The future stars of figure skating assemble in Debrecen, Hungary this week to decide the honours at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

When is it on?

The ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships begin Wednesday, 26 February with the men’s short programme and conclude Saturday, 1 March with the pairs free skating.

Who is skating?

The men’s event looks like it will be closely fought with a number of skaters capable of coming out on top. The most recent head-to-head came at the Junior Grand Prix Final back in December where Jacob Sanchez (USA) was the most consistent and took gold despite not winning either segment of the event. Rio Nakata (JPN) was on course to defend his title in Grenoble after winning the short programme there, but slipped down to third overall. Minkyu Seo (KOR) won the free at the Junior Grand Prix Final to place second. Keep an eye out for Sena Takahashi (JPN) and Yanhao Li (NZL) who came fourth and fifth respectively at the Junior Grand Prix Final. Adam Hagara (SVK) finished 12th at the European Championships earlier this month and will also be in the hunt for medals.

In contrast, the women’s event has one red hot favourite in Mao Shimada (JPN). The two-time reigning Junior World champion led a Japanese sweep of the medals at the Junior Grand Prix Final and Kaoruko Wada (JPN) and Ami Nakai (JPN) will be aiming to join their compatriot on the podium once more in Debrecen. Three-time Junior world silver medallist Jia Shin (KOR) had a disappointing start to her season when she did not qualify to the Junior Grand Prix Final. Elyce Lin-Gracey (USA), Sophie Joline von Felten (USA) and Yihan Wang (CHN) are other contenders.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava (GEO) are back to defend the pairs title they won last year. The closest challenge for the two-time European medallists is likely to come from Junior Grand Prix Final champions Jiaxuan Zhang and Yihang Huang (CHN). Olivia Flores and Luke Wang (USA) and Jazmine Desrochers and Kieran Thrasher (CAN) finished behind in the Chinese in Grenoble and will have their own aspirations again to be amongst the medals.

Noemi Maria Tali and Noah Lafornara (ITA) emerged as victors in the ice dance event at Junior Grand Prix Final. They will once more face JGPF silver medallists Katarina Wolfkostin and Dimitry Tsarevski (USA) and JGPF bronze medallists Darya Grimm and Michail Savitskiy in Hungary. Other potential medallists include Celina Fradji and Jean-Hans Fourneaux (FRA) and Iryna Pidgaina and Artem Koval (UKR).

Everything you need to know (and some things you did not) about the skaters, the competition schedule and results can be viewed here.

When is the skating on?

Morning till afternoon in North America, lunchtime till evening in Europe and evening till early morning in Asia. The times listed for the World Junior Championships are local and if you want to know what the time difference is between where you are and Debrecen then this link is your friend.

Where can I watch the pretty skaters?

This season’s ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships can be viewed on the Skating ISU YouTube channel. Geographic restrictions may apply.

What are the hashtags?

#WorldJFigure #FigureSkating