BANNERED by speed skater Peter Groseclose, the Philippine Skating Union will field a full complement of four figure skaters and eight speed skaters to boost the country’s overall medal drive in the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December.
“For the men’s figure skating squad, we will field Paolo Borromeo and Brandon James Baldoz while the women’s squad will be selected from among Maxine Bautista, Cathryn Limketkai and Sofia Frank,” PHSU president Nikki Cheng said.
She added that the final two female figure skaters will be decided during the National Figure Skating Championships set Nov. 20 to 24 at the SM Mall of Asia ice skating rink in Pasay City.
She said that Groseclose and Hans Buemio will lead the men’s speed skating team and Xsandrie Guimba and Shailene Bolos will be part of the women’s team.
“We will determine the other two slots for the four-man squads for both the men’s and women’s divisions later because there are not too many skaters in speed skating. We might have to borrow some skaters from ice hockey,” Cheng said.
She said that among the skaters, Fil-Am Peter Groseclose looms as the best gold medal prospect in the Thai SEA Games given his strong performances in international competition, looming as the top favorite in both the men’s 500 and 1,500-meter events.
A veteran of the Harbin Asian Winter Games last January, the 18-year-old bagged the bronze medal in the 500-meter race in the ISU Junior World Cup in Bormio, Italy last year, marking the first time that a Filipino achieved a podium finish in an ISU World Cup tournament.
Cheng did not rule out the PH figure skaters gunning for mints in their respective events based on their stints in the last Asian Winter Games.
Limketkai was the best Southeast Asian finisher in Harbin, China, placing ninth overall in the standings with a score of 137.19 points, while Borromeo was also the top figure skater from the region, finishing 10th in the men’s event with 178.96 points.
Christopher Caluza and Allison Krystel Perticheto were the last PH skaters who achieved podium finishes in the sport in the SEA Games, garnering a silver each in the men’s and women’s individual figure skating event in the 2019 Philippine edition of the sportsfest.
