‘Icebreak’ in Korea

Martinez blows figure skating drive

MANILA, Philippines — Figure skater Michael Martinez crashed out of contention at the Gangneung Ice Arena in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics yesterday after failing to make the 24-man cut for freeskate and winding up No. 28 of 30 in the short program.

It was a sharp drop from Martinez’ performance in Sochi four years ago when he became the first Southeast Asian to qualify for the Olympic event. In Sochi, Martinez scored 64.81 points in the short program and made it to the top 24 in advancing to freeskate. He landed No. 19 overall with a total of 184.25 points.

But Martinez, 21, fell way short of the qualifying standard yesterday, compiling only 55.56 points in the short program. He performed sixth in the order of competition. The six skaters who failed to advance were among the first 10 to hit the ice. Last year’s Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Julian Yee of Malaysia also didn’t make the cut but was only 1.48 points shy of matching last qualifier Paul Frentz of Germany. Martinez was 19.17 points below Frentz’ score.

Yee, 19, compiled 73.58 points and finished 18.02 points ahead of Martinez. He outscored Martinez in every department, 38.37 to 26.04 in technical element, 35.21 to 29.52 in program component, 7.07 to 5.98 in skating skills, 6.82 to 5.64 in transitions, 7.11 to 5.96 in performance/execution, 7.14 to 6.00 in choreography and 7.07 to 5.96 in interpretation. Both Yee and Martinez escaped deductions without a fall in their routine.

The only skaters whom Martinez outscored were Spain’s Felipe Montoya with 52.41 points and Ukraine’s Yaroslav Paniot with 46.58 points. The others who didn’t advance were Chafik Bessenghier of France and Denis Ten of Kazakhstan. The biggest disappointment was Ten who claimed a bronze medal in Sochi. In the International Skating Union world rankings, Ten is No. 30, Bessenghier No. 31, Paniot No. 42, Montoya No. 84, Yee No. 41 and Martinez No. 44.

Topping the short program was Japan’s defending Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu who scored 111.68 points. Spain’s two-time world titlist Javier Fernandez finished second with 107.58 points and Japan’s Shoma Uno was third with 104.17. China’s Jin Boyang took fourth with 103.32 points.