Yoon Seo-jin (17, Hankwang High School) and Choi Ha-bin (16, Hankwang High School), the future of Korean figure skating, have written a new chapter in Korean figure skating history by winning silver medals at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix 3rd event.
On the 7th (local time) in Varese, Italy, Yoon Seo-jin scored 123.27 points in the women's singles free skating at the 2025-2026 season ISU Junior Grand Prix 3rd event. Combined with her short program score (60.70 points), she achieved a personal best total score of 183.97 points, finishing in 2nd place overall. Although she narrowly missed the gold medal by just 1.80 points to Sumika Kanazawa (185.77 points) from Japan, she showed overwhelming skill by earning the highest score among the 36 participants in the free skating on this day. In particular, she heightened expectations by perfectly executing high-difficulty techniques, including a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination jump in the first half and a triple lutz-double axel-double toe loop sequence jump in the second half.
Meanwhile, Choi Ha-bin, who competed in the men's singles, won a silver medal with a total score of 232.19 points in the event held on the 6th. Combined with his short program score of 77.76 points and free skating score of 154.43 points, he regretfully finished in 2nd place, just 1.31 points behind the gold medalist, Daiga Nishino (233.50 points) from Japan. However, in this competition, Choi Ha-bin proved the new potential of Korean men's figure skating by becoming the first Korean male skater to successfully land a quadruple lutz, a four-revolution jump. This jump has a very high base value and serves as a benchmark for a skater's technical difficulty. With this historic success, Choi Ha-bin surpassed his personal best score, fully demonstrating his potential.
The two skaters' silver medals at this Junior Grand Prix are considered a positive sign that Korean figure skating is achieving balanced growth in both men's and women's disciplines. Domestic fans are now highly anticipating their future performances.
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