Phl skaters win medals in Bangkok

MANILA, Philippines - Veteran Melissa Bulanhagui and 11-year-old Sofia Isabel Guidote won bronze medals in the Asian Figure Skating Trophy held Aug. 8-11 in Bangkok.

The feats came on the heels of the 39-member SM Philippine Ice Skating team’s haul of 65 gold, 38 silver and 10 bronze medals among 750 athletes from 10 countries in  Skate Asia also held in Bangkok Aug. 4-10.

Bulanhagui took the bronze in the senior ladies category  with scores of 49.9 and 90.15 in her Short Program and Free Skate performances, respectively.  The gold medal was won by Satoko Miyahara of Japan and the silver by Zhang Kexin of China.

Bulanhagui’s scores automatically earned her a spot in next year’s Four Continents Championships in Taiwan and the World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan.

Guidote, another fast-rising local star, salvaged the bronze in the Basic Novice A category where she was tested by the best skaters in South Korea, Japan and China. She impressed the judges with her graceful performance in her “Malaguena” program music.

The Filipino skaters, under the Philippine Skating Union (PhSU) headed by Manuel Veguillas, were among over 85 athletes from 15 different countries that competed in their respective figure skating categories in the event sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU).

The competition was participated in by power teams from Australia, Austria, Brazil, China, Taiwan, DPR Korea, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile, the PhSU was again designated by the ISU to host the second World Development Trophy in April 2014. This was due to the exemplary hosting of the first World Developmental Trophy last April at the SM Mall of Asia.

The Philippines was also designated by the Ice Skating Institute-Asia to host Skate Asia 2014 in the new Olympic-size ice rink at SM Megamall.