 2015 highlights

What was interesting at second JGP in Riga? See my highlights of the event.

Another Russian newcomer Alisa Fedichkina successfully debuted in juniors. Her short program was amazing, beautifully choreographed and solid technically. Unfortunately she wasn’t ready (perhaps mentally) to lead and made some mistakes at the free program. But we will totally remember her and add to the list “threat at international level” ))

Maria Sotskova deliver a stunning performance of her free program to Romeo and Juliet. It was a clean and persuasive skating. Indisputable vin. Maria showed the most mature and feminine skating among all girls at this event. What a beautiful skater!

Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) and Da Bin Choi (Korea) win their first medals of ISU JGP events. Both girls were impressive in free programs and showed a lot of potential. Hope they will continue to develop and will work on the second mark. I don’t want a total Russian domination in ladies, so I hope for some competition.

I also want to highlight Yuna Aoki for her 3lutz-3 loop combination. Difficult and rare combination.

I highly recommend to watch performances of Petr Gumennik and Deniss Vasiljevs for those who like component skating. Petr Gumennik is untypical skater for his coach Alexei Mishin. Petr has great lines, transition, and nice programs. I sure one day he will land a 3 axel and a quad.

Deniss Vasiljevs won silver at home JGP event. I see some progress in his jumps, 3 axel is still a deal for him, but i belive that his coach Alexei Urmanov can fix it. But Deniss is always a joy to watch!

Dmitri Aliev was the only one who land a clean quat at this event. He delivered great and strong performance what alloved him to move fronm 4th place to the 1st.

The competition of ice dancers haven’t impressed me. Yes, the Russian duo Betina Popova nd Yuri Vlasenko took home gold but my best moments of the event were:

Christina Carreira and  Anthony Ponomarenko’s short dance. Nice and cute waltz, great choice for junior team and a solid results (they were second after the short). Hope they will work on the free dance more and not only fix the levels of the elements but also add some more interaction between partners.

Angelique Abachkina and Louis Thauron impressed me with their graceful and   intelligent (in terms of music choice and choreography) dances. And a lift is just beautiful!

I’m so happy for Ukrainian pair Renata Oganesian and Mark Bardei! It’s their first victory at ISU JGP event. A pair has a lot of potential, just look at this twist! But they need to work on their consistency and side by side jumps.

See also my highlights from ISU JGP in Bratislava

Related topics: Alisa Fedichkina, Angelique Abachkina Louis Thauron, Christina Carreira Anthony Ponomarenko, Da Bin Choi, Deniss Vasiljevs, Dmitri Aliev, ice dance, junior grand prix, junior skaters, Kaori Sakamoto, ladies, Maria Sotskova, men, pairs, Petr Gumennik, Renata Oganesian Mark Bardei, Yuna Aoki