JGP Series kicks off in Riga, Latvia
The International Skating Union’s 15th annual Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating kicks off this week in with the Volvo Cup in Riga, Latvia. Over the next seven weeks, the series will move around the globe.
The top three countries at the 2011 World Junior Championships (Russia, United States, and France) are invited to enter two teams in each event. Countries four through six (Slovakia, Canada, Spain) are given one spot in each event. Other countries earn between two and six spots over the course of the series, based on how high they finished at Junior Worlds. At all events and in all disciplines, the host nation may enter up to three teams. Unused spots can often be “picked up” by countries who wish to send additional entries.
The series will culminate with the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final, held in conjunction with the Senior Grand Prix Final. Athletes will earn points based on their results in the series, and the top competitors will earn the chance to compete at the Final in Québec City, Canada, from December 8-11. In previous seasons, eight junior skaters/teams qualified in each discipline, but this year, only six will qualify. The point system for qualification will remain the same.
JGP VOLVO CUP – RIGA, LATVIA: PREVIEW
This year’s Volvo Cup is the first JGP event to ever be held in Latvia. In the dance event, 17 teams from 13 countries will take the ice to compete for medals, points, and bragging rights.
Evgenia Kosigina & Nikolai Morsoshkin are one of the many talented junior dance teams that has come out of Russia recently. After forming their partnership in spring 2010, the young team made a huge statement in their first season, winning a bronze medal at their first JGP event last year and taking the gold in the second. They were sixth in last year’s Junior Grand Prix Final and the 2011 World Junior Championships. Kosigina & Moroshkin are gold medal favorites in Riga and their personal best score of 126.92 is the highest of any team competing here. Russia will also send Daria Morozova & Mikhail Zhirnov to make their JGP debut in Riga.
Alexandra Aldridge & Daniel Eaton of the United States (pictured, right) started their season with a bang at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships in late July. Their free dance to music from Lord of the Dance was very well-received by both judges and fans. Last year, in their first JGP season, they were sixth and fourth at their events and would love to earn their first international medal in Latvia. Aldridge & Eaton, the fifth-place finishers at the 2011 U.S. Championships, are joined in Latvia by twin siblings Danielle & Alexander Gamelin, who were seventh at the U.S. Championships last year.
Canada’s Andréanne Poulin & Marc-André Servant debuted on the JGP series in 2010, finishing fourth at the Pokal der Blauen Schwerter, just .21 from the podium. The team made their season debut in Lake Placid this year, winning a bronze medal in their free dance group. Poulin & Servant have struggled with consistency in the past, but solid performances could put them on their first JGP podium this week.
Karolina Prochazkova & Michal Ceska of the Czech Republic finished ninth and sixth at their JGP events in 2010, their first season on the circuit. They went on to win the Ice Challenge in Graz, Austria, last year, as well as the Czech junior title. Lost luggage unfortunately forced their withdrawal from the 2011 World Junior Championships, so everyone hopes that their bags make it to Riga without incident.
Ukraine’s Maria Nosulia & Evgeny Kholoniuk posted a personal best of 109.17 at the JGP event in Austria last year, ranking them fifth. They finished 19th at the 2011 World Junior Championships.
Official practices begin on Wednesday, but the ice dance competitors do not compete until Friday, September 2nd, when they take the ice for the short dance. The free dance rounds out the Volvo Cup on Saturday, September 3.