Filipino figure skater Sofia Frank. Photo from Sofia Frank’s Instagram
MANILA, Philippines—Sofia Frank broke the Philippines’ eight-year drought as she qualified for the 2022 Junior World Figure Skating Championships following her 13th place finish in the 2021 Santa Claus Cup.
Frank had a score of 142.91 after the free skate and short program events in the Santa Claus Cup Friday (Manila time) in Budapest, Hungary.
The Santa Claus Cup is one of the qualifying competitions of the Junior World Championships which will be held in March 2022 at Armeets Arena in Sofia, Bulgaria.
“So grateful to have this opportunity and compete for such an amazing country! It’s absolutely unreal,” posted Frank on Instagram. I had such an amazing time here and can’t wait to come back! See you in Sofia, Bulgaria for junior worlds! Mabuhay!”
Frank had a subpar performance in the short program tallying a 42.97 to finish 23rd in the event but recovered in the free skate with a score of 99.94, the 9th best among 42 figure skaters.
“Not the short program I was expecting, but I tried to keep everything together for the long, and got one of the highest long program scores for this season!” wrote Frank.
Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone claimed first place in the junior women’s division of the Santa Claus Cup at 171.80 while Kimmy Repond of Switzerland took the second spot at 170.79 with Anastasia Veronica of Russia settling for third at 166.53.