Sofia Frank ended her 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy campaign the way she started it after setting two new national records en route to an 18th place finish at the Espoo Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland, Monday (Manila time).
The 16-year-old, who just completed her second international tournament with this campaign, officially claimed the three highest scores ever registered by a Filipino female skater when she took 94.79 points in the free skate and a total of 148.09.
The previous best scores in the segment and the total in an ISU competition were held by two-time Southeast Asian Games medalist Alisson Perticheto set in the 2019 CS Warsaw Cup.
Frank opened her routine again with a jump combo, a solid triple lutz-triple toe combo, which set the tone for her program. She then had to recover from a misstep on her following jump — a triple flip — with better execution on her succeeding one, including a triple lutz later in the program.
The teenage skater’s technical elements score of 48.92 is just a few points shy of the minimum technical score required for qualification to the World Championships next year.
Frank went melodramatic in this segment with Romeo and Juliet’s Wedding Vow as her choice of music, and once more gained her best scores in composition and interpretation of music. This time, however, the 2021 Colorado Springs Invitational bronze medalist showed improvement in her skating skills with a score 6.00.
Russia’s Kamila Valieva brought home the gold medal after coming up with the big elements in the free skate. After finishing at third, the 15-year-old scattered quadruple jumps into her segment’s program to leapfrog compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva for the title.
Another Russian in Alena Kostornaia bagged the bronze medal.
