Team USA landed two ice dance teams on the podium at the third ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series event of the season in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 11-14 with Hana Maria Aboian and Daniil Veselukhin earning silver and Elliana Peal and Ethan Peal securing bronze.
The new team of Aboian and Veselukhin stormed on to the medal stand in their first Junior Grand Prix event. They shone in their rhythm dance to “Heart of Glass” and “Knock on Wood” by Amii Stewart, as well as in their sophisticated free dance to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Second in both segments, the team based in Newington, Connecticut started strong in their first appearance on Junior Grand Prix ice, earning Level 4s on their sequential twizzles and rotational lift. They earned a new personal best of 64.31 points.
The following day, Aboian and Veselukhin produced a clean free dance that included a Level 4 curve lift-rotational lift combination score of 13.78 points, 9.02 points for their Level 4 synchronized twizzles and 9.54 points for their midline step sequence. They tallied 95.81 points, tallying a new personal best for their overall score of 160.12.
Peal and Peal earned the bronze, their third medal on the circuit after a silver and a bronze last season.
The siblings based in Nashville, Tennessee, posted an overall score of 152.55, finishing third in both segments.
The two-time and reigning U.S. junior bronze medalists showed their depth, skating to
“Boogie Shoes” by KC and the Sunshine Band and “Dance to the Music” by Sly and the Family Stone for their rhythm dance and scoring 60.25 points. Their highest-scoring elements were their Level 4 sequential twizzles and midline step sequence, which garnered 8.46 and 9.12 points, respectively.
In their free dance to dramatic music from the Pearl Harbor soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, they generated more than 12 points for their Level 4 stationary lift-rotational lift combo and nearly 10 points for their circular step sequence. They posted a free dance score of 95.81.
Competing at his first JGP event, U.S. junior silver medalist Taira Shinohara secured fifth place overall with an overall score of 197.53, marking a new international personal best.
After finishing sixth in the short program with a score of 68.04, Shinohara placed fifth in the free skate with a mark of 129.49, a new international personal best by more than 10 points.
In his free skate to music from The Boy and the Heron soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi and “Spinning Globe” by Kenshi Yonezu, Shinohara rallied with three Level 4 spins and a triple flip-double Axel-double Axel sequence that generated 12.33 points.
Logan Higase-Chen rebounded from a ninth-place result in the short program to finish fifth in the free skate and eighth overall with an overall score of 161.98.
The 2024 U.S. junior champion, performing her free skate to “Los Moros” by Gino D’Auri, landed an opening triple flip-triple toe combination that earned 10.26 points and a triple Lutz-double Axel-double toe sequence that garnered a second-half bonus score of 12.48 points. The Colorado Springs, Colorado-based athlete also delivered two Level 4 spins and strong footwork en route to a free skate score of 112.00.
The event marked her second JGP event (2022 JGP Poland).
For full results from JGP Thailand, visit the 2024 Junior Grand Prix Competition Central.
