Cha Jun-hwan (22, Korea University), captain of figure skating ‘Team Korea’, expressed his impression that Korea placed second in the middle on the first day of the World Team Trophy, a national team competition.
Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Si-hyung (23, Korea University, male single) Kim Ye-rim (20, Dankook University) Lee Hae-in (18, Sehwa Girls’ High School or older female single) Ice Dance Lim Hae-na (19)-Quan-ye (22, Canada), Jo Hye-jin (18)- The Korean figure skating team, composed of Stephen Adcock (27, Canada), took second place with 39 points on the first day of the 2023 International Skating Union (ISU) figure skating national team event World Team Trophy held at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on the 13th.
In the team trophy, players from each country compete in 4 events (men and women’s singles, pairs, ice dance) and the ranking is determined by the sum of points. The six countries with the best results in one season’s ISU international competitions will stand on the stage for the Team Trophy.
Two people each will compete in the men’s and women’s singles, and one pair each will participate in the pairs and ice dancing. The final ranking is determined by converting the short program and free skating rankings of the event into points. Also, since this is an event organized by ISU, scores recorded in this event are recognized as official scores.
The event was first held in Japan in 2009. It is held once every two years, but in 2011 the tournament was canceled due to the Tohoku earthquake. Since 2013, it has been held in Japan every two years.
Korea participated in the team trophy for the first time. On the first day of the competition, ice dance rhythm dance, women’s single short program, and men’s single short program were held.
The pair of Lim Hae-na and Quan-ye, who started ice dancing, scored 69.96 points, finishing in 6th place, the lowest among the 6 groups participating. However, she earned the 7 points given to the 6th place in ice dancing.
Pairs receive 12 points for the first place and 7 points for the bottom in the Short Program and Free Skating, Ice Dance, Rhythm Dance and Free Dance, respectively. 1st place group gets 12 points, 2nd place 11 points, 3rd place 10 points, 4th place 9 points, 5th place 8 points, bottom 6th place 7 points.
Lin Haena-quan Yejo, who won silver at the Junior World Championships this season, made her senior debut in her team’s trophy. They performed ‘Don’t Go Yet’ by Carmela Cabello, a senior rhythm dance program, for the first time at this competition.
Lee Hae-in, who competed in the women’s single short program that followed, scored 76.9 points, a combination of 41 points in technical (TES) and 35.9 points in art (PCS). She broke the previous short program’s highest score of 73.62메이저놀이터, set at the World Championships last month, by 3.28 points.
In particular, Lee Hae-in took first place in the women’s single short program, beating Kaori Sakamoto (72.69 points), the world championship winner and captain of Japan. Lee Hae-in earned 12 points for first place.
Kim Ye-rim, who she competed with, came in 7th with a score of 69.65, earning 6 points.
Cha Jun-hwan and Lee Si-hyung competed in the men’s single short program that marked the end of the day. Cha Jun-hwan also surpassed the previous personal best score of 99.64, recorded at the World Championships last month. Cha Jun-hwan, who received 101.33 points, a combination of 54.7 points in the technical score (TES) and 46.63 points in the arts (PCS), broke the 100 mark for the short program for the first time.
The first place was taken by Ilya Malinin (USA), who scored 105.9 points. Cha Jun-hwan finished second in the men’s single short program and scored 11 points.
Sihyung Lee tried a quadruple loop, but unfortunately failed. However, he performed well with his remaining elements and came in 10th place (3 points) with 77.24 points.
On the first day of the competition, Korea scored 18 points in the women’s singles, 14 points in the men’s singles, and 7 points in the ice dance, with 39 points, ranking second in the middle rankings after the United States (50 points).
After the game, captain Cha Jun-hwan said in an official interview with the ISU, “We first competed in the World Team Trophy. Before coming here, I asked my teammates what they thought of this event.” He added, “As this is our first competition, we said to skate while enjoying it happily.”
“On the first day, we achieved these goals. I am very proud of my team and myself. I look forward to supporting the other players tomorrow as well.”
Team Korea, which participated in this event, has the youngest average age among the six participating countries. The oldest is Adcock of Fair, born in April 1995, and the youngest is Jo Hye-jin, born in November 2005. The average age of Korean teams is 20 years old.
Cha Jun-hwan explained, “Our team is close to a new generation and has young players. In particular, the ice dance team made their senior debut in the team trophy.” “I think we are the youngest and most passionate in this team trophy,” he encouraged his teammates.
Meanwhile, on the 14th, the team trophy will be held in ice dance free dance, pair short program and women’s single free skating.