Sofia Frank reset her personal best in the short program to 53.68, good for 19th place in the segment of the 2022 World Junior Figure Skating Championships, Saturday at the Tondiraba Ice Hall in Tallinn, Estonia.
The result saw her advance to Sunday’s free skate where she can aim to break the century mark and smash her current personal best of 99.94 set in the 2021 Santa Claus Cup.
Frank started on the right foot despite veering away from her signature opening combination jump of a triple lutz-triple toe loop. The 16-year-old instead went for a double toe loop for the second of the tandem jump and followed it up with a triple flip — despite being given negative GOE for an unclear edge.
Nailing these jumps — the most difficult of the elements in this routine, the 16-year-old’s confidence shot up throughout the routine, as she ended with 29.18 points for the technical elements.
Frank’s overall interpretation of Donna Summers’ Last Dance also saw her take 6’s in four of the program components and scored near 6 in one. She scored 6.29 on interpretation, 6.25 on both composition and performance, 6.14 on skating skills, and 5.93 on transition.
USA’s Isabeau Levito takes the segment’s gold and the pole position for the free skate with 72.50, after scoring 41.33 on technical elements and 32.17 on program components. Two Koreans rounded the SP’s podium and the top three with Shin Jia with 69.38 and Yun Ahsun with 66.28.
The free skate for junior women is slated to start at 3:45 p.m. (8:45 p.m., Philippine time) on Sunday.
