Securing Two Quotas for Next Year's Beijing Winter Olympics Becomes Visible
South Korea's figure skating star Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University) performed well at the World Figure Skating Championships, where qualification for next year's Beijing Winter Olympics is at stake.
On the 26th (Korean time), Cha Jun-hwan placed 8th in the men's singles short program at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships held at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, with a technical element score (TES) of 49.80 points, program component score (PCS) of 41.35 points, totaling 91.15 points. Although he did not reach his ISU personal best score of 97.33 points, he raised the possibility of breaking the highest-ever Korean men's singles record, previously held by Jeong Seong-il, who ranked 14th in 1991.
The ISU awards Olympic quotas to countries based on the results of this competition. For countries with one participant, finishing as runner-up grants three spots, and placing between 3rd and 10th grants two spots. The free skate will take place on the 27th at the same venue.
As the first skater in the 5th group, Cha Jun-hwan performed steadily throughout to Ralph Vaughan Williams' "Dark Pastoral." He executed his signature quadruple Salchow (4 rotations) jump cleanly on his first jump, earning a base value of 9.70 points and a grade of execution (GOE) of 2.49 points.
He also appeared to perform the triple Lutz-triple loop combination jump, with a base value of 10.80 points, smoothly. He enhanced the performance quality by executing a flying camel spin at level 4, and in the latter half of the program, which receives a 10% bonus, he flawlessly landed a triple Axel with 3.5 rotations. He completed the program by performing the change foot sit spin, step sequence, and change foot combination spin all at level 4.
Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan), who won back-to-back gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, led the standings with 106.98 points. Japan's rising star Yuma Kagiyama scored 100.96 points for 2nd place, and Nathan Chen (USA), aiming for a third consecutive world championship title, placed 3rd with 98.85 points.
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