Men’s singles standout Cha Jun-hwan (Korea University) has withdrawn from the fifth edition of the 2023-2024 International Ice Skating Union (ISU) Senior Grand Prix to be held in Espoo, Finland, from Feb. 18-20 (KST) due to an ankle injury.
“His right ankle has been hurting since before the season, and the pain has intensified recently,” Cha’s coach Ji Hyun-jung told Yonhap News Agency on Thursday, adding, “He has withdrawn from the fifth Grand Prix because it is difficult for him to compete.”
Cha has reportedly been suffering from a right ankle injury for a long time.
The injury continued to worsen, and he competed in the second round of the Senior Grand Prix in Vancouver, Canada, last month.
At that time, Cha was unable to overcome the pain in his ankle and made landing mistakes in many of his jumping tasks.
In the short program, he fell while executing a quadruple toe loop, and in the free skate, he stumbled three times.
In the end, Cha finished ninth with a final total of 216.61 points, about 90 points below his ISU-certified personal best (296.03).
“His right foot was the one that hit the ground after the jump, and he was in a lot of pain,” explained coach Ji Hyun-jung.
Cha’s injury reportedly worsened after the second Grand Prix.
He is currently focusing on recovery and treatment in Korea.
However, Cha will resume training soon.
This is because he will be competing in the 2023 National Men’s and Women’s Figure Skating Championships at the Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Center in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do, starting on March 30.
The national figure skating team for next season will be selected based on the combined scores of the ranking event and the National Men’s and Women’s Championships, which will be held early next year.
If she misses either event, she won’t be able to wear the flag. If you don’t make the national team, it’s harder to qualify for major international competitions like the World Championships.
Cha plans to prepare for the ranking tournament by focusing on his body as much as possible. 토토사이트