Australian figure skater Matthew Precious has skated to 24th place at the World Junior Figure Skating championships, an impressive second outing at the highest junior level. Skating against a field of 41 competitors in the men’s event, Precious earned 47.04 points from the judges for his short program at the championships, held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Australian figure skater Matthew Precious has skated to 24th place at the World Junior Figure Skating championships, an impressive second outing at the highest junior level.
Skating against a field of 41 competitors in the men’s event, Precious earned 47.04 points from the judges for his short program at the championships, held in Sofia, Bulgaria.
He slipped back two places overall in his free program, collecting 74.89 points for a total of 121.93 points overall and 24th position.
The Australian junior men’s champion for the past two years, the Perth 16-year-old had finished in 33rd position at the 2008 World Junior Championships .
“I think I did very well today,” Precious said, following his opening program.
“It was the first time I did the triple lutz in the program and I landed a really good one.”
Adam Rippon of the United States skated to a clear victory in the championships, totaling 222.0 points for a 17-points plus margin over his nearest rival, Michal Brezina of the Czech Republic on 204.88 points.
Artem Grigoriev of Russia took the bronze medal with 184.40 points.
In the junior ladies competition, Australian national junior champion Jaimee Nobbs finished in 38th position on 32.02 points in the short program, missing a berth in the free program, but gaining invaluable experience in her first opportunity to skate at world junior level.
“I’m really excited that I went out there today and landed all my jumps and did a clean program,” Nobbs said.
“I’m a little disappointed that I rushed, but very happy that I have learnt from this experience and excited to have been part of the championships.”
Russian skater Alena Leonova won the junior ladies’ title with a total of 157.18 points, after finishing in third place in the short program and second in the free.
Short program leader Elene Gedevanishvili of Georgia slumped to eleventh place in her free program for sixth overall, while the best performer in the free program, Caroline Zhang of the USA, could not make up the deficit she left herself after managing just 10th place in the short program.
She finished in second place overall on 154.67 points.
