#isujgp

The fourth stop on the JGP started today, and Russia dominated everything.

The Ice Dancers were up first, with Alla Loboda and Pavel Drozd of Russia sneaking out a very slim lead over Christiina Carriera and Anthony Ponamrenko of the US. Sofia Shevchenko and Igor Eremenko, also of Russia, were in third about six points behind. A few points behind them were, you guessed it, another Russian team, Eva Kuts and Dimitri Mikhailov. Julia Waygert and Mathieu Couyras of France are less than a point behind in fifth.Sarome Abdedou and Dylan Antunes are less than a point behind in sixth.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgprus2016/SEG007.HTM Junior pairs were up next. 

Anatasia Mishina and Vladislav Mirozoev lead about three points behind Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovoskii. Ekaterina Borisova and Dmitri Sopot round the top three, about six points behind, in a Russian sweep of the podium after the short. Gao Yumeng and  Xie Zhong of China are a couple points behind in fourth. Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Finland of Canada are a couple points in fifth, followed less than a point behind by Nica Digerness and Danny Neudecker of the US.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgprus2016/SEG005.HTM

The men’s were the last event for day one.

Alexander Samarin of Russia dominated the short, leading by about seven points over Matyas Belohradasky of the Czech Republic. Andrew Torgashev of the US is less than a point behind him in third. Irakli Maysuradze of Georgia is less than a point behind him in fourth. Li Tangxu of China is in fifth, about a point and a half behind. Eric Sjoberg ot the US is about two points behind, rounding out the top six.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgprus2016/SEG001.HTM

Three events have been completed, and thus, we are seeing more of how the JGP Final could be laid out. I am going to go over who has already qualified, and who has the best chance of qualifying. 

First up, the men!

Roman Savosin of Russia tops the standings at the moment and has qualified for sure with twenty-six points. He got fifteen for his win in France, and eleven for his third-place finish in the Czech Republic.

At the top of the rest of the qualifiers - and the best chance of qualifying - are Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea, who won in Japan, and Dmitri Aliev, who won in the Czech Republic. Cha Jun-hwan will be in Slovenia in two weeks. He will be the favorite after his performance in Japan, and faces a field that he should be able to beat easily. Dmitri Aliev will be in Estonia the week afterward, and faces a much tougher field than Cha. He’ll be up against Americans Vincent Zhou and Alexei Kraznozhon, as well as Canadian Roman Sadovsky. He looks good to qualify, though, as he only needs to place in the top three to gain a spot and could even place fourth and probably still qualify.

Vincent Zhou and Alexei Kraznozhon are next in the standings. Zhou won the silver medal in Japan, and Kraznozhon won silver in the Czech Republic. As previously mentioned, they are both in Estonia in three weeks and up against Dmitri Aliev of Russia. They both must place second to gain a for-sure spot, but a bronze medal would put them in good position. This means that they must both beat two of the other skaters. With Aliev, looking good for gold, that leaves them needing to beat both Roman Sadovsky and Koshiro Shimada of Japan in order for both of them go on to the Final. Shimada has a shot of qualifying, too, but he must place second or no go. That leaves one more spot open. Ilia Skirda of Russia is at the top of the rest of the qualifiers with his silver medal in France and has the best chance of grabbing the last spot. He is up against Cha Jun-hwan in Slovenia in two weeks, but doesn’t have to beat him! (That would be a tall order if Cha skates like he did in France again.) All he has to do is repeat his silver medal performance to be in for sure, but as previously mentioned, he can place third and still have a good shot of going in. The only skaters there who could possibly upset that is Tomoki Hiwatashi of the US and Kazuki Tomono of Japan. If Tomono can place second over Skirda, he will give himself a shot of going onto to the Final.

What do you think about my analysis? Respond below and let me know what you think!

The last day of the JGP Yokohama in Japan was today.

The Japanese ladies dominated at home, sweeping the podium as the Russians faltered. Kaori Sakamoto, the overnight leader, held off a charge from her teammate to win the competition, despite placing second in the free skate. Marin Honda won the free skate, but was too far behind after the short, and couldn't make up the points. Mako Yamashita had the fourth-best free skate and fell to third.

Sofia Samodurova of Russia was third in the free skate, but couldn't overtake Yamashita and remained in fourth. Kim Ye-lim of South Korea had the fifth best free skate, and climbed up one spot to fifth. Alisa Fedichinka of Russia faltered in the free, placing sixth and falling from third to sixth.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpjpn2016/SEG004.HTM http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpjpn2016/CAT002RS.HTM In the Ice Dance event, brother/sister team of Rachel and Michael Parsons dominated, winning the competition by almost nine points. Anastasia Shpileyva and Grigori Smirnov of Russia remained in second, followed by Angelina Abachinka and Louis Tharon of France. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada remained in fourth, followed by Polina Ivanenko and Danill Karpov of Russia. Rikako Fukase and Aru Tateno of Japan remained in sixth.

The second day of figure skating at the JGP Yokohama concluded today.

The Ice Dancers started their competition, with Rachel and Michael Parsons from the US dominating to lead after the short dance. Anastasia Shipileyva and Grigory Smirnov of Russia are in a very close second, nearly tied with Angelique Abachinka and Louis Tharon of France. Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha of Canada are in fourth. About six points behind are Polina Ivanenko and Daniil Karpov of Russia in fifth. Rikako Fukase and Aru Tateno of Japan are about seven points behind in sixth.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpjpn2016/SEG005.HTM

The men’s event concluded today.

The third JGP event started today. 

The ladies started today. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan leads less than a point over newcomer/teammate, Mako Yamashita. Alisa Fedichinka of Russia is a few points behind in third. Newcomer, and fellow Russian, Sofia Samodurova, is less than a point behind in fourth.  Reigning Junior World Champion, Marin Honda, of Japan, is about five points behind in fifth. Kim Ye-lim of South Korea is in sixth. 

In the men’s event, Vincent Zhou of the US less just over a point over Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea. About five points behind is Alexei Eroekoev of Russia. A few points behind is Artem Kovalev, also of Russia. Another three points behind him is Roman Sadovsky of Canada, who sits in fifth. Kazuki Tomono of Japan is a few points behind in sixth.

The final day of competition at the JGP Czech Skate concluded today.

The ladies were up first. Anastasiia Gubanova of Russia won the free skate and overtook overnight leader Rika Kihara of Japan to win the competition. Kihara was second in the free skate and ended up second overall. Alisa Lozko of Russia was third. Yuna Aoki of Japan was in fourth.  Hanul Kim of South Korea had the fifth-best free skate, and climbed from seventh to end up fifth. Megan Wessenberg of the US was sixth. http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpcze2016/SEG004.HTM http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpcze2016/CAT002RS.HTM In the men’s event, Dmitri Aliev of Russia won the free skate and won by about nine points. Alexei Kraznozhon of the US remained in second, while Roman Savosin of Russia remained in third. Ivan Pavlov of Ukraine stayed in fourth. Mitsuki Sumoto of Japan remained in fifth, and Joseph Phan of Canada remained in sxith.

Russian - or Russian-born - skaters dominated the men’s short program in Day Two.

Dmitri Aliev of Russia leads the men’s short program, followed a point and a half behind Russian-born Alexei Krasnozhon of the US. Roman Savosin, also of Russia, is in third. Ivan Pavlov of Ukraine sits in fourth. Close behind him is Mitsuko Sumoto of Japan in fifth, followed closely by Joseph Phan of Canada.

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1617/jgpcze2016/SEG001.HTM The Ice Dance competition concluded, and as expected, Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter dominated the Free Dance, too, winning by over sixteen points. Nicole Kuzmich and Alexandr Sinicyn of the Czech Republic remained in second. Arina Ushakova and Maskim Nekrasov of Russia stayed in third. Evgeniia Lopareva and Alexey Karpushov, also of Russia, moved up a spot to fourth. Hannah Whitley and Elliot Graham of Canada had the sixth-placed free dance and slipped to fifth. Chloe Lewis and Logan Bye of the US had the fifth-placed free dance but remained in sixth.

Competition got started today at the JGP Czech Skate in Ostrava, Czech Republic. 

The Ice Dancers were first. In no surprise, reigning World Junior Champions, Lorraine McNamara and Quinn Carpenter of the US dominated the Short Dance. (I’m not sure why they’re still on the junior level, but that’s another story for another day...) Nicole Kuzmich and Alexander Sinicyn of the Czech Republic, who competed last week in France, were second. Arina Ushakova and Maxim Nekrasov of Russia were third.

Hannah Whitley and Ellitot Graham of Canada sit in fourth, while Evgeniia Lopareva and Alexei Karpushov of Russia are in a close fifth. The other American team of Chloe Lewis and Logan Bye currently sit in sixth. The Ladies competition was dominated by newcomers.

Rika Kihara of Japan is first after the short. Russian Anastasiia Gubanova is second, followed by her teammate Alisa Lozko. All three are in their first GP., while Kihara and Gubanova are in their first international competition. Yuna Aoki of Japan is in fourth, followed by Megan Wessenberg of the US. Diana Nikita of Latvia sits in fifth.

In the pairs competition, Anna Duskova and Martin Bidar of the Czech Republic dominated the short program. In second place are Russian pair Amina Atakhanova and Ilia Spiridonov of Russia. Chelsea Liu and Brian Johnson of the US are in third, followed less than a point behind by Anastasia Poluianova and Maskim Selkin of Russia. Gao Yumeng and Xie Zhong of China are in fifth. Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor of Australia are in sixth.