Sofia Frank had a solid debut for the Philippines after placing 22nd with 47.65 points at the short program of the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy ladies’ singles event in Oberstdorf, Germany, Friday morning (Manila time).
The score and placing, however, was way out of qualification for next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics as only six skaters will move on to the quadrennial Games.
Nonetheless, the final segment score was better than her bronze-medal winning score in the Colorado Springs Invitational.
Frank started strong with her first jump — the triple lutz-double toe combination — but had some problems in the others, which had affected her technical elements score.
The 15-year-old took a total of 25.42 for this criterion.
The Fil-American also found the judges rather hard-pressed as her engaging choreography and interpretation of Last Dance by Donna Summer could only muster 22.23 points.
USA’s Aysa Liu is currently on top with 70.86 points, with Switzerland’s Alexia Paganini not that far behind with 65.65. After the short program, Poland’s Ekaterina Kurakova is inside the “magic six,” almost 13 points ahead of Frank.
Frank, nonetheless, looks to close out her international debut in style as the ladies’ free skate is set on Saturday at 4:35 p.m. (10:35 p.m., Manila time).
