Shoma Uno, during practice on Tuesday (Tallinn, 2015 Junior Worlds)
The 17-year-old Japanese came to Tallinn, at the fourth Junior Worlds of his career, carrying a couple of aces up in his sleeve: a seasons best of 256.45 points, achieved at 2015 Four Continents, and a huge amount of confidence; he is, after all, the Junior Grand Prix Final Champion, a title he won in Barcelona, in December, and the senior silver medalist at Japan Nationals. And, prior to coming to Tallinn, he had attended the first international senior event of his career: at 2015 Four Continents, Shoma Uno was second after the short program, with an impressive score (88.90 points), to finish the overall competition on the fifth place.
by Florentina Tone
In Tallinn, Shoma will try to end the season on a glorious note – his eyes are definitely on the gold medal, after being fifth last year in Sofia. Competition should come from the Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist Sota Yamamoto (Japan) and Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist Alexander Petrov (Russia). They need to watch out for 2014 World Junior silver medalist Adian Pitkeev (Russia), 2014 World Junior bronze medalist Nathan Chen (USA) and Junior Grand Prix Finalist Boyang Jin (China).
The men’s competition in Tallinn starts on Friday, with the short program – and Shoma Uno planned a triple Axel, a triple Lutz and a triple Flip-triple Toeloop in his SP, to Beethoven’s Violin Sonata no. 9, while the quad Toeloop will be present in his free program, to Don Juan de Marco.
As a preview to the men’s event, we’re publishing a couple of photos from Shoma Uno’s yesterday evening practice in Tallinn. Enjoy.
Shoma Uno, alongside coach Mihoko Higuchi
Smiles during practice, in Tallinn