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Korea's Cha Jun-hwan wins bronze at World University Games

Published: 19 Jan. 2025, 14:11 Updated: 19 Jan. 2025, 16:36

PAIK JI-HWAN
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Cha Jun-hwan competes during the Korean Figure Skating Championships at Uijeongbu Indoor Ice Rink in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi on Jan. 5. [NEWS1]

Figure skater Cha Jun-hwan won a bronze medal in men’s singles at the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games Winter in Italy on Saturday, tuning up ahead of the winter Asian Games next month.

Cha finished with a total of 182.54 points — including scores of 97.12 in technical elements and 85.42 in program components — to finish third in the tournament after gold medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan and silver medalist Daniel Grassl of Italy.

The bronze marks another success for Cha on the international stage. The 23-year-old became the first Korean male to medal at the World Figure Skating Championships by winning a silver in Japan in March 2023.

He went on to win another silver at the World Team Trophy later that year and took bronze at the Four Continents Championships in 2024. Cha also represented Korea at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics but has yet to medal at the Games.

Cha will continue to compete on the international stage this year, with the winter Asian Games set to begin in China next month and World Championships in the United States slated for March.

A victory at the upcoming Asian Games would be Cha's first medal in the tournament, which is resuming this year after an eight-year hiatus. The 2017 Sapporo Asian Winter Games was the most recent winter Asiad, as the 2021 edition was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The World Championships, considered as the second most prestigious tournament after the Olympics, will then await Cha.

Female Korean skaters will also prepare for both the Asiad and World Championships after failing to medal at this year’s World University Games. Choi Da-bin scored the highest among Korean female skaters with 147.31, finishing in 11th place.

Japan was the best-performing country in the women’s competition, with Rion Sumiyoshi topping the podium and Mone Chiba winning the silver.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]