Teenage figure skater Cha Jun-hwan wins nat'l championship

Cha Jun-hwan competes in the men's free skating during the 71st National Figure Skating Championship at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province, Sunday. / Yonhap

Cha Jun-hyun claims title with record score

By Baek Byung-yeul

Lim Eun-soo performs in the ladies' free program at the 71st National Figure Skating Championship at Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province, Sunday. / Yonhap

Korean teenage figure skater Cha Jun-hwan won in the men's senior category at the 71st National Figure Skating Championship, Sunday.

At Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangwon Province, 15-year old Cha, who scored 81.33 points in the short program of the men's singles Saturday, scored 156.24 points in the free skating category. With a total of 238.07 points, Cha clinched his third senior-level win.

Cha is the first Korean man to win a medal at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix Final. He especially raised expectations from local figure skating fans Saturday, surpassing the 80-point mark in the short program that no Korean male skater had done so far.

With the win, Cha became eligible for both the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, but he will only compete at the junior event as he is not old enough for the senior event. The junior competition will take place in Taipei City from March 15 to 19.

The Gangneung Ice Arena is the official venue for short track and figure skating events for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Kim Jin-seo, who scored 77.25 in the short program, finished second with a total of 216.16 points and he became eligible for the ISU World Figure Skating Championships, which will take place in Helsinki from March 29 to April 2 as he reached the minimum technical score.

Lee Sie-hyeong, who ranked fifth in the short program with 58.46 points, followed Kim after scoring 131.45 points in free skating while Lee June-hyoung, No. 3 in the short program with 64.19 points, remained fifth after scoring only 114.37 points in the free skating.

Meanwhile, in the women's single competition, Lim Eun-soo won the women's junior category, Sunday.

Lim advanced to the final with 127.45 in the free skating category and 64.53 in the short program, Saturday, and clinched the championship title with a total score of 191.98.

With the win, 14-year old Lim has also earned a ticket to the ISU World Figure Skating Championship.

Kim Ye-rim ranked second with 183.27 points followed by Kim Na-hyun with 181.78 points.

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