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Mao Shimada in Second Place After Short Program at Junior Grand Prix Final

Shimada got off to a good start in her Junior Grand Prix Final short program, but she was well off balance on the landing of her triple lutz.

Published

5 months ago

December 7, 2023

Jack Gallagher

Mao Shimada performs her short program at the Junior Grand Prix Final on December 7, 2023, in Beijing. (KYODO)

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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.

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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.