China’s Rui Guo & Yiwen Zhang skated off with gold in the Junior Pairs Free Skating at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final Saturday in Nagoya (JPN). 

Rui Guo & Yiwen Zhang (CHN) on top

The team took the title on their debut in the Final, landing a spectacular quadruple twist en route. Teammates Xuanqi Zhang & Wenqiang Feng earned the silver with the young teams continuing the rich history of Chinese Pair Skating. The bronze went to Canadians Ava Kemp & Yohnatan Elizarov.

Guo & Zhang opened their performance to “The Greatest Showman” with a spectacular quadruple twist that scored 10.42 points alone. The JGP Bangkok Champions went on to complete triple throws and level-four lifts to set a personal best of 113.21 points. They totaled 177.05 points, which was another personal best. 

 Rui Guo and Yiwen Zhang (CHN) took gold in the Junior Pairs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya (JPN) © ISU

“I think we've made a lot of progress overall this time,” Zhang commented. “This venue is very impressive, especially the large arena. The fans are very enthusiastic, and I feel very happy. It was a great experience to compete alongside the senior teams. 

“The next step for us is to go home and steadily improve our technique especially on the side by side single jumps and then strive to bring better results to everyone in the next competition,” he added. 

Zhang & Feng’s program to “Notre Dame de Paris” featured triple throws and a level-four forward outside death spiral. The only error came when Zhang missed the triple toeloop. With a personal best score of 108.68 points, they were second in the Free Skating and overall at 171.57 points.

Xuanqi Zhang and Wenqiang Feng (CHN) took the silver medal in the Junior Pairs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya (JPN) © ISU

“We were both very excited,” Feng said. “We both thought we skated pretty well and overall it felt great. Our main focus was on encouraging each other, starting with believing in ourselves first, then believing in our partners, and ultimately giving ourselves and each other confidence. 

“This might be a small goal for both of us, but it might be difficult to achieve in recent competitions. However, I believe that one day we will be able to reach 200 points,” he continued. 

Performing to “Clair de Lune” Kemp & Elizarov showed off excellent throws and difficult lifts. However, Kemp struggled with the solo jumps. The JGP Riga Champions earned 103.64 points, accumulating 166.46 points overall. 

 Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov (CAN) finished with bronze n the Junior Pairs at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya (JPN) © ISU

“I am very disappointed. I didn’t do my job,” Kemp acknowledged. “I think we cannot skate great all the time. We had some really good skates this season.”

“I think we were still able to recover after the mistakes,” Elizarov noted. “I think we should be proud of that and it's a very nervous competition, so we just need to remember that winner’s expectations on us and stuff like that, just to keep our nerves under us.”

The team will compete at the senior-level Canadian Championships next. 

Jazmine Desrochers & Kieran Thrasher  (CAN) achieved a personal best score of 162.90 points to move up to fourth place. Yuxuan Chen & Yinbo Dong (CHN) finished fifth on 153.02 points followed by Julia Quattrocchi & Etienne Lacasse (CAN) with 145.11.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Final schedule:

Thursday, December 4: Junior Pairs, Junior Men’s & Junior Women’s Short Programs
 Friday, December 5: Junior Rhythm Dance, Junior Men’s & Women’s Free Skating
 Saturday, December 6: Junior Pairs Free Skating, Junior Free Dance
 Sunday, December 7: Exhibition Gala

Where to Watch

All the Junior events will be live-streamed on the  Skating ISU YouTube channel.

ISU Junior Grand Prix Standings

Check out the road to the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final:

Men       Women            Pair Skating      Ice Dance

Full entry lists, results and further information are available on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series page.