Asiad figure skating champion Cha Jun-hwan wins silver at Four Continents in Seoul

Silver medalist Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea, poses during the medal ceremony for the men's free skating in the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at the Mokdong ice rink in Seoul, Korea, Feb. 22. AP-Yonhap

Silver medalist Cha Jun-hwan of South Korea, poses during the medal ceremony for the men's free skating in the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships at the Mokdong ice rink in Seoul, Korea, Feb. 22. AP-Yonhap

The reigning Asian Winter Games champion Cha Jun-hwan grabbed a hard-earned silver medal at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul on Saturday.

Cha scored 185.78 points in the men's singles free skate at Mokdong Ice Rink for a total of 265.02 points, finishing in second place behind Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan (285.10).

Cha had been in fourth place after Thursday's short program with 79.24 points, but posted the second-highest points in the free skate to finish second overall.

This is Cha's third medal at the Four Continents, open to non-European skaters. He won the 2022 title and got the bronze in 2023.

Cha's free skate at Mokdong came just eight days after he had won the gold medal at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China. Cha is the first South Korean male figure skater to win an Asian Games gold.

The 23-year-old, who has been dealing with a nagging right ankle injury all season, wasn't quite able to match his Harbin performance on Saturday. He under-rotated his planned quadruple toe loop, which ended up being a double toe loop. The miscue alone cost him nearly 10 points.

Cha executed his remaining jump elements cleanly, including a triple lutz-triple loop combination and a triple flip later in his program.

Cha will now prepare for the world championships scheduled for March 25-30 in Boston.

"Because of physical exhaustion, it wasn't easy to put on a good performance, but I think I had a strong finish," Cha said at his press conference. "I will have some time before the world championships, and I will focus on recovering for that event."

Cha blamed his jump mistakes in both the short program and the free skate on his fatigue.

"Before this event, I was worried about my physical condition," he said. "But I was able to feed off the crowd's energy. I wasn't 100 percent healthy but I really wanted to do well because I was skating in front of home fans."

Cha's performance at the worlds will determine the number of quota places for South Korea at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Cha, who has two quadruple jumps in his free skate, said he is contemplating adding another one to give himself a chance to score extra points. It's a high-risk, high-reward approach for someone with a recent injury history.

"Because quota places are at stake at this year's world championships, I will have to think long and hard about (adding a new quadruple jump)," he added. "I will see how my ankle feels before making that decision." (Yonhap)

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