Michael Martinez recovered from an early fall to finish the free skate in 23rd place, the same spot overall, as the 2021 CS Cup of Austria ended, Sunday (Philippine time) at the Merkur Eisstadion in Graz.
The 25-year-old comebacking skater bettered his score from Finlandia Trophy with 108.97 points scored for the segment, pushing it to 166.47 in total. The overall result likewise fended off the huge surge for the free skate from Spain’s Pablo Garcia, ending with a tight 0.06-point advantage.
Martinez started with a triple axel, but a slight over-rotation as he landed cost him to fall into the ice, automatically giving him the lowest possible GOE of minus-5 and the subsequent deduction.
Nonetheless, the two-time Olympian bounced back in the next jump, a triple axel-double toe loop combination, which he barely saved as he went near the boards. Three jumps at the latter part of the routine also pulled his scores up to 50.77, highlighted by a solid triple salchow.
Martinez, however, got the tough end of the scores in terms of program components, which earned him just high 5’s and low 6’s. The 2017 Southeast Asian Games silver medalist got huge scores of 7.25 from a judge in skating skills and interpretation of music, but his scores went down as these were eventually cancelled out.
The result is 59.20 points in the the presentation, just a slight improvement from Finlandia’s 57.34.
Georgia’s Nika Egadze snagged the gold medal as he came up with a huge 159.55 points in the free skate to end with 227.57 overall, with a routine highlighted by quad jumps. Japan’s Lucas Honda slipped to a runner-up finish after a low-scored free program with 225.89, while Ilia Malinin of the USA completed the podium with 222.55.
Martinez will take a break for the season as it will be Edrian Celestino and Allison Pertichetto who will compete in the CS Warsaw Cup starting on November 17.
