Teenage figure skater Alina Urushadze takes Belgrade cup win

Georgian teenage figure skater Alina Urushadze has claimed a win among junior competitors of the International Skating Union cup in Belgrade, celebrating the win in only her second year in competition.

Urushadze, 14, finished first among junior ladies at Europa Cup Skate Helena, an ISU event held in Serbia’s capital.

The young competitor earned a win in the short programme segment and finished second in free skating, with the collective points tally of 146.71 placing her as the overall winner.

The young skater finished second in the 2018 Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul, Turkey, one of the competitions she appeared in during her debut year. Photo: Georgian Figure Skating Federation on Facebook.

The close competition in the junior ladies section was underlined by the finish of Hungary’s second-placed Julia Lang, who received 146.42 points. Italy’s Alessia Tornaghi was third with 141.49 points.

The Georgian Figure Skating Federation said Urushadze had demonstrated “convincing competition [in] both the short and free programmes”.

For the teenage skater, the win in the 12th edition of the Belgrade event follows her second-place finish in the juniors competition at the Prague Riedell Ice Cup last November, during her debut year.

The Georgian federation said the teenage competitor showed “ever-improving results with each new start” since her first appearances in 2018.

Urushadze is now preparing to appear at the European Youth Olympic Festival, scheduled to run in February in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Belgrade cup event ran between January 15-19.