Polina Dzsumanyijazova finished 14th after the short program at the Junior World Championships in Debrecen, which means she will perform her free skate on Saturday at the Főnix Arena.

Japan’s Mao Shimada leads the women’s competition heading into the next stage, which comes as no surprise given Thursday’s short program results. Shimada won gold at the Junior World Championships in both 2024 and 2023, and if she secures her third title on Saturday, she will make history—no skater has ever won three individual junior world championship titles in figure skating.

Polina Dzsumanyijazova delivered her short program in a stunning costume at the Főnix Arena, and fortunately, her performance matched its elegance. While the judges accepted her jumps, they found some mistakes in her spins and step sequences—mistakes that the skater herself also acknowledged.

“I am grateful for the support of the audience; I could feel it throughout my performance—I really wanted to prove myself to them. I’m not completely satisfied because I made some mistakes in my program, but I’m working on correcting them in the future,” Polina Dzsumanyijazova said after her skate.

The 16-year-old figure skater representing Hungary came close to her career-best short program score (60.45), earning 59.04 points on Thursday, which placed her 14th after the first segment. The competition is extremely tight in the middle of the standings, where Dzsumanyijazova is currently positioned, so she could climb higher on Saturday under the guidance of her coach, Leonid Sviridenko.

Polina Dzsumanyijazova will take the ice for the women’s free skate on Saturday at 14:23.

The Junior World Championships can be followed on the event’s social media pages (WHJCH Instagram, WHJCH Facebook event) and the official competition website: (https://hunskate.hu/wjch2025/).