The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships returns to The Hague for the second time since 2004 giving us an opportunity to preview the stars of the future post-Vancouver Olympics and beyond. It's interesting to note that at the same event in 2006 Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir and Yu-Na Kim won titles and went on to claim Olympics titles last month.
If current season form is anything to go by, it should be a runaway victory for Wenjing Sui & Cong Han in the Pairs as their season's best is a full 13 points higher than any other team. This will be the first occasion for this Chinese couple to compete at an ISU Championships.
Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran have skated twice before at this competition, but this is the first year where they will be in true contention for a medal. The two-time Japanese senior champions recorded a new personal best of 151.83 points at the Four Continents in January.
After taking bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, Yue Zhang & Lei Wang are probably favourites to do so again this time round.
Fresh off a very creditable 11th place finish at the Olympic Games, Denis Ten will be seeking to become Kazakhstan's first ISU Championship medallist. It remains to be seen how well he adjusts back to competing under junior rules after skating as a senior all season.
The leading junior this season has been Yuzuru Hanyu. The two-time Japanese junior champion finished 12th in his debut at this event last year, but will be aiming significantly higher this week. Hanyu has been undefeated this season, including a win at the Junior Grand Prix Final, and will be hoping to increase the number of Japanese men who can make the trip to this event next year.
Nan Song spearheads a trio of Chinese skaters and came closest to defeating Hanyu at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Song came a very respectable 6th place at the Four Continents in January.
Although reigning champion Adam Rippon will not be defending his title, the U.S.A. will field a very strong team comprising of Grant Hochstein, Armin Mahbanoozadeh and Keegan Messing. For all three, it will be their ISU Championship debut.
Ice Dance will pit the United States against Russia. Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani are the reigning silver medallists, but they were pushed down into third at the Junior Grand Prix Final by Ksenia Monko & Kirill Khaliavin and Elena Ilynikh & Nikita Katsalapov. This will be the first time for the two Russian teams to compete at the World Junior Championships.
Kanako Murakami will be well used to skating at De Uithof, the venue for the 2010 World Juniors, as it was here that she won the junior event of the International Challenge Cup in March 2009. The Japanese junior champion has been undefeated so far this season, including at the Junior Grand Prix Final, and earned a first senior title at the Ice Challenge Graz.
The main challenger to Murakami looks likely to be Polina Shelepen who lost to the Japanese by just over a point at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Kristina Gao, the bronze medallist from that event, will also be trying to emulate her training partner Yu-Na Kim and win the title in The Hague.
Event Schedule (Local Time):
09/03/2010 (Tue)
13:30 Westminster Waltz Compulsory Dance
19:15 Pairs Short Programme
10/03/2010 (Wed)
10:15 Men Short Programme (Part 1)
14:15 Men Short Programme (Part 2)
19:00 Pairs Free Skating (Group 1)
20:15 Pairs Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
11/03/2010 (Thu)
13:00 Original Dance
18:00 Men Free Skating (Group 1)
19:30 Men Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
12/03/2010 (Fri)
09:00 Ladies Short Programme (Part 1)
13:45 Ladies Short Programme (Part 2)
18:45 Free Dance (Group 1)
20:00 Free Dance (Groups 2-4)
13/03/2010 (Sat)
12:00 Ladies Free Skating (Group 1)
13:30 Ladies Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
19:00 Exhibition Gala
Links:
ISU Results Page
Official Site
Narumi Takahashi & Mervin Tran have skated twice before at this competition, but this is the first year where they will be in true contention for a medal. The two-time Japanese senior champions recorded a new personal best of 151.83 points at the Four Continents in January.
After taking bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, Yue Zhang & Lei Wang are probably favourites to do so again this time round.
Fresh off a very creditable 11th place finish at the Olympic Games, Denis Ten will be seeking to become Kazakhstan's first ISU Championship medallist. It remains to be seen how well he adjusts back to competing under junior rules after skating as a senior all season.
The leading junior this season has been Yuzuru Hanyu. The two-time Japanese junior champion finished 12th in his debut at this event last year, but will be aiming significantly higher this week. Hanyu has been undefeated this season, including a win at the Junior Grand Prix Final, and will be hoping to increase the number of Japanese men who can make the trip to this event next year.
Nan Song spearheads a trio of Chinese skaters and came closest to defeating Hanyu at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Song came a very respectable 6th place at the Four Continents in January.
Although reigning champion Adam Rippon will not be defending his title, the U.S.A. will field a very strong team comprising of Grant Hochstein, Armin Mahbanoozadeh and Keegan Messing. For all three, it will be their ISU Championship debut.
Ice Dance will pit the United States against Russia. Maia Shibutani & Alex Shibutani are the reigning silver medallists, but they were pushed down into third at the Junior Grand Prix Final by Ksenia Monko & Kirill Khaliavin and Elena Ilynikh & Nikita Katsalapov. This will be the first time for the two Russian teams to compete at the World Junior Championships.
Kanako Murakami will be well used to skating at De Uithof, the venue for the 2010 World Juniors, as it was here that she won the junior event of the International Challenge Cup in March 2009. The Japanese junior champion has been undefeated so far this season, including at the Junior Grand Prix Final, and earned a first senior title at the Ice Challenge Graz.
The main challenger to Murakami looks likely to be Polina Shelepen who lost to the Japanese by just over a point at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Kristina Gao, the bronze medallist from that event, will also be trying to emulate her training partner Yu-Na Kim and win the title in The Hague.
Event Schedule (Local Time):
09/03/2010 (Tue)
13:30 Westminster Waltz Compulsory Dance
19:15 Pairs Short Programme
10/03/2010 (Wed)
10:15 Men Short Programme (Part 1)
14:15 Men Short Programme (Part 2)
19:00 Pairs Free Skating (Group 1)
20:15 Pairs Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
11/03/2010 (Thu)
13:00 Original Dance
18:00 Men Free Skating (Group 1)
19:30 Men Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
12/03/2010 (Fri)
09:00 Ladies Short Programme (Part 1)
13:45 Ladies Short Programme (Part 2)
18:45 Free Dance (Group 1)
20:00 Free Dance (Groups 2-4)
13/03/2010 (Sat)
12:00 Ladies Free Skating (Group 1)
13:30 Ladies Free Skating (Groups 2-4)
19:00 Exhibition Gala
Links:
ISU Results Page
Official Site
