Cha Jun-hwan

Cha Jun-hwan (Hangul: 차준환; born October 21, 2001) is a South Korean figure skater who competes in the men's singles discipline. He is the 2018–2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, and a four-time South Korean national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020). He has won two bronze medals on the ISU Grand Prix series and two silver medals on the ISU Challenger Series. He represented South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

This is a Korean name; the family name is Cha.
Cha Jun-hwan
Personal information
Native name차준환
Country represented South Korea
Born (2001-10-21) October 21, 2001
Seoul, South Korea
Home townSeoul
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
CoachBrian Orser, Tracy Wilson
Former coachShin Hea-sook
ChoreographerDavid Wilson, Shae-Lynn Bourne
Former choreographerJeffrey Buttle, Kenji Miyamoto, Cindy Stuart, Joey Russell, Shin Yea-ji
Skating clubToronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
Training locationsToronto, Canada
Former training locationsTaeneung, South Korea
Began skating2009
World standing10 (As of 20 April 2020)[1]
Season's bests10 (2018–19)[2]
25 (2017–18)[3]
24 (2016–17)[4]
50 (2015–16)[5]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total265.43
2020 Four Continents Championships
Short program97.33
2019 Four Continents Championships
Free skate175.06
2020 Four Continents Championships
Medal record
Representing  South Korea
Figure skating: Men's singles
Grand Prix Final
2018–19 VancouverMen' singles
Junior Grand Prix Final
2016–17 MarseilleMen' singles

Personal life

Cha was born on October 21, 2001, in Seoul.[6] He has worked as a child actor, model, and ballet dancer.[7][8] His brother is four years older.[9] Cha appeared on music variety television show King of Mask Singer in June 2020.[10]

Career

Cha began skating at the age of seven,[11] during a school excursion.[9] His first coach was Shin Hea-sook.[8] His skating idols were Evgeni Plushenko and Daisuke Takahashi.[12]

Early career

Cha placed fourth as a junior skater at the 2011 South Korean Championships. In 2012, he won the junior level at the South Korean Championships. In the 2012–13 season, he took the novice gold medal at the Asian Trophy and repeated as the junior champion at the South Korean Championships. At the 2014 Korean Championships, he placed fifth at the senior level. This was his first senior experience at national championships.

During the 2014–15 season, Cha won the novice gold medal at the Merano Cup and the senior bronze medal at the South Korean Championships. In March 2015, he began training in Toronto under Brian Orser to improve his jumps, including the triple Axel and quads.[13]

2015–16 season: Junior international debut
Cha performing his short program at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Making his junior international debut, Cha won gold at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic by over 30 points. Competing with an ear infection at the 2016 South Korean Championships, he repeated as the senior national bronze medalist.[14] In February, he represented South Korea at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, placing fourth in the short program, fifth in the free skating, and fifth overall. In March, Cha competed in Debrecen, Hungary at the 2016 World Junior Championships, placing seventh in the short program, sixth in the free skating, and seventh overall.

2016–17 season: Junior Grand Prix Final bronze
Cha at the 2016–17 JGP Final.

In the 2016–17 season, Cha made his Junior Grand Prix debut at the JGP Japan. He performed a clean short program except for his flying camel spin, which got a level 2. He received 79.34 points, which put him in second place. In the free program, he skated cleanly except for an under-rotation on his triple Salchow. He was the last skater in the free skate, placing first by scoring another personal best of 160.13 points, and set a new world record of 239.47 points for junior men's combined total score.[15] He won a second gold medal at the 2016 JGP Germany, which qualified him for the 2016–17 Junior Grand Prix Final, where he won the bronze medal.

Cha won his first national title in January 2017, at the South Korean Championships.[16][17] He finished fifth at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

2017–18 season: Pyeongchang Olympics
Cha at the exhibition gala at the 2018 Winter Olympics

Cha had to overcome injuries and boot problems to win his second national title in January 2018, at the South Korean Championships.[18] Having accumulated the highest point total across the three qualifying events, Cha was selected to represent South Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he placed fifteenth as the youngest competitor in the men's event.[19]

2018–19 season: Grand Prix Final bronze

Cha began his season by winning the silver medal at the 2018 Autumn Classic, after placing second in the short program with 90.56 points and first in the free skate with 169.22, ahead of training mate Yuzuru Hanyu.[20] He won the silver medal at the 2018 Finlandia Trophy with a total score of 239.19 points, behind Mikhail Kolyada.[21]

Cha at the 2018 Skate Canada podium.

At his first Grand Prix assignment, the 2018 Skate Canada, he placed third in the short program and third in the free skate to win the bronze medal overall, landing two clean quadruple salchows across both segments of the competition. With this finish, Cha became the second-ever South Korean figure skater to win a Grand Prix medal, after Yuna Kim, and the first-ever South Korean man to make the podium at a Grand Prix.[22] Cha then won a second bronze medal at 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki with a total of 243.19 points,[23] making him the first-ever South Korean man to win two medals on the Grand Prix series. These two bronze medals gave him 22 qualification points, enough for him to qualify for the 2018 Grand Prix Final, making him the first South Korean man to do so and the first from his country since Kim.

Cha concluded the Grand Prix series at the final, placing fourth in the short program and third in the free skate, with a season's best of 174.42 in the free skate and 263.49 for his total score. This put him on the podium in third place, earning him the bronze medal. He is the first South Korean man to win a Grand Prix Final medal, and the second-ever South Korean skater to do so since Kim.

After winning this third consecutive South Korean national title, Cha competed at the 2019 Four Continents Championships. He placed second in the short program, winning a small silver medal.[24] He struggled in the free skate, where six of his jumps were called underrotated, and thus downgraded in value. As a result, he placed eighth in the free, and dropped to sixth place overall. Of this, he said: "My technical jumps were not perfect, but I tried my best until the end of the program, so I am happy about fighting it through. This was my first senior championships, it was a good experience for me."[25]

He concluded his season at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships. He placed eighteenth in both the short program and free skate to finish nineteenth overall.

2019–20 season

Beginning the season at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, Cha attempted the quad flip in competition for the first time. Cha was fourth overall in the competition after a number of jumps were called underrotated.[26] At his first Grand Prix assignment, 2019 Skate America, Cha doubled his planned quad in the short program placing seventh.[27] Multiple falls in the free skate dropped him to eighth overall.[28] Cha was sixth at the 2019 Cup of China.[29]

After winning another Korean national title, Cha competed at the 2020 Four Continents Championships, held in Seoul. He earned a season's best in the short program despite underrotating his triple Axel attempt.[30] In the free skate, four of his jumps were called underrotated, which was sufficient to keep him off the podium at the event.[31] Cha was supposed to represent South Korea at World Figure Skating Championship 2020 but the competition was cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic.

Records and achievements

Historical record

Programs
Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2019–2020
[32][33]
2018–2019
[34][35][36]
2017–2018
[38][39][40][41]
2016–2017
[6][15]
2015–2016
[43]
2014–2015
2013–2014
2012–2013
  • Gopher Mambo
    by Yma Sumac
    choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
2011–2012
  • St. Louis Blues Mambo
    by Pérez Prado
    choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
  • Piano Concerto No. 2
    by Sergei Rachmaninoff
    choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
2010–2011
  • Strictly Ballroom
    by David Hirschfelder
    choreo. by Kenji Miyamoto
2009–2010

Competitive highlights
Cha at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki podium

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[44]
Event 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20
Olympics15th
Worlds19th
Four ContinentsWD6th5th
GP Final3rd
GP Cup of China6th
GP Finland3rd
GP Skate AmericaWD8th
GP Skate Canada9th3rd
CS Autumn Classic2nd4th
CS Finlandia2nd
Shanghai TrophyWD
International: Junior[44]
Junior Worlds7th5thWD
Youth Olympics5th
JGP Final3rd
JGP Germany1st
JGP Japan1st
Autumn Classic1st
National[44]
South Korea3rd1st1st1st1st
Team events
Olympics9th T
6th P
Youth Olympics6th T
3rd P
TBD = Assigned; J = Junior level
T = Team result; P = Personal result

2010-11 to 2014-15: Pre-international junior debut
International: Novice[44]
Event 10–11 11–12 12–13 13–14 14–15
Asian Open1st
Merano Cup1st
National[44]
South Korea4th J1st J1st J5th3rd
J = Junior level

Detailed results

Senior level
Cha at the 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Personal best highlighted in bold.

2019–20 season
Date Event SP FS Total
6–9 February 2020 2020 Four Continents Championships 6
90.37		 4
175.06		 5
265.43
4–5 January 2020 2020 South Korean Championships 1
93.45		 1
185.09		 1
278.54
8–10 November 2019 2019 Cup of China 11
69.40		 6
152.86		 6
222.26
25–27 October 2019 2019 Skate America 7
78.98		 9
140.69		 8
219.67
12–14 September 2019 2019 Autumn Classic International 4
84.23		 4
146.21		 4
230.44
2018–19 season
Date Event SP FS Total
March 18–24, 2019 2019 World Championships 18
79.17		 18
150.09		 19
229.26
February 7–10, 2019 2019 Four Continents Championships 2
97.33		 8
158.50		 6
255.83
January 9–13, 2019 2019 South Korean Championships 1
89.12		 1
156.40		 1
245.52
December 6–9, 2018 2018–19 Grand Prix Final 4
89.07		 3
174.42		 3
263.49
November 2–4, 2018 2018 Grand Prix of Helsinki 4
82.82		 3
160.37		 3
243.19
October 26–28, 2018 2018 Skate Canada International 3
88.86		 3
165.91		 3
254.77
October 4–7, 2018 2018 CS Finlandia Trophy 2
84.67		 2
154.52		 2
239.19
September 20–22, 2018 2018 CS Autumn Classic International 2
90.56		 1
169.22		 2
259.78
2017–18 season
Date Event SP FS Total
February 14–23, 2018 2018 Winter Olympics (men's singles) 15
83.43		 14
165.16		 15
248.59
February 9–12, 2018 2018 Winter Olympics (team event) 6
77.70		 – 9T
January 5–7, 2018 2018 South Korean Championships 1
84.05		 1
168.60		 1
252.65
November 3–5, 2017 2017 Skate Canada 11
68.46		 8
141.86		 9
210.32

Junior level
Cha at the 2016–17 JGP Final.
Cha at the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics.

Small medals for short and free programs awarded only at ISU Championships. At team events, medals awarded for team results only. Previous ISU world bests highlighted in bold.

2016-17 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
March 15–19, 2017 2017 World Junior Championships Junior 2
82.34		 6
160.11		 5
242.45
January 6–8, 2017 2017 South Korean Championships Senior 1
81.83		 1
157.24		 1
238.07
December 8–11, 2016 2016–17 JGP Final Junior 4
71.84		 3
153.70		 3
225.55
October 5–9, 2016 2016 JGP Germany Junior 1
76.82		 1
143.72		 1
220.54
September 8–11, 2016 2016 JGP Japan Junior 2
79.34		 1
160.13		 1
239.47
2015–16 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
March 14–20, 2016 2016 World Junior Championships Junior 7
74.38		 6
132.73		 7
207.11
February 12–21, 2016 2016 Youth Olympics - team event Junior -
-		 3
139.97		 6T
February 12–21, 2016 2016 Youth Olympics Junior 4
68.76		 5
130.14		 5
198.90
January 8–10, 2016 2016 South Korean Championships Senior 4
58.60		 3
131.38		 3
189.98
October 12–15, 2015 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic Junior 1
65.48		 1
132.96		 1
198.44
2014–15 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
January 5–9, 2015 2015 South Korean Championships Senior 4
58.28		 3
122.85		 3
181.13
November 14–16, 2014 2014 Merano Cup Novice 1
46.16		 1
88.68		 1
134.84
2013–14 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
January 3–5, 2014 2014 South Korean Championships Senior 5
60.44		 3
123.94		 5
184.38
2012–13 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
January 2–6, 2013 2013 South Korean Championships Junior 1
50.67		 1
100.07		 1
150.74
August 7–12, 2012 2012 Asian Trophy Novice 2
36.15		 1
79.01		 1
115.16
2011–12 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
January 4–8, 2012 2012 South Korean Championships Junior 1
46.26		 1
86.95		 1
133.21
2010–11 season
Date Event Level SP FS Total
January 12–16, 2011 2011 South Korean Championships Junior 3
37.16		 4
70.65		 4
107.81

Television appearances
gollark: Instead you dump them there at 5/4d!
gollark: It was ever interesting?
gollark: Remove Sickness™
gollark: "You have something valuable. I must destroy it."
gollark: Naturally.

References
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  6. "Jun Hwan CHA: 2016/2017". International Skating Union.
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