Cha Jun-hwan performs in the Men Short Program at the ISU Figure Skating World Championships in Boston, Mass., March 27. EPA-Yonhap

Korean figure skater Cha Jun-hwan is in 10th place after the short program at the world championships in the United States, with an uphill battle ahead to win his second career medal.

Cha scored 86.41 points to find himself well out of contention at the International Skating Union (ISU) World Figure Skating Championships at TD Garden in Boston on Thursday (local time).

Ilia Malinin, the defending champion from the United States, scored a personal-best 110.41 points to grab the lead after landing two clean quadruple jumps. Yuma Kagiyama of Japan, a three-time silver medalist, earned 107.09 points to sit in second place.

Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan, who held off Cha for the Four Continents title last month in Seoul, is third at the worlds with 94.77 points.

Three other skaters had over 90 points.

For Cha, the 2023 silver medalist, falling on a triple axel midway through the program proved costly, negating a clean quadruple salchow and a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination at the start.

One other Korean, Kim Hyun-gyeom, had 72.82 points to rank 26th among 39 skaters and did not qualify for the free skate reserved for the top 24.

Because Korea will only have one skater in the free skate, it will not earn more than one quota place for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. If Cha finishes in the top 10 overall, South Korea will have an extra entry for the Olympic qualifying competition in September. (Yonhap)