Lee Jae-keun Places 2nd in Short Program with Personal Best... Seeking First Title

A South Korean figure skater is raising hopes for the nation's first medal of the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix season.

Lee Jae-keun finished second in the short program after breaking his personal best, while fellow "title contender" Choi Ha-bin left open hopes for a comeback.

The 18-year-old Lee soared brilliantly in his very first event of his final junior season.

After cleanly landing his triple lutz, he earned positive GOEs (grades of execution) on all three of his jumping passes, including a triple axel and a triple-triple combination.

Executing all his spins to the highest level, Lee wrapped up his routine by besting his previous personal best by 0.79 points, scoring 83.20 to take second place.

He sits just 0.55 points behind the Japanese skater in first.

Tomorrow (August 29), he will aim for his first-ever championship victory in the free skate, looking to surpass his silver medal from 2024.

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Meanwhile, 16-year-old prospect Choi Ha-bin was left to rue a jumping error.

He fell while attempting his triple-triple combination, resulting in a heavy deduction that placed him fifth.

With the most ambitious jump layout among all competing skaters in the free skate—including a quadruple lutz and three total quadruple jumps—Choi is eyeing a comeback medal.

(Video Editing: Lee Jae-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.