Artur SMAGULOV (KAZ) | Junior Men Free Skating | Wuxi 2024

Now the next skater Artur Smagalov representing Kazakhstan. He achieved a big personal best yesterday in the short program thanks to a gorgeous gorgeous triple axel and it will be the triple axel that will be his first jump in this free skate as he skates to Adagio. Artur Smagalov showcasing an amazing choreographic sequence as his penultimate element in the free that probably for most the easiest of the 11 elements in a junior men's free skate and he also showcased an amazing triple axel earlier on so the hardest element and perhaps the easiest element showcasing good quality some of the interim stuff seemed to have perhaps a mild loss of concentration but I really appreciate the skater's style and some of the aspects that he delivers. He's got really good style and he's uh he accelerates well covers a lot of ice you know going into the jumps and coming out of the jumps as well he's got good basic technique mechanics of the jumps as well he's just a little inconsistent at this stage he's 17 and he's really a strong skater as we see him that back outside edge and watch the second double axel or triple axel pardon me he puts his toe in right here I'm gonna go really so watch the toe touch the ice right there at the back toe he does that as a bit of a habit I'm not sure what that is or why it is but there might be a strategy there or maybe it's just a habit I don't know triple axel up into the double axel really good jump technique strong back stretched free leg pointed toes all the nice qualities that we want to have in a skater now it's just consistency yeah exactly foot is not underneath him on that landing rushed uh pick on the triple toe loop ends up to be a double but then he comes right down the ice here look at this triple loop that's fine then he gets one more jump combination here triple salchow oiler hard to get it but he does triple salchow so he came back that's lots of energy at the end of the program got his technique and timing back together nice good comeback yeah and I think you know sometimes it's the case when you have your focused jump your hardest jump like the triple axel that that consumes so much of the thinking of the athlete and so maybe it's just maintaining focus because I think he's capable of much bigger scores than the 110.91 that he's achieved here this is a season's best 110 it's a good um four points above his personal best it's a 173.32 that is third for arthur spiked it up from kazakhstan to see top five skaters at this point in the competition with one more to go in group number two six more to follow