JGP Slovakia Recap - Men

This is my final blog post on the JGP Slovakia competition. Last but not most certainly not least are the men.

The men's event was decided last, with Canada's Roman Sadovsky won his second JGP title, who at 17, is in his fourth year on the JGP circuit. He won both segments of the competition for a personal best score of 203.72. He had an edge call and an under rotation call, but was otherwise clean. This win also makes him an early favorite for the JGP Final, which he qualified for last year, placing fifth. His next competition is the JGP Poland at the end of September, where he will face rising Latvian star Deniss Vasiljevs.

14-year-old American Vincent Zhou had a fantastic debut, placing second in both segments to win the silver medal overall in his JGP debut. He was the only other skater here to break 200 points overall and 130 in the free skate other than Sadvosky. He scored 200.85. He had a few under rotation calls but was otherwise clean. He will need to equal or better his placement in order to qualify. He is not scheduled for another JGP competition currently, but the initial assignments for the final two events in Spain and Croatia have not been announced.

Rounding out the podium was 18-year-old Denis Margalik of Argentina - yes, Argentina, making him the first skater from Argentina to medal at an ISU competition. He was fourth in the short, but pulled up to place third in the free to place third overall. He had a couple of downgrades, and scored 191.72 overall. He will need to win his next competition to have a chance of making the JGP Final, though a second place with a good score might get him through. He is not scheduled for another event, but as mentioned previously, the initial assignments for the final two competitions have not been announced yet.

Falling from third to fourth with a sixth place free skate was Alexander Samarin of Russia with a score of 186.25. Daniil Bernadiner, also of Russia, rounded out the top five with a score of 175.75. The other American entry, Kevin Shum, was in ninth place.