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Post by Admin on Feb 27, 2020 2:34:00 GMT
 The 2020 World Junior Championships take place in Tallinn, Estonia, March 2-8. With the high level of skating this season on all platforms — the Junior Grand Prix circuit, the Junior Grand Prix Final and the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) — we expect there will be some serious showdowns at this competition. A number of the top skaters scheduled to compete in Tallinn will be age-eligible to move into the senior ranks next year, and the possibility of earning a Grand Prix assignment will be an added motivation to fight for a place on the podium. Japan′s Yuma Kagiyama, the 2020 YOG men’s champion and the 2020 Four Continents bronze medalist, will be aiming to add another gold to his collection. There will be a quad of men challenging the rising Japanese star for that top podium step: Andrei Mozalev of Russia, the runner-up at the Junior Final and at YOG — both times losing to a Japanese man (Shun Sato at the Final and Kagiyama at YOG); Daniil Samsonov, third at the Junior Final and the 2020 Russian junior champion; Petr Gumennik and Stephen Gogolev of Canada. Gogolev had a rough start to the season following a growth spurt and an injury and failed to qualify for the 2019 Junior Final. However, a runaway victory at the 2020 Bavarian Open in early February showed he is back in top form. Gogolev, 15, will be aiming for a podium finish in his final year in the junior ranks. He will be joined by teammate, Joseph Phan. In what will mark a historic moment at this competition, the U.S. has assigned two men who are the offspring of former skating greats. Ilia Malinin, the son of Russian-born Tatiana Malinin, the 1999 Grand Prix Final and Four Continents champion, and Roman Skorniakov who both represented Uzbekistan during their careers, and Maxim Naumov, whose Russian-born parents Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, claimed the 1994 World pairs title. Andrew Torgashev, who finished fifth in seniors at the 2020 U.S. Championships, rounds out the trio. The stars of the ladies field are Kamila Valieva, the reigning Junior Grand Prix Final and Russian junior champion, and Alysa Liu, the 2020 U.S. senior champion. These two young stars are in a class of their own technically, but Valieva has the artistic edge. In pairs, the top two Russian teams are odds-on favorites to claim gold and silver at this competition, but the battle for bronze is wide open. Ice dance will be a different story with Georgia′s Maria Kazakova and Georgy Reviya and Avonley Nguyen and Vadym Kolesnik of the U.S. — first and second, respectively, at the Junior Final, separated by a fraction of a point — the top two teams heading into this competition. The 2020 World Junior Championships will be live-streamed worldwide on the ISU Skating Channel (link below) except in countries with TV/online rights holders. |
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Post by Admin on Feb 27, 2020 22:18:07 GMT
There is no immediate risk to residents of Tallinn, the Health Board (Terviseamet) said on Thursday, after the first case of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Estonia was confirmed. The individual, a 34-year-old man, tested positive and is being cared for in West Tallinn Central Hospital (Lääne-Tallinna keskhaigla).  The man is an Iranian citizen who lives permanently in Tallinn, and was coming back from visiting relatives with his daughter. Martin Kadai, head of the emergency department at the Health Board, said there has been just one confirmed case so far in Estonia, meaning the Tallinn public is not currently at risk of contracting coronavirus. Head of the Health Board Merike Jürilo explained at a press conference on Thursday that Estonia's first infected person did not pick up the infection in Estonia, but in Iran.  The Iranian citizen followed guidelines for suspected cases released by the Health Board, and called the emergency number 112 after learning a relative in Iran had contracted the virus. His test then proved to be positive. He had traveled to Tallinn from Riga on a bus departing at 2 p.m. Wednesday, and called the emergency services after getting off the bus in Tallinn. There were 24 people on the same bus who had potential contact with him. The Health Board has contacted these people, it says, and is advising people to self-quarantine at home and not go out to work or elsewhere. As this is an international case, the Health Board has also contacted their Latvian counterpart. The man had flown from Istanbul, Turkey, to Riga Airport, whence he traveled by bus to Estonia. The Health Board has no information about what happened between the Istanbul - Riga flight and how many people were on board who could be affected. |
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Post by Admin on Feb 28, 2020 21:24:35 GMT
Fresh off her winning her second consecutive U.S. Championships title, Alysa Liu is now putting the final touches to her programs as she prepares for the 2020 World Junior Championships, which take place in Tallinn, Estonia, March 2-8. Though she is still riding the wave of excitement from her record-breaking performance at nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina, in late January, the 14-year-old is eager to get back onto competitive ice. In Greensboro, Liu showed she is not just an athlete with big tricks, but is also maturing into a steely competitor as well. Just before she took to the ice for her free skate — which produced a record-breaking score domestically — Mariah Bell (who finished second) brought the house down with a career-defining performance that was rewarded with, at the time, the highest score ever handed out at a U.S. Championships. Six minutes later Liu bettered it.  “I guess I was just happy for Mariah,” said Lui, who took in the moment and smiled as Bell’s result was announced. “I’m happy for people sometimes, but then I also have my stuff to do. So, I can be happy for them for one minute, and then I can focus purely on myself and forget about what they did before me. I can’t believe that I won two times in a row. I am so happy. It was unbelievable — like a dream to me. I worked very hard for it, so I’m very glad that I won.” Liu is about to enter unchartered waters as she seeks to add a World Junior medal to her trophy case. The California teenager is excited to be competing at her first Junior Worlds and is looking to put out two clean programs. “I don’t expect to be perfect … there are obviously going to be mistakes, but I can learn from them,” said Liu. “I just want to enjoy the experience because if I am not enjoying it, then why put in all the hard work? Luckily, I’ve been enjoying every competition.” The teenager knows that there are other strong competitors that she will face in Tallinn, particularly those from Russia, Japan and South Korea. Her stiffest competition in Tallinn will come from Kamila Valieva, the reigning Junior Grand Prix Final champion, and the only skater to beat Liu this season. |
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Post by Admin on Feb 29, 2020 2:12:15 GMT
Despite having a resume that could warrant a trip to the World Championships in Montreal next month if she were age eligible, Liu understands she needs to work on many aspects of her skating to be ready to challenge the best in the world. As part of her preparation for Junior Worlds, she and her coach Laura Lipetsky have been focused on improving her consistency and the quality of her elements.
“There are a lot of girls all around the world who are really good, who work really hard for everything, but it all just depends on what you are able to do on competition day,” said Liu. “I have been working on my speed, choreography, jumps, and spins. I have been working on the things I need to improve.”
Liu will be eligible to compete at the senior level internationally in the 2021-2022 season, and said her goal is to earn a ticket to the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. She is keenly aware of the pressure she will be under to claim a berth on the U.S. Olympic team in her first senior season. “It will be different. There will be more pressure, but if I just enjoy the process and don’t stress too much, everything should be fine,” said the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist.
Despite her success this season, Liu is taking nothing for granted as she heads into Tallinn. “I would be happy with any podium placement,” she said. “I don’t know how others are going to do, so I can’t say for sure what place I would get — but hopefully I will win a medal.
“I am so excited to be going to another country, and am especially looking forward to seeing the beautiful preserved medieval city of Tallinn.
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Post by Admin on Feb 29, 2020 21:43:36 GMT
The International Skating Union (ISU) will check the arrival of participants in the Junior World Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn for coronavirus, ISU Vice President Alexander Lakernik told RIA Novosti. The World Junior Figure Skating Championships will be held in Tallinn on March 4-7. On Thursday in Estonia, the first case of coronavirus infection from an Iranian citizen who returned to Tallinn from a trip to this country was recorded. On Friday, a working group of the Estonian government said it did not consider it justifiable to restrict or prohibit mass cultural and sporting events in the country, but its organizers were advised to observe more stringent hygiene requirements.  "The participants of the World Junior Championships will be checked (for the presence of coronavirus) during accreditation," said Lakernik by telephone.  On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan in the central part of the country (Hubei Province). Experts have identified the causative agent of the disease - this is a new coronavirus. WHO recognized the outbreak as an emergency of international importance and gave the disease its official name - COVID-19. The number of infected in mainland China is approaching 79 thousand people, 2788 have died, over 36 thousand have been cured. Cases of infection outside the PRC were recorded, according to the latest WHO data, in 46 countries, the number of infected reached 3664, 57 people died. |
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