Choi Ha-bin, the rising star in men's figure skating, advanced to the final for the first time in his life as a winner of the 6th Junior GP
Oct 05, 2025
|
Choi Ha-bin scored 79.26 technical points (TES), 69.47 artistic points (PCS), and 148.73 total points in the free skating competition held in Gdansk, Poland on the 5th (Korea time). Choi Ha-bin, who previously scored 78.53 points in the short program, won the gold medal with a total score of 227.26, beating Japan's Daiga Nishino (219.35 points). Choi Ha-bin, who won the silver medal in the third competition, scored 28 ranking points to confirm his advance to the Junior Grand Prix Final in Nagoya, Japan, in December.
The Junior Grand Prix Final calculates the overall performance of seven Junior Grand Prix events and features the top six athletes in each event. One player receives up to two opportunities to compete in the Junior Grand Prix and receives ranking points for each event. This is the first time that Choi Ha-bin, who made his junior debut in the 2024-2025 season, will be on the final stage of the Junior Grand Prix. South Korea will have a total of two athletes, following Seo Min-kyu (Gyeongshin High School), attempting to win the final men's single medal. In the women's singles, Kim Yoo-jae (Surigo), who won the competition, secured a final ticket.
Choi Ha-bin is the first Korean to succeed in quadruple (four-round) lutz in the third round of the Junior Grand Prix held last month. On this day, he tried quadruple lutz to match the original soundtrack of the free skating program and the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, but unfortunately, his performance score (GOE) was cut by 0.82 points due to the decision of quarter landing (when the number of jumps was insufficient at the 90 degree level). The subsequent quadruple toe loop was also deducted 0.41 GOE points as the landing was slightly shaken.
But then the performance was perfect. Following the perfect triple axel-double axel sequence jump, the double toe loop on the triple axel, the triple lutz-single oiler-triple salco combination jump and triple flip all did perfectly. Choi Ha-bin, who finished all his performances with the change foot combination spin (level 4), the Correo sequence, and the flying change foot combination spin (level 3), scored 148.73 points to reach the highest podium.
Meanwhile, Kim Aron (Mandeok High School), who competed together, ranked 21st with 148.10 points.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
