FIGURE skaters Isabella Gamez and Alexander Korovin achieved another milestone early yesterday morning (Saturday in Europe) with a sixth-place finish in the short program of the pair skating event at the International Challenge Cup in Tilburg, Netherlands.
Competing for the Philippines, Gamez and Korovin scored 54.74 points among 10 pairs to qualify for next month’s world figure skating championships in Saitama, Japan, according to Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng.
“History is made once again by the figure skating duo of Isabella Gamez and Alexander Korovin,” the Philippine Skating Union announced on its Facebook page yesterday shortly after the tandem’s performance.
“Not only are they the first Philippine skaters to qualify for the ISU world skating championships, but they also now break a six-year spell of the Philippines in the prestigious event,” the PSU added.
Cheng said the last Filipino skater to see action at the worlds was 2014 Sochi Winter Games veteran Michael Martinez in 2017 in Helsinki, Finland.
She said the Filipino duo earned a ticket to the prestigious competition by earning a technical element score of 31.33 points, surpassing the minimum technical element score of 29.
Gamez and Korovin were scheduled to continue their campaign in the free skate phase of the competition last night (early morning today in Manila), according to Cheng.
“What they (Gamez and Korovin) achieved in the Netherlands will inspire other aspiring figure skaters not only locally but also overseas as well who may want to compete for the Philippines,” stressed Cheng.
They will be the up against an elite field in the world championships set March 20 to 26 in Saitama, Japan organized by the International Skating Union.
The entries will be drawn from the top pairs of the US, Japan, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
