Exemplary athletes hailing from a tropical country for a winter sport? Yes, we got ’em!
Figure skaters from countries Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Indonesia competed and skated their best at the recently concluded Southeast Asian Figure Skating Challenge held at  Icescape Ice Rink in Malaysia.
The competition was organized by the Asian Skating Union, the Asian governing body for competitive figure skating.
In a tweet shared by the Philippine Skating Union Twitter account, it announced that three of the country’s representatives had podium finishes.
It captions:Â “Podium finishers! Congrats Skye, Hannah (1st and 2nd, Novice B girls) and Celine (3rd, Juvenile girls) #SEAChallengeKL #LabanPilipinas“
Charmaine Skye Chua and Elaine Hannah Solomon finished with 26.51 and 25.54 points respectively for the Basic Novice B girls category, while Celine Isabelle Tansipek had a bronze finish with a total score of 16.43 for the Juvenile Girls category.
When in Manila reached out to Team Philippines Coach Abraham Domdom for further details.
“It was Celine’s first competition in an ISU format event.
She was a little bit nervous, but she finished her program clean and gracefully. She was all smiles. It was a great experience for her.
For Skye, she was the strongest skater in her group. Despite her falls, she recovered and found her momentum throughout the remainder of her program. She did great and performed well.
Lastly, Hannah just wanted to get the feel of competing again and gain her confidence after missing the 2016 Nationals last year. She finished her program strong and did get her confidence back.”
That’s a lot of fighting spirit. Congratulations, ladies!
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Disclaimer: WheninManila.com does not own these photos. Photo credits go to the Philippine Skating Union Twitter account; special acknowledgements go to Mr. Abraham Domdom.
