Pinoy skater climbs to 26th in world ranking

 MANILA, Philippines – After finishing sixth of 12 at the recent top-class Audi Cup of China in Beijing, Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez has raised his world ranking from No. 29 to No. 26 as he continues his climb to the top of the sport dominated by countries familiar with winter.

Martinez, 19, was seventh in the 2-minute and 50-second short program but improved to fifth in freeskate where the routine limit is 4 minutes and 30 seconds, plus or minus 10 seconds. He outperformed world No. 4 Sergei Voronov of Russia, world No. 10 Misha Ge of Uzbekistan and world No. 21 Robert Dornbush of the US in freeskate which reigning world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain topped.

In the consolidated results, the 24-year-old Fernandez took first place with 270.55 points. Finishing ahead of Martinez were No. 2 Boyang Jin of China, No. 3 Han Yan of China, No. 4 Grant Hochstein of the US and No. 5 Voronov. Martinez scored a personal high of 220.36 points, eclipsing his previous record of 213.38 in placing second at the Warsaw Cup in Poland last year. Martinez had 184.25 points to finish No. 19 at the Sochi Winter Olympics last year and 192.38 to place No. 21 at the World Championships in Shanghai last March.

Martinez registered a career high despite taking a fall in the short program and freeskate. The day before the short program, he fell during morning practice and injured his left knee and arm. Martinez suffered a cut on his knee and underwent therapy twice that day and once in the morning of the competition at the Capital Gymnasium in Beijing.

“His performance was affected by his swollen knee and it was helpful that his American therapist Eddie Lange was in Beijing so he was able to get proper and timely treatment,” Martinez’ mother Tess told The Star. “The injury was aggravated by his fall in the short program. In freeskate, he attempted two triple axels and landed only once. He fell on the second triple axel from a matrix entry.” A triple axel involves a 3 1/2 revolution jump. Martinez’ travel coach Peter Kongkasem also made the trip to Beijing.

Martinez said he was impressed with Boyang Jin, silver medalist at the World Junior Championships this year. The 18-year-old Chinese executed a total of six quads, two in the short program and four in freeskate. Jin performed a rare quad lutz and triple jump combo, an intricate maneuver. Fernandez’ overall performance, however, was superior and the Spaniard did enough to outpoint Jin. Still, Jin’s technical elements were much higher.

Martinez’ mother said China has progressed in developing an army of world-class figure skaters. At the Audi Cup of China, the host country was represented by Jin, Yan and Nan Song who finished No. 9. Song placed No. 26 at the World Championships this year. Yan was No. 7 at the last Winter Olympics.

“China has a dedicated rink for the national team in Beijing,” said Martinez’ mother. “The skaters are staying in dormitories within their training facility and have in-house doctors, therapists and their own gym.”

Martinez and his mother flew from Beijing back to their base at Anaheim last Wednesday. His next competition is the fourth annual Warsaw Cup on Nov. 26-29 with 23 skaters from 14 countries participating. Among the entries are 2012 champion Alexander Majorov of Sweden and 2013 winner Stephane Walker of Switzerland. Martinez finished second to champion Alexander Petrov of Russia last year. After Poland, Martinez is scheduled to compete at the Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia on Dec. 2-5.

In Beijing, Martinez finished ahead of Dornbush, Ge, Song, Moscow-born Ivan Righini (formerly Bariev) of Italy, Moscow-born Elladi Balde of Canada and Russian Moris Kvitelashvili. Dornbush, 24, was ninth at the World Championships in 2010-11 while Ge, 24, was sixth at the World Championships last March.

Martinez’ goal was to finish in the top five at the Audi Cup of China and fell a rung short of his target. However, the Muntinlupa wunderkind achieved the goal in freeskate where he landed fifth to overshadow the favored Voronov who was No. 3 at the European Championships and No. 13 at the World Championships last season.

In his previous competition, Martinez placed ninth of 17 at the Finlandia Trophy in Espoo, Finland. He was seventh in the short program but dropped to ninth in freeskate despite performing without a deduction. Martinez wound up with a total of 190.54 points. He started the figure skating season with back-to-back first place finishes at the Triglav Trophy in Slovenia and the Asian Open in Bangkok. Martinez, who is supported by SM Lifestyle Entertainment, is preparing for a top 10 finish at the World Championships in Boston on March 28-April 3 next year.