Japan's Rio Nakata made the home crowd proud by winning the Junior Men’s Short Program at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya on Thursday. 

Passionate Rio Nakata (JPN) wins Junior Men’s Short Program

Reigning ISU World Junior Champion Rio Nakata of Japan skated to the lead with ISU World Junior silver medalist Minkyu Seo of Korea not far behind in second place. Belgium’s Denis Krouglov is currently ranked third.  

Nakata was truly on fire in his Flamenco routine, hitting a superb triple Axel, triple loop and triple flip-triple toe combination as well as level-four spins and footwork. The 2024 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist netted 86.48 points.

Rio Nakata (JPN) ©ISU

“I'm very happy with the result,” Nakata said. “Before I started skating, I was beating my chest, thinking that I had no choice but to believe in myself. Once I was on the ice, I didn't feel nervous at all, and I was actually happy to be able to perform in front of so many people. 

“Minkyu's performance had the crowd excited, so I performed with the hope of making it even more exciting. In the free skate, I want to land three quadruple jumps to widen the gap in points and beat Shun Sato's highest score at the Junior Grand Prix Final.”

Performing to “Moonlight Sonata”, Seo was impressive as well, landing a triple Axel, the triple loop and triple flip-triple toe combination to achieve a season’s best of 84.82 points.

Minkyu Seo (KOR) ©ISU

“I am very happy about my season best today and additionally, I made a clean program, that makes me even happier,” Seo said. “My goal is to have clean programs in both short and free and I want to achieve a gold medal.”

Krouglov was the last to secure a spot in the Junior Final and surprised himself by making the top three in the Short Program. He put out a clean performance to “Backstage Romance” from Moulin Rouge that featured a triple Axel and triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination. The JGP Abu Dhabi silver medalist earned 74.29 points. 

Denis Krouglov (BEL) ©ISU

“Unbelievable,” Krouglov commented. “I didn’t expect that at all. It’s very flattering and I hope just to do the same tomorrow. When I put medal goals I just mess up my thing. So I’m just going to stay with my goal I planned - just to skate clean and we’ll see whether I end up like today.”

Lucius Kazanecki (USA) placed fourth with a solid skate (72.13 points). Habin Choi (KOR) came fifth on 70.94 points while Taiga Nishino (JPN) is currently ranked sixth at 64.01 points.

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.

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