Korean skating news & updates

[Sylvia]

Young You will start her season at the ISU Challenger Series U.S. Classic in Lake Placid, Sept. 12-16, 2022 (with Yelim Kim), and not at this weekend's Cranberry Cup in Norwood, MA:

뉴스 : 네이버스포츠

n.news.naver.com

 

[Stephanie]

I apologize if this is old news, but based on her updated ISU bio it seems that Young You's principal coach in Colorado Springs is now Viktor Pfeifer, not Tammy Gambill. I like the move

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102446.htm

 

[Marco]

I apologize if this is old news, but based on her updated ISU bio it seems that Young You's principal coach in Colorado Springs is now Viktor Pfeifer, not Tammy Gambill. I like the move

http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102446.htm

Is there anyone at Colorado Springs that can help her posture?

 

[seabm7]

A group of Korean skaters are participating in Sea Open, Singapore.

seaopenfs.com

This domain may be for sale!

seaopenfs.com

If Asian Trophy had not been moved to December, they would have gone there instead.

 

[seabm7]

Younghyun Cha's gala at JGP France, in the style of the traditional Korean acrobat dancers,

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[barbarafan]

Younghyun Cha's gala at JGP France, in the style of the traditional Korean acrobat dancers,

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

is there anything available on Hannah Lim/Ye Quam's gala program?

 

[seabm7]

is there anything available on Hannah Lim/Ye Quam's gala program?

Not yet. We are looking for those clips, too.

 

[Dobre]

Congrats to Team Korea at their first JGP! Gold, silver, and bronze.

 

[seabm7]

There has been a summer ice show going on at the Gangneung Hockey Center, the previous Olympic venue. Most of the cast are former Korean national team members.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Dobre]

Just watched Minsol Kwon's Cats program from the JGP Ostrava free program. So adorable! My favorite ladies skate this season thus far .

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Wow young you short program is so good and so well choreographed. Who is the choreographer? Sometimes I feel like tangos never go well for single skaters even Kristi Yamaguchi tried it, this is really well choreographed

 

[Sylvia]

Shae-Lynn Bourne choreographed Young You's Tango SP according to her ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102446.htm

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Shae-Lynn Bourne choreographed Young You's Tango SP according to her ISU bio: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00102446.htm

One of the best choreographed tango pieces I’ve ever seen for a single skater

 

[Frau Muller]

Congratulations, Yelim Kim, CS US International Classic winner…and Young You, silver medalist!

Japan’s Mana Kawabe completes the Asian sweep with the bronze medal!

For me, the biggest delight was the greater artistry shown and the quality of music and choreography from all three top women in the free. (Also loved You’s SP tango!) Judging panel was very tough on the tech calls but the PCS elements impressed me the most, watching from home on a big-screen TV. Lots of class & lyricism among the top three…with Yelim Kim especially feminine, like a gazelle.

 

[Sylvia]

Before Yelim Kim knew she had won the gold:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1570579080336244737

Photo of Young You (silver medalist) with quote: https://twitter.com/ClaireCloutier/status/1570590550491013123

Young You on goals for season: "I hope I can skate more happy on the ice. Before [Oly season], it was more pressure, so I was not enjoying that much. But after the Olympics, I want to bring back my enjoyment of skating again, like before." #USIntlClassic

 

[Wyliefan]

FINALLY some word on what happened to Ahsun Yun at Nebelhorn: Apparently she had a "slight accident" during practice, and was showing concussion symptoms, so she was advised to withdraw. (The link below is to a fan account.) I'm glad she took care of herself and hope she recovers quickly.

Watch this story by 🌞 Ahsun Fan Account 🧡 on Instagram before it disappears.

www.instagram.com

 

[On My Own]

Someone make Young You change her short program back to the one last season, and someone tell Cha there's nothing threatening about him making finger guns.

And someone tell Morisi Kvitelashvili to retire already.

 

[Dobre]

Yelim .

Wheee! So happy for her to make the final.

Also love how she is as unassuming as ever. Think her phrasing with the music has reached the mature phase now. She is making the programs her own. They are wisely chosen for her introverted personality, and she's learning to sell them with her movement. Both triple lutzes in combination. Very happy.

 

[kalle]

One of the best choreographed tango pieces I’ve ever seen for a single skater

I have not liked a single tango program since Laura Lepisto's way back. I must say though that this program for Young is really good and hope that she make it to Worlds.

 

[On My Own]

Young You not assigned to 4CCs, what's up with her? She finished 11th at the ranking competition... https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1599308016494743552

Assignments: https://twitter.com/InTheLoPodcast/status/1599256942077059072

 

[clairecloutier]

Young You not assigned to 4CCs, what's up with her? She finished 11th at the ranking competition... https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1599308016494743552

Back at U.S. Classic earlier this season, Young mentioned having some issues with motivation and losing the joy in skating during the pressure-packed Olympic year.

Also, her jumps have been getting pretty heavily scrutinized and negatively graded by panels this fall--which can't be easy to deal with.

I am sorry to see her struggling, as I really like her skating skills, power, and big presence on the ice.

 

[ptvvibezz]

Young You not assigned to 4CCs, what's up with her? She finished 11th at the ranking competition... https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1599308016494743552

Assignments: https://twitter.com/InTheLoPodcast/status/1599256942077059072

She also lost her father during the Olympics...

 

[greenapple]

Back at U.S. Classic earlier this season, Young mentioned having some issues with motivation and losing the joy in skating during the pressure-packed Olympic year.

She said at Skate Canada that her lack of motivation happened following the Olympic season but over the summer she rediscovered her love for performing and was hoping to have a successful season.

 

[Sylvia]

Posted on Oct. 5 in the 2022-23 Pairs general discussion thread:

South Korea has a new pair team! Coach Andrew Evans, who also coaches McIntosh/Mimar, shared practice [SP] clips today of Hye-Jin CHO (7th in Novice Women at 2020 Canadians) and Steven Adcock: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjVW-s_pCaI/

Korea's new pair team of Hye-Jin Cho & Steven Adcock will debut at Nationals, January 5-8, 2023 - most of their (Rach 2) FS via Coach Evans: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmebYfbvDlQ/

 

[Sylvia]

Competition thread for KOR Nationals in Kiss & Cry: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2023-south-korean-nationals-jan-5-8-in-uijeongbu.110302/

This Twitter account has shared/will continue to post info & updates in English: https://twitter.com/skatingkor

Korean SBS news report on Hannah Lim/Ye Quan, the 2022 JGP Final silver medalists:

뉴스 : 네이버스포츠

n.news.naver.com

ETA another Korean news/video report:

'아이스댄스 새 역사' 임해나·예콴 "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

대표팀 발탁 2년 만에 한국 아이스댄스의 역사를 새로 쓰고 있는 유망주들이 있습니다. 3년 뒤 겨울 올림픽을 꿈꾸고 있는 임해나-예콴 선수를 박재웅 기자가 만나봤습니다. ◀ 리포트 ▶ 지난달 피겨 주니어 그랑프리 파

n.news.naver.com

 

[Sylvia]

KBS World (English) Radio's follow-up chat with Lim/Quan, uploaded on Jan. 3, 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHsQT215ZrY

Following a successful ISU Junior Grand Prix series ending with a silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final held in Turin, Italy in December, Hannah Lim and Ye Quan, representing Team Korea, join us again, after our first interview in 2021. Learn more about what they made of their amazing feat, and how they trained for this season!

ETA - [Exclusive] Lim and Quan are not national ice dance representatives... Skating Federation 'Indifferent Administration' (Jan. 4):

[단독] 임해나-예콴, 아이스댄스 국가대표 아니다…빙상연맹 ‘무관심 행정’ - 일간스포츠

피겨 아이스댄스의 임해나(19)-예콴(22)은 2022~23시즌 국제빙상연맹(ISU) 주니어 그랑프리 시리즈에서 한국을 대표해 뛰어난 성적을 거뒀다. 두 차례 주니...

isplus.com

However, Lim and Quan are not currently included in the national team selected and managed by the Korea Ice Skating Federation (hereinafter referred to as the Skating Federation). In the announcement of the selection criteria for the representative for the 2022-23 season announced by the Skating Federation on February 17 last year as a notice on the website, the ice dance representative is marked as '0'. Currently, only 12 players are registered as national figure skaters by the Skating Federation, including 4 male singles and 8 female singles. The same is true of the 2023-24 season representative announcement announced on November 3 last year.

So far, players who have become Korean representatives through special naturalization in sports have first had strong requests from the national team coach or active interest from the relevant federation (association), and then proceeded with the naturalization process. This is because special naturalization proceeds as a process of first receiving a letter of recommendation from the federation and submitting it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
Lim and Quan ... are nervous because they have not yet heard anything about special naturalization through the Skating Federation, and that they are frustrated because they cannot even officially prove their credentials as Korean representatives. On the other hand, a staff member of the Skating Federation only replied, “Ye Quan has never requested special naturalization.”

Regarding the reason for not selecting representatives for pair and ice dance, a staff member of the Skating Federation said, “In singles, hundreds of players compete and only 12 are selected, but in pair and ice dance, where one or two teams compete to select a representative, it is against fairness. ” he replied. Also, “Pair and ice dancing are risky because teams often break up. I think we should watch more.”

Lim Hannah's side said, "Lim and Quan will be promoted to seniors next season. We have to start a tough competition, and in figure skating, there are many players who falter in seniors. I hope there is no element of anxiety that I may not be able to play as a representative of Korea.”

 

[Sylvia]

Cross-posting from the Korean Nationals thread...

Korean news article on Junhwan Cha's victory:

뉴스 : 네이버스포츠

n.news.naver.com

Machine translated excerpts:

Cha Jun-hwan (22, Korea University), a representative of Korean men's figure skating, won the men's singles at the KB Financial Korea Figure Skating 2023 (77th National Men's and Women's Figure Skating Championships) held in Korea.
Cha Jun-hwan scored 81.27 points in technical score (TES) and 89.9 points in art point (PCS) in men's single group 1 free skating at the KB Financial Korea Figure Skating Championships 2023 (77th National Figure Skating Championships) held at the indoor ice rink in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do on the 8th. [He] received a total score of 170.17 with 1 deduction.
With a final total of 27121 points combined with a short program score of 101.04, Cha Jun-hwan won the championship beating Kim Hyeon-gyeom (Han Kwang-go), who ranked second with 237.23 points.
Cha Jun-hwan first won this competition in 2017. Since then, he has maintained the top spot and has won seven consecutive victories.

This competition is at stake for the World Championships to be held in Saitama, Japan in March. After winning first place in the men's singles, he also secured the right to participate in the event.
After the game, Junhwan Cha said, "It was unfortunate that there was a mistake in this game. I will use this game as an experience to prepare well for the remaining Four Continents Championships and World Championships so that I can play a game that I can be satisfied with."

Men's final standings: https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1611938862942543872
1 Junhwan Cha 271.21 1 1 (170.17 FS) - 4CC & Worlds (only 1 spot)
2 Hyungyeom Kim 237.23 3 3 (158.63) - Junior Worlds (only 1 spot)
3 Minkyu Seo 235.90 4 2 (159.00)
4 Sihyeong Lee 230.74 2 5 (148.77) 4CC
5 Jaeseok Kyeong 223.41 5 4 (150.35) 4CC
6 Younghyun Cha 212.47 9 6 (142.57)
7 Jaekeun Lee 210.74 7 7 (138.56)
8 Hangil Kim 198.29 8 9 (127.54)
9 Juheon Lim 195.42 6 10 (123.09)
10 Deokhoon Jeong 188.68 10 8 (129.61)

Silver medalist Hyungyeom Kim, 16, will go to Junior Worlds: https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1611941727337684992
He competed on the JGP last season and as a senior internationally this season: http://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00111160.htm

 

[Karen-W]

KBS World (English) Radio's follow-up chat with Lim/Quan, uploaded on Jan. 3, 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHsQT215ZrY

ETA - [Exclusive] Lim and Quan are not national ice dance representatives... Skating Federation 'Indifferent Administration' (Jan. 4):

[단독] 임해나-예콴, 아이스댄스 국가대표 아니다…빙상연맹 ‘무관심 행정’ - 일간스포츠

피겨 아이스댄스의 임해나(19)-예콴(22)은 2022~23시즌 국제빙상연맹(ISU) 주니어 그랑프리 시리즈에서 한국을 대표해 뛰어난 성적을 거뒀다. 두 차례 주니...

isplus.com

Trust the Korean fed to find a way to potentially take themselves out of the running for a spot in the team competition in Milano...

 

[Sylvia]

'Middle school student beat all the older sisters' SHIN Jia, female figure skating champion! Visualization of generational change (originally published on Jan. 8 by starnewskorea.com):

뉴스 : 네이버스포츠

n.news.naver.com

It seems that a generational change is progressing smoothly. SHIN Jia, who took first place, earned the right to participate in the International Skating Union (ISU) World Junior Championships. However, she will not compete at the World Championships in Saitama, Japan in March due to age restrictions. Only players over the age of 15 as of July 1, 2022 can compete in the World Championships.
Accordingly, at the World Championships, KIM Chaeyeon, 2nd in the combined score of the 1st and 2nd national team selection competitions, LEE Haein, 3rd, and KIM Yelim in 4th will participate.

On the other hand, You Young, who suffered from her sluggishness in the aftermath of her back pain, failed to qualify for her national team for her new season, which is given to her top eight.

Women's final standings, scores & FS protocols: https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1611991794941841409
Top 14 (of 23 total):
1 Jia Shin 213.01 2 1 (142.06 FS) - Junior Worlds
2 Yelim Kim 210.28 1 2 (138.69) - 4CC & Worlds
3 Haein Lee 205.31 3 3 (134.56) - 4CC & Worlds
4 Chaeyeon Kim 200.60 4 6 (129.91) - 4CC & Worlds
5 Minsol Kwon 196.43 8 4 (131.92) - Junior Worlds
6 Yujae Kim 193.97 10 5 (130.64 FS with clean 3A!) - Junior Worlds; her twin, Yuseong Kim, won the Junior title
7 Seojin Youn 191.45 7 7
8 Ahsun Yun 190.69 5 8
9 Seoyeong Wi 189.60 6 9
10 Heesue Han 173.82 18 10
11 Young You 172.96 9 15
12 Siwoo Song 172.35 14 12
13 Minchae Kim 170.38 16 11
14 Dabin Choi 169.49 12 14
...
WD: Seoyeon Ji & Yeonjeong Park

Both Junior ice dance teams, Hannah Lim/Quan Le (169.45 total, 102.33 in FD) and Jinny Kim/Namu Lee (125.59), will compete at Junior Worlds.

Hye Jin Cho & Steven Adcock 157.30 (104.66 in FS) were the first pair team to compete at Nationals since 2018.

ETA:

2023-24 National team (scores are combined from December's ranking comp. & Nationals, IIRC): https://twitter.com/skatingkor/status/1611994353949450240
Men (4): Junhwan Cha, Sihyeong Lee, Minkyu Seo, Hyungyeom Kim
Women (8): Jia Shin, Chaeyeon Kim, Haein Lee, Yelim Kim, Minsol Kwon, Yujae Kim, Seoyeong Wi, Seojin Youn

 

[Sylvia]

I haven't come across any Nationals recap articles in the English Korean media yet... here's another, with machine translated excerpts, by Donga Ilbo|sports 15-year-old 'Silver fairy' Jia Shin in a fantasy jump... College student sister also 'nod' (Jan. 9):

15세 ‘은반 요정’ 신지아 환상 점프에… 대학생 언니도 ‘끄덕’

8일 경기 의정부실내빙상장에서 열린 피겨스케이팅 국가대표 최종 선발전 겸 전국종합선수권대회 여자 싱글 프리스케이팅. 클린 연기를 펼치던 신지아(15·영동중)가 후반부 첫 점프인 …

www.donga.com

Shin Ji-ah (15, Yeongdong Middle School), who was performing clean, crashed into the fence [boards] after performing the first jump in the second half, a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination jump. It was a situation where she could be shaken, but Ji-ah Shin pushed the fence with her hand, and after she increased her speed again, she continued the triple flip-double axel sequence jump. Her remaining acting assignments were also completed perfectly.
"Figure skating morning star" Shin Ji-ah once again beat her high school and college older sisters to take first place in the national team selection competition. Ji-ah Shin was deducted 1 point for colliding with a fence in the free skating [note: -1 for time violation acc. to her protocol], but she scored 142.06 points for her unwavering performance, winning the come-from-behind victory over Kim Ye-lim (20, Dankook University, total score 210.28 points) with a combined short program score of 213.01 points. Shin Jia, whose first task in the short program the previous day, landing the triple lutz-triple toe loop combination jump was not smooth, was 0.64 points behind Kim Ye-lim, who scored 71.59, and was second.

With Shin Ji-ah, a junior player, winning, the three senior world championship tickets that were at stake in this selection round went to Kim Ye-lim, Lee Hae-in (18, Sehwa Girls’ High School), and Kim Chae-yeon (17, Suri High School) in second to fourth places. Jia Shin will try again for her medal at the World Junior Championships in Canada in February. Shin Ji-ah and Kim Ye-lim, respectively, are active in the junior and senior stages this season, writing the first record since Kim Yu-na, the gold medalist in figure skating singles at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Shin Ji-ah won silver medals at both the World Junior Championships in April last year and the Junior Grand Prix Final in December. In both competitions, it was the first medal for a Korean athlete since Kim Yuna. Kim Ye-lim also won the senior grand prix for the first time since Kim Yuna by winning the 5th senior grand prix competition last November.

Kim Ye-lim, who finished in 5th place due to poor physical condition during the first selection [ranking comp. in early December], took first place with a clean performance in the short program the day before. Kim Ye-rim, who finished the free skating without any major mistakes, when her score (138.69 points) was announced, she frowned at the moment as if she was sorry, but smiled soon after. She said Kim Ye-lim said, "It's true that I also wanted first place, but I was able to accept it because the young player [Shin] was so good at it."

Cha Jun-hwan, who failed to perform cleanly due to a jump error in the free skating, said, “I want to play a game that I can be satisfied with at the remaining Four Continents Championships and World Championships.” Cha Jun-hwan will challenge for his second consecutive victory at the Four Continents Championships in the U.S. in February and the first medal in the Korean men's singles at the World Championships in Japan in March. Cha Jun-hwan is acting with music familiar to fans, such as the Michael Jackson medley this season and the OST for the movie 007 No Time To Die. When he performed the short program, he made the fans exclaim with Jackson's trademark 'moon walk' dance. Cha Jun-hwan said, “I chose a genre I didn’t like because I wanted to show a new side of me.”

Nationals Women's FS group 4 FS videos as uploaded in KSU's blog (order is Seoyoung Wi, Ahsun Yun, Chaeyeon Kim, Haien Lee, Jia Shin, Yelim Kim): https://blog.naver.com/koreaskatingunion2/222978348957