Harbin: Cha Jun-hwan placed second in the short program of the men’s singles figure skating in his Asian Winter Games debut in China on Tuesday. Cha, the 2023 world silver medalist, scored his season-best 94.09 points to rank behind Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, who achieved 103.81 points at the Heilongjiang Ice Events Training Center Multifunctional Hall.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Dai Daiwei of China ranked third with 82.89 points. The free skate is scheduled for Thursday. Cha was the last among 16 skaters to take the ice on Tuesday, right after Shun Sato, the 2024 Four Continents silver medalist, fell twice and scored a disappointing 70.02 points.
Performing to “Natural” by Imagine Dragons, Cha began with a clean quadruple salchow and followed with a strong triple lutz-triple loop combination. After executing a strong flying sit spin, Cha was wobbly on his landing of the triple axel, his third and final jump element, though he managed to stay on his feet. Cha concluded with a series of spins and steps, marking his third time topping 90 points in the short program this season.
Kagiyama, the 2022 Olympic silver medalist and a three-time world championship silver medalist, is aiming for his first Asiad title. He surpassed the century mark in his short program for the fourth time this season.
The second South Korean competitor, Kim Hyun-gyeom, scored 58.22 points, placing 10th. Meanwhile, Ro Yong-myong of North Korea ranked sixth with 68.51 points.