Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University), the star of Korean men’s figure skating, crossed the ridgeline of the world championship medal for the first time in Korean men’s figure skating history.
Cha Jun-hwan performed the best performance of his career in the men’s single short program of the 2023 Figure Skating World Championships held at Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on the 23rd. Cha finished the short program with a total score of 99.64. The final ranking is 3rd. He was the first Korean male figure skater to win a small medal for each program.
It was Cha Jun-hwan who had suffered in the previous competition. Last year’s World Championships had a lot of difficulties due to boot problems, and this year due to physical problems. However, Cha Jun-hwan stood up again with the goal of winning the world championship. He changed the structure of the program and immersed himself in training. Cha Jun-hwan, who wrote the first history of male figure skating in Korea, will return to the silver plate on the 25th to completely confirm the history.
Cha Jun-hwan, who was overwhelmed by music, overpowered Michael Jackson. Cha
Jun-hwan used a medley of Michael Jackson’s ‘Can you feel it’, ‘Billie Jean’, and ‘Smooth Criminal’ in turn for his short program this season. However, for Cha Jun-hwan, it was noticeable that his songs and his program did not match greatly this season. After the Winter Games, Cha Jun-hwan’s choice was to reorganize the program.
The first and last stage to know the result of the reorganization. Cha Jun-hwan entered the game in the first order of Group 6, the last group. Standing on the ice with a confident appearance, Cha Jun-hwan began his performance riding the rhythm. The quadruple salchow jump when the trumpet stopped sounding was a success. Applause poured in from the left.
Cha Jun-hwan, riding on momentum, gained confidence by successively succeeding in the triple lutz jump and triple loop jump. Cha Jun-hwan, who performed the flying camel spin stably at level 4 to the sound of the remix of ‘Can you Feel it’, started choreography for the new song ‘Billie Jean’. In the connection movement, Cha Jun-hwan showed the freedom to show the moonwalk of ‘Billie Jean’ with accurate choreography.
Cha Jun-hwan, who successfully performed the triple axel cleanly, also succeeded in performing a change foot spin at level 4. The music that followed was ‘Smooth Criminal’. For Cha Jun-hwan, who only had sequences and spins left, the crowd started clapping in rhythm. Cha Jun-hwan moved his body lightly as if he were running a gala show, not the main game안전놀이터.
Cha Jun-hwan finished his performance by performing the step sequence and change foot combo spin at level 4. The applause from the audience soon turned into a standing ovation, and Cha Jun-hwan greeted the audience with a relieved expression that revealed all of his sluggishness this season.
In previous domestic and international competitions, Cha Jun-hwan, who had left regrets by appearing to be overwhelmed by Michael Jackson’s music, completely overwhelmed Michael Jackson’s music in today’s game. For 3 minutes and 30 seconds, Cha Jun-hwan was ‘Chicle Jackson’.
ensuing result. Cha Jun-hwan handled all performances cleanly and scored a total of 99.64 points with a technical score of 55.04 and an artistic score of 44.60. It was only 0.36 points short of 100 points. But he did enough to secure the short small medal. Cha Jun-hwan wrote a new history of male figure skating in Korea. It was also his personal best score.
“I’m glad my confidence was restored… It was a satisfying match,”
Cha Jun-hwan, who met in the Mixed Zone after the match, said, “I prepared well for the Four Continents Championships, but it was regrettable because the results were not satisfactory.” I wanted to recover through it,” he said, revealing his mindset.
At the same time, Cha Jun-hwan was delighted with his personal record, saying, “I thought I would put on a stage to make up for my mistakes, but it was so good to record not only the season’s best, but also my personal best.” In particular, Cha Jun-hwan said, “This is my second visit to Saitama,” and laughed, saying, “I was very sorry for the short mistake during the World Championships four years ago, but I also brushed off all the regrets at that time.”
“I am so happy to be able to play a satisfying game this time,” said Cha Jun-hwan, who also thanked the fans. Cha Jun-hwan said, “Isn’t there a charm of going to the audience?”
Regarding the performance of players such as Lee Hae-in, Cha Jun-hwan laughed, saying, “The female players are also doing very well,” and “I was cheered for by the players yesterday.” Cha Jun-hwan said, “I was very satisfied with the short, so I will focus more on the free,” and said, “I want to record the best of the season in the free.”
Cha Jun-hwan will participate in the men’s singles free program held on the evening of the 25th. Expectations are high for Cha Jun-hwan, who is continuing the first history of Korean male figure skating, to perform in the free program. In addition, on the evening of the 24th, a women’s singles free program will be held with Lee Hae-in, Kim Chae-yeon, and Kim Ye-rim participating.