Korean skating news & updates

[EdgyIceMarks]

Top 9 skaters with highest combined scores make the Korean national team

3. Haein Lee* 186.78+205.84=392.62 [guaranteed]
1. Jia Shin 216.35+218.36=434.71
2. Chaeyeon KIM 203.64+205.33=408.97
4. Yuseong KIM 191.66+200.73=392.39
5. Minsol KWON 191.61+197.03=388.64
6. Yujae KIM 188.48+198.47=386.95
7. Young YOU 185.29+195.96=381.25
8. Seojin YOUN 183.30+185.57=368.87
9. Seoyeong WI 193.51+175.29=368.80

The remaining Top 9 skaters under the age of 19 with the next highest combined scores make the reserve team

10. Jeongyul HWANG 181.23+182.09=363.32
11. Nayeon KO 183.39+177.26=360.65
12. Hyorin LEE 176.49+178.20=354.69
13. Heesue HAN 171.38+173.28=344.66
15. Seoyoung KIM 166.34+166.67=333.01
16. Eunbi PARK 161.99+157.84=319.83
17. Harin JANG 159.93+156.75=316.68
18. Jiyu KIM 161.73+154.20=315.93
19. Jueun JIN 155.28+155.45=310.73

Nayeon Ko and Hyorin Lee have been added to the list of national team members last week.
Jeongyul Hwang has been on that list since mid-August.
Heesue Han and below are still on the reserve team list.

Source: Sports Support Portal National Team Archive (fixed link)

 

[On My Own]

Cha will be at Shanghai Trophy again.

ETA: And Chaeyeon.

 

[On My Own]

I sincerely don't see what's so special about Seo Minkyu's skating, tbh. Maybe he'll improve. Seems stunning he's JWC.

What I'm looking forward to is Jia's first JGP skate this season. Want to see how she works with TCC.

 

[Kateri]

I sincerely don't see what's so special about Seo Minkyu's skating, tbh. Maybe he'll improve. Seems stunning he's JWC.

He's very consistent, and everyone else messed up at JWC.

 

[On My Own]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtRCUyVVWVM&ab_channel=SkatingISU

Beautiful skating for a junior, although they need to stop making her pretend she's Yuna. Wonder if Orser's making those changes to her jumps that cause a bit of instability during the first season, as happened with that Lutz.

 

[On My Own]

For whichever random, stupid, delusional yunabot and/or fanyu from twitter might be reading this forum: any change to a new coach comes with an adjustment phase with the coaching methods and communication, and Orser in general seems like he makes changes to the way skaters do their jumps and basic skating.

Jia finishing 4th here after 3 errors in two programs means quite literally nothing.

Orser isn't evil.*

(also with the supposed amount of skating you've watched from over the last several decades, one would think you'd know this)

* unless part of his evil are her programs this season, in which case: yes, maybe he is.

 

[kwanfan1818]

But anyone who's been watching skating over the last several decades should know what programs to expect from Orser-approved choreographers .

 

[On My Own]

Probably joking, but I don't really agree there, because I see Orser camp as perhaps the only camp from North America that actually cares about creating choreography that has meaning with the music, and isn't overloading stupid-looking transitions into the programs. Although the Cha programs in his final season with them were awful for me, and Jin's SP last season was pretty terrible. And there was that Hanyu Rondo Capriccioso

Don't people usually love Shae Lynn Bourne, even if not Wilson? I mean, it's the opposite for me, but she's certainly Orser-approved, and she did do Hanyu's Hope and Legacy. And I actually liked that gala Joey Russell had created for Cha (Golden Hour). Jin's Wilson LP was nice for me, and it was nice to see bits of choreography being changed throughout the season, with some unique touches like this one: https://x.com/lunnarias/status/1753797547192184997

Anyway, it's just early season jitters, and I'm sure the programs next season will be better (senior + Olympic season).

 

[gotoschool]

I hope Jia Shin, who I am a big fan of and who has given some of my favorite performances, skates great in her next competition and can become accustomed to Brian Orser who appears to be attempting to change her technique which I think was excellent before and doesn't need correction. Jia even skated really well at the Junior Grand Prix qualification in South Korea just a little over a month ago. I know some are interested in investing in long learning curves for future payoffs but with such a limited number of competitions each season, I hope that If Jia has similar difficulties in the next competition, she will consider returning to her coach in South Korea so she can get prepared for Nationals and get back to normal before the mistakes become engrained and her confidence and PCS begin to suffer. I also heard that Jia Shin has taken choreography lessons with Yuna Kim who was her idol so maybe being isolated from this inspirational environment and the praise she gets in South Korea has also played a role. I just was really heartbroken to see Jia face such suddenly unexpected difficulties and dearly hope she can get back on track. https://fs-gossips.com/11506/

 

[On My Own]

If she's made the change this season, then I'd guess the goal is the Olympics next season. Even then, I'm not exactly worried about the remainder of this season. It's literally her first comp with the new coach.

 

[Kateri]

If she's made the change this season, then I'd guess the goal is the Olympics next season. Even then, I'm not exactly worried about the remainder of this season. It's literally her first comp with the new coach.

My first thought about her skate wasn't that they were reworking her jumps or anything, just that she was backloading tech to try and match Mao a bit more, but the stamina wasn't there for it yet.

 

[On My Own]

My first thought about her skate wasn't that they were reworking her jumps or anything, just that she was backloading tech to try and match Mao a bit more, but the stamina wasn't there for it yet.

She made a mistake on the Lutz passes in both programs - in the short, it was the first pass. If I had to guess, they're trying to get her outside edge down, and this would be the season to do it, because next is the Olympics, and she already has JW medals, while still being quite young.

Just my guess, based on one comp, and without analysing/rewatching too much.

 

[gotoschool]

She made a mistake on the Lutz passes in both programs - in the short, it was the first pass. If I had to guess, they're trying to get her outside edge down, and this would be the season to do it, because next is the Olympics, and she already has JW medals, while still being quite young.

Just my guess, based on one comp, and without analysing/rewatching too much.

I have no idea why Jia Shin would rework her triple lutz based on these scores in the Junior Worlds LP last season. Visually and in terms of scores, her 3lZ and 3T were ideal to me and as I recall she landed the combo well in her first competition this summer. .

6 3Lz+3T 11.11 x 1.94 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 13.05

However, I do agree with you that it appears that reworking of the lutz is happening for some unknown reason.

 

[On My Own]

Doesn't her edge flatten out, especially when she's lacking in energy? Not an ideal take-off.

I don't think she needs much more technical retooling, she has nice spring and timing, good air position, and her jumps tend to flow.

 

[EdgyIceMarks]

David Wilson has been choreographing for Shin since last season. Though her free skate this season is choreographed by Lori Nichol.

Shin has been backloading tech in the Free Skate for the past few seasons now.

From the Korean JGP selection comp and JGP Bangkok it is noticeable that she is entering some of these jumps with more speed and height. But when you're trying to make things bigger everything also becomes harder to control. The axis, and the balance over the blade during landings were not at her best at Bangkok. Entering things with more power may also immediately conflict with her prior strategy of backloading content b/c power and stamina are not in limitless reserve.

Shin has had quite a few coaching changes in the past few seasons (Park -> MF Academy -> Chi -> TCC) across different countries. She has announced her most recent coaching change late summer but in fact has alraedy been trainng in TCC for most of the off-season. Any coaching change is a learning experience on both parties, the student and the coaches. I just hope the new coaching staff can find a good optimum between what their vision for her is and what she is capable of/comfortable with.

 

[On My Own]

Cha's doing Loco for the LP apparently.

Does not hold a candle to Uno's.

 

[On My Own]

Cha's doing Loco for the LP apparently.

Does not hold a candle to Uno's.

It's rather sad. He has the dance training, apparently, but instead of training something that shows attention to Tango, he chose to do his usual lyrical stylings for this program, that just do not work. I guess it's because he lacks the rhythm with his knees and his overall bladework isn't quite so fantastic, and he is way too loose with his body while skating to really capture that Tango feel, but it's such a letdown.

The SP is just bad, and the music grates.

The 3A remains 0 GOE quality at best, if not -1 GOE.

 

[EdgyIceMarks]

Lim/Quan are no longer entered for the Korean selection competition (scheduled 10-11 October 2024) for the 2025 Asian Winter Games. KSU has clarified in an e-mail correspondence that this change in entry was due to the team's participation in the Asian Winter Games not being possible.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1842543018676736249

Ye Quan's special naturalisation process with the Ministry of Justice may not be working out as expeditiously as one might have hoped...

 

[Wyliefan]

Well, they skated in the Asian Winter Games after all, so does that change things? https://x.com/myfavsexson/status/1844240457385247144?t=ITT3wNNwh489uV_Gtin7CA&s=19

 

[Wyliefan]

Speaking of Asian Winter Games, I'm copying and pasting the men's and women's SP results from @SkatingKor:

Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024
Women's Short Program Results

1. #ChaeyeonKim #김채연 72.33
2. #SeoyeongWi #위서영 63.67
3. #MinchaeKim #김민채 62.79
4. #SeoyoungKim #김서영 62.53
5. #DabinChoi #최다빈 58.92
6. #AhsunYun #윤아선 53.02
7. #YelimKim #김예림 52.49
8. #SiwooSong #송시우 44.93

Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024
Men's Short Program Results

1. #JunHwanCha #차준환 83.95
2. #SihyeongLee #이시형 79.31
3. #HyungyeomKim #김현겸 71.03
4. #YounghyunCHA #차영현 70.04
5. #JuheonLim #임주헌 67.83
6. #HangilKim #김한길 64.53

If you go to that account on Twitter, you can see videos of several of the skaters.

 

[Stephanie]

Well, they skated in the Asian Winter Games after all, so does that change things? https://x.com/myfavsexson/status/1844240457385247144?t=ITT3wNNwh489uV_Gtin7CA&s=19

The qualifier, not the games themselves

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh, I see, I misread that. Thanks!

 

[Karen-W]

Speaking of Asian Winter Games, I'm copying and pasting the men's and women's SP results from @SkatingKor:

Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024
Women's Short Program Results

1. #ChaeyeonKim #김채연 72.33
2. #SeoyeongWi #위서영 63.67
3. #MinchaeKim #김민채 62.79
4. #SeoyoungKim #김서영 62.53
5. #DabinChoi #최다빈 58.92
6. #AhsunYun #윤아선 53.02
7. #YelimKim #김예림 52.49
8. #SiwooSong #송시우 44.93

Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024
Men's Short Program Results

1. #JunHwanCha #차준환 83.95
2. #SihyeongLee #이시형 79.31
3. #HyungyeomKim #김현겸 71.03
4. #YounghyunCHA #차영현 70.04
5. #JuheonLim #임주헌 67.83
6. #HangilKim #김한길 64.53

If you go to that account on Twitter, you can see videos of several of the skaters.

Final Results -
Women -
Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024Women's results
#1 ChaeyeonKim #김채연 217.66
#2 SeoyoungKim #김서영 181.68
#3 AhsunYun #윤아선 178.01
#4 DabinChoi #최다빈 173.99
#5 SeoyeongWi #위서영 169.19
#6 MinchaeKim #김민채 163.11
#7 SiwooSong #송시우 155.10
#8 YelimKim #김예림 147.16

Men -
Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024Men's results
#1 JunHwanCha #차준환 258.93
#2 HyungyeomKim #김현겸 235.70
#3 SihyeongLee #이시형 220.21
#4 YounghyunCHA #차영현 207.80
#5 JuheonLim #임주헌 201.59
#6 HangilKim #김한길 186.96

That's one scary bad score for Yelim - her SP score was not great but that total score has me questioning whether or not she'll be ready for Skate Canada in a couple weeks.

 

[Wyliefan]

Always happy to see a good result for Ahsun. But yikes for Yelim!

 

[Sylvia]

South Korea has qualified 2 skaters to the JGP Final in Grenoble:
Yuseong KIM (gold in Ankara, silver in Wuxi)
1st alternate: Jia SHIN (4th in Bangkok, 2nd in Ljubjana); 3rd alt. Nayeon KO (bronze in Riga & Gdansk)
Minkyu SEO (gold in Ostrava, bronze in Gdansk)

Minsol Kwon is doing Ontario sectionals in October

Competition info is posted in this Kiss & Cry thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...fall-competitions.111770/page-10#post-6660850
Minsol is listed as a member of the Granite Club in Toronto and skates #5 in the Senior Women SP (8:00-10:00 pm Eastern time) on Thursday, Oct. 17. The FS event is 24 hours later.

 

[Sylvia]

Skating Korea's [fan account] recent X posts: https://x.com/skatingkor/status/1847270221377384579

It is unclear what country Minsol skates for as she represents her skating club here. As she is not on the qualifying declaration list for Canadian Nationals, nothing is definite for representing Canada. Unless official documentation confirms something, Minsol updates will carry on despite any rumours

Minsol Kwon finished 2nd in the Sectional Series October competition 62.36 (1) 103.61 (2) 165.97 total.
Her most recent international for KOR was the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final (6th) on Dec. 8, 2023.

Oct. 11: https://x.com/skatingkor/status/1844651621617172708
Distribution of assignments based on the results of the Winter University Games and Asian Winter Games Qualifiers 2024:

Winter University Games [Jan. 13-23, 2025 in Torino ITA]
#JunHwanCha #차준환
#SihyeongLee #이시형
#YounghyunCha #차영현
#DabinChoi #최다빈
#SeoyeongWi #위서영
#YelimKim #김예림

Winter Asian Games [Feb. 7-14, 2025 in Harbin CHN]
#JunHwanCha #차준환
#HyungyeomKim #김현겸
#ChaeyeonKim #김채연
#SeoyoungKim #김서영

2025 4CC is Feb. 19-23 in Seoul KOR.

 

[Sylvia]

Minsol Kwon finished 2nd in the Sectional Series October competition 62.36 (1) 103.61 (2) 165.97 total.
Her most recent international for KOR was the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final (6th) on Dec. 8, 2023.

SP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AAz7MPjqVc
FS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpTPahT0tq0

Via Jack Gallagher: https://x.com/sportsjapan/status/1849260043583283202

Korean junior skater, #クォン・ミンソル [Minsol KWON], is not officially representing Canada. Statement from Skate Canada: "She has not requested a release at this time. Per Skate Canada rules, she is allowed to compete in non-qualifying events for Canada."

ETA: As I understand it, Skate Canada would have to send an official request to KSU re. any (future) release for Minsol.

 

[On My Own]

It's always fun to see the xitter people being woefully wrong, especially the VMies.

 

[Sylvia]

In the Loop's interview with Yelim Kim at Skate Canada Int'l in Halifax (Nov. 5, 2024): https://www.inthelopodcast.com/news/2024/11/01-yelim-kim
Excerpts:

As you mentioned, you took time to recover from burnout but you also took that time to remember your love for skating. Was there any special thoughts about your skating that came to mind during that time?
At some point, I started to consider my love for skating and my ambition for the achievement are the same thing. However, after taking some time off the ice, I realized that there is still a great love for this sport, regardless of the result or the score, and I want to present myself on the ice.

You are not on the National team this season as a result of missing Nationals. Is there a difference in your training?
It’s both. Everything has changed and nothing has changed. After I made up my mind to be back on the ice, I was worried because I thought there would be big changes in my training conditions. I have been in Team Korea from age 11 to age 19, so I was used to the national team training system. However, after I trained 6 months outside Taereung, I found out this is just the same training that I have been doing for last 10 years.

 

[On My Own]

Lee Haein appears to have been cleared? Awaiting a translation.

If true, then this is to me the second case after Lim Hyojun/Lin Xiaojun where the Korean skating body was too harsh or just plain wrong. And a second high-profile case, at that.