PH figure skaters ready for Hong Kong tournament

CHARMAINE SKYE CHUA hopes to perform well in the 2017 Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy competition in Hong Kong.

She and fellow skaters Skye Frances Patenia, Kate Orrock and Veronica Clare Eid will leave on Tuesday to compete in the August 2- 5 tournament at the Megabox in Kwun Tong.

Chua, a Grade 8 student at Saint Jude Catholic School, will see action in the Advanced Novice category. Patenia was entered in the Novice B category while Orrock and Ei are competing in the Novice A category.

“I expect this tournament to be challenging because we are going against skaters from different countries that probably trained better then the skaters from the Philippines. I will try my best,” said 14-year-old Chua in an online interview on Monday.

The best skaters from Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, Australia, New Zealand, India and Hong Kong will join the tournament sanctioned by the International Skating Union ( ISU) and the Asian Skating Union ( ASU).

The Philippines has competed in the tournament last year but failed to bring home any medal.

Chua, Orrock and Patenia are medallists in the South East Asian (SEA) Figure Skating Challenge held at the SM Seaside City skating rink in Cebu last June.

Chua bagged the gold medal and Patenia took the bronze medal in the Basic Novice B category while Orrock ruled the Basic Novice A category.

The tournament in Cebu City was the third leg of the SEA Challenge. The first leg was held from December 2- 4, 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand where Chua won the silver.

Chua, who has been a member of the Metro Ice Club since she was nine years old, won the gold medal in the second leg held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from April 13- 15, 2017. She is also a gold winner in the Freestyle Level 1 category in the 2012 Skate Asia tournament.

Orrock won the gold medal in the Basic Pre Novice category in the 2015 Asian Junior Figure Skating Challenge in Hong Kong.