World junior champion Mao Shimada is in second place after the short program at the Junior Grand Prix Final on Thursday, December 7 in Beijing after a mistake on her final jump cost her a shot at the lead. The 15-year-old star, who won this event in 2022, has had some trouble with her jumps lately and that continued on this night.
South Korea's Jia Shin is in first place with 69.08 points, with Shimada in second at 68.27. Rena Uezono is in third at 67.87, while Ami Nakai is fourth on 65.04.
Shin, also 15, has finished second at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in each of the last two years and will clearly be pushing Shimada again this season.
Shimada skated to "Americano" and "Composition" and got off to a good start with a solid double axel and a beautiful triple flip/triple toe loop combination jump. However, she was well off balance on the landing of her triple lutz and was marked down for it.
The Tokyo native did notch level fours on all of her spins and step sequence in what was a fine performance with the exception of the triple lutz.
"I'm very upset about the mistakes I made in the short program today," Shimada stated. "I made a mistake in the junior nationals with the same level of nervousness. So I wanted to put it back together, which made me nervous this time as well."
Uezono Impressive at First Major International Competition
Uezono, the youngest competitor in this event at just 13, gave a sublime effort to "New Moon," landing all of her jumps flawlessly and recording level fours on her spins and step sequence. She is poised to earn a medal in this prestigious competition in her first season on the JGP circuit.
"There is still tomorrow and I want to do my best then, too," Uezono commented. "I was a little nervous today. Today is today, tomorrow is tomorrow. I want to separate the two and do my best tomorrow."
Improvement for Nakai After Struggles at Japan Junior Championships
Nakai, the world junior bronze medalist in the 2022-23 campaign behind Shimada and Shin, had a much better showing this evening than her calamitous outing at November's Japan Junior Championships where she finished 10th.
The 15-year-old Nakai competed to "Baby, God Bless You" and landed all of her jumps, though she did receive an edge call on her triple flip. She posted level fours on two of her spins, but just a level two on her step sequence.
All things considered, Nakai, who won both of her JGPs this season, has to be pleased after the disappointment in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, last month that ended up costing her a trip to the Youth Olympics in South Korea in January 2024.
"Of course, I was nervous about performing on such a big stage, but I was able to relax before the music started, so I think I improved in that way," Nakai remarked. "Because I think of it as if it's my last performance, so with those feelings, I just wanted to enjoy it a lot."
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Author: Jack Gallagher
The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.
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