Day: March 4, 2024

South Korean teenager Seo Min-kyu shocked the figure skating world Saturday, winning the men’s singles title at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei in his first appearance.

The 15-year-old became the first South Korean man to win a medal of any color at the world juniors, and the first South Korean skater, male or female, to win a world junior title since Kim Yu-na won the women’s singles gold medal in 2006.

Seo, who returned from Taipei City on Monday, insisted he won’t let his accomplishment go to his head.

“I am not going to be complacent just because I’ve won this medal,” Seo told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “I believe that if I stick to my foundation and keep working hard, I will continue to have great results.”

Seo won his breakthrough gold medal with 230.75 points, 1.44 better than Rio Nakata of Japan.

Seo had the best short program score with 80.58 points and had the second-highest free skate score with 150.17 points, 1.54 back of Nakata.

“Befo
re the competition, I figured I’d be happy to finish in the top three,” Seo said. “But after winning the short program, I felt I could win the gold medal with a clean free skate.”

Seo did not have a clean program, though, as he under-rotated a planned triple axel. He still hung on for the narrow win over Nakata.

“I was nervous while waiting for the score because I didn’t have a perfect performance and I wasn’t sure if it would be good enough for the gold,” Seo said. “I will try to address my shortcomings for the next competition.”

Seo said his mistake wasn’t due to any nerves.

“It was so late in the season that I was so exhausted. I just wanted to get this over with and go home as soon as I could,” Seo said with a smile.

He said he will need to sharpen his triple axel. He didn’t initially put the jump in his short program earlier in the season but decided to include it for the world juniors, so that he would give himself a higher base score.

Next up for Seo will be to complete a quadruple jump.

“I will
try to improve my strength during the offseason,” he said. “I will also try to find a quadruple jump that I can execute and make sure I can land it successfully.”

Kim Yu-na, the 2010 Olympic champion who added silver at the next Olympics in 2014, inspired a generation of female figure skaters in South Korea. But the talent pipeline on the men’s side has been relatively barren, with Cha Jun-hwan, the 2023 world senior silver medalist, being the only one with a decent track record in recent years. Seo has come out of nowhere ready to follow in Cha’s footsteps.

“I still can’t believe I am the first Korean man to win the world junior title,” Seo said. “I am proud of having made history.”

Seo has been following a unique development path. Whereas most figure skaters train in Seoul or spend months at a time working out in a foreign country, Seo has chosen to stay home in Daegu, some 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

“Just because you train in Seoul, it doesn’t mean you’re going to perform well,” Seo said. “I th
ink it’s really up to how hard you work.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency

Former major league All-Star Ryu Hyun-jin will likely make two preseason appearances before marking his much-anticipated regular season return to the top South Korean league, his manager said Monday.

Ryu and the Hanwha Eagles returned home Monday from their spring training in Okinawa, Japan. Ryu, the 2019 National League All-Star Game starter, reunited with the Eagles on an eight-year contract on Feb. 22, and flew to Okinawa to report to camp the following day. His deal, worth 17 billion won (US$12.8 million), is the largest in the history of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO).

Ryu, who first pitched for the Eagles from 2006 to 2012, will be a no-brainer choice for the club’s Opening Day tilt against the defending champions LG Twins on March 23 in Seoul. And Eagles manager Choi Won-ho said Monday the team will work the schedule backward from that point to ensure Ryu will get in enough work and also have some rest before the start of the regular season.

While in Okinawa, Ryu threw a live batting practic
e and had some bullpen sessions.

“He will pitch in a scrimmage on Thursday, on four days’ rest after his live batting practice,” Choi told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “And then he will pitch about twice with four days of break in between during the preseason. And he will have five days off before the Opening Day start.”

The exhibition season starts Saturday. By Choi’s planning, Ryu is lined up to start against the Kia Tigers on March 12 and then against the Lotte Giants on March 17.

Ryu’s return will be one of the biggest storylines in the KBO this season. He was one of the most dominant starters in South Korea during his first stint, winning the MVP and the Rookie of the Year award in 2006 when he led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He led the KBO in ERA twice and in strikeouts five times.

While in the majors, Ryu was a Cy Young Award finalist twice — once in the National League for the Los Angeles Dodgers and once in the American League for the Toronto Blue Jays.
In 2019, he led the majors with a 2.32 ERA.

Even though Ryu only returned from his second Tommy John elbow surgery last summer and is turning 37 later this month, he is still seen by opposing teams as a pitcher to be feared. Choi said Ryu will be the Eagles’ No. 1 starter and has looked the part so far.

“Although he’d only thrown indoors before camp, he still looked really good,” Choi said. “He threw his breaking pitches really well and had strong command of his pitches. If he can follow the schedule the rest of the way, he should have no problem making the Opening Day start.”

The Eagles have been one of the KBO’s doormats in recent years, having reached the postseason only once since Ryu left them in 2012. They’ve been in perennial rebuilding mode but they can afford to dream big dreams this year thanks to Ryu.

“We went into spring training with the goal of making the postseason but we still had some concerns,” Choi admitted. “But with Ryu Hyun-jin in the mix, I think we can all chase our goal with confi
dence.”

The Eagles did not make Ryu available for a media scrum Monday.

Source: Yonhap News Agency

For any junior figure skater, winning a silver medal at three straight world championships would be considered a huge accomplishment.

Make no mistake. Shin Ji-a, the 15-year-old sensation from South Korea, is pleased with her third straight silver at the under-19 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Taipei on Friday. But she also believes she is capable of more.

Shin established new personal-best scores in both the short program (73.48 points) and the free skate (138.95 points), finishing second overall with 212.43 points. Shin was 5.93 points back of Mao Shimada of Japan, who had also beaten the South Korean for the gold at the 2023 world juniors.

Asked on Monday if she was disappointed that her personal best was not enough for the gold, Shin responded, “At least I won the short program. I think there’s still hope. I want to try even harder and reach an even higher place.”

Shin won a medal at every competition this season, with two gold medals during the International Skating Union Junior Grand
Prix season, a silver behind Shimada at the Junior Grand Prix Final in December, and a silver to Shimada again at the Winter Youth Olympics in South Korea in January.

“I went into the world juniors with a lot of confidence in myself, because I had done so well at earlier competitions,” Shin told reporters at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. “I was able to trust myself. The fact that I set personal bests in both makes me even happier. It’s a huge honor to win a medal at three straight world championships.”

Shimada has the built-in edge over Shin in her free skate because of the higher degree of difficulty. Shimada attempts and often lands a quadruple toe loop, while Shin doesn’t have any quadruple jumps in her program.

Shin said she will discuss her next steps with her coaches, but it is not so cut and dried that she will add a quadruple jump next season.

“If I do attempt a quad jump, I will be able to earn higher scores. But on the other hand, I will put myself at a higher risk of injury,” Sh
in said. “It’s something we’ll have to think long and hard about.”

Shin was the last to take the ice in the free skate, with Shimada having posted a high score just ahead of her. There are few situations as pressure-packed and nerve-wracking in figure skating — going last with a gold medal on the line when your chief rival has just put up a big number on the board.

“I don’t think I felt any extra pressure because of that situation. I was just a little nervous,” Shin said. “But I think I did the best I could without losing my concentration. I am happy that I was rewarded with a pretty good score.”

Mao has gotten the better of Shin for the last couple of seasons, but Shin feels she will have her chance eventually.

“After finishing first in the short program, I wanted to go for the gold,” Shin said. “I know I will have more opportunities down the road. I will try to make the most of them and win a gold medal.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency