Promising men's singles figure skater Choi Ha-bin (Hangwang High School) has successfully advanced to the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix Final for the second consecutive year.

Following the conclusion of the seventh and final event of the 2026-2027 ISU Junior Grand Prix held at the Hala Olivia in Gdansk, Poland, on October 11 (KST), Choi secured 4th place in the overall series standings, earning a ticket to the Final reserved for the top six skaters.

Earlier this season, he claimed the title at the second stop of the Junior Grand Prix and earned a bronze medal at the fourth stop, accumulating 26 ranking points.

He will compete for the championship trophy at the Final in Chongqing, China, this December against individual neutral athlete (AIN) Lev Lazarev of Russia, Kewita Tip Kire of Thailand, Ryan Bailer of Switzerland, Daiya Ebihara of Japan, and Yen-Hao Lee of New Zealand.

Having finished last among the six skaters in his debut appearance at the Junior Grand Prix Final last year, Choi aims to capture a medal this season backed by his enhanced skills.

Choi is regarded as the skater with the most exceptional jump techniques in the history of South Korean figure skating.

This season, he has been attempting the quadruple Lutz twice in his free skate, a high-difficulty jump that carries the second-highest base value following the quadruple Axel.

The successful execution and consistency of the quadruple Lutz are expected to be key factors in winning a medal at the Final.

Another promising skater, Lee Jae-keun (Korea University), narrowly missed out on a spot in the Final.

Although he secured silver medals at both the second and sixth events to collect 26 ranking points, he was pushed down in the tie-breaker rules.

Junior Grand Prix series standings are determined by ranking points, and in the event of a tie, priority is given to the higher single-event finish from the two participating competitions.

If the highest finishes are also identical, the rankings are decided by the combined total scores from both events.

South Korea failed to produce any finalists in the women's singles, ice dance, and pairs events, excluding the men's singles.

Meanwhile, at the seventh event held on this day, Jung Jae-wook (Gyeonggi High School) finished in 4th place.

He received 62.87 points in technical elements (TES) and 65.04 points in program components (PCS) for a free skate score of 127.91 points. Combined with his short program score of 64.62 points, he finished with a total score of 192.53 points, following Denis Kruglov of Belgium (228.64 points), Janis Znotins of Latvia (206.56 points), and Yehor Kurtsev of Ukraine (198.84 points).

Jung completed his performance without any major mistakes, but received edge attention calls (edge use warning) on his third jumping element—the triple flip-double Axel-double Axel sequence—and his final jumping element, the triple flip, resulting in deductions in his grade of execution (GOE).

In addition, the overall technical difficulty of his program was not high enough to secure a high score.

Kim Ye-sung (Seoul Sejong High School), who competed alongside him, finished 18th with a total score of 145.49 points.

(Photo: Captured from ISU SNS, Yonhap News)