CALGARY 鈥� Despite sitting fourth after Friday's rhythm dance at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont of Ajax, Ontario, are not losing any sleep or confidence.
鈥樷�橳his isn鈥檛 a setback,鈥欌�� said Bashynska, born in Kyiv, Ukraine. 鈥樷�橮erhaps it might be a little benefit for us. It will put less pressure on us for the free dance which is our stronger performance. We plan to come back tomorrow (Saturday).鈥欌��
Katerina Mrazkova and Daniel Mrazek of Czechia lead after the rhythm dance with 71.19 points. Hannah Lim and Ye Quan of South Korea are second at 71.08 and Phebe Bekker and James Hernandez of Great Britain are third at 68.89.
Bashynska and Beaumont, the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final champions this season, notched 68.00. The Canadians look to improve on their bronze-medal performance at last season鈥檚 world juniors.
Sandrine Gauthier and Quentin Thieren of Montreal are eighth at 63.09, and Hailey Yu and Brendan Giang of Burnaby, B.C., are 14th. The top 20 of the 30 entries advanced to the free dance.
鈥樷�橶e are really proud of what we did today,鈥欌�� said Thieren. 鈥樷�橧t鈥檚 our first year doing international competitions so it鈥檚 all about getting experience for us.鈥欌��
The women鈥檚 competition concluded Friday as Mao Shimada of Japan won the gold medal with 224.54 points. Jia Shin of South Korea took the silver with 201.90 and Ami Nakai of Japan was third at 197.40. Kaiya Ruiter, 16, of Calgary gained a position with her free skate and placed 10th with 169.65.
鈥樷�橧t was really special to perform here in front of friends and family,鈥欌�� said Ruiter. 鈥樷�橧t was so much fun and a really cool experience.鈥欌��
Competition ends Saturday with the men鈥檚 free skate and the free dance. In the men鈥檚 event, Wesley Chiu of Richmond, B.C., is second after Thursday鈥檚 short program.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2023.
The Canadian Press
