Martinez vows to improve technique

MANILA, Philippines - Michael Martinez could’ve justified walking away from his debut at the World Figure Skating Championships in Shanghai due to health issues but despite pain in at least four body points, insisted on competing to gain valuable experience in line with his ultimate quest of capturing a medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

Martinez, 18, was among 24 qualifiers for freeskate, finishing 22nd in the short program last Friday. He went on to place 21st overall of 30 skaters from 21 countries after ranking 20th in freeskate last Saturday. His total score was 192.38 points. Gold medalist Javier Fernandez of Spain was second in both short program and freeskate but vaulted to No. 1 with 273.9 points. Defending champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan was first in the short program and third in freeskate to settle for second place with 271.08 points. Bronze medalist Denis Ten of Kazakhstan was third in the short program and first in freeskate to wind up third overall with 267.72 points.

Martinez completed his 4 minute, 30 second freeskate sequence to the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” without a single deduction. He resonated with a 10.23 score for executing a difficult triple axel and double toe loop combination. Ten did the same and tallied 10.8. Martinez was fourth to perform in freeskate and registered a total segment score of 125.35 points broken down into 60.93 for total element and 64.42 for program component. In contrast, freeskate first placer Ten posted a total segment score of 181.83 with 93.47 for element and 88.36 for program component.

Martinez earned 6.61 points for interpretation and 6.57 for performance/execution compared to Ten’s 9.04 and 8.79. Fernandez’ most difficult maneuver in freeskate was a quadruple Saichow and double toe loop combination which scored 14.69 points. The Saichow is an edge jump where the take-off is from the back inside edge and the landing is on the back outside edge of the opposite foot. The toe loop takes off from the back outside edge and lands on the same edge.

“I’m glad I was able to finish my freeskate program without falling,” said Martinez. “However, I’m not content with my performance because I know I can do better. My season’s best was 213.38 points and my score in Shanghai was much lower. But I had to be very cautious on my jumps as I avoided a bad fall that could make my injuries worse. Overall, I’m happy that I could compete in my first senior World Championships, no matter what the result was because I really didn’t expect that I could be ready for this event.”

Among the freeskate qualifiers, Martinez was one of only seven who failed to garner at least 200 points. He finished higher than Canada’s Jeremy Ten, Sweden’s Alexander Majorov and Ukraine’s Yaroslav Pantot. The two qualifiers who had lower scores than Martinez in the short program were impressive in freeskate. Japan’s Takahito Mura went from No. 23 in the short program to No. 12 in freeskate to wind up No. 16 overall with 211.74 points while South Korea’s Lee June Hyong improved from No. 24 in the short program to No. 18 in freeskate to finish No. 19 overall with 197.52 points.

Martinez was hampered by bruises in the hip, back, ankle and knee from falling during training. Two hours before performing in the short program, he underwent therapy to reduce the pain. Martinez, however, was determined to qualify for the freeskate and did it.

“I had only three weeks to train for the World Championships and my training in Beijing was very light, just an hour to a max two hours a day with limited jumping as my coach (Nikolai Morozov) didn’t want my injuries to worsen,” said Martinez. “Previously, I would train for six hours a day on-ice plus one to two hours off-ice.”