Fred's, (Used to be Barb's), Board

New and Experienced Skaters to Compete at Third ISU Junior Grand Prix in Istanbul
August 30, 2023/by Skate Canada

OTTAWA, ON (August 30, 2023) – A solid squad of 9 NextGen skaters, including one woman, two men, one pair team and two ice dance teams, will represent Canada at the third stop of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating series. The event will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from September 6-9, 2023.

New NextGen Team member and NextGen Competition bronze medalist Uliana Shiryaeva will be the sole Canadian to compete in the women’s event. She will be joined by David Bondar, 2022 Skate Canada Challenge silver medalist, as well as Terry Jin, who will both be taking part in the men’s competition.

In the pair discipline, the newly formed team of Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher will have their sights set on the podium. In 2022, Thrasher and his former partner, Chloe Panetta, won a bronze medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix circuit and qualified for the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

Two promising ice dance teams will also be competing, with 2023 NextGen Competition silver medalists Dana Sabatini-Speciale and Nicholas Buelow and the newly formed team of Emma Goodstadt and Christian Bennett both looking to gain valuable international experience.

Competition begins on Thursday with the women’s, pair, and men’s short programs, followed by the rhythm dance and the pair and women’s free programs the following day. The event concludes on Saturday with the men’s free program and the free dance.

• the Jr. Men FS - live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfScDp2fZpw
  and
• the Jr. Free Dance - live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxei2BKw-ns

Desrochers & Thrasher Capture Pairs Bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix in Turkey
September 9, 2023/by Skate Canada

Istanbul, Turkey (September 9, 2023) – Jazmine Desrochers of Mississauga, Ont., and Kieran Thrasher of Amherstburg, Ont., highlighted the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating competition that wrapped up Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, capturing a bronze medal in the pair competition.

Desrochers and Thrasher, a newly formed team that were competing in their first Junior Grand Prix competition, finished with a total score of 146.34 after sitting in second following the short program.

“There was definitely a lot of learning curves this week,” said Desrochers following their free skate. “We were really happy with how our scores ended up in the short program so going into the long there was a bit more pressure, but I’m happy we still got to do it together and to get through it with some ease.”

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava of Georgia won gold with a total score of 181.31, while Olivia Flores and Luke Wang of the USA captured silver with a total score of 154.52.

Uliana Shiryaeva of Coquitlam, B.C., made her international debut for Canada in the women’s competition and finished 9th overall with a total score of 147.27. Ami Nakal of Japan won gold (194.65), while Rena Uezono of Japan took silver (187.71), and Yujae Kim of Korea took bronze (183.65).

“For me, my first junior grand prix, I was so excited to be here. I prepared a lot for this competition, and it was a little bit hard for me to be 100% but I tried my best to do everything,” said Shiryaeva who was a bronze medallist at the most recent NextGen competition in Canada.

Canada had two teams in the ice dance event with Dana Sabatini-Speciale of Springwater, Ont., and Nicholas Buelow of Barrie, Ont., finishing 8th overall with a total score of 125.62 and Emma Goodstadt of Oakville, Ont., and Christian Bennett of Charlotte, North Carolina finishing 14th overall with a total score of 117.45.

Mariia Pinchuk and Mykyta Pogorielov of Ukraine won gold (148.82), Yahli Pedersen and Jeffrey Chen of the USA silver (146.37), and Gina Zehnder and Beda Leon Sieber of Switzerland the bronze (143.65).

“Our first practice wasn’t where we would want it to be, but I feel like we fought back and had some good practices after that,” said Buelow who together with Sabatini-Speciale will compete next at the Junior Grand Prix event in Hungary in two weeks. “Rhythm dance wasn’t our best, but we fought back in the free dance and I think we’re both happy with it.”

Canada also had two skaters competing in the men’s event, with David Bondar of Richmond Hill, Ont., finishing 12th (163.23) and Terry Jin of Surrey, B.C., finishing 15th (159.88).

Minkyu Seo of Korea dominated the men’s competition winning gold with a total score of 231.30. Rio Nakata of Japan took silver (222.35), while Daiya Evihara, also of Japan, took bronze (207.17).

The next Junior Grand Prix of the season takes place this upcoming week in Osaka, Japan from September 13-16, 2023 and will feature seven NextGen skaters for Canada – one woman, two men, and two ice dance teams.