Martinez faces stiff opposition in China

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino Olympic figure skater Michael Martinez is in for tough competition as he faces 10 highly-touted performers, including reigning world champion Javier Fernandez of Spain, in the men’s singles event at the Audi Cup of China in Beijing on Nov. 6-8.

Martinez, who turns 19 on Wednesday, is coming off a ninth place finish at the Finlandia Trophy in Espoo and will compete in Beijing accompanied by his coach Peter Kongkasem and mother Teresa. His goal is to finish in the top five but it’s a shot in the dark considering the entry list shows a star-studded cast.

Aside from Martinez and Fernandez, the other competitors are Russia’s Sergei Voronov and Moris Kvitelashvili, Uzbekistan’s Misha Ge, Grant Hochstein and Richard Dornbush of the US, Russian-born Elladi Balde of Canada and China’s Han Yan, Nan Song and Boyang Jin. Voronov, 28, finished third at the recent Finlandia Trophy. Balde, 24, is fresh from winning the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf while Song, 24, took the gold medal at the 2013 Winter Universiade. Ge, 24, was born in Moscow and placed sixth at the last World Championships where Martinez finished 21st. There are three teenagers in the meet – Martinez, Yan, 19, and Jin, 18.

Martinez will perform to the music of Beethoven’s Egmont, Op. 84 from Goethe’s 1787 play in the short program and Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 by Sergei Prokofiev from the 1935 ballet in the freeskate. He planned to introduce a hip-hop twist to his freeskate routine but couldn’t work out a schedule with Russian choreographer Nikolai Morozov who is based in New Jersey.

“Michael’s freeskate program was not changed anymore because there’s no more time to revise with several upcoming competitions,” said his mother Teresa from their rented home in Anaheim, California. “We lost the timing of doing it as Michael was not able to come back to the US from Manila in July. He stayed in Manila to do therapy for his back, knee and ankle from June to September.”

At the Finlandia Trophy, Martinez slipped on his second triple axel attempt and took a point deduction. “Michael was not happy with his performance and knew he messed up,” said his mother. “He hurt his back again on his unexpected fall. That’s why he was cautious in the freeskate and made mistakes of not doing some of his jumps properly. This resulted in a low score. He was scared to fall again which might injure his back seriously. He was thinking of the more important competition in Beijing.” Martinez had a flawless performance in the freeskate but still wound up only ninth of 17 because of his conservative program.

The Audi Cup of China is strictly by invitation and Martinez was one of only 12 skaters invited for the Grand Prix event. Of the 12 skaters, 11 accepted the invitation and will compete.

“Michael understands that he will just have to be always aggressive in his skating moves during competitions to be able to increase his scores but of course, that’s risking injury,” said his mother. “He has no choice since it’s really part of the sport. He has to do quad jumps which is very risky.”

Someone who has inspired Martinez to outdo himself is Russia’s 32-year-old Konstantin Menshov, the Finlandia Trophy winner with 230.1 total points. Menshov executed two quad jumps in the freeskate to clinch the title. In 2013, Menshov suffered a serious injury during a triple axel attempt and dislocated his shoulder. That came in the short program and Menshov had to withdraw from the freeskate. He underwent surgery but has recovered to still perform at a high level despite his age.

 Martinez’ mother said there was little time to sightsee in Finland. “We went back to the US on Oct. 12, the next day after the competition ended,” she said. “We wanted to stay longer in Finland and tour but since Michael had to train for Beijing, we decided to head back immediately. We had two hours in the morning to tour Helsinki by car. Helsinki is a 30 minute car ride from Espoo where the competition was held. The Philippine honorary consul in Helsinki Mrs. Teresita Lurbano Ruutu took us around the city for a quick two-hour tour then dropped us off at the airport. We’re very grateful to Mrs. Ruutu for spending time with us and her gracious hospitality.”

From Beijing, Martinez is booked to compete at the Warsaw Cup in Poland on Nov. 26-29 and the Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia on Dec. 2-5. A lofty goal for this season is to finish in the top 10 at the World Championships in Boston on March 28-April 3 next year.