OAS ("Obscure" 4CC skaters) news & articles

[Karen-W]

Looks like Isabella Gamez & Alexander Korovin are all set to compete for the Philippines next season!

Bella Gamez on Instagram: "Alexander and I have been training hard for the past year now under Marina Zoueva and her team in Estero, FL. We are so excited to start competing on behalf of the Philippines @philippineskating for the 2022-2023 season. Fo

625 likes, 56 comments - isabellagamez on April 6, 2022: "Alexander and I have been training hard for the past year now under Marina Zoueva and her team in Estero, FL. We are so excited to start competing on behalf of the Philippines @philippineskating for the 2022-2023 season. Follow our...

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Article on Hong Kong's Cheuk Ka Kahlen CHEUNG, who turned 19 this past October, by Andrew McNicol (April 10, 2022):

Star skater Cheung reaches junior world champs despite Hong Kong rink woes

‘My goal is to enjoy and cherish this moment because I’m not going to have this opportunity ever again,’ says the 18-year-old Kahlen Cheung Cheuk-ka, who has been forced to train off the ice since January.

www.scmp.com

Excerpts:

Kahlen Cheung Cheuk-ka calls her upcoming World Junior Figure Skating Championships a “full circle” moment after a Covid-19-tormented couple of seasons.
The 18-year-old’s last international competition came at the same event and venue – the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia – two years ago. She was Hong Kong’s only entrant, as she is again.
But there is one major difference in the lead-up this time around: virtually all of her training has been off-the-ice, given the city’s strict precautions on rinks.
“It’s sort of a redemption story for me because I didn’t do very well the last time I competed here,” said Cheung, who travelled three weeks early to ensure sufficient ice-time. She finished 34th in 2020.

Cheung was forced to train on rooftops, gardens and harbours since the government shut down its rinks in the first week of January. It had been reopening and re-closing for much of the previous year. [...]
That Cheung was able to qualify for the junior worlds is remarkable in itself, as long-time coach Craig Heath explained.
“She’s basically been doing all her training off ice for the last two-and-a-half months, which is not common before a big competition,” said former US national champion Heath, who himself has spent this year coaching in a less-restricted Thailand. [...]
Heath, who also took fellow local prospect Harrison Wong Jon-yen to the Four Continents Championships in Estonia’s capital in January, called the intermittent closing of Hong Kong rinks “super frustrating” but was hopeful that the slated April 21 reopening would go ahead.

As for what comes after her junior worlds swansong, Cheung said she would need to consider her future as she will be starting university after a well-deserved summer off.
Cheung added that Hong Kong novice and juniors are “definitely going to go places” having herself played a part in building the local scene up, which went from “not really having much of a presence, to becoming a bigger thing now in the city”.

 

[Sylvia]

I'm just surprised Vietnam has an ice rink.

August 12, 2022 article in English: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/five-vietn...int-l-figure-skating-competition-2048781.html

The Vietnam Skating Federation (VSF) was established in 2018. The federation has not organized many skating competitions and has not been developed yet.
However, it targets expanding the training scale and creating favorable conditions for skaters to participate in international competitions.
Currently, the provinces and cities of Hanoi, HCMC, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, Can Tho and Bien Hoa have ice rinks for figure skating.

May 2021 article on the sibling ice dance team -- Chi Linh NGUYEN, now 13-almost-14, and Minh Quang NGUYEN, now 17 (ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00114119.htm) -- who are the first ice dance team to represent Vietnam in a JGP - competing in Ostrava right now: https://vietnamnet.vn/en/brother-sister-pair-wins-asian-championship-in-skating-736208.html

This article dated August 20, 2022 includes a little bit more info on the Vietnamese skaters currently competing at the JGP in Ostrava and the ones headed to JGP #7 in Egna:

Vietnam to send athletes to Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Vietnam will send five athletes to compete in the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events which will be held in the coming months in Europe.

en.vietnamplus.vn

It is the second time that Vietnam has been invited to send athletes to the world's largest competition series for junior competitors.
The first time was in 2019 when Linh, the national leading skater, was the only participant in the Russian event.
Born in 2005 in Hanoi, Linh has become the best figure skater in Vietnam after training on the ice for nearly a decade and grabbed a number of medals at national championships and Asian tournaments.
Like many athletes, Linh was also strongly affected by the pandemic which prevented her from both training and competing.

Linh Khanh TRAN is 17 and competing in Ostrava now - link to her ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00107866.htm

ETA:

First ISU international competition in Singapore is underway - link to the SEA [Southeast Asian] Open Trophy thread in Kiss & Cry:

https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/sea-southeast-asia-open-trophy-august-2-4-singapore.109875/

Vietnam's 2 Junior singles skaters competing in Singapore are the 2 who will go to JGP #7 in Egna:
(Junior man) Phuc Hoang PHAN (no ISU bio yet)
(Junior woman) Huong Dieu LE - listed coaches are Ganicheva & Letov at the SC of Boston: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00114118.htm

 

[Seerek]

Good thing this thread has been resurrected, as Phattaratida Kaneshige's debut on the Junior Grand Prix will be later this month in Armenia.

I was wondering if there were any articles discussing her country switch this past season (or maybe she had never represented the US internationally?)

 

[Sylvia]

Good thing this thread has been resurrected, as Phattaratida Kaneshige's debut on the Junior Grand Prix will be later this month in Armenia.

I was wondering if there were any articles discussing her country switch this past season (or maybe she had never represented the US internationally?)

Kaneshige has never represented the U.S. internationally. She has been competing in the U.S. for several years now and, last season, she won the Novice event of the U.S. Challenge Skate (domestic invitational with international judges) and placed among the top Novices in USFS' Championship Series qualifying competitions (#4, IIRC? top 3 qualified for 2022 Nationals in Junior). I first noticed her/watched her skate online at the Intermediate level in the fall of 2020 and will post more in the near future (definitely before her JGP debut for Thailand).

Re-posting here from the SEA Open Trophy competition thread in the Kiss & Cry section... The Straits Times of Singapore has published a recap article on the first international ever to be hosted in Singapore and focused on the home country's Senior men's winner:

Figure skating: Singapore's Pagiel Sng wins gold in SEA Open Trophy in home debut

Ensuring the judges remembered him with his tune My Name, he met the minimum standards for the ISU Four Continents event. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

Spinning and jumping to the tune, My Name, Singapore's Pagiel Sng made sure the judges remembered his name with a winning free skate on the final day of competition at the inaugural SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy on Sunday. [...]
His victory in his first competition on home soil was made even sweeter as the result also met the minimum total elements score required for the International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, United States from Feb 7 to 12, 2023. He is the first Singaporean male figure skater to qualify for the event.

The teenager said he "started to overthink" before his free skate programme but his coach Robi Chalmers kept him focused on the big prize as he lapped up the support from the home crowd.
He said: "The atmosphere was electric, the cheers, the clapping, everything brought out so much emotion that I would literally feel tingles through my arms. My dad and all my skating friends were here, it did add a lot of pressure as I did not want to let them down and I wanted to make them proud.
"I feel extremely happy and relieved after I put out two good programmes. I did not expect to get the gold let alone medal but I am happy I did. It means that my hard work has paid off and that even though Singapore is a small and tropical country, we can still compete and do well."

Despite not being able to train overseas with his coach, Pagiel, who finished fifth in his SEA Games debut in the Philippines in 2019, said he had "progressed tremendously and even became the first Singaporean to attempt and land a clean quad of any kind".

Pagiel Sng opened his FS with a 4T attempt (-2.53 GOE = 6.97 points) that was deemed rotated and landed 6 triples, including 3Lz+3T (-1.57 GOE) that he had landed cleanly in his SP - link to the Senior Men's FS protocols: https://seaopenfs.com/results/SEAOT...------FNL-000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf

New Zealand's Douglas Gerber won the silver, landing 3A+1Eu+3S (-0.8 GOE) in the Senior Men's FS and a clean 3A in the Senior Men's SP: https://seaopenfs.com/results/SEAOT...------QUAL000100--_JudgesDetailsperSkater.pdf
In addition to achieving both of the 4CC minimum scores in Singapore (he already had the FS minimum from 2021 Santa Claus Cup -- 62.25 -- which is less than 2 points from the Worlds minimum!), Gerber also got both of the TES minimums he needed for 2023 Junior Worlds in the Junior Men's event where he took the bronze!

Excerpt from the end of the article:

Sanctioned by the ISU and Asian Skating Union, the SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy featured 110 skaters from 12 countries, including regional rivals Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as Australia, Hong Kong and South Korea. This is the first time that Singapore is hosting an international figure skating competition. [...]
Alison Chan, president of the Singapore Ice Skating Association said on Sunday: "We congratulate Pagiel on his clean and confident skate, as well as achieving his objectives at SEA Trophy.
"We have received very positive feedback from the participating countries. We are deeply appreciative of the cooperation and support in the region to organise this competition to grow our sport and develop our skaters."

 

[Seerek]

Good thing this thread has been resurrected, as Phattaratida Kaneshige's debut on the Junior Grand Prix will be later this month in Armenia.

I was wondering if there were any articles discussing her country switch this past season (or maybe she had never represented the US internationally?)

Phattaratida (Anri) Kaneshige's Junior Grand Prix debut went pretty well (5th place), considering the late venue change from Armenia to Egna.

What would be amazing is if she could earn 6 or 7 Junior Grand Prix berths for Thailand next season.

Phattaratida KANESHIGE (THA) | Women Free Skating | Egna 2022 | #JGPFigure

To license ISU footage: https://bit.ly/3M7bcaFVisit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating.Courc...

youtu.be

 

[Sylvia]

Kaneshige has never represented the U.S. internationally. She has been competing in the U.S. for several years now and, last season, she won the Novice event of the U.S. Challenge Skate (domestic invitational with international judges) and placed among the top Novices in USFS' Championship Series qualifying competitions (#4, IIRC? top 3 qualified for 2022 Nationals in Junior). I first noticed her/watched her skate online at the Intermediate level in the fall of 2020 and will post more in the near future (definitely before her JGP debut for Thailand).

Oops, I forgot to post again before Phattaratida ("Anri") Kaneshige's JGP debut in Egna!

Link to her ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00114124.htm

Here's her SP in Egna (also choreographed by Drew Meekins) to "Tango De Amore": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu7BXb5KYCE

Here's her fun SP to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" that she skated from 2020 (when I first saw her skate online & tweeted about it here: https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1304614459487510534) to 2022: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws0gHcFfE-U

3-minute Thailand trip Feb-April 2022 video uploaded on the "Anri&Mom" YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvkHZG70flw

 

[Sylvia]

In post #35 above I shared a local Singapore article on Pagiel Yie Ken SNG after he won the Senior Men's event at the SEA Open Trophy in August and achieved his TES minimums for 2023 4CC.

I missed seeing this October 12th Olympics.com article before Pagiel competed in the Egna JGP (he placed 22nd in the field of 31 men) Singapore figure skater Pagiel Sng carving his own path forward: https://olympics.com/en/news/singapore-figure-skater-pagiel-sng-carving-his-own-path-forward

This Sport Singapore feature on him is linked in the article:

Compositions and Composure - Pagiel’s Story of Growth and Success

Meet Pagiel Sng, SG's 1st male figure skater to qualify for the coveted International Skating Union (ISU) Four Continents Figure Skating Championships!

circle.myactivesg.com

Excerpt:

The 18-year-old skater doesn’t remember ever not ice skating. Pagiel was only three years old when he moved to Denmark with his family. There, he picked up ice skating. A coach saw his potential and Pagiel trained under his wing until he returned to Singapore at the age of eight. [...]
Though Pagiel is one of Singapore’s most talented home-grown athletes, he admits that off the ice, he constantly doubts his own abilities.
“As an athlete, I am quite insecure, and I tend to not have a lot of confidence. Even if a training session goes well, I still have low self confidence in competing,” he admits. “The SEA Open Figure Skating Trophy 2022 win gave me a much needed confidence boost and reaffirms my efforts. It makes all those training sessions worth it.”

The article also mentions competing at 2023 Junior Worlds as a goal, but while he got the SP minimum of 25 (26.62 TES) in Egna, he just missed getting the new FS minimium that was raised this year from 42 to 44 (43.17).

 

[denise3lz]

Mic'd Up: Tammy GAMBILL | Egna 2022 | #JGPFigure

To license ISU footage: https://bit.ly/3M7bcaFVisit https://isu.org/JuniorGrandPrix for more information on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating.Courc...

www.youtube.com

​

Tammy Gambill coaching Kaneshige at Egna.

 

[Sylvia]

University of Minnesota July 2022 article on Mexico's Eugenia Garza:

National champion figure skater and undergraduate researcher: Meet kinesiology student Eugenia Garza

<p>“It’s been a huge challenge to stay competitive and training so many hours with school, but I’ve managed decently. I’ve got a really good team of coaches and, in school, everybody’s incredibly helpful. My professors help me get assignments done, get extensions, or make up for absences when I...

news.cehd.umn.edu

Looking ahead, Garza plans to continue competitive figure skating and hopes to expand her involvement in research. “It would be amazing to get my own research going because, right now, I’m just assisting. I love it, but it would be pretty cool to have my own research project.” She’s also considering graduate school. “Getting into grad school, that’s definitely a goal. But I’m just taking it as it comes.”

 

[Sylvia]

Philippines news article (Oct. 12) Olympic figure-skater Michael Martinez tries hand at coaching: https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/10/12/22/olympic-skater-michael-martinez-tries-hand-at-coaching
Excerpts:

After staying in the US for a couple of years, Martinez was back in the country last week on the invitation of PSU president Nikki Cheng, who offered the athlete the job after the exodus of PSU-accredited coaches to other jobs over the past two years due to the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are very short-handed, especially with high level coaches, so Michael’s arrival to help us is very timely,” Cheng said, adding that Fernandez began his new coaching stint at the SM Megamall skating rink among the skaters in the PSU’s developmental pool.

“Although he wants to get back to competing, I asked Michael if he wanted try his hand at coach. He had second thoughts but had changed his mind in our last conversation. Parang nag-light up siya (He lit up),” Cheng of her succeeding chat with the athlete. [...]
The skating head added that this was also a means of for Martinez of giving back after the millions of pesos that the SM group of companies, led by SM honcho Hans Sy, and the government through the Philippine Sports Commission, had invested in his athletic career.
“I really hope Michael will be able develop young skating talent. We know it will be a long process but this is can be the next chapter for him in giving to the sport,” she explained.

 

[Sylvia]

This article dated August 20, 2022 includes a little bit more info on the Vietnamese skaters currently competing at the JGP in Ostrava and the ones headed to JGP #7 in Egna:

Vietnam to send athletes to Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating

Vietnam will send five athletes to compete in the Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating events which will be held in the coming months in Europe.

en.vietnamplus.vn

Post and photos by South Africa's Ancio van Tonder, who currently coaches at the ISU's Center of Excellence in Thailand (https://iwisicecenter.com/figure-skating/), from Hanoi: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjzQyaXr0d1/

It’s been an honour to host the ISU development seminar in Hanoi, Vietnam on behalf of the ISU and IWIS international training center, Center of Excellence.
I’d like to thank Ms Trang, Skating Federation of Vietnam, parents, and skaters for their warm welcome and hospitality. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you

van Tonder has worked with Linh Tran (http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00107866.htm), 17 - she was the first figure skater to represent Vietnam in an ISU comp. (2019 JGP and also this year in Ostrava) and he shared this clip in September: https://www.instagram.com/p/CjIQTioOkk8/

 

[Sylvia]

(PHI) Daily Tribune article published the 2023 4CC team (Edrian Celestino, Sofia Frank and Isabella Gamez/Alexander Korovin) on Dec. 23, 2022:

Frank leads skating squad

Four figure skaters will be making the most out of the holidays before flying to their respective training camps for the 2023 Four Continents Figure Skating Cha

tribune.net.ph

Speaking in the Carols on Ice event last Wednesday at the SM Ice Skating Rink at the Mall of Asia, Frank said she and her family will be spending time in the Philippines before flying back to the United States to resume her training.
“I’m just excited to go to the beach. I already went to Batangas and that was pretty as well,” said Frank, who won the Asian Open Figure Skating Championship in Jakarta held last 7 to 9 December. [...]
“The competition is in my home state. It’ in Colorado Springs and what I’m doing is the same training that I’ve always been doing.”

For Gamez, she and Korovin are making sure they will be well rested after performing in the national tryouts several days ago.
“We actually like to take some time off from Nationals and take about a week off. Then we regroup and we can focus for the second half of the season,” Gamez said.

Celestino said he enjoyed performing in the event last Wednesday and he hopes he will be ready for the high altitude of the Four Continents next year.
“It’s such a great feeling not just for me but for other skaters as well,” Celestino said.
“So, the main thing is definitely skating clean. I’ve competed in Oberstdorf in Germany and the altitude is high but not as high as Colorado Springs.”
“I think what we’re going to do is we do programs with a mask. Try to simulate the same sensation over there.”

CAROLS ON ICE post-Nationals fundraiser gala (free registration required to watch the videos): https://pilipinashd.online/home

Sofia Frank performed "Last Dance" (last season's SP) - 45-second clip from the gala: https://twitter.com/tribunephl_ivan/status/1605562526179426305

Video report & article by GMA News in the Philippines, post-Nationals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cXsdIbKT9g

Russian skater Aleksandr Korovin 'willing to start' naturalization to become Filipino

Russian figure skater Aleksandr Korovin is "willing to start" the naturalization process to becoming a Filipino citizen.

www.gmanetwork.com

 

[greenapple]

An article on the Ukrainian ice dance team of Mariia Holubtsova and Kyryl Bielobrov who competed at the World University Games.

 

[Sylvia]

^^^ I've re-posted the Ukrainian ice dance team article link in the OES News thread.

Eugenia Garza competed for the first time (since 2022 4CC) for Mexico at the World University Games in Lake Placid this weekend - here's a clip of her good 2A in her FS last night: https://twitter.com/ulieunha/status/1614781952632197121

Article from last summer about her academic work at the University of Minnesota's School of Kinesiology:

National champion figure skater and undergraduate researcher: Meet kinesiology student Eugenia Garza

<p>“It’s been a huge challenge to stay competitive and training so many hours with school, but I’ve managed decently. I’ve got a really good team of coaches and, in school, everybody’s incredibly helpful. My professors help me get assignments done, get extensions, or make up for absences when I...

news.cehd.umn.edu

 

[Karen-W]

I can't link it, but Mikhail Shaidorov posted a clip on his IG story of him landing a 3A+4T combo this morning.

Ilia's not the only young guy who likes to give us this sort of stuff, and I'm here for it!

 

[Karen-W]

Historic day for Asian skating!

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Isabella Gamez & Aleksandr Korovin PHI have qualified for Worlds in pairs! They're the first SE Asian pairs team EVER to qualify for Worlds and the first time since 2017 that the Philippines will have any representation at Worlds.

 

[Frau Muller]

I hope that Gámez/Korovin improve on what we saw at Four Cs.

 

[Karen-W]

I hope that Gámez/Korovin improve on what we saw at Four Cs.

Well, if you click on the IG link or check out their joint IG page, they have a reel of their SP from yesterday. I thought it was really nice, especially their SBS spins.

 

[Sylvia]

Historic day for Asian skating!

Isabella Gamez & Aleksandr Korovin PHI have qualified for Worlds in pairs! They're the first SE Asian pairs team EVER to qualify for Worlds and the first time since 2017 that the Philippines will have any representation at Worlds.

Well, if you click on the IG link or check out their joint IG page, they have a reel of their SP from yesterday. I thought it was really nice, especially their SBS spins.

Here's the link to watch Gamez/Korovin's Challenge Cup SP on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpHARFHtuL6/

Short article:

Gamez, partner make worlds | Josef Ramos

TOP Filipino skater Isabella Gamez and her Russian partner Alexander Korovin qualified for the International Skating Union (ISU) 2023 World Figure Skating Championships set March 20 to 26 in Saitama, Japan. Philippine Skating Union (PSU) Nikki Cheng confirmed their qualification to...

businessmirror.com.ph

 

[Sylvia]

@ice coverage mentioned in the U.S. Men's news thread that there was an ISU Advanced Novice (singles) Workshop held in conjunction with Four Continents in Colorado Springs and I was informed that the following 12 4CC federations sent skaters (I've included the names of skaters who have posted about the workshop or are tagged in Instagram posts that I've seen):

Argentina - Luana Beltran & Cecilia Donohue are named in their fed's post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CosgRLSvofm/;
Beltran shared 2 reel videos of her experience: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CogHJ8Qg0ms/ & https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoqkV_dAI8H/ (eta - as well as some of her 4CC highlights: https://www.instagram.com/reel/ConRa1AAJBp/)
Australia - Kryshtof Pradeaux, James Lin, Ariel Guo, Renee Tsai are named in ISA fed's FB post
Chinese Taipei
India [Manjesh Tiwari - he trains in AUS (eta) & Harshita Rawtani]
Indonesia
Malaysia
Mexico - Natalia Acosta Moises (competing at Jr. Worlds this week) and Regina Garcia de Leon Saab are tagged in their fed's post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CobIWB_LTrp/
New Zealand [3 skaters are listed in the newsletter excerpt below]
Peru fed's post shows one girl: https://www.instagram.com/p/Con7gsrogZm/
Philippines fed's post shows 2 unnamed girls: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cov59dsrUzM/
Singapore
South Africa

I found some information about this camp (relevant part copied out below) in the New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Association's January 2023 newsletter: https://www.nzifsa.org.nz/news/January 2023 Newsletter.pdf

FOUR CONTINENTS ADVANCED NOVICE WORKSHOP
Parallel with the ISU Four Continents Championships, U.S. Figure Skating, with the support of the
ISU Development Commission, are hosting a workshop for Advanced Novice aged skaters. Four
Continents members have been invited to send 1-2 girls and 1-2 boys, along with their coaches
and a team official. An invitation was extended to our skaters that made Selection to the
International A and B Teams, with the priority order based on our Selection Policy. The following
group are very excited to be heading away to Colorado Springs next week:
Cara Tang Skater
Jazz [Jazmyn] Evangelou Skater
Dwayne Li Skater [he's competing at Junior Worlds this week as Yanhao Li]
Bess Cao Coach of Cara and Dwayne
Stephanie Woodacre Coach of Jazz
Caitlyn Paul Team Leader / Team Official

What an amazing opportunity for young skaters to watch the top skaters train and compete, be
coached by some outstanding international coaches, and to train alongside other outstanding
young skaters. For coaches this is a great opportunity to get alongside some top coaches and
develop some great networks. We look forward to reporting back to you in our next newsletter.

 

[ice coverage]

Before the thread moves on to other news ... a couple of more bits about the ISU Advanced Novice seminar tied to Four Continents:

- Kaitlyn Weaver shared a snippet of one of her classes (which gives video credit to Jordan Cowan).

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CosrpRhvrDQ/ (posted Feb 15)​

Kaitlyn's caption refers to teaching the seminar's 34 athletes, and her reel starts with a very quick shot of a "yearbook"-type photo seemingly of the entire group.

- Singapore was represented by skater Ilika Motani and her coach.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXCTOpueS4/ (Feb 7)​

 

[Sylvia]

The Philippine Skating Union has shared a short Day 1 Highlights video from the morning session of the International Coaches Seminar (April 26-29 in Bangkok, Thailand): https://www.instagram.com/p/CrfZgxtRTAb/

To be followed by the Thailand Open FS Trophy international competition (I first posted info about the seminar here): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-thailand-open-fs-trophy-may-2-4-bangkok.110672/

Venue is the IWIS International Training Center (the ISU Center of Excellence in Thailand), where the "International Coaches Seminar Bangkok 2023 in Single and Pair Skating Supported by ISU Development" is being held 26-29 April 2023 before this competition: https://www.fsat.or.th/fsat-news/internationa-coaches-seminar-bangkok-2023
Coaches are Olga Ganicheva & Aleksey Letov with Jimmy Ma (Jumps), Misha Mitrofanov (Skating Skills and off-ice) and Emily Chan & Spencer Howe (Pairs) - which explains why I've been seeing Instagram posts & stories from Thailand from these skaters in the past few days.

PSU's 3 photos of their participating skaters in Bangkok: https://www.instagram.com/p/Crf743HPyWn/

In our mission to further develop ice sports in the country, the Philippine Skating Union sends off five coaches, one judge understudy, and five very promising skaters across Manila and Cebu to the ISU Center of Excellence in Thailand.
The Bangkok 2023 International Coaches Seminar is facilitated by the Figure Skating Association of Thailand. The delegation will participate in both on-and-off-ice training and be updated with the rules and regulations, by ISU Technical Committee Member, Ms. Yukiko Okabe.
We're so excited for our skaters and coaches to upgrade their skills in this learning opportunity. Here's to a brighter future of ice sports in the Philippines!

Off and on ice training lips are posted in the Instagram stories of olgalexcoaching (Ganicheva & Letov are leading the seminar).

 

[Seerek]

You can see Jimmy Ma prominently featured in that Instagram Video in Bangkok, and I believe a little bit of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe as well.

 

[Sylvia]

Nationals results for South Africa, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand and Hong Kong are now posted in this thread in the Kiss & Cry section (currently open to all):

2023 Nationals results in Asia & South Africa

South Africa's Nationals were held March 13-14, 2023 - all results/protocols: https://safsa.org.za/Competitions/23Nationals/Nationals2023GN/index.htm Senior Men 1 Evan WRENSCH GAC 147.85 1 1 Senior Women 1 Abigail SAMUELS WCP 81.42 1 1 Senior Pairs 1...

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[Sylvia]

Pagiel SNG posted after he competed at 4CC that "the only olympic rink in Singapore [is] closing" (where Nationals was held) : https://www.instagram.com/p/ComNqwkOKoI/

Related article with quotes from the recreational ice hockey players in Singapore (The Rink at JCube opened 13 years ago and will be demolished in August):

Singapore’s Only Ice Hockey Rink Is Being Bulldozed for Condos

The full-sized Olympic rink is hardly world class, but it’s home to a tight-knit hockey community — for just a few more months.

www.bloomberg.com

On the third floor of the JCube mall in a west-side Singapore suburb, past the KFC and the IMAX theater, sits an Olympic-sized ice rink where hockey players gather. In the island’s tropical heat, the cooling system sometimes buckles, creating fog so thick you can barely see the puck. Mold lingers on the surrounding white walls, and the Zamboni ice-cleaning machine often breaks down.
As facilities go, it’s hardly world class. But as Singapore’s only hockey rink, it’s where obsessives like Kiarra Chin, who plays on the women’s national team, goes just about every day — though her routine will be upended in a few months when the mall will be bulldozed to make way for condominiums.

The government is planning a new facility to be built near the national soccer stadium by 2029, according to a statement last month from the hockey association. Meanwhile, organizers are seeking help from “millionaires and billionaires’’ to raise the estimated S$5 million cost of a temporary rink to fill the gap, Lam said.
The goal is to have something in place in just over a year, though it could be two or more if major redevelopment is needed on the temporary site, said association President Diane Foo, adding one investor has already been lined up.

 

[Karen-W]

A Congresswoman in the Philippines has filed a House Resolution for the naturalization of Aleksandr Korovin -

Philippine Skating Union on Instagram: "Cong. Aniela Tolentino with Aleksandr Korovin and Isabella Gamez, and Philippine Skating Union President Nikki Cheng at Manila Peninsula. Cong. Aniela filed House Resolution No. 8486 for the naturalization of

115 likes, 2 comments - Philippine Skating Union (@philippineskating) on Instagram: "Cong. Aniela Tolentino with Aleksandr Korovin and Isabella Gamez, and Philippine Skating Union Pr..."

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Thailand's federation congratulated their 2 skaters -- figure skater Phattaratida Kaneshige being one of them -- on being awarded an ISU Junior Scholarship 2023: https://www.instagram.com/p/CuYzhHyLVUd/

It should be exciting for her to compete in the first-ever JGP in Bangkok, August 23-26, 2023!

 

[Karen-W]

So, the Kazakhstan Skating Union has decided to split into two separate federations - one for speed/short-track and the other for figure (presumably including synchro, though there doesn't appear to be any synchro teams or interest there yet) -

Kazakhstan Skating Union on Instagram: "Қазақстандық конькишілер одағы екі федерацияға бөлінді Бүгін, 12 шілдеде елордалық «Алау» мұз сарайында «Қазақстандық конькишілер одағы» РҚБ жалпы жиналысының отырысы өтті. Бұл жиында Ұйымды «Қазақстандық к

139 likes, 1 comments - qaz.iceteam on July 12, 2023: "Қазақстандық конькишілер одағы екі федерацияға бөлінді Бүгін, 12 шілдеде елордалық «Алау» мұз сарайында «Қазақстандық конькишілер одағы» РҚБ жалпы жиналысының отырысы өтті. Бұл жиында Ұйымды «Қазақстандық конькишілер одағы» және...

www.instagram.com

 

[Wyliefan]

Today was the 5th anniversary of Denis Ten's death. There were some nice tributes on Twitter, including this from Jackie Wong.

https://twitter.com/rockerskating/status/1681792929189306368?t=kj2svVsvPyfZTbr5_O3mag&s=19