Favorites Kao Miura and Mao Shimada Train Ahead of the World Junior Championships

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CALGARY, Canada ― Official practices for the 2023 World Junior Championships began here on a sunny Monday morning, February 27, with Four Continents winner Kao Miura and Japan junior champion Nozomu Yoshioka both taking the ice.

The 17-year-old Miura, the favorite for the title, worked on his free skate to "Beauty and the Beast" at a practice rink at WinSport Arena. He spent the opening minutes stroking before landing a quadruple toe loop and a nice triple/triple combination as the music played.

Yoshioka, a 19-year-old student at Hosei University, trained on his free skate to "Pirates of the Caribbean" and landed several crisp jumps during the session.

Miura and Yoshioka will be out to secure three spots for next year's world juniors in Taipei when the men's event begins on Thursday, March 2 with the short program in the Canadian province of Alberta. They need to finish a combined 13th or better for Japan to regain the three places.

Shimada Prepares for Women's Competition

Junior Grand Prix Final titlist Mao Shimada, the favorite for the women's crown, went through her paces to her free skate of "Passpied" and "Wild Swans Suite." The 14-year-old star popped her opening triple axel, but moved smoothly through the rest of her program while wearing a pink top and black pants.

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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 Twitter @sportsjapan.